Plants, like children, are a constant source of beauty, amusement and joy for gardener and retired teacher Judy Schmeltekopf. 

And like children, sometimes they grow easily and sometimes they take a little more work.

“Every plant, like a child, is different,” she said. “It takes some experimenting to bring them along.” 

Judy Schmeltekopf achieved a lush, natural-looking landscape with Texas native plants.
Rod Aydelotte/Tribune-Herald

On 2 1/2 acres in China Spring, Schmeltekopf tends to her charges, a colorful and seemingly carefree assortment of 30 to 40 varieties of Texas natives that, unlike children, require relatively little tender, loving care.

The years have taught her what works and what doesn’t in the demanding Central Texas climate.

“My gardening experiences were so much easier in other places than here in Texas,” said Schmeltekopf, a native of Birmingham, Ala., and a longtime McLennan County Master Gardener.

After she married Donald Schmeltekopf, former Baylor University provost and vice president for academic affairs, the couple lived in New Jersey and North Carolina. Gardening came easier in those parts of the country.

The couple returned to Texas in 1990. Twelve years ago, the pair bought land on a rocky peninsula that sits high above the Brazos River.

“When we first saw this lot we had to head back here in a jeep,” Judy Schmeltekopf said. “There were no roads.”

They immediately set about clearing cedar trees to get an unobstructed view of the Brazos River.

Turning the soil

Then they began turning the soil and cultivating what is now a lush assortment of trees, shrubs and flower beds, all deliberately planted, but done so skillfully it looks as if nature orchestrated it.

“Everything has a story,” Schmeltekopf said. “You make memories in a garden.”

A hibiscus shrub is a sunny reminder of the son who presented it as a gift. 

She plucks a yellow bloom from the compact shrub.

The Schmeltekopfs have grown a huge and colorful variety of plants on their China Spring property.
Rod Aydelotte/Tribune-Herald

“Is that unbelievable?” she said. “Isn’t that just magnificent?”

Like the children she taught and still reaches through her volunteer efforts at the Carleen Bright Arboretum, Schmeltekopf is as wide-eyed a fan of plants today as she was when introduced to gardening as a young girl.

Trial and error have taught her a few things.

After a long day of gardening, Schmeltekopf enjoys relaxing on her back deck and enjoying the view from above.

The oaks and the view? That was Mother Nature’s doing, but Schmeltekopf had a hand in everything else.

Her lawn is a massive, velvety expanse of buffalo grass, which she is quick to recommend. The blue-green turf feels as soft underfoot as it looks.

“We try very hard not to water more than once a week, even in the summer,” she said. “I was determined it was going to work.”

They sodded the buffalo grass, which needs lots of hard sun. Others warned her that neighboring Bermuda grass might take over, but it hasn’t.

Native grass

Buffalo is a native Texas prairie grass that is resistant to disease and tolerant of prolonged droughts and extremes in temperature.

It has a fine texture and can be easily removed from flower beds and gardens.

A row of Afghan pines and pampas grass shield them from the neighbor’s view. The pines and grass look so natural in the landscape one would never guess they had been planted.

The upright Afghans look much like trees growing in sandy, coastal soils.

Schmeltekopf also is pleased with her Texas native plants.

“The only annuals I have are in pots,” Schmeltekopf said. “I have all Texas native plants.”

The Alabama native has come to grips with the fact that she will never grow azaleas and gardenias in these parts — at least not easily.

“Natives are what I needed to plant because that’s what is beautiful in Texas,” she said. “We have not had problems growing anything. We water the least of any neighbor.”

Besides requiring less water, natives also require a lot less labor.

“My gardening is mainly cutting back, pulling back, trimming and thinning,” Schmeltekopf said.

Her best advice is to keep water requirements in mind when planning. Make sure everything you plant has the same water needs.

Out back, Schmeltekopf’s shady beds are a gorgeous mix of echinacea, St. John’s wort, pincushion plant, lamb’s ear, Turk’s cap, skull cap and beauty berry, to mention a few.

These shady beds are her least favorite beds, though. She prefers the sunny beds and their riot of color.

“I like color and I think I have things that bloom at different times,” she said.

Judy Schmeltekopf achieved a lush, natural-looking landscape with Texas natives. The result is a stunning lawn and gardens that require only weekly watering.
Rod Aydelotte/Tribune-Herald

Mixing it up

Out front, the beds are a mix of poppies, skull cap, black-footed daisies, salvias and dozens of other Texas natives. Roses, too, count among her favorites.

“My yard is constantly evolving,” Schmeltekopf said.

What would this Master Gardener not do again?

The Schmeltekopfs didn’t have good luck with wax myrtles or magnolia trees and will not plant either again.

They also advise against giving native trees too much care.

“They like to be left alone,” the couple agreed.

After watching some of her red oaks battle oak wilt, she has become the self-appointed neighborhood watch for the disease. Sadly, this is something she and her neighbors may be powerless to avoid, although the disease can be diagnosed and treated.

Oak wilt is one of the most destructive tree diseases in the United States, killing oak trees in Central Texas in epidemic proportions. It is an infectious disease caused by a fungus.

All oaks are susceptible to oak wilt to some degree, but some species are affected more than others. Red oaks, particularly, fall into that category.

“I might have to move if I lose my red oak out on the back deck,” Judy Schmeltekopf said.