The Patient Gardener

I have been contemplating starting a new blog with the above title, and perhaps I will eventually do that, but I see the phrase has already been appropriated by various commercial interests, so I might need a different name. Still, the concept is apt. All gardeners must learn to be patient. There is no rushing nature. But my own thoughts are more about the approach I've taken since we acquired this house and the surrounding property here in the Texas hill country northwest of Austin. The land here is not naturally fertile. The topsoil is shallow and very alkaline, and the climate is dry. Without massive irrigation, not much grows here other than brush and weeds.

When we first moved in, it seemed that was just about all we had. But the previous owners had been thoughtful in their landscaping, and when I looked more closely, I could see that there was more to work with than I had first realized. After being rented out for a couple of years, our small front lawn was nothing but crab grass, nutsedge, and grass spurs. And the rest of the yard seemed to have grown wild as well. Not wanting to take on any more lawn care effort than previous renters, at first I just borrowed a weed whacker from a friend and trimmed the growth a bit around the house. The owners had fenced in a small garden and patio in the rear of the house. There were even some raised beds that might have beckoned to me, but those too had gone to weeds, and by the time we were moved in, it was the middle of June, the heat was upon us, and I wasn't inclined to test my gardening skills.

But by November we had decided to buy the house and the lot next door, and I began thinking of ways to improve the yard and garden. I knew that I wanted to follow the original owners' plan, which had included using mostly native, drought tolerant plants. But I also wanted to restore the small front lawn, which appeared to have traces of what once had been Bermuda grass growing among the weeds. At first I began pulling the weeds and encouraging the Bermuda to spread as it is wont to do, but I could see that would be very labor intensive and would take years to restore even such a small lawn of about 500 square feet. With the help of a friend, I also began hauling in small loads of stone to replace the weeds that had taken over the east side of the house. But, again, the slow progress made me look for other alternatives.

So I called a local lawn professional and told him what I wanted. He counseled me to completely replace the front lawn with Bermuda sod, and to haul in several yards of river rock to completely cover the side yard from the back to the front of the property. And by the end of March that is what we had done. With a little coaxing, the Bermuda sod took hold in about a month, and the river stones were not only very attractive and practical for wild fire suppression, but also virtually maintenance free. In fact, we liked the effect so well that I took my little utility trailer to the local hardware store and purchased another half yard of stones to put on the other side of the house to fill in the space between the house and driveway where the previous owners had used cedar mulch.

Once I had done that much, I set about restoring some of the original plantings. Except for the small front lawn, now planted with Bermuda, the rest of the front yard is natural. The house is on a more or less leveled area just off the crest of a hill that drops away rather steeply to the street in front (south) and towards a significant retaining wall on the left (east), shoring up the hillside and separating our property from our neighbors. Where the yard descends to the street and towards the retaining wall the land is the natural layered limestone of the Texas hill country, suitable for cactus, agarita, and a variety of wild flowers and native grasses. This part we've left more or less natural, but on the edges of the lawn we've encouraged the rosemary bushes and three varieties of salvia that the previous owners had planted. With a little care, all are now doing well, and the salvia provide color and attract butterflies and hummingbirds.

One of our front yard's focal points is a large agave plant that would be beautiful if the deer were not attracted to it. In the fall the bucks seem to like polishing their horns by rubbing them against the agave and tearing it to shreds. I've put some stakes around it, and these seem to have helped to discourage them, but I'll know more in another few months. We also have a large patch of native prickly pear cactus growing between the agave and the spreading rosemary. These plants, along with the salvia, form a perimeter on the edge of the lawn where the ground begins to descend towards the street and retaining wall. The hillside near the street is now a variety of native shrubs, grasses, and wildflowers. The hillside that drops toward the river rocks and retaining wall is now a rudimentary rock garden. I've pulled all the weeds, the ones I'd prefer not to have there, and brought more large stones to add to those placed there by the original owners. The stones are primarily to control soil erosion, so I've encouraged the grass to grow among them and planted some thyme, which seems to be surviving the drought so far and adds interest. I may eventually plant more cactus among the rocks to accompany a thriving pencil cactus growing at the foot of the slope on that east side of the yard.

Last summer I began my campaign to remove the wild plants I didn't want. These included the grass spurs, crab grass, and some of the less attractive tall grasses. What I discovered, as I began to reveal more of the yard beyond the small lawn area, was that there was some remaining grass, apparently planted by the previous owners, that was still alive and beginning to recover and spread once the weeds were pulled. This appears to be zoysia, which would not have been my preference, but it does seem to be fairly drought tolerant. I have watered it sparingly and have allowed it to grow somewhat taller than the Bermuda I planted two years ago. It has now spread to cover some of the bare areas where there had been primarily weeds and crab grass. As the zoysia spreads, I've continued to pull the crab grass and weeds, allowing it to fill in. I've also left several clumps of muhly grass to fill in on the eastern slop of the yard. In the front, by the street, I've trimmed the native grass and left as many of the wild flowers as I can, especially the verbena, which seems to thrive there, especially in the spring and early summer. We would like to have bluebonnets as well, but that may take some effort, since none seem to be growing naturally along our street.

One very noticeable feature of our front yard, and also very attractive, are the large Texas sage bushes growing by our front porch and on the east side of the house. These have a tendency to grow to a considerable size if not pruned regularly. Last year I pruned them very severely. In fact, my wife feared I'd killed them. But with the return of spring they sprouted, and have now almost achieved their original size. They bloom frequently during the spring and summer, providing a burst of color with small dark pink blossoms that attract swarms of bees. Like most of our other plants, they are very drought tolerant. The bushes that grow in the front of the house get watered along with the lawn, but those on the side are watered only when it rains, and yet they all thrive with no further attention other than the necessary pruning I've done to keep them under control.

So far I've been satisfied with the results of my patient campaign to restore the front yard. We have a small green lawn surrounded by some colorful, drought tolerant, and mostly deer resistant plants. So far I've added nothing other than the thyme I planted in the rock garden, but the yard has slowly recovered and begun to reveal the natural beauty that the original owners seem to have intended. Next time I will say something about what I've done in the back of the house, especially with the patio and garden. There too I've taken what I consider a patient approach, trying to allow what was there to recover and thrive, and adding some garden herbs, vegetables, and flowers of our own choosing. My approach is to keep everything manageable, so that I can enjoy both the work and the results, without feeling that I've created a monster. So far I've enjoyed my gardening. I don't want it to become a chore or a burden.