Bonded drainage and bioswales, rainwater harvesting, native and xeriscape design, fountains, organic pest control. Built for clay flats, Edwards limestone, and flash-storm flooding — not a one-size catalog. The first Site Read is free.
Bonded · street & right-of-wayBexar CountyFree Site Read
San Antonio isn't one kind of ground. The South and East sides sit on expansive Blackland clay that swells and cracks and holds water at the surface. The North side — Stone Oak, the 281 corridor — is thin caliche over Edwards limestone that sheds a storm like a roof. The older heart, from Alamo Heights to Monte Vista, is clay under heritage oaks that won't forgive a careless trench.
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 runs right through the north of town — 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 an Alamo Heights infill yard to a Stone Oak slope.
§ 2 · The local reality
Clay, caliche, and the flood.
Most of the landscaping failures we get called to fix in San Antonio come from ignoring the ground. Sod laid over unbroken 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 caliche cap.
The fixes aren't exotic — they're just specific. Break and amend the clay so it drains. Fracture the caliche 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, a San Antonio landscape needs less water, less rescue, and less of you every year.
§ 3 · Rebates & water rules
Let the city chip in.
San Antonio runs year-round watering rules, and SAWS offers rebates for water-wise landscape conversions and for rainwater harvesting. 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.
Do you fix yard flooding and drainage in San Antonio?
Yes — it's one of the most common calls we get here. San Antonio's flash storms drop inches in an hour onto clay that won't take it and 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 San Antonio's clay and caliche soil?
More than people think — if you match the plant to the ground and prep the soil right. South and east San Antonio sit on expansive Blackland clay; the north side is thin caliche over Edwards 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 San Antonio?
Yes. SAWS offers rebates for water-saving landscape conversions and for rainwater harvesting systems. 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 San Antonio?
The first Site Read is free — 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.
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Book a Site Read.
60-90 minutes on your San Antonio property. Written summary in 48 hrs. No charge — the first Site Read is free.