Students at the University of North Texas are helping the landscaping effort for Cole Ranch, an upcoming master-planned community in Denton, by caring for and then reintroducing native prairie plants on-site at the 3,000-acre development, according to a university news release.
The details
The group, led by UNT clinical assistant professor Jaime Baxter-Slye, is working with the Cole family and developer Johnson Development to preserve the native prairie plants.
She said the prairie is currently intact, and the team wants to carefully remove and care for the plants before landscaping begins at Cole Ranch. The team will then purposefully replant the prairie plants in strategic locations, the release states.
As Cole Ranch is developed and the landscaping, trails and parks come to fruition, the team will return the native plants and soil to the site and bring natural landscaping back to the community.
“From the beginning, this has been a shared effort to understand what makes this prairie special, protect high-quality areas and find ways for native plants to remain part of Cole Ranch’s future,” she said. “It gives our students hands-on experience while helping create a community that understands and values its native landscape.”
Baxter-Slye said due to how well maintained the Cole family has kept Cole Ranch, portions of the ranch still have high-quality native prairie plants. Members of the Cole Ranch and Johnson Development met with Baxter-Slye and representatives from UNT’s College of Science to see how the plants on the ranch could be preserved, according to the release.
Baxter-Slye presented a plan to collect, identify and preserve the plants. A team was assembled at the beginning of the 2025-26 school year and includes four undergraduate interns and 40 volunteers. Students are learning how to survey the land, identify plants and collect and transplant them safely.
“It’s a lot of learning as we go, and we’re getting really good hands-on experience,” said Madalyn Chandler, an intern on the team. “This is something we can take with us after our internship. For me, I hope I can continue in prairie work, too.”
The backstory
Cole Ranch will be located south of the Denton airport and east of I-35W. The master-planned community will have 4,365 single-family homes, 26 miles of trails that will weave throughout the community, two large lakes and 1,200 acres of green space, according to previous reporting.
In October 2025, a partnership between Johnson Development, The Cole Ranch Co. LP and Denton Range LLC was formed to develop the community. Johnson Development and the Cole family broke ground on the development June 3.
Looking ahead
UNT students can also help maintain the ecosystem in the future, Baxter-Slye said. She added that her students will work with CCMC, a community management organization, to create educational materials for the community.
“Cole Ranch is being planned as a community where the land’s history and natural character remain visible,” said Tommy Tucker, Johnson Development’s vice president of business development for Central and North Texas. “The Cole family’s stewardship, UNT’s expertise and the work of students and volunteers are helping us preserve significant prairie areas, reintroduce native plants throughout the community and create a foundation for ongoing education and care.”
Cole Ranch is expected to start construction soon on the first phase of houses, which will be for sale in late 2027, according to
previous reporting.
