 The following is a production of New Mexico State University. Margaret Walker's zero-escape is successful in spite of the Texas Panhandle winds. Hi Margaret, I understand you can't grow a garden in the middle of the Panhandle where the wind's just always blowing. Hi, well actually you can. And if you would like to come along I'll show you how. Let's take a look at it. Okay. Margaret, this is a beautiful garden here. Thank you. Even to the point of having water. We've got a waterfall here. Well actually that's how this garden came about. A few years ago my husband built the waterfall and we needed to do something to landscape it. So that's kind of what got us started. Waterfall, cattails. And the cattails weren't planned. In fact last summer we wondered what they were because we didn't plan them there. They just happened. Happened on their own. Yes. Oh and Echinacea. I see a lot of Echinacea here. The Echinacea I had a couple of years, the leaves were black and I kind of almost gave up on it. And then just it came back from seed and has done well since. It's gotten its roots established and now it's happy here. It looks like there's no wind here at all. Well actually it may look like that now but there is a lot of wind. I see a lot of mulch. It's right here. Staying in place. The wind actually these drip lines that we have throughout the garden were in the spring were covered with a heavy layer of mulch. And they're right on the surface now. And now they're right on the surface. Well the mulch is important for water conservation when you've got wind and so is the drip system. Extremely. Those are important. I think those are the two major keys to having a garden where the wind really blows is that you have the moisture and you can keep it watered with the drip. And notice your fence though is a permeable fence. So we decided that we wanted a fence that we could see out. So we went ahead and went with the rod iron rather than the solid fence. And you do get good views and your prevailing wind really isn't from the fence direction is it? No actually. Most of the time, a lot of the time our wind comes from the southwest but this year we've had winds that came from the east. Now that would come right through the fence then. Yeah. So it's just, you never know. But the house for the most part blocks your wind. Somewhat. That's an important thing. You can find ways to block it but then a permeable fence is better than a solid fence. That's what I understand. Because you'll have winds swirling back and creating a problem if it's solid. This is a clever and artistic use of a clay container. But it also protects these small plants from the wind. And the placement of plants near and in between rocks also helps them thrive and win new conditions. Well this is beautiful. And you've proven that you can grow a beautiful garden right here in the middle of the Texas Bandhandle. Well thanks. Thank you. The preceding was a production of New Mexico State University. The views and opinions in this program are those of the author and do not necessarily represent the views and opinions of the NMSU Board of Regents.