Keep Gatesville Beautiful

06/06/2026

🥾🌳 Happy National Trails Day! 🌳🥾

Today we celebrate the trails that connect us to nature, encourage healthy lifestyles, and showcase the beauty of our community. Whether you’re hiking, walking, running, birdwatching, or simply enjoying the outdoors, our local trails provide opportunities to explore and appreciate the natural world around us.

As you enjoy the trails today, remember to help keep them beautiful by staying on designated paths, packing out your trash, and respecting wildlife and natural habitats.

Keep Gatesville Beautiful encourages everyone to get outside, enjoy nature, and take pride in preserving the places that make our community special.

Where is your favorite trail or walking path in Gatesville? Share a photo in the comments! 📸🌿

06/05/2026

🌎 Happy World Environment Day! 🌿

Today is a reminder that even small actions can make a big difference in protecting and preserving the world around us. Whether it’s picking up litter, planting a tree, reducing waste, recycling, or simply being mindful of our impact, every effort helps create a cleaner, healthier community for future generations.

At Keep Gatesville Beautiful, we are proud to work alongside volunteers, businesses, organizations, and residents who are committed to keeping our community beautiful. Together, we can make a lasting difference with one project, one cleanup, and one act of stewardship at a time.

Thank you to everyone who helps make Gatesville a cleaner, greener, and more beautiful place to live.

🌱 Be the change. Protect our environment. Keep Gatesville Beautiful.

06/03/2026

Keep Gatesville Beautiful has chosen the home of Kitty Canaday, 401 South 10th Street, as June Yard of the Month. Kitty has lived at this address for 22 years, and in this period of time she has created a magical, lively garden enclosed by an airy wire fence, allowing passersby to peer through to a kaleidoscope of colorful flowers and decorative yard art.
Entrance to the garden is through a gate beside the front sidewalk on the left side of the house. Kitty pointed out various flowers, including her many and multi-colored lilies, made even more beautiful by the morning sun shining through the translucent petals. Walking along the garden pathway (which her husband built out of stones brought in from a friend’s pasture), one takes in delightful scenes at every turn… a crop of pink coneflowers surrounding a white ceramic windmill, yellow coreopsis almost hiding a charming cement cherub riding a turtle, zinnias of many colors popping up randomly, whimsical metal art of all kinds, gnomes, gazing balls, sweet cement renderings of children (some were gifts from her daughter), all tucked amid the beautiful flowers, plants, and trees.
Kitty told us that there used to be a crepe myrtle tree across the street at Raby Park. It was cut down, and the birds dropped seeds from the tree into her yard, and those seeds grew up to be several tall, mature crepe myrtles. A Texas redbud was “planted by the birds” as well. A very tall Texas mountain laurel, laden with seed pods, also makes its home in the garden. Kitty pointed out a Texas sage in profuse bloom that she said was signaling imminent rain, which turned out to be accurate later in the day.
If you look at this yard from the front, it is noticeably different from one side of the yard to the other. To the left, you see the garden, and to the right you see a simple green lawn. Kitty told an amusing story about how this came to be. Very simply, she wanted the garden and her husband just wanted a plain lawn, so they divided the yard and each got what they wanted!
Congratulations Kitty, on being chosen for June Yard of the Month. And thank you for all your hard work to create such a special spot, and to help Keep Gatesville Beautiful!

05/30/2026

Bees and butterflies are enjoying the flowers at the Raby Park pollinator garden. Indian blanket, bee balm, lantana, Russian sage and other native plants are a good source of food for our friendly little creatures.

05/22/2026

⚡️ ENERGY STAR Day is here!

🌿 Save Today, Save Tomorrow, Save For Good. 🌟

What’s one way you’re making your home more energy-efficient this year? Let us know below! 👇

05/16/2026

A big thank you to the Daniels family who helped with the City of Gatesville sponsored Regional Waterway Clean Up. These were only some of the bags of trash that were collected today and kept from entering our local waterways. Way to go!

05/11/2026

🌱🍎 Happy Teacher Appreciation Week from Keep Gatesville Beautiful! 🍎🌱

This week, we want to recognize the incredible educators at Gatesville ISD who teach our children to plant seeds of knowledge, kindness, and beauty in our community!

🌻✨ Thank you for "helping us grow" and for nurturing the future of Gatesville.
Tag a teacher who makes our community beautiful in the comments! ⬇️💙

05/09/2026

Ready to be a part of something big? 🌍🦅

This , we're celebrating the theme: "Every Bird Counts, Your Observations Matter!"
Millions of birds are on the move, and YOU can help protect them. Whether it’s a hummingbird in your garden or a hawk in the park, every sighting you record helps scientists understand and safeguard these incredible travelers.

How to get involved:

✅ Watch: Grab your binoculars and look for feathered visitors.
✅ Record: Use apps like eBird to log your sightings.
✅ Share: Post your photos and let us know what you’ve spotted!

Together, let’s make every observation count for conservation. 🐦✨

05/08/2026

https://www.facebook.com/share/1DokUtCxpw/?mibextid=wwXIfr

Looking for a way to volunteer for the environment and learn leadership skills? Keep Texas Beautiful's Young Texan Ambassador program is for you!

05/06/2026

The home of Gay McCarty, 1708 West Main, has been chosen by Keep Gatesville Beautiful as the May Yard of the Month. The cute frame house projects a cheery image with its dark gray siding, white trim, and brightly colored decor. The red door is decked with a lovely spring wreath made of small roses and greenery. On the front porch sits an inviting white Adirondack chair with a pretty pillow with colors echoing the yellow and turquoise rustic letters spelling HOME on the wall behind. Turquoise and yellow pots of red-orange impatiens sit beside the door on the other side, while a group of metal art butterflies in coordinating colors inhabit the wall space above. Turquoise pots of red and yellow cannas on either corner of the house add more pops of the colorful scheme.
Another appealing feature of the house is the use of rock in the landscaping and on the house itself. Gay said she has lived here since 2013, and that she had added the rock siding surrounding the lower part of the house, which coordinates beautifully with the siding. She also brought in tons of natural stones from a friend’s property which she used as a border for a flower bed on the side of the house, containing coleus, tomatoes, and a turkscap that grew from a cutting of the original plant that belonged to her great grandmother.
The native stones also line a large and beautiful back porch, with attractive dark brown railing, which looks out onto a field. Gay said that before a recent mowing, the field was full of bluebonnets. Steps leading up to the porch are flanked by turquoise pots of orange cannas, carrying out the theme begun in the front.
A recently added rock garden near the entrance to the property adds a whimsical design, using terra cotta pots of sweet potato vine and wandering jew, as well as colorful metal art flowers and a handsome metal art peacock.
Gay plans to do more gardening and yard work after she retires!
Congratulations, Gay, on being chosen for May Yard of the Month! And thanks for all your hard work to help Keep Gatesville Beautiful!