Thursday, June 13, 2019

Sunset walk

One thing I have come to appreciate in Texas is the dedication to preserving native plants, especially the wildflowers that make the prairie so distinctive and beautiful.
The Mueller development (just south of my neighborhood) used to be the Austin Airport. When it moved further south some 20 years ago, the land sat vacant for a while, but was purchased with the goal of creating an ambitious housing development with mixed use. I feel so lucky to have purchased a home a  mile away, in easy biking distance (and occasionally a long walk) to restaurants, movie theaters, swimming pools, and beautiful parks. There are a series of water retention ponds on the southern end of the development that have been planted with native wildflowers and trees, and it's practically a little nature preserve with all the wonderful birds, insects, and wildlife attracted to the little area.




Tuesday, June 4, 2019

Yard of the Month!

I won Yard of the Month for my neighborhood. To prepare for the honor, I cleaned up the front a bit, primarily focusing on the edging of the garden beds to create nicer, neater lines. I'm going to work on edging the backyard flower beds next. I planted gulf muhly grass in the mulched areas between the agave and the blue mistflower bushes. It's taken a while for them to get comfy in the spot, but I'm hoping in a year or so they will fully root and flourish there. I've tried gulf muhly a couple of different places, but I've struggled with them for some reason - maybe not enough drainage, or water, or sun. We'll see which ones end up doing the best.
The Gregg's mistflower is really starting to fill in nicely around the pecan tree. Another season or so and I bet the whole ring will be filled in. I can't wait for all the monarchs and queens to visit in the fall.



Sunday, June 2, 2019

Rainwater Management

I'm placing these videos here so I can go back and reference them. We had quite a few torrential downpours this spring - wonderful for the plants, but as I watched the torrents sweep across my yard, I wondered whether I can do something to manage the rain flow a little better. Here are images from the front yard.
The water sweeps down the slope from my neighbors' property, floods the little gravel path I created and creates a puddle on our walkway. I'm thinking I could dig out the garden on the left side of the picture, build a small swale to encourage water to drain off the sidewalk. This is one summer project I plan to attempt. 






In the backyard, this is the scene. The gutters are not very effective (they might need to be cleaned out as well). But they just haven't seemed to work well since they were installed. So, right next the house we get a giant puddle. Again, I'm thinking I could dig out a swale to carry water away from the house, and down toward the side garden by the fence.