Natural, Native, Sustainable, A Sense of Place

This Thanksgiving holiday we spent time at my brother's home, which is just west of Ft. Worth. They have a beautiful home and property on about 2 acres. The really cool thing about how they've landscaped it is that they've kept much of the native ecosystem intact. This property is in a suburban neighborhood of 1 to 2 acre properties, most of which have the traditional front yard of bermuda or, heaven forbid, St. Augustine grass. Now I have nothing against St. Augustine grass (I have some, actually way too much of it, myself). But the area these homes are located in is suffering from serious water issues and this past year they have been especially dry. Plus, this area is a beautiful ecosystem of hills, creeks, rocks (lots of them), and native plants like yuccas, cacti, and a multitude of different wildflowers.

So when my brother and his wife first moved in and started their "non-landscape", the neighbors were perplexed and some were none too happy. Where was the traditional front yard? Where was the grass and where were the foundation bushes? As you can see in this first photo, there has been some compromise. Buffalo grass was brought in and placed in large drifts from street level up towards the house. The other drifts are plants that were already existing on the property, like Little Bluestem grasses, yuccas, gayfeather, coreopsis, and other wildflowers.

As you get closer to the front porch and house, there are more non-native but well adapted plants. I think this is a key design point - plant what you like but marry it to the sense of place. In this photo you can see the retaining wall they built in front of the porch. It contains old garden roses, salvias, rosemary, artemesia, and other hardy but decorative plants.

There's a parking area/turn-around near the house made of gravel. Stepping stones lead to both the front porch and a "mud room garden". The entrance to the mud room garden has a gate and trellis with a climbing Old Blush rose. In the garden itself are herbs, roses, and flowering plants.

And of course, a little home made rain barrel tops off the mud room garden. All of these pictures were taken just last week but I wish you could see it in springtime. It's a fantastic riot of colorful wildflowers, birds, and butterflies. And most importantly, at least to my mind, it's a sustainable landscape that's well suited to the area.

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