`Waterwise Austin garden alight with grasses

This Sitio Design garden in SW Austin features low-maintenance grasses and waterwise plants like agave, prickly pear, and sotol.… Read More

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February 11, 2026

Last November, landscape architect Curt Arnette and I visited another of his Sitio Design landscapes. Located in southwest Austin, this garden features low-maintenance grasses and waterwise plants like agave, prickly pear, and sotol.

Limestone boulders play a hefty role in the garden. Curt used them to elevate naturalistic planting beds…

…add separation between lawn and garden…

…and create a sense of enclosure. Notice how the curving line of stone seems to ripple out from the curve of the entry walk.

The boulders live harmoniously with prickly pear, woolly stemodia, and Lindheimer muhly — a “gardened up” version of exposed limestone and native plants in the wild.

Near the front door, I appreciated cotton-candy clouds of Gulf muhly in full bloom.

The rosy-pink inflorescence of Gulf muhly stands out against a gray-green backdrop of woolly stemodia, Wheeler’s sotol, and cenizo — all native to Texas.