Background and Aims <p>Plant reproductive phenology is closely intertwined with the life cycle, yet the impact of soil structure changes on reproductive traits remains underexplored. We assessed whether reproductive phenology, success, and seed quality can sensitively respond to modifications in soil structure.</p> Methods <p>We investigated the responses of two xerophytic shrubs, <i>Sophora davidii</i> and <i>Bauhinia brachycarpa</i>, to experimentally manipulated gradients of rock fragment content (RFC; 0%, 25%, 50%, and 75%, v v⁻¹) in an arid environment. We measured indicators such as flowering phenology, fruiting phenology, fruit set, seed yield and seed quality after four-year growth to assess the impact of soil properties on plant reproductive traits.</p> Results <p>Reproductive traits of the two species exhibited distinct responses to increasing RFC. <i>S. davidii</i> concluded its flowering season earlier and displayed a shorter flowering duration in 50% RFC compared to the other RFC levels. The fruit set of <i>S. davidii</i> displayed a unimodal pattern, with a peak at 50% RFC, while its seed viability and germination rate increased with increasing RFC. In contrast, <i>B. brachycarpa</i> displayed relatively stable reproductive traits across RFC gradient, maintaining higher seed viability and germination rate compared to <i>S. davidii</i>.</p> Conclusion <p>We found species-dependent response of plant reproductive phenology to soil environment changes. The reproductive traits of <i>S. davidii</i> significantly respond to changes in soil properties such as available nitrogen content, temperature, and water content along the RFC gradient. However, seed quality in <i>B. brachycarpa</i> was more influenced by inherent phenological traits than by changes in soil environment.</p>