Windlands Park Shows You What Grows in Midland Without Much Water

Windlands Park runs across 55 acres at 1001 W. Dengar Avenue, and on the surface it's a familiar setup: baseball and softball, a soccer area, a walking track, picnic tables under the pavilion, and a playground. Plenty of reason to come spend an evening.

The part worth slowing down for is the xeriscape demonstration area. In a county that gets barely thirteen or fourteen inches of rain a year, a thirsty lawn is a losing battle and a high water bill. The demo plot shows the alternative: native and drought-tough plants laid out the way they'd actually work in a Midland front yard, so you can see what survives the wind and the heat before you spend money on sod that won't.

Come walk the track, then take ten minutes at the demonstration beds. For anyone who just bought a house here and is staring at a patch of caliche wondering what to plant, it's the cheapest landscaping advice in town.