My husband & I recently built a house on 20 acres in the country near Abilene TX. I've lived in this area for 20 yrs but have never attempted any real gardening. Now I'm faced with the prospect of designing and planting a yard. As you may suspect, I'm not much of a gardener. I need to take baby steps. My 1st question - its the beginning of Aug. What, if anything can I plant? Where do I begin?We are having an unusually wet summer with 6" of rain at the beg of Jul. However, the weather is now very hot and no chance of rain in sight. But, I'd like to start somewhere. Is it too late to plant any grass? Maybe I could start with a small xeriscape-type bed up against the house in front (on the left side of the pic - left of the front porch)? The front faces east. Where could I find a plan and step-by-step instructions? I am really interested in growing native things that do not require a lot of water or work. And, I don't want to have to mow a ton of grass.