Might 01, 2024
You wouldn’t anticipate finding an enormous prairie backyard right here — the yard of a non-public dwelling so near downtown Austin that blue-glass skyscrapers peek over the treetops. Proprietor Colin Corgan purchased a historic Eighties home within the Travis Heights neighborhood a couple of years in the past and launched into a metamorphosis of each the home and the property, a metamorphosis that respects the historical past of every.
He restored the outdated Victorian dwelling, retaining its reference to the previous, whereas including onto the again a up to date, glass-walled annex that embraces gentle and out of doors views. Even earlier than development was completed, Colin turned his consideration to the 1.3-acre lot, which occupies a whole metropolis block. Rather than a jungle of weeds and invasive timber that had colonized the property over the many years, he envisioned a local prairie backyard flowing round current stay oaks.
Colin introduced in prairie-restoration knowledgeable John Hart Asher of Blackland Collaborative to organize the soil and set up a local prairie backyard and a green-roof meadow atop the pool home. (Different components of the backyard had been designed by Shaney Clemmons of Shademaker Studio.) John Hart gave me a tour of the backyard final week.
As John Hart yanked up an invasive bromegrass (Bromus catharticus), he advised me that the prairie is turning into nicely established in its second 12 months. Upkeep contains chopping it again laborious annually in February, earlier than it breaks winter dormancy. In any other case, he prefers to range the upkeep schedule of a prairie to maintain from by accident creating situations for only a few species to dominate. “Upkeep is a time for analysis,” he says. “The energy of a prairie is the interactivity of it.”
As with every backyard, weeding is vital. Woody crops particularly threaten a prairie backyard, John Hart warns, as a result of they shade out sun-loving annuals and perennials. To drag woody crops with deep taproots, he recommends utilizing a weed wrench.
Later I requested Colin, who spoke with me by cellphone, why he needed a local prairie backyard. “As a result of that is what was right here,” he replied. “For me, it’s not simply the crops. It’s the ecosystem. Since planting this, there are extra birds and lizards. They understand it’s right here. It takes time for that to occur. And it’s lovely. I derive pleasure once I’m on the market. It’s applicable for this surroundings.”
A local Texan initially from Dallas, Colin appreciates that his half-acre prairie, when totally established, would require a lot much less water than a standard, lawn-dominated panorama. After I requested him what occurs with the prairie in summer time, he was matter-of-fact: “It goes dormant, proper? It turns brown. And that’s OK. It doesn’t hassle me. I imply, it’s 109 levels. What’s it speculated to do? I’m going dormant additionally.”
After all, a prairie doesn’t go fully dormant in summer time, even a blistering one. “You continue to have exercise in summer time,” Colin added. “It’s simply that the colours aren’t there. However that’s additionally a part of Texas. It’s a tradeoff.”
Chunky slabs of limestone lower a rugged path via the backyard, curving underneath a shady belt of stay oaks and junipers.
Blue curls, an enthralling annual or biennial wildflower, attracts bees.
Blue curls seedheads
Colin doesn’t have conventional turfgrass, and he has zero regrets about opting out. “What I inform my buddies, and I firmly consider this – individuals have an idealized picture of what their yard goes to appear to be: close-clipped inexperienced grass year-round, and it’s going to be lovely. I perceive that’s what you need. However that’s not going to occur. It’s not the top outcome. So many buddies with ‘regular’ yards — they don’t look the way in which they thought it will look, and so they require a number of repairs.”
He sees the prairie backyard as requiring much less work general. “I moved in in late October and didn’t do something till March, or one thing like that,” he stated. “It’s simply great. Usually talking, I really like the low upkeep with intervals of excessive upkeep, versus somebody coming by each week to edge and mow.”
In a again nook, out of the principle view of home and terrace, Colin put in a faux-turf {golfing} inexperienced for leisure enjoyment.
The limestone path takes you there, via prairie crops abuzz with bees, butterflies, and birds.
