Host an Event Volunteer Join Tickets

Support the plant database you love!

DONATE TODAY

Q. Who is Mr. Smarty Plants?

A: There are those who suspect Wildflower Center volunteers are the culpable and capable culprits. Yet, others think staff members play some, albeit small, role. You can torture us with your plant questions, but we will never reveal the Green Guru's secret identity.

Help us grow by giving to the Plant Database Fund or by becoming a member

Did you know you can access the Native Plant Information Network with your web-enabled smartphone?

Share

Ask Mr. Smarty Plants

Ask Mr. Smarty Plants is a free service provided by the staff and volunteers at the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center.

Search Smarty Plants
See a list of all Smarty Plants questions

Please forgive us, but Mr. Smarty Plants has been overwhelmed by a flood of mail and must take a break for awhile to catch up. We hope to be accepting new questions again soon. Thank you!

Need help with plant identification, visit the plant identification page.

 
rate this answer
Not Yet Rated

Monday - November 29, 2004

From: Clifton, TX
Region: Southwest
Topic: Wildlife Gardens, Soils
Title: Native landscaping and wildlife gardening in Clifton, TX
Answered by: Nan Hampton

QUESTION:

I am moving to Clifton, TX, and I will have an empty lot in the town along with my own home/lot. What kind of soil can I expect? I want to grow a wildflower site to just sit and enjoy and feed the animals and care for the land on the empty lot. I am not very knowledgeable about gardening in Texas.

ANSWER:

Clifton is in Bosque County in east-central Texas. The "Soil Survey of Bosque County, Texas" prepared by the USDA, Soil Conservation Service in cooperation with Texas Agricultural Experiment Station (1980) characterizes the soils of Bosque County as "dominantly very shallow to deep, well drained soils underlain by limestone....These gently sloping to steep soils have a clayey and loamy surface layer that is gravelly or cobbly. Most of these soils is used for rangeland."

You can find information about native landscaping and wildlife gardening relevant to Texas on our web page in the Native Plant Library.
 

More Soils Questions

Adding Wildflowers to Corpus Christi
May 20, 2012 - I have a dry sandy yard, full sun in Corpus Christi with lot's of stickers mostly, want to transform to wildflowers. When should I plant, how should I prepare soil, should I dig out stickers? Which w...
view the full question and answer

Expanded Shale Availability in Austin Area
March 18, 2016 - Where can you find expanded shale in bulk or bag in the Austin area?
view the full question and answer

Do leaves with tannins make good compost from Austin
November 04, 2010 - I have a couple of old native pecan trees in my (or neighbor's) yard that drop bushels and bushels of leaves every fall. Somewhere in the back of my mind, I have a recollection that pecan leaves have...
view the full question and answer

Oyster Shell source in Austin
September 18, 2015 - Hi, I was not sure who to reach out to, but I work for Quality Seafood here in Austin, and we have several gardeners who take our old oyster shells and grind them up or put them in their gardens for ...
view the full question and answer

Will wood shavings in the soil require nitrogen from Charleston MO
May 04, 2011 - I cut down a big maple tree and a lot of the wood shavings was left in the soil. I planted a flower bed over the area this spring. I later read that the wood chips in the soil would use a lot of nitro...
view the full question and answer

Support the Wildflower Center by Donating Online or Becoming a Member today.