Located in the northwestern region of Texas, Dallas began as a sleepy cow and cotton town until oil became a leading industry there. Interstate highways developed in the mid 20th century making this a primary transportation hub of the South. A third of the Fortune 500 companies are centered here giving downtown the high rise buildings that can be seen for miles across the flat Texas countryside. This late development brought a variety of suburbs to the highway system that circles Dallas city center, extending out like spokes of a wheel to link to subdivisions in every direction.

You can't speak of Dallas without including Fort Worth to the southwest, and the two are known as the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex. Here the humid subtropical climate is ideal for outdoor living, and in grand Texas style homes sprawl across large and lots can be extensively landscaped, with swimming pools essential to cooling off over the long, hot, humid summers.

Located half way between these two large cities is Arlington, which exploded in growth just after World War II as a manufacturing and oil/gas center. Today the outlying residential areas are a newer affordable bedroom community to both Dallas and Fort Worth. About 40% of families here have children under 18 years old, and backyard barbecues are a local tradition. This makes large homes and lots ideal for landscapes that keep kids at home with amenities such as swimming pools and outdoor recreational improvements.

Irving is home to Dallas-Ft. Worth Airport and a number of large national brand headquarters. Income is lower than other suburbs of the metroplex. Las Colinas, one of the largest planned communities covers twelve thousand square miles of affordable housing. Landscape projects here must contend with the regulations of Las Colinas and contractors will be well aware of both opportunities and limitations of working there.

Forbes Magazine designated Plano, Texas one of the safest cities in America, and residents here enjoy the highest median income in the state. Just north of Dallas, it escapes the primary commute corridor to the south. Homeowners here are family oriented and their homes benefit from expansive outdoor living areas. The affluence here brings powerful interest in healthy cuisine, which makes the outdoor kitchen one of the most popular backyard projects aside from a swimming pool. This area is where good design is a must, for higher incomes make these residents far savvier than the usual Texans.

To the extreme north of Dallas is Frisco, home to an enormous retirement community on the shore of Lewisville Lake. Here residents are upper income overall and their homes are built out for the good life with outdoor kitchens, putting greens, swimming pools and entertaining spaces.

The Dallas-Ft. Worth Metroplex is among the most economically stable regions of the South and its industry drives an active market for new landscaping. Landscape architects and contractors are plentiful and skilled at working with the heat and soils and humidity of this region. With such long hot summers, outdoor living is one of the best ways to escape the confines of air conditioned rooms to relax on the patio while the kids spend their summer days in the pool.