South Texas Plains Wildlife Management Urban Wildlife Management Texas Wildscapes Tips

Why Choose Native Plant Species?

• Native species are better adapted to the conditions in your area, including soil type, precipitation, climate, etc. - usually requiring less water and maintenance than non-native species.
• Natives develop a natural resistance to local plant diseases and insect pests, reducing the need for insecticides and herbicides/fungicides.
• Native wildlife species recognize plants from local areas as sources of food or shelter.

Wildscape with Native Plants

These plant lists include mainly native Texas species, with a few non-natives added if they provide an exceptional benefit for wildlife. The plants listed are available through nurseries and seed catalogs. Take note of the landscape uses, as well as the wildlife benefits of these plants. Many of these plant species would make great additions to your home landscape or to a school habitat.

• South Texas Wildscapes Plant List (PDF 215.9 KB)
• Hill Country Wildscapes Plant List (PDF 140.1 KB)
• Oak Prairie Wildscapes Plant List (PDF 387.6 KB)

Wildscape Tips

• Every wildscape needs to provide the habitat basics year-round - FOOD, WATER, and SHELTER.
  
• Food sources should focus on native vegetation first, including annuals, perennials, grasses, shrubs, small and large trees.
  
• Artificial feeders, such as bird and squirrel feeders, can be used to supplement the natural food sources, but should not be the sole source of food. Artificial feeders can result in an overabundance of certain wildlife species.
  
• Use natural vegetation to provide sources of shelter. To prepare for winter, inventory your habitat to determine if you have thick evergreen vegetation in abundance. Examples might include yaupon, southern wax myrtle, barbados cherry, coralberry, live oak, or mountain laurel. Is this vegetation in the form of a natural hedge, thicket, or other shelter-type? A variety of wildlife species will use this vegetation to rest, nest, or avoid predators. See the plant list for suggestions for your area.
  
• Try to replicate natural habitats in your landscape. Layer the vegetation, resembling what you would see in a forested area. Plant tall canopy trees, with smaller trees beneath the larger ones. Then add understory shrubs, perennials, grasses, and groundcovers.
  
• Dead trees (snags), fallen logs, and other natural cavities provide shelter and nesting areas for several wildlife species. Insect-eating bats, woodpeckers, owls, swifts and swallows utilize hollow cavities as shelter and nesting areas. Fallen logs are inhabited by a host of insect, invertebrate, and fungal life.
  
• Artificial nest boxes can also be used to supplement the natural vegetation and cavities in a habitat. Wildlife species that utilize nest boxes are fairly specific about the box dimensions. Build or select a box that is appropriate for the species you are trying to attract. See the table for box dimensions.
  
• Rock walls, brick piles, stacked wood, compost piles, overturned flower pots, and such can serve as shelter for a variety of small wildlife species.
  
• Encourage respect for all aspects of nature in your habitat. The presence of insects in your habitat shows that you have been successful in attracting a key component of the food web. Birds, ladybugs, frogs, lizards, spiders, bats, and such eat insects. By leaving insects in your habitat, you are maintaining a reliable food source for those insectivorous wildlife species.
  
• Create shallow water sources with gently sloping sides for easy wildlife access. Think "puddle" when designing your water source. Birds and other small animals prefer the shallow, gentle slope of a puddle to drink and bathe. Vegetation around the water's edge should be short, with a few cleared openings. This allows wildlife to scan for lurking predators before approaching the water.
  
• Water can be supplied via a birdbath, artificial pond, or natural pond. Bird baths and containers require regular replenishment and cleaning. A pond provides a year-round source of water with less maintenance. Drippers and misters create moving water, which is often attractive to wildlife.
  
• If you have a pond, consider participating in the Texas Amphibian Watch Program. Through this program, you periodically survey your pond to gather data about the frogs, toads, and amphibians visiting.
  
• If properly maintained, your pond will not be a source of mosquitoes, but will actually help control them. Make sure your pond is stocked with mosquito fish (Gambusia sp.) or other such predatory fish species. Ponds with such predators actually become "mosquito sinks," encouraging the female mosquito to lay her eggs. The eggs and larvae are eaten by fish and other predators, resulting in no adult mosquitoes. You may even notice fewer mosquitoes rather than more. In fact, mosquitoes often avoid the deeper waters of a pond in favor of a shallow bird bath - hence the need to replenish and clean the dish regularly.
  
• Vegetation in and around your pond should include emergent, submergent, and floating plant species. The plant material will filter the water, anchor the soil, and provide food and shelter for fish and other pond wildlife.
  
• Plants to avoid in your pond include: alligatorweed, Eurasian watermilfoil, giant duckweed, salvinia, hydrilla, water hyacinth, water lettuce, water spinach, torpedograss, lagarosiphon, and Melaleuca. All of these plants are illegal to possess in Texas.