who needs a deere?

Houston Arboretum & Nature Center herds in 120 goats for unique landscaping care

Who needs a John Deere when you have goats?

Photo courtesy of Houston Arboretum

Anyone with a yard knows that keeping it trim is a pain. The Houston Arboretum & Nature Center is no different — and has unveiled a fun (we could all use that right now) twist to landscaping with the use of some hungry yard staff.

Starting in October, the nature center will employ more than 120 goats in October to assist with mowing (read: eating grass) slopes with overgrown vegetation around the two ponds located near Woodway.

The public is welcome to view the goats at work on the 1.5 acres of land from October 4 through 10. The goats will be contained in designated areas via electric fencing and managed by a goat wrangler. For public safety concerns, guests are asked not to touch or engage with the animals or to feed them (goats can be quite ornery).

Why goats? The animals, which graze on many varieties of grasses and plants, are an effective and eco-friendly solution to vegetation management that negates the need for commercial mowing and/or herbicides, according to the center. Goats are also natural climbers, making them an ideal choice for clearing the slopes around the Arboretum’s ponds, where machinery can’t.

The handy herbivores come courtesy of Rent-A-Ruminant Texas, which provides a workable alternative to traditional land clearing, chemicals or commercial mowing. A large portion of the herd comes from animal rescue or private adoptions and includes several breeds of goats, including Nubian, Boer, Kiko, Savanna, and Nigerian Dwarf, according to a press release.

Owners Kyle Carr and Carolyn Carr note that all 220 of their goats have names.

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good for the soul

Houston blooms as No. 3 best city for urban gardening in the U.S.

Photo by Jonathan Kemper on Unsplash

Let's get gardening, Houston

Folks in the Bayou City have plenty of reasons to develop a green thumb: Houston has harvested new acclaim as the No. 3 best city in America for urban gardening in 2026.

Lawnstarter's annual report, "2026’s Best Cities for Urban Gardening," compared 500 U.S. cities based on their respective public access to community gardens, climate, the prevalence of nurseries and gardening supply stores, and the number of regional gardening clubs and online groups.

Atlanta topped the list as the No. 1 best U.S. city, followed by Miami (No. 2); St. Louis (No. 4); and Jacksonville, Florida (No. 5).

For the uninitiated, urban gardening is the practice of growing plants or food in densely populated areas. Local examples include Blackwood Skyfarm, which is the largest rooftop farm in Texas, or Urban Harvest's 160 affiliate gardens – but backyards, apartment balconies, and vacant lots could also fit the bill. Additionally, the Houston Parks and Recreation Department has an Urban Garden Program where residents can volunteer to help locate sections of local parks to turn into community gardens.

Houston was No. 1 nationally in the "supplies" rank, and Lawnstarter said the city is home to 253 landscaping equipment shops – the most in the U.S. – and the second-highest number of gardening stores (276) and nurseries (132). The city also earned a respectable No. 6 rank for its "support and interest" of urban gardening, meaning many residents are searching terms like "community gardens," "vertical gardening," and others.

Here's how the city fared in the remaining three categories:

No. 115 – Public access
No. 157 – Climate
No. 390 – Private access (based on average yard size for starting an at-home garden)

Cathy Walker, president of the American Community Gardening Association, offered some tips for first-time gardeners to help get their hands in the soil: choose only a few easy growing plants to start; learn which growing zone you're in to determine the plants that will thrive in your area; watch how much sunlight your garden space gets daily; and prioritize keeping soil healthy with compost and mulch.

Ecoregions are also helpful for understanding what plants will thrive. Whereas zones are about temperature, ecoregions are much more detailed groups. Planters can learn about their ecoregion and get personalized growing tips from the Texas Parks and Wildlife Foundation in its new native planting app, Wild Thumb.

Starting your own garden can also have a financial benefit, the report suggested. However, up-front costs can get high in gardening, so gardeners might have to stick to it for a few seasons to see savings.

"With grocery prices projected to rise by 3.1 percent in 2026, there’s never been a better time to grow your own food," the report's author wrote. "Estimates show that growing a 600-square-foot plot for fruits and vegetables can save you around $600 in a single season."

The top 10 best cities for urban gardening in 2026 are:

No. 1 – Atlanta
No. 2 – Miami
No. 3 – Houston
No. 4 – St. Louis
No. 5 – Jacksonville, Florida
No. 6 – Orlando
No. 7 – Cincinnati
No. 8 – Fort Meyers, Florida
No. 9 – Tampa
No. 10 – Austin

urban gardening gardening houston