Native plant giveaway sends 7,000 grasses and sedges to Guadalupe River landowners

The Hill Country Alliance and partners distributed the containerized plants to nearly 200 Upper Guadalupe basin landowners to help stabilize banks battered by the July 2025 flood.

The Hill Country Alliance and a coalition of local and regional partners handed out more than 7,000 native plants to nearly 200 landowners along the Upper Guadalupe River this month, part of an effort to stabilize riverbanks damaged in the July 2025 flood.

The two-day giveaway, held June 12-13 at Mosty Brothers Nursery in Center Point, distributed containerized grasses and sedges grown specifically for the riparian zone — the strip of land along the water’s edge. The alliance said it worked with several nurseries to produce the plants for restoration along the Guadalupe and its tributary creeks.

Four species were distributed: switchgrass, bushy bluestem, Emory sedge and whitetop sedge, all suited to anchoring soil at the water’s edge and supporting the river’s long-term recovery.

“In Texas, riparian landowners play an important role in stewarding our creeks and rivers,” said Daniel Oppenheimer, the alliance’s land program director. “Supporting landowners with their on-the-ground stewardship needs is critical for long-term success.”

The giveaway is the latest in a series of recovery efforts the alliance has organized since the flood. The group said it convened community meetings last August to hear landowners’ concerns and share lessons from the Memorial Day flood on the Blanco River, and has since held field days and distributed more than 6,400 pounds of native grass seed before moving to containerized plants this summer.

“The scale of loss and impact on the riparian area was immense, and has warranted quick action and close collaboration with key partners,” said Katherine Romans, the alliance’s executive director. “We would not be able to work at this level and speed without the strong support of our partners, both locally and regionally.”

Partners on the effort included the Community Foundation of the Texas Hill Country, the Kerr County River Foundation, the San Antonio Botanical Garden, the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, the Upper Guadalupe River Authority, the Hunt Preservation Society, Mosty Brothers Nursery and the Kerr Together Long-Term Recovery River Working Group.

Landowners in the Upper Guadalupe River Basin interested in future plant distributions or educational resources can contact Lauro Martinez, the alliance’s landowner outreach and stewardship manager, at lauro@hillcountryalliance.org, or visit hillcountryalliance.org.