October 19, 2025
Last year I discovered The Plant Ninja – Texas Gardener on YouTube and knew we needed to be friends. The Ninja’s real name is Natalie McAnarney, and she’s a new gardener with a lot of can-do, DIY, garden-building energy who lives in Nolanville, Texas, about an hour north of Austin.
What is she ninja-ing?
For the past 5 years, Natalie has been digging up swaths of her big lawn and planting flowering beds of native and adapted perennials, shrubs, and trees. She’s also been documenting her progress on The Plant Ninja YouTube channel. Watching her videos, I’m charmed by her positive personality and generous willingness to share what she’s learning as she goes along. Her videos are fantastic — educational, friendly, and well edited. Such videos do not make themselves, y’all. She is working hard not only on her garden but on her garden communication.
Where Natalie is in her life — with a young family, a new garden she’s excitedly creating, and a social media outlet that’s building a community — reminds me of, well, myself about 20 years ago. For me, the outlet was blogging. For her, it’s YouTube. Sure, it’s a different social media era, but it’s a stage of life I remember well, full of energy and promise. I subscribe to her channel and am enjoying watching her garden take shape and her expertise grow.
And guess what? We’ve become friends offline too, as I hoped. Last fall, I invited Natalie to my garden for a gathering of the Austin garden blogging group. This summer, she attended the Garden Fling tour in Memphis (open to any gardener with a public online presence), where we got to know each other over the long weekend. Afterward, in late June, I drove up to Nolanville to see her garden.
I’m finally sharing photos from that visit, along with a few get-to-know-you questions about her gardening and personal life. In fact, Natalie and I are sharing about each other’s gardens this week. I’m honored to be featured on The Plant Ninja YouTube!
Get to know Natalie, The Plant Ninja
Why do you call yourself The Plant Ninja?
“It’s a play on words in regard to the ups and downs of gardening. Some days I’m super skilled with plants, and other days I’m just killing them.”
What is your vision for your garden? And what motivates you to shrink your lawn?
“My vision is large drifts of beautiful Texas native and adapted plants in curvilinear beds. I would love to create a structured cottage feel. I’m motivated to shrink my lawn because it takes more than it gives, especially in terms of water and maintenance. Also, while it does offer a nice backdrop for the landscaped areas, it offers very little visual interest otherwise. Finally, lawn provides minimal food or habitat for wildlife, and I have come to enjoy all the critters that come to visit my garden.”
When did you start making your garden? Is this your first garden?
“I started in 2020, the year after we bought our home. It is my first true garden and landscape endeavor. As a military family, we moved a lot, and this is our first house we’ve had a chance to plan long-term in.”
Tell me about your military background, and what do you do today?
“I spent 10 years on active duty (full time) in the Army. My father was in the Army, and I was comfortable with the lifestyle. I enlisted right after high school as a lab technician and later earned my commission (became an officer) as a physician assistant. I have practiced medicine as a physician assistant for 21 years now. I have been in the same clinic for about half that time. I consider it a privilege to help patients navigate different seasons of life in regard to their health.”
How do you make time for gardening — and your YouTube videos — when you have a family with young kids and a busy job? What advice can you offer other would-be gardeners or YouTubers?
“I have learned to be honest about my time limitations. The garden is patient, and I often tend it in 5- to 10-minute increments, with an hour or two on the weekends. Sometimes I’ll have large projects and can carve out more time. I plan one new garden project per year. I always try to remember that YouTube is an opportunity to share but not a commitment. I aim for 2 videos per month, but family, faith, and work all take priority.”
Why did you start making gardening videos and building your YouTube channel?
“We had been living in our new home, and I wanted to create a more inviting space than our basic fence and lawn. I thought it would be fun to create a digital diary of the process. I also began to appreciate how organizing my thoughts to create a video helped me digest and process information better. I figured others might find it helpful watching me think out loud. The channel has also created a community that keeps me motivated to keep sharing.”