Standing cypress simply coming into bloom
Texas grama and standing winecup
Standing winecup
Coreopsis
Large coneflower
Pale purple coneflower (Echinacea pallida)
Coreopsis and painted girl butterfly
Sipping from a flower
Yellows dominate now, after the blues and pinks of early spring
View from the swimming pool terrace, with a lap pool beneath. Downtown’s skyscrapers will be glimpsed via the timber.
By the home, a sunken patio with a swooping, modern arbor makes a shady vacation spot for enjoyable outdoor.
Shademaker Studio collaborated on the design with Ken Johnson at Michael Hsu Office Of Architecture, which designed the house’s modern addition.
Broad view of the prairie
Grackle taking a stroll
Large coneflower with standing winecup and pink night primrose
Coreopsis
Engelmann’s daisy and standing cypress
Feathery foliage of standing cypress
John Hart is like each gardener I’ve ever identified — he can’t not pull a weed if he spots one.
In the midst of the prairie, a big berm conceals a sunken patio edged with dark-gray stone — a fireplace bunker, Shaney calls it. Her agency, Shademaker Studio, constructed it.
A Cowboy Cauldron stands within the heart, encircled by a council-ring bench, able to heat up cool nights with a fireplace. “I needed a spot away from the home,” Colin advised me. “I like the truth that if you happen to’re sitting in it, you’ll be able to’t actually see the home. You’re feeling such as you’re sort of tenting out. On the home facet, the south facet, we planted a bigtooth maple. It turns crimson within the fall — it’s actually fairly — after which loses its leaves within the winter, so the solar will are available there to heat you. I believed that was a pleasant contact.”
One other good contact is a backyard mural on a wall by a again gate.
My because of Colin for sharing his lovely backyard with me, and to John Hart for the tour and sharing the wonders of the prairie. For those who’d wish to study extra about this prairie backyard, watch John Hart’s video at Central Texas Gardener (Season 28, Episode 3).
I welcome your feedback. Please scroll to the top of this publish to depart one. For those who’re studying in an e mail, click here to visit Digging and discover the remark field on the finish of every publish. And hey, did somebody ahead this e mail to you, and also you wish to subscribe? Click here to get Digging delivered on to your inbox!
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Digging Deeper
Might 4: Discover “sensible backyards, good swimming pools and pergolas, and out of doors rooms and gardens” on the ATX Outdoor Living Tour on 5/4, 10 am to three pm. Panorama architects, designers, and builders can be readily available to reply questions. Tickets are $33.85 for adults, $17.85 for teenagers age 10-17.
Might 11: Tour 4 Austin gardens on 5/11, from 9 am to three pm, on the Inside Austin Gardens Tour. Every backyard “is created and cared for by a Travis County Grasp Gardener and demonstrates sensible gardening practices that inform and encourage.” Tickets are $20 upfront, obtainable via Might 5, or $25 on the day of the tour. Kids 12 and underneath get free admission.
Might 11: Save the date for Austin Home’s Great Outdoors Tour on 5/11.
Might 18: Pop as much as Dallas for the 2024 DCMGA Garden Tour on 5/18 from 10 am to five pm. Tickets are $18 if bought on-line prior to six pm on 5/17, or $22 after 6 pm on 5/17 or on the occasion. For a sneak peek, click here.
June 1-2: Take a self-guided, 2-day tour of ponds and gardens in and round Austin on the annual Austin Pond and Garden Tour, held 6/1 and 6/2, 9 am to five pm. Tickets are $20 to $25.
Come study gardening and design at Garden Spark! I manage in-person talks by inspiring designers, panorama architects, authors, and gardeners a couple of instances a 12 months in Austin. These are limited-attendance occasions that promote out shortly, so be a part of the Backyard Spark e mail listing to be notified upfront; merely click this link and ask to be added. Season 8 kicks off in fall 2024. Keep tuned for more information!
All materials © 2024 by Pam Penick for Digging. Unauthorized replica prohibited.
