May 7, 2025
This spring, Nativeson Gardens owner Danny Bravens gave a Garden Spark presentation on replacing traditional thirsty grass with low-dense, planted native prairie plants. He said the idea is to plant very thickly, with opportunistic weeds crowded in the shade. *
Grass grows rapidly and mixes together to fill these grassland gardens and provide seasonal colours and pollinator fuel. Shrubs, shrub adjacent plants (yucca, agave, much more pear, hesperalae), and trees provide additional structures for interest and wildlife habitat throughout the year.
Planting density is the colour of the earth and helps maintain soil moisture. Furthermore, grasses on the prairie send roots deep into the soil to explore water. Combined, Danny says, this allows the garden to stand primarily self-supporting in terms of watering (although always requires that water be established, except for plants that are planted).
Front Yard Prairie
I wanted to see how Danny applied these concepts in his home garden. I had a chance last Sunday. At Danny’s northwest Austin home he and his wife bought in 2020, lawns with tired foundation plantings today are grassy meadow gardens scattered with wildflowers. Low-gabion walls topped with Lueders Limestone slabs create depictions of the structure, seating, and public and semi-private spaces in the front yard.
In early May, blanket flowers and horse mint dominate the flowering mix. Within a few weeks, the purple coneflower and the giant coneflower will take over. Danny said.
As I was looking at the lush planted garden, Danny said something stands out: “When I see the weeds, I think, ‘I’m not planting the right plants there.” Suitable plants will congested weeds. ”
That’s a better way to think about weeds, right? Instead of trying to drive the madness crazy, weeds are telling you something important. You have open spaces that you need to meet. And if you don’t do that, the weeds will. Once we find the right plant community for a particular space and achieve maximum plant density, weeds cannot compete.
The green leaves of Palleeaf Yucca thrust into the grass.
Mealy Blue Sage adds more silvery blue.
The silver native Artemisia (Artemisia ludoviana) passes through the garden. The variety “Silver King” is commonly found in Austin Gardens. It’s an offensive running plant, but Danny rarely slows down the water and slows down that roll.
Quite, is that so? Would you dare to do it?
Horsemint, also known as Lemon Bea Balm
Board-formed concrete mailboxes add industrial style.
Horsemint around the mailbox will definitely brighten up the postman’s day.
Silver-leafed mullrain – non-native but well-adjusted – scatters wide leaves in fuzzy.
Red and yellow blanket flowers bob on thin stems.
An attractive porch runs across the front of the house with sofas and swing seats.
Backyard Shade Garden
Just inside the fenced backyard, a box of myrtle evacuates a small patio with dusty pink garden chairs. Sedge (Danny thinks it’s probably Carex Leavenworthii) creates grassy mats under the trees, bringing weeds at bay. Red buckeye is established in the shade of crepe myrtle.
Oakleaf hydrangeas and Jacoblis thrive on shaded strips along the fence.
Prairie Garden and Patio
Danny’s backyard is wedge-shaped with the widest space at the far end. The gravel path passes through the clear meadow beds of Salvia and Engelmann Daisy, then heads towards the shady sail-covered patio.
Engelman’s Daisy
Mealy Blue Sage
Several silver whale tongues thrust everywhere.
Looking back along the path
And looking ahead, we’ll be doing skeletons of Yucca Bloom Spikes
Yucca Starburst among the flowers
More Engelman’s Daisy. The curved petals intrigued me – response to heat and drought, I’m hoping.
Native Artemisia and Engelman Daisy
A large gravel patio with board-style concrete fire pits occupies the centre of the garden, creating a welcome focus from all parts of the garden.
Jerusalem Sage
Beyond the patio, the handsome chicken coop offers a stylish dig for the Bravens’ backyard flock.
Auraya is the year Danny’s wife, Sharin, is growing up.
Backyard chicken
The flock of chickens enjoys the fenced garden behind the shed.
Even a few cocks
This little hen was terrible and tried to sit on the eggs and hatch them.
The other eggs were ready to gather.
Shalin cutting garden
Shalyn has its own plant-based business called Bravens Backyard. She grows flowers from seeds and sells them on special orders or subscriptions to convert them into bouquets. These raised beds are planted with her flowers.
The fenced side yard features more raised beds and traces of pig lines. In front, the hardy bird bird (Caesalpinia gilliesii) is found in red and yellow flowers.
Pig Wire Trellis now supports sweet peas.
It smells so good!
Used bulb knitted leaves
Winded Eternity (Ammobium alatum), a sweet little flower I’ve never seen before
Cutting Garden
Cornflower
Poppy
Danny and Shalin both work their gardening talents, making Austin a more beautiful city “green.”
Durable bird bird
One more
Thank you Danny for sharing the garden with me. And I’m grateful for everything he does with the nonprofit, making Austin’s schoolyard beautiful with a native prairie garden. Check out the plant community and learn more about its work. As their website points out, “Our kids spend most of their waking lives at school, so let’s surround them with colours, bird chirps, butterflies and an area where they climb and play.” Amazing goals! Native Son Garden provides labor and materials at the expense of these projects. For more information, please join our community fundraiser and school registration tour on May 17th. More details can be found here.
And check out the Native Son Gardens, which Danny’s company does inspirational lawn landscaping. This starts with asking this question.
We ask because past resource-focused yards are not sustainable. What if your garden feels not like a “garden,” but rather an extension of our beautiful natural ecosystem?
His own garden is a beautiful example of what it looks like in central Texas.
*One of Danny’s inspiration is a book planted in the post-wild world by Thomas Rayner and Claudia West. Thomas Rayner spoke about Garden Spark in 2019. If you’re interested in ecology or urban cityscape design, I recommend reading his book (a bit technical). It describes how to use dense planting, mulch, fewer mulch, layered ground circles to reduce maintenance, increase wildlife habitat, reduce urban thermal island effects, manage runoff, and glorify urban and home gardens.
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My new book, Gardens: Lone Star State, by Texas, can be pre-ordered on Amazon and other online book sellers. It will be released on October 14th, but a few months away, but pre-orders will be extremely helpful in making readers and reviewers aware of my book. If you want to read this fall, consider pre-ordering. For more information, please click here. Thank you for your support!
Learn about gardening and design at Garden Sparks! I organize face-to-face talks in Austin several times a year, inspire designers, landscape architects, authors and gardeners to inspire and inspire designers, landscape architects. These are events with limited attendance that sold out quickly, so join our Garden Spark Mealment List and notify us in advance. Simply click on this link and ask them to add it. Find out all about the Season 8 lineup here!
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