What are three favorite videos you’ve made?
1. “This video is my favorite because it’s about my big front landscaping project, explained in detail.”
2. “This video addresses lessons learned from my landscaping/gardening efforts.”
3. “This video features my current favorite pollinator plants.”
Let’s tour Natalie’s garden
Now that you know a little more about Natalie, let’s do a walkabout and see more of her garden. The pictures I’ve shared so far are from a new bed that wraps around the corner of her front yard. It’s the newest garden she’s created — about a year old.
She’s filled it with low-growing, mostly Texas native plants that don’t need much water once they’re established: Mexican feathergrass, dwarf yaupon holly, autumn sage, ‘Plum Crazy’ salvia, blackfoot daisy, red yucca, and purple skullcap. Natalie placed the shortest plants nearest the curb, so they won’t obstruct visibility at the stop sign.
I’m crazy for this combo of new-to-me ‘Plum Crazy’ anise sage and red autumn sage. ‘Plum Crazy’ sage is a hybrid of commonly grown Salvia guaranitica and the cold-tender Salvia splendens from Brazil. It has the hardiness of Salvia guaranitica, allowing it to overwinter in Central Texas. It’s gorgeous!
Paleleaf yucca (Yucca pallida) is a blue-green or powder-blue small yucca, great for sun or bright shade.
Long view across the new bed. As you can see, this deep perimeter bed took a big bite out of the hottest, driest part of Natalie’s front lawn.
At the front porch, a pair of boxwoods offers year-round greenery and structure, while native flowering plants on either side provide color and pollinator habitat.
Heading around the garage, I admired narrow planters with sprays of Mexican feathergrass underplanted with annuals. The spiller in this one is new-to-me bacopa.
Back garden
Behind the garage, a downspout delivers rainwater from the roof into a 250-gallon tank. Natalie also has a smaller rain barrel that holds 60 gallons near her back porch. “Each has an overflow outlet that I have directed away from my home’s foundation using either PVC pipe or large rock and trenching,” she says.
Natalie’s back garden is a few years older and more established, with bigger plants. As you come around the garage, a glossy-leaved ‘Little Gem’ magnolia with a ruffle of orange-flowering lantana greets you.
‘Little Gem’ magnolia, ready to unfurl lemon-scented blossoms
Natalie shrank her back lawn by chipping away at the perimeter, leaving a smaller lawn with gentle curves in the center of the yard. This strategy also puts a sweep of flowering plants next to her back patio, where she can enjoy antics of hummingbirds, bees, and butterflies.
A closer look at the patio garden, with purple coneflower, sunflowers, autumn sage, goldenball leadtree, Gregg’s mistflower, and zexmenia. Two metal trellises hung on the brick garage wall add interest to a blank space.
Goldenball leadtree, a Texas native, is a small, sun-loving tree with cute yellow puffball flowers.
Sunflowers add more happy yellow.
A bubbling fountain with a shallow top entices birds to drop in…
…as does a well-stocked birdfeeder. I spotted goldfinches…
…and a sparrow at the feeder during my visit.
Backlit sunflowers glow like tiny suns.
Looking across the garden to the shady porch
Charlie sniffing at the zexmenia — probably on lizard patrol
A lattice arbor shades a dining table at one end of the porch. Natalie explains in her first video how she enlarged the back porch to make it more livable. When she moved into her home, there was only a small concrete pad off the back door. She extended the patio with professionally laid pavers across the entire back of the house, probably tripling the square footage.
That created space for the dining area on this end.
At the other end, a built-in fire pit and curved seat wall offer a spot to warm up when it’s cool out.
Blue chalk sticks looks handsome in a cylindrical pot. Here’s a tip: this potted succulent, which isn’t winter hardy, is just sitting in its black nursery pot inside the pretty brown pot. That makes it easy to lift out when a freeze is coming and carry it into the garage.
