Bonded drainage and bioswales, rainwater harvesting, native and xeriscape design, fountains, organic pest control. Built for Blackland clay, Hill Country limestone, and flash-storm flooding — not a one-size catalog. The on-site read is $300, credited â free when you build.
Bonded · street & right-of-wayTravis CountyFree Site Read
Austin isn't one kind of ground. The Balcones Fault runs right through town and splits it in two. East of the fault — East Austin, Mueller, the prairie flats — sits on expansive Blackland clay that swells and cracks and holds water at the surface. West of it — Westlake, Tarrytown, Barton Creek — is thin soil over Edwards Plateau limestone that sheds a storm like a roof. Two different problems, a few miles apart.
On top of that, the city floods. Flash storms drop two or three inches in an hour, and the water has nowhere kind to go. And the Edwards Aquifer recharge zone — the same water that feeds Barton Springs — runs right along that fault. Which is exactly why how a property handles its rain actually matters here.
We read your ground before we build on it. That's the whole method, and in a city this geologically split, it's the only honest way to work.
Food and habitat that fit the lot — from a Tarrytown infill yard to a Barton Creek slope.
§ 2 · The local reality
Clay, limestone, and the flood.
Most of the landscaping failures we get called to fix in Austin come from ignoring the ground. Sod laid over unbroken Blackland clay that drowns its own roots. A French drain dropped on limestone with nowhere to daylight. A bed graded toward the foundation. Plants that belong in Houston, not on a thin Hill Country cap.
The fixes aren't exotic — they're just specific. Break and amend the clay so it drains. Fracture the limestone so roots and water can get through it. Send the storm to a planted swale instead of the slab. Choose the palette that already knows this heat. Done right, an Austin landscape needs less water, less rescue, and less of you every year.
§ 3 · Rebates & water rules
Let the city chip in.
Austin runs watering rules through the year, and Austin Water offers real money back: the WaterWise Landscape Rebate for converting turf to native and adapted beds, rebates for rainwater harvesting and rainscape features, and the Grow Green program for plant and design guidance. Where a project can qualify, we design it to — and we'll point you to the programs that are live. We never quote a rebate number we can't source.
Yes — it's one of the most common calls we get here. Austin's flash storms drop inches in an hour onto Blackland clay that won't take it and Hill Country limestone that sheds it, so water pools where it shouldn't. We read the actual flow path on the property, then build the right fix: a planted bioswale, a regrade, a French drain only where it's truly needed. We're also bonded for work in the street and public right-of-way, so we can take curbside drainage all the way to the source — most landscapers stop at the property line.
What grows in Austin's clay and limestone soil?
More than people think — if you match the plant to the ground and prep the soil right. East Austin sits on expansive Blackland Prairie clay; the west side, from Westlake to Barton Creek, is thin soil over Edwards Plateau limestone. We design with Hill Country natives that evolved for both — Texas sage, salvia greggii, damianita, inland sea oats, native sedges, live oak, Texas persimmon — and we break and amend the soil at planting so roots can actually get established.
Are there rebates for water-wise landscaping in Austin?
Yes. Austin Water runs the WaterWise Landscape Rebate for converting turf to native and adapted beds, plus rebates for rainwater harvesting and rainscape features, and the Grow Green program for plant and design guidance. We design projects to qualify where they can, and we'll point you to the current programs. See our rebates page for what's available now — we never quote a rebate figure we can't source.
Do you offer a free estimate in Austin?
The first Site Read is $300, credited — free when you build — a 60-to-90-minute on-site reading of your property (soil, water, sun, drainage, canopy) plus a written summary within 48 hours. It's the honest version of an estimate: you get a real plan and a price range, whether or not you build with us.
Logged on site
From first look to built
Three steps. No leap of faith.
Start free. See your property in 3D before you spend a dollar on the build. Then build it for a number you can see coming.
01 · Free
Preliminary Read.
We come read your property — soil, water, light, the lay of the land — and sketch a direction. Credited in full, no obligation.
02 · $300, credited in full
3D LiDAR Design.
A drone-LiDAR scan and a measured 3D design — exactly where the water flows, drawn to the inch. The $300 comes off your build.
03 · Priced clear
We build it.
Curbside bioswales from $300 a linear meter, plus fountains, native landscapes, and water systems — built by the same hands. No surprise numbers.