Pam Penick

Pam Penick is a garden writer and advocate for climate-resilient design, known for inspiring waterwise, wildlife-friendly landscapes for nearly two decades. She’s the author of Gardens of Texas, Lawn Gone!, and The Water-Saving Garden, and the voice and photographer behind DIGGING, her influential website about gardening in a hot climate.

Her writing has appeared in Better Homes & Gardens, Fine Gardening, American Gardener, and other publications. For 10 years—including during a historic drought—she ran a landscape design business helping Texas homeowners replace thirsty lawns with waterwise gardens. She’s also the founder of Garden Spark, an Austin-based speaker series on design and ecology.

A graduate of Rice University, with a master's in English from NC State, Pam lives in Austin and tends a rather spiky garden under a canopy of live oaks, where she keeps an eye out for the owls, foxes, and other creatures who share it with her.