A purple mangave anchors the other end of the bench.
A sunny spot by the patio is colorful with pollinator favorite ‘Mystic Spires’ salvia…
…and a rainbow assortment of zinnias, one of my favorite annuals.
Bee on a salvia flower
But back to those zinnias, in yellow…
…molten orange-red…
…and hot pink!
A Gulf fritillary butterfly was nectaring from one flower to another.
Native rock rose (Pavonia lasiopetala) adds more pink.
White autumn sage (Salvia greggii) offers a night-garden hue. In the background, shade cloth filters the hot Texas sun for a small veggie garden.
A Texas-flag potting bench completes the garden’s work area.
I asked Natalie what’s next for her garden, and she replied that she’s planning to reduce the front lawn even more:
“My latest project is an 1,100-square-foot reduction of the front lawn, replacing it with drought-tolerant plants. I’m in an HOA, and they’ve denied my project, but I’m continuing to work the process by citing Texas Property Code Section 202.007, which says that HOAs cannot prohibit or restrict a property owner from using drought-resistant landscaping. I remain hopeful that positive changes will come. Sometimes you just have to be willing to meet folks where they’re at, and show them how beautiful change can be.”
I’m happy to report that, since my conversation with Natalie, her HOA did approve her plan! It pays to be persistent. Natalie will soon be inspiring her neighbors even more with her growing garden, not to mention saving on her watering bill.
She’ll be adding even more habitat for wildlife too. This mourning dove was sitting on her nest under the porch roof, a sweet sight as we sat and visited below.
Natalie’s garden is bright with flowers and structured for year-round interest with strategically planted evergreens. And the welcoming habitat she’s created for living creatures makes it even more beautiful.
Check out Natalie’s YouTube channel, The Plant Ninja, for a deeper dive into her de-lawning efforts, and be sure to cheer her on.
See my garden on The Plant Ninja YouTube channel!
And while you’re there, check out the video Natalie made during a visit to my own mostly shady garden this fall. We may garden under different conditions, but we share a goal: to transform what was once a lifeless monoculture of lawn into a place of beauty and habitat.
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Digging Deeper
My new book, Gardens of Texas: Visions of Resilience from the Lone Star State, is here! Find it on Amazon and other online book sellers. It’ll make a great holiday gift for anyone who loves gardens or the natural beauty of Texas. More info about Gardens of Texas here.
Come see me on tour! I’m speaking in cities across Texas to celebrate the release of Gardens of Texas. Talks in October include: Planta Nativa in McAllen on 10/16; The Natural Gardener in Austin on 10/18; SFA State University’s Fall Plant Fair in Nacogdoches on 10/23; Houston Botanic Garden on 10/25; and The Arbor Gate in Tomball on 10/26. Join me to learn, be inspired, and get a signed copy of the book!
Oct. 25: Tour 5 gardens in Cedar Park, Leander, and Georgetown, 10 am to 3 pm, during the Hill Country Bloomers Garden Club’s fall garden tour. Local artists will be at each garden with works for sale, and plants will be for sale at one of the gardens. Tickets are $20 — more info here. Proceeds go to garden grants for local schools.
Nov. 6: Learn about garden design and ecology at Garden Spark! I organize in-person talks by designers, landscape architects, authors, and gardeners a few times a year in Austin. The next talk on 11/6 is my own — a presentation on resilient Texas gardens! Tickets available here. Subscribe to Garden Spark by clicking here to email — subject line: SUBSCRIBE.
Nov. 8: Tour 5 Austin gardens on the Open Day Tour for Travis County, sponsored by the Garden Conservancy. I’ll be at the Belmont Parkway Garden with a book-signing table for Gardens of Texas, so come say hi! Tickets for each garden must be purchased online in advance, and some gardens limit attendance, so reserve your spot early. Find full details and ticket links here.
All material © 2025 by Pam Penick for Digging. Unauthorized reproduction prohibited.
