The Edwards Plateau is generally west of Mopac. This area features shallow soils with rolling hills and steep slopes. West Lake Hills, Oak Hill, and Rollingwood are representative communities. When you choose a homesite in the Hill Country, take stock of the existing vegetation and develop a plan with your builder to protect it during construction. Avoid indiscriminate clearing of the land in this very ecologically-sensitive area.
Limit fill only to that required to insure adequate drainage away from the foundation.
The majority of new plants in the landscape should be native or adaptive to the area. For trees, select Bur and Chinquapin oaks, cedar elm, Chinese pistache , Mexican buckeye, Mexican plum, Texas persimmon and Texas redbud . For shrubs, select Burford , Chinese, or yaupon holly, nandina , mountain laurel, yuccas, and native bunch grasses. The Blackland Prairie is generally east of the Balcones Fault. Soils in this area are mainly deep and the terrain is gently sloping.