Homeowners put a lot of money, time and care into their landscape to keep it looking fresh and clean. The Coppell Community Garden is inviting interested gardeners and landscapers to their Texas SmartScape Tour to learn how to turn their landscape into a Texas SmartScape.

Texas SmartScape techniques beautify landscapes through the use of native and adaptive drought tolerant plants, which provide many ecological and environmental benefits. A SmartScape uses less water, fertilizers and pesticides while attracting birds, butterflies, hummingbirds and bees, as well as other types of wildlife. Native plants are used because they require minimal irrigation and care, which will save the time, money and water of homeowners.

The Texas SmartScape Tour will happen on Saturday, September 29 from 9:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. Participants will first meet at Helping Hands Garden - next to the Town Center - at 8:30 a.m. for maps and refreshments. The tour, which is self-guided, will feature seven unique Coppell residential landscapes and gardens, as well as two Coppell Community Gardens.

The featured homes include a hummingbird garden, an English cottage-style garden, a river rock bed garden and a unique bottle loofa tree garden. Homeowners and garden experts will be on hand at each location to answer questions. It's a great opportunity to learn, first-hand, how to manage compost and worm bins, as well as learning the benefits of solar panels,organic fertilizer, mulching and rain barrels.

This tour is free to the public and requires no registration. Just show up on the day of the tour and become a better homeowner and landscaper.

Photo from Coppell Student Media