Karen Beaty
Karen worked as forestry specialist for the city of Austin’s Wildland Conservation Division. She received an M.S. in Land Resources from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and a B.S. in Biology from Davidson College. As a 5th-generation Texan she was fascinated with the native flora of the Southern Plains region and enjoyed hiking and camping as a way to meet new plants. Her outside interests also included vegetable gardening, homesteading, and building things with scavenged materials.
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Southwest Regional ReportsRecovering Your Garden After a Winter Storm in the Southern Plains
Your electricity is back on, you’re no longer flushing toilets with melted snow, and it’s no longer 15 degrees colder than the coldest day of your life. Congratulations—you’ve made it…
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Southwest Regional ReportsHow to Selectively Prune Muhly Grasses in the Southern Plains
I’m a big fan of using muhly grasses (Muhlenbergia spp. and cvs., Zones 5–11) in Southern Plains gardens. They are native to our region, and their size and salient features…
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Southwest Regional ReportsGreat Native Plants for the Southern Plains
Growing native plants is the gardening equivalent of having your cake and eating it too. Not only are these plants beautiful and more likely to thrive in your landscape, they…
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Southwest Regional ReportsHow to Make Great Compost in the Southern Plains
One of the secrets to a successful, productive garden is compost. Although you can buy commercial compost in bags or in bulk from gardening stores, it’s easy and enjoyable to…
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Southwest Regional ReportsGardening with Caliche Soil in the Southern Plains
How many times have you heard gardeners lament the presence of caliche in their soil? If you live in the Southern Plains or the desert Southwest, it’s likely you’ve heard…
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Southwest Regional ReportsLow-Growing, Native Perennials for the Southern Plains
Do you ever have a spot in your garden, usually at the very front of a bed, that needs a short plant? Maybe you even want it to grow up…
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Southwest Regional ReportsLessons from Festival Beach Food Forest in Austin, Texas
In the heart of downtown Austin, right next to the interstate that runs from Mexico to Canada, is the Festival Beach Food Forest. This small public garden is located on…
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Southwest Regional ReportsSouthern Plains December Garden To-Do List
Plant cool-season herbs. You might not think of December as a good month to add new plantings to your vegetable garden, but cool-season herbs are perfectly happy to be planted…
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Southwest Regional ReportsExciting Evergreens for the Southern Plains
Evergreens are crucial to achieving varied texture and form, as well as the key to any successful four-season garden. Unfortunately, many gardeners would put a lot of evergreens in the…
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Southwest Regional ReportsBold and Beautiful Yuccas for the Southern Plains
We are fortunate here in the Southern Plains to have quite a few native yucca species (Yucca spp. and cvs., Zones 5–10) that thrive in our climate. Many of them…
Fine Gardening Magazine