Might 01, 2024
You wouldn’t anticipate finding an enormous prairie backyard right here — the yard of a non-public dwelling so near downtown Austin that blue-glass skyscrapers peek over the treetops. Proprietor Colin Corgan purchased a historic Eighties home within the Travis Heights neighborhood a couple of years in the past and launched into a metamorphosis of each the home and the property, a metamorphosis that respects the historical past of every.
He restored the outdated Victorian dwelling, retaining its reference to the previous, whereas including onto the again a up to date, glass-walled annex that embraces gentle and out of doors views. Even earlier than development was completed, Colin turned his consideration to the 1.3-acre lot, which occupies a whole metropolis block. Rather than a jungle of weeds and invasive timber that had colonized the property over the many years, he envisioned a local prairie backyard flowing round current stay oaks.
Colin introduced in prairie-restoration knowledgeable John Hart Asher of Blackland Collaborative to organize the soil and set up a local prairie backyard and a green-roof meadow atop the pool home. (Different components of the backyard had been designed by Shaney Clemmons of Shademaker Studio.) John Hart gave me a tour of the backyard final week.
As John Hart yanked up an invasive bromegrass (Bromus catharticus), he advised me that the prairie is turning into nicely established in its second 12 months. Upkeep contains chopping it again laborious annually in February, earlier than it breaks winter dormancy. In any other case, he prefers to range the upkeep schedule of a prairie to maintain from by accident creating situations for only a few species to dominate. “Upkeep is a time for analysis,” he says. “The energy of a prairie is the interactivity of it.”
As with every backyard, weeding is vital. Woody crops particularly threaten a prairie backyard, John Hart warns, as a result of they shade out sun-loving annuals and perennials. To drag woody crops with deep taproots, he recommends utilizing a weed wrench.
Later I requested Colin, who spoke with me by cellphone, why he needed a local prairie backyard. “As a result of that is what was right here,” he replied. “For me, it’s not simply the crops. It’s the ecosystem. Since planting this, there are extra birds and lizards. They understand it’s right here. It takes time for that to occur. And it’s lovely. I derive pleasure once I’m on the market. It’s applicable for this surroundings.”
A local Texan initially from Dallas, Colin appreciates that his half-acre prairie, when totally established, would require a lot much less water than a standard, lawn-dominated panorama. After I requested him what occurs with the prairie in summer time, he was matter-of-fact: “It goes dormant, proper? It turns brown. And that’s OK. It doesn’t hassle me. I imply, it’s 109 levels. What’s it speculated to do? I’m going dormant additionally.”
After all, a prairie doesn’t go fully dormant in summer time, even a blistering one. “You continue to have exercise in summer time,” Colin added. “It’s simply that the colours aren’t there. However that’s additionally a part of Texas. It’s a tradeoff.”
Chunky slabs of limestone lower a rugged path via the backyard, curving underneath a shady belt of stay oaks and junipers.
Blue curls, an enthralling annual or biennial wildflower, attracts bees.
Blue curls seedheads
Colin doesn’t have conventional turfgrass, and he has zero regrets about opting out. “What I inform my buddies, and I firmly consider this – individuals have an idealized picture of what their yard goes to appear to be: close-clipped inexperienced grass year-round, and it’s going to be lovely. I perceive that’s what you need. However that’s not going to occur. It’s not the top outcome. So many buddies with ‘regular’ yards — they don’t look the way in which they thought it will look, and so they require a number of repairs.”
He sees the prairie backyard as requiring much less work general. “I moved in in late October and didn’t do something till March, or one thing like that,” he stated. “It’s simply great. Usually talking, I really like the low upkeep with intervals of excessive upkeep, versus somebody coming by each week to edge and mow.”
In a again nook, out of the principle view of home and terrace, Colin put in a faux-turf {golfing} inexperienced for leisure enjoyment.
The limestone path takes you there, via prairie crops abuzz with bees, butterflies, and birds.
