Reduce The Lawn Garden Makeover - Russell womack - Central texas gardener

This family always get a warm welcome at homecoming. They can settle back with friends in a comfy spot that entertains wildlife too. It's a different picture than 2009 when designer Russell womack stepped in it was dark and everything was very old the drainage didn't work very well so there is just pools of water leftover from where the year nation system was running you know the driveway and stuff like that it was it was a overgrown and it was just it was just old and the wrong plants the wrong plant life you know from what the homebuilder put in it was it was just wrong. No wax leaf legustrums mandeanas stuff that we don't need in Central Texas they just had a shrub row going up the the side of the driveway and a shrub row going down the walkway and they're all huge just huge shrubs I mean you couldn't- it felt like an English garden you know and you know Saint Augustine everything needed a lot of water one objective was to break up the claustrophobic demanding mines with engaging layered dimension Although Russel chose plants that don't need much water he made sure that the irrigation they do get ends up in the right spots. Irrigation system was not good so we tore it all out and re graded and you know where there was areas that there was standing water we either got it regraded properly to where the water could get out or we put in drains and got the water out. He replace the struggling Saint Augustine with dog friendly palisades. They like to have some grass but we drastically reduce the amount of grass that they had. In stage 2 once a week water restrictions the grass and garden look good even in August. Keep your grass a little bit longer so it shades the roots which is what they're doing and you know once a week is is fine for it. It doesn't really ever show much sign of stress. Russell's designed maintains the separation from the street without barricading the interior garden from the family's viewpoint. Well in particular with it being at a corner house you have to create from both sides from the house side and from the street side. You don't want one to feel like the back landscape. He broke up the former monotony with layers of heights color and texture. Actually using different textures to me i think is just as effective as different color blooms you want something year-round using a combination a blooming plants but also texture plants. The more open structure harbors fewer mosquitoes too. Evergreen and deciduous perennials and grasses take turns flaunting their seasonal flamboyance and wildlife attraction When you're using native plants you're going to get some wildlife and not much away around that. Wisely Russell didn't plant flat up against the driveway Out front where the the driveway and the sidewalk meet would put in those big thick stones so you don't have to walk to the corner in turn you you can cut the corners off like you should be able to. The side of the house on the way to the backyard is also visible from the street Dwarf Mexican olive and dry Alice make a nice summer time flowering combo. In back he uncluttered the service area and added stonework that blends with the new walkway to the garden On one fence he thinned a hedge row of twelve will Fleming Johans other dimensions to break up the former restrained lines He moved some of the opons to the narrow sidewalk bed The new plants brought along a bonus wildlife that can't resist them A good vantage point is from the patio that Russell built. The curve design with native Texas sandstone replaced a clunky concrete rectangular pad. Russells lines unite the space with a sense of movement. I love to use curves although mixing curves with straight lines as well is fun. He keeps the flow with the renovated corner bed. I was down at ground level and it was just you know one of those ones that home builders puts in realistically with the with the sun exposure of this side things just wouldn't grow in it very easily so we decided to just to just raise it up make some raised planters make little little benches in between the raised planters but now the silver pony foot has taken over so nobody's really sittin on it anymore. No garden is free of matinence but these plants don't require constant pruning. They start mingling with each other just keep them back a little bit you know but don't hedge them I don't like to hedge any plants I just like to take off branches so it still looks natural so they still have most to their own space to grow Now there's some things like the bamboo leaves that they keep on getting wider so you have to kinda cut them up when their branches fall down you know a little bit but but I still like to try and not overcrowd it too much give the plant its space you know that to fill out actually we've had some land hammer mill is that that have expired in this this landscape a few of them but the bamboo they just they just last for a long a lot longer time than most perennial grasses. They didn't remove the native trees that were well-placed when starting a garden pick the trees first and plan for a long-term commitment its easier to change out other plants later. It's nice to be able to change up things a lot of the perennials that we use you know are three four five years they're maxing out not looking good it's fun to actually go out and put something else and not put the exact same thing back Unlike a dense hedgerow this structure makes it easier for the family to modify Russell took on the 3 W's in this makeover water. Wonder and wildlife He conserved the first one, water, and magnified the rest.