He’s as stout and hardy as a Texas live oak but with a demeanor as delicate as a Hill Country flower. Keenly connected to the earth, with sun-darkened skin and soil-stained hands, Lewis, the horticulturist for Temple College, has a passion for plants.

“My friends think I’m crazy,” Lewis said. “I go out to dinner and start moving things here and there, designing a landscape right on the table.”

He mimics the motions of moving salt- and peppershakers, forks and knives. “I’m always landscaping,” he said.

The landscaper, poet and artist, who eschews the distraction of cell phones but treasures a well-worn iPod, also has a passion for water.

“Water is the most important resource we’ve got, and we’ve got to take care of it,” he said. “Conservation is a must, we just don’t have a choice anymore.”

The afternoon’s searing Texas heat has Lewis twisting his body to fit the one sliver of shade cast from the overhang of the Arnold Student Union at Temple College. His green thumb flips the pages of a Grow Green Guide, a handbook on Texas native plants put out by the city of Austin.

Once comfortably inside, Lewis recommends a philosophy of gardening called Xeriscaping or native gardening.

“This is not just a bunch of crushed granite and cacti; it can be quite lush and colorful,” he said, referring to the common misconception of Xeriscaping fostered by gardens typically found in the desert Southwest cities such as Phoenix and El Paso.

“I call that stuff ZERO-scape,” he said. Xeriscaping means working with native, drought-resistant plants that are adapted to the soil that’s available. “It’s different from area to area.”

With Central Texas receiving 36 inches of annual rainfall, “native gardening” may be the better term, but the theories remain the same - less lawn, more mulch, less water, less fertilizer and less upkeep, saving you time and money and helping the environment.

“These gardens are not about buying what comes off the truck from Florida at the local box store,” he said. “A good garden is like a piece of music - it has rhythms and textures, bumps and flows. Seasons change, colors change, textures change. Your garden is living, flowing and changing with the seasons. It’s about seasons, soil and water and fitting the right native plants into each microclimate.”

According to Lewis, these minute climates could be as simple as the slope of the ground or the way the afternoon summer sun dapples droplets of shade across your lawn. Sun, shade, soil and slope all have a role in selecting the right native plant. Rather than try to change the climate, “It’s better and less expensive to do some research and select plants that will flourish in that particular microclimate,” Lewis advises.

Ornamental grasses and sedges are easy ways to add texture and layers to a landscape. For taller borders Mexican feathergrass, sea oats and little bluestem are good choices for this area, with liriope and the Texas and blue sedges to edge smaller beds.

Traditional lawn is the biggest draw on resources.

“It’ll eat your lunch,” Lewis said. “It’s much better to have less lawn and larger beds and sit back, relax and watch the butterflies and anoles skit by.”

Practical turf areas are tolerated in Xeriscaping, but Lewis suggested using the right grass in the right amount: “Grass should be used to frame and centerpiece your larger beds.”

And water accordingly. While traditional lawn likes a heavy spray, drip irrigation may better suit the native beds and grasses.

“Don’t have anything on a timer,” he said. “The manual method works best,” leaving the tap off after a rain or adding a little more during a hot spell.

“If compost is the most important thing in gardening then mulch must be No. 2,” Lewis said.

Proper use of mulch helps to protect the soil. Exposed soil is open to erosion, evaporation and temperature extremes. Mulch also helps control weeds and protects microorganisms in the soil, making for a richer, nutrient-filled earth.

Saving money and water are not the only benefits for Lewis, who hasn’t watered his personal lawn since he moved into a new home a year and half ago.

At home, Lewis revels in “not being tied to a lawn mower and garden hose,” and that he has created a habitat for all sorts of wild things.

Last week Lewis was tickled to find two tarantulas had moved in. “To find them among this sterile concrete and asphalt neighborhood, it’s just amazing,” he said.