Standing cypress simply coming into bloom
Texas grama and standing winecup
Standing winecup
Coreopsis
Large coneflower
Pale purple coneflower (Echinacea pallida)
Coreopsis and painted girl butterfly
Sipping from a flower
Yellows dominate now, after the blues and pinks of early spring
View from the swimming pool terrace, with a lap pool beneath. Downtown’s skyscrapers will be glimpsed via the timber.
By the home, a sunken patio with a swooping, modern arbor makes a shady vacation spot for enjoyable outdoor.
Shademaker Studio collaborated on the design with Ken Johnson at Michael Hsu Office Of Architecture, which designed the house’s modern addition.
Broad view of the prairie
Grackle taking a stroll
Large coneflower with standing winecup and pink night primrose
Coreopsis
Engelmann’s daisy and standing cypress
Feathery foliage of standing cypress
John Hart is like each gardener I’ve ever identified — he can’t not pull a weed if he spots one.
In the midst of the prairie, a big berm conceals a sunken patio edged with dark-gray stone — a fireplace bunker, Shaney calls it. Her agency, Shademaker Studio, constructed it.
A Cowboy Cauldron stands within the heart, encircled by a council-ring bench, able to heat up cool nights with a fireplace. “I needed a spot away from the home,” Colin advised me. “I like the truth that if you happen to’re sitting in it, you’ll be able to’t actually see the home. You’re feeling such as you’re sort of tenting out. On the home facet, the south facet, we planted a bigtooth maple. It turns crimson within the fall — it’s actually fairly — after which loses its leaves within the winter, so the solar will are available there to heat you. I believed that was a pleasant contact.”
One other good contact is a backyard mural on a wall by a again gate.
My because of Colin for sharing his lovely backyard with me, and to John Hart for the tour and sharing the wonders of the prairie. For those who’d wish to study extra about this prairie backyard, watch John Hart’s video at Central Texas Gardener (Season 28, Episode 3).
I welcome your feedback. Please scroll to the top of this publish to depart one. For those who’re studying in an e mail, click here to visit Digging and discover the remark field on the finish of every publish. And hey, did somebody ahead this e mail to you, and also you wish to subscribe? Click here to get Digging delivered on to your inbox!
__________________________
Digging Deeper
Might 4: Discover “sensible backyards, good swimming pools and pergolas, and out of doors rooms and gardens” on the ATX Outdoor Living Tour on 5/4, 10 am to three pm. Panorama architects, designers, and builders can be readily available to reply questions. Tickets are $33.85 for adults, $17.85 for teenagers age 10-17.
Might 11: Tour 4 Austin gardens on 5/11, from 9 am to three pm, on the Inside Austin Gardens Tour. Every backyard “is created and cared for by a Travis County Grasp Gardener and demonstrates sensible gardening practices that inform and encourage.” Tickets are $20 upfront, obtainable via Might 5, or $25 on the day of the tour. Kids 12 and underneath get free admission.
Might 11: Save the date for Austin Home’s Great Outdoors Tour on 5/11.
Might 18: Pop as much as Dallas for the 2024 DCMGA Garden Tour on 5/18 from 10 am to five pm. Tickets are $18 if bought on-line prior to six pm on 5/17, or $22 after 6 pm on 5/17 or on the occasion. For a sneak peek, click here.
June 1-2: Take a self-guided, 2-day tour of ponds and gardens in and round Austin on the annual Austin Pond and Garden Tour, held 6/1 and 6/2, 9 am to five pm. Tickets are $20 to $25.
Come study gardening and design at Garden Spark! I manage in-person talks by inspiring designers, panorama architects, authors, and gardeners a couple of instances a 12 months in Austin. These are limited-attendance occasions that promote out shortly, so be a part of the Backyard Spark e mail listing to be notified upfront; merely click this link and ask to be added. Season 8 kicks off in fall 2024. Keep tuned for more information!
All materials © 2024 by Pam Penick for Digging. Unauthorized replica prohibited.