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grounded gardening in austin texas it s not for sissies menu skip to content home about me a healing home my new waterfall and grotto jun 30 i had a vision for the new pond waterfall i penned a ton of inspirational photos onto pinterest and i also had it in my head definitely a natural look softened by not having any rectangular shapes it s really not a pond anymore as much as it is a catch basin for a waterfall with great sound after a few bumps in the road when attempting to hire the work done by someone else who didn t understand my vision lori and i did the job ourselves first we had to do a little hard work and by we i mean lori since i had so many problems with my previous pond leaking we made sure we did it right once the area was excavated into the shape we wanted we laid carpet over all the sharp edges and rocks lori decided to take a break at this point next came the heavy duty liner on top of the carpet and then we created the falls with large rocks this time the liner went completely under the falls which is different than the last one was that one was made before the era of youtube and the internet meaning we had no idea what we were doing next we just started stacking rocks around the edges cutting off extra liner and doubling the liner underneath some rocks on the edge of note in the photo below see that top rock that is more white than the others larger and with a flattened top that s actually not a rock i need something to cover the water spill tank and i ordered this faux rock online in person it is so realistic that no one has ever suspected otherwise you can see in the photo following that i stacked other rocks on top of it to blend it in it was almost cathartic lifting and toting these huge limestone rocks and letting them shape themselves into a grotto like you might see it at pedernales falls a beautiful natural formation in the aquifer basins of central texas just what i wanted in the background of these photos notice the beautiful painted fence and what a great backdrop it creates for some of the structural plants and shrubs i m loving that change the most the before and after of the fence painting and plantings are in this post the waterfall grotto is now connected to a raised bed behind it where i put all of my favorite bearded iris the entire grouping now makes sense in the yard instead of being a random island of plants disconnected from everything else i m loving my backyard redo i m finally getting happy with my yard something that s hard for this malcontent to say this entry was posted on june 30 2014 in 2014 garden year seven hardscape and tagged grotto waterfall 12 comments inside austin gardens tour 2014 apr 26 lori daul s inviting garden is a gardener s garden austin garden bloggers sometimes get to do some pretty cool things things that make me feel special which is always a good deal this time we all got a preview of the upcoming inside austin gardens tour the tour is open for public viewing soon may 3 to be exact and you can find out where to buy tickets here dugie david graham s garden with extensive hardscape and water features with native plantings the tour includes gardens to explore continuous one on one educational offerings kids activities and book sales jerry naiser s manicured garden is hot hot hot the tour is presented by travis county master gardeners association and the texas a m agrilife extension service lori daul s garden makes beautiful use of a narrow side entrance something many of us contend with this year s theme is gardens eclectic and it is certainly fulfilling that concept you will find something that tickles your fancy no matter your style and everything is do able on a normal budget rather than the high dollar designer landscapes that are often on garden tours passionvine in austin neal s creative contemporary garden lori daul has a head for design or 3 as it were enjoy austin gardens before the summer heat wilts us along with the flowers may 3 put it on your calendar now ken and robin howard moore have plants you may not find elsewhere in austin stock tanks are a brilliant design feature and lori daul makes liberal use of them in her gardens lori s artistic eye shows in her unique water feature lori daul s very healthy drought tolerant lawn that is her own creative mix of st augustine sedge and mint this entry was posted on april 26 2014 in austin garden tours 4 comments backyard makeover the plan mar 9 it all started with a rotted board in the deck what could have been a fairly minor deck repair has morphed into a total backyard makeover well that s gardening right my 30 year old deck has been repaired almost every year for the past 10 years when i stepped through a