trees

“Deep Breath”

ESPatch Nov 14, 2013 11 comments

Here is a new 360 plan I generated for a property in north Austin,

and here are the renderings that I used to communicate the design intent to the client. I superimposed the new design onto the black and white images.

The homeowners wanted to significantly reduce the amount of lawn without alienating the rest of the predominately turfed neighborhood, an interesting challenge.

The back patio was an assortment of plants and different mediums that made the space feel cramped and claustrophobic. I wanted to open this space up and create an extension to the patio that would lead naturally into pathways on both sides of the property.

The property lacked any real flow from the front to the back, my goal was to introduce pathways that would encompass and direct foot traffic on all sides of the house, but first a lot of tear-out had to happen. About 5 dumpsters worth to be precise.

Lots of overgrown shrubbery had to be removed up against the house and as for the 2ft Asiatic jasmine filled ‘flan’ brick-circle around the oak?

Well, you all know my bias thoughts on this demonic ground cover.

Oh yes, there was a lot more of this going on as the underworld critters living in the jasmine darted around our ankles. The flan actually ended up more like a pizza, it was cut and removed in six horrible slices. The bricks performed their usual trick of exponential expansion after being demolished with a sledge hammer.

Here is the front yard stripped back to its bare-bones. The trunk-flare on the oak is now visible and the tree, being free from the clutches of the dark Trachelospermum, can once again breathe freely.

This had to be one of the longest hell-strips I have taken out. The turf here was mounded and the grade had to be taken down significantly for fresh aggregate to be reintroduced.

Here is the back all cleared out, and here it is,

in its darkest hour,

with a new sprinkler and drip irrigation system being installed (not by me).

The front also received a good pummeling.

Contours were defined, materials brought in, the installation was underway.

Here are some before and after shots of the completed design:

What was once an overgrown planting bed became a wide entryway into the garden from the driveway and front door.

The wrap-round strip of grass in front of the boulders naturalizes the scheme street-side into the neighborhood aesthetic.

The removal of this wall opened up the view and allowed room for this side pathway to run behind the leaning oak.

A paved side courtyard continues

around to expand the back patio. Ornamental grasses and rosemary have been planted to soften the corners and hardscaping over time.

This back area was 12ft deep in nandina – which is never a good thing. (another potential botanical rant could most certainly be inserted here).

EXORIST, I.V.

I cast you out, invasive nandina!

An exorcism was performed along with some sage smudging and cleansing (you have to do this with nandina or it will come back) making the whole back garden feel significantly larger.

A new metal mailbox was installed which works perfectly with the color of the moss boulders and decomposed granite. Here is a link to Urban Mettle, the company that designs and makes these mailboxes…and a whole lot more:

http://www.etsy.com/shop/UrbanMettle

Now to wait a couple of years until the plants fill-in.

Back in the Patch:

This is my favorite time of the year, right before the first frosts start hitting hard.

Hoja Santa is the first plant to complain when the first real freeze arrives,

but for now they are still standing tall even though it got very cold the last few nights.

Cooler temperatures trigger the desert trumpets into action,

and the Mexican bush sage keeps on going at the back,

and front of the Patch.

In preparation for Christmas…

plumosa fern is always first to break out the decorations.

My Christmas present arrived at my door early, I had been looking forward to this moment for months…the wait was finally over.

Was I going to wait to open it?

Oh no…zip, zip…

zip.

It was a brand new set of…

David Naill highland bagpipes complete with blackwood mounts and nickel slides…snort.

My neighbors and Kumo (who, with the first squawk shot under the bed) are going to be so happy!

I will subject you to a wee tune next week if you would like.

Any requests?

Except that one.

Inspirational Images of the Week:

Cacoon Hanging Chair

http://www.hang-in-out.com/home/ca

Stay Tuned for:

“Up In Flames”

All material © 2013 for eastsidepatch. Unauthorized
intergalactic reproduction strictly prohibited, and
punishable by late (and extremely unpleasant)
14th century planet Earth techniques.

“Vomit on my Gromit”

ESPatch Sep 8, 2013 6 comments

Things took quite a surreal turn the other day.

One of my kids was down with a fever, on the couch watching TV, dog asleep on floor, I think you know where I am going with this.

The quick vertical sitting motion immediately garnered my attention as it does with any parent…something was terribly wrong and it was about to get much worse.

“Are you okay?”

Was immediately followed by a good portion of breakfast being spontaneously deposited directly onto Kumo’s back from the couch. This involuntary action took us all by surprise especially Kumo who was now standing quite still (apart from the occasional but now intensified neurotic shiver that he always has) with an expression in his eyes that is usually reserved for panic-stricken horses.

Another dimension was added to the scene when Kumo, now thinking he was getting in trouble, started to nervously retreat into the doorway with his teetering cargo, or I hate to say it, in his mind, a potential future Michelin star quality meal.

Oh yes he would.

He actually turned to bite at his new and nasty “back-pack” numerous times as he was “escorted” extremely quickly out of the house to the garden hose.

Poor Kumo, his face says it all.

Moving a little less grossly along…

What?

I had the pleasure of meeting this huge roach as I was messing with the pump in my feeder pond. His timing and navigational skills were outstanding, the stuff of nightmares. I saw him in my peripheral vision swinging effortlessly around a Walska lily pad, gaining momentum before heading straight for my exposed arm almost at eye level.

Needless to say I ended up on my backside under my cypress tree muttering.

8820262078_03e09cc79c_h

I hate roaches.

Late afternoon thunderstorms have given sporadic rain around Austin and created some amazing sunsets and cloud formations this week. This one looks like Egypt with a shade canopy in the foreground making a great pyramid.

Unfortunately the only moisture the patch has received of late has been from my sprinkler. It was the first time I have used it all summer, but things were getting, shall we say, desperate in the Patch.

Baby loquats, lemon grass, bush sages and some fountain and feather grasses are looking like they now may be past the point of no return.

It does not take long in consistent upper 90 degree heat to put a stress on all things green, well, most things.

He never misses out on a sprinkler or hosing opportunity.

Considering this is the first time I have used this sprinkler this year the plants have held up well. I have hand watered struggling plants with the water I have sporadically collected in my “everything but the kitchen sink” water collection “system” but for the most part they have been left on their own.

I performed a quick fix on my leaning Buddha’s belly bamboo to at least get it to where I could walk under it:

A chunk of giant timber bamboo wedged behind this pomegranate tree did the trick.

With no additional watering and with the exception of a couple of gaura that look like they are now are pushing up the daisies, so to speak, (I always cut these back rather then pull them…just in case) the front of house is looking dry but is surviving.

The dry bamboo muhly matches our house color perfectly.

This esperanza adds a splash of color to the tortured trunk of this desert willow in the hell-strip:

“Its the yellow bells Esperanza”

I am a big fan of sabal major (and minor come to think of it) and agaves, the trunk of the sabal palm echoing the form of the agave.

This specimen was a pup when I planted it.

This next one is one of my favorites with its variegated leaves and painful extremities.

Agave Kissho kan

Agave pototarum ‘Variegata’ (I think)

Chocolatey, minty and seriously deadly.