Waller Creek Enhancement 

Background 
     In 2004 a small population of a rare plant, Physostegia correllii (Correll’s False Dragonhead) was discovered in Waller Creek.  The three Waller Creek populations are the only known populations in the Edward’s Plateau eco-region and are being monitored by Texas Parks & Wildlife botanists. 
     In late 2006, city and state partners became increasingly concerned about encroaching non-native plants that threatened these fragile populations and contacted Keep Austin Beautiful to get the neighborhood involved.
     In 2007 Keep Austin Beautiful worked closely with Watershed Protection & Development Review to remove the rare plant sites from the city’s mowing schedule.  On November 18th volunteers from the neighborhood, Capital Area Master Naturalists, and Native Plant Society of Texas worked together to remove Johnson grass from the area and enhance the site with a variety of native grasses, sedges, and flowering perennials.  Lessons learnt from this project will be used to expand the Adopt-a-Creek program.
     Future: In Spring 2008 Watershed Protection will begin work with the American Youth Works Environmental Corps to remove elephant ear from the site.  Future volunteer workdays will continue to focus on removing Johnson grass and on planting native plant species that compliment the Physostegia correllii populations’ growth. 

Take Action
• Remove invasive plants from your garden, click here for a list of Central TX invasives
• Landscape with plants native to Central Texas, click here for recommendations
• Join neighbors for an upcoming workday, email us to be added to the list
• Adopt-a-Creek in your neighborhood
• Learn more about how you can protect Austin’s waterways

More Information
• Click here for a 2006 plant survey
• Click here for the November 18, 2007 planting list