The Sweet Connection: How Native Texas Landscaping Is Creating a Buzz in Property Values and Local Honey Production

Texas homeowners are discovering that going native with their landscaping isn’t just about creating beautiful outdoor spaces—it’s about participating in a thriving pollinator economy that’s boosting both local honey production and property values across the Lone Star State. With Texas producing 7.4 million pounds of honey in 2019 and over 700 native bee species calling Texas home, the connection between native plants and economic benefits has never been clearer.

The Texas Pollinator Powerhouse

Texas stands as a pollinator paradise, hosting an incredible diversity of native bees that are generally the most efficient and effective pollinators of native plants and thus critical to the maintenance of Texas’ natural communities. Beyond the familiar European honey bee, 800+ native bee species in Texas alone (~20,000 species worldwide) which are adapted to the local climate, soils, and vegetation work tirelessly to support both wild ecosystems and agricultural production.

The economic impact is substantial. Bees contribute an economic benefit of approximately $15 billion a year to agriculture with at least $3 billion attributed to native bees alone, while domestic honeybees pollinate an estimated $14.6 billion worth of crops in the United States each year. In Texas specifically, animal-mediated cross-pollination boosts cotton yields in Texas by 17%.

Native Plants: The Foundation of Pollinator Success

Native Texas plants serve as the cornerstone of this pollinator economy. Adapted to local soils and climates, native wildflowers, shrubs, and trees are usually the best sources of nectar and pollen for native pollinators. These plants require little irrigation, bloom without fertilizers, and are unlikely to become weedy, making them both environmentally sustainable and cost-effective for homeowners.

The diversity of Texas’s ten principal plant-life biomes creates unique opportunities for honey production. Some of the main types of kinds of honey produced by Texas honey farms include sunflower, cotton, alfalfa, and orange blossom honey, with each region offering distinct flavor profiles based on local native flora.

Property Values: The Sweet Return on Investment

The financial benefits of native landscaping extend far beyond honey production. Research consistently shows that thoughtful landscaping significantly impacts property values. Data from research conducted from 1996-97 in Greenville, S.C., showed that home price premiums increased 6 percent to 7 percent for home landscapes that were upgraded from good to excellent and 4 percent to 5 percent for an upgrade from average to good. By combining these data, the value added by a landscape upgrade from average to excellent increases a home value by 10 percent to 12 percent.

Native plants offer particular advantages in this regard. These plants can increase property value because they often require less maintenance — they already naturally thrive in their native region. By choosing native plants that thrive with less effort, you’re not only increasing your home’s sustainability but also its appeal to potential buyers. The cost savings are remarkable: It takes $3,000 to maintain an acre of native plants over a 20-year period, compared to $20,000 for non-native plants over the same length of time.

Supporting the Local Honey Economy

Texas’s beekeeping industry operates on multiple levels, from hobbyists to commercial operations. Hobbyists are backyard beekeepers who keep bees, typically less than 10 hives, to meet Texas’ agriculture exemption for property taxes and/or to produce honey for their household, to share and/or sell locally. This creates opportunities for homeowners with native landscapes to support local honey production while potentially benefiting from property tax advantages.

The state’s favorable climate supports year-round beekeeping activities. Texas is home to many beekeepers because they hold bees here in winter and then take them to other states for pollination services in February and throughout the year, making Texas a crucial hub in the national pollinator economy.

Creating Your Pollinator-Friendly Landscape

Successful native landscaping for pollinators requires strategic planning. Cultivate native flowering plants, which provide bees with their primary food source. Choose multiple plant species that flower across the season in order to maximize the food resources for bees that emerge and forage at different periods. Key considerations include Plant a variety of plants that flower at different times providing nectar and pollen sources throughout the growing season. Plant in groups – Clumps of flowering plants will attract more pollinators than single plants scattered in the landscape.

For Central Texas homeowners, recommended pollinator plants include Purple coneflower (Echinacea purpurea), Lemon Mint or Bee Balm (Monarda citrioda), and Partridge Pea (Chamaecrista fasciculata), which provide blooms across spring, summer, and fall seasons.

Professional Expertise for Maximum Impact

While the benefits of native landscaping are clear, achieving optimal results often requires professional expertise. Working with a knowledgeable Landscaping Company in Waco, TX can ensure that your native plant selections are appropriate for local soil conditions and climate patterns, maximizing both pollinator benefits and property value enhancement.

Professional landscapers understand the nuances of native plant establishment, seasonal bloom timing, and maintenance requirements that ensure long-term success. They can also help homeowners navigate local regulations and take advantage of programs that support pollinator-friendly landscaping initiatives.

The Future of Native Landscaping in Texas

As awareness grows about the connections between native plants, pollinator health, and economic benefits, more Texas communities are embracing pollinator-friendly landscaping. Native plants are a major selling point, especially at a time when increasingly unpredictable weather conditions call for gardens that can mitigate flooding, survive drought, and remain resilient under local conditions. In Maryland, where rainscaping and pollinator gardens receive wholehearted support from the state and many municipalities, home buyers are looking for alternatives to the turf-laden dead zones that surround so many homes.

The pollinator economy represents a win-win scenario for Texas homeowners: beautiful, low-maintenance landscapes that support local honey production while increasing property values. As One out of every three bites of food we take in this country is courtesy of a pollinator, investing in native landscaping isn’t just about individual property benefits—it’s about supporting the essential ecological services that sustain our food system and economy.

By choosing native Texas plants, homeowners become active participants in a thriving pollinator economy that benefits everyone from local beekeepers to future property buyers, creating landscapes that are as economically valuable as they are environmentally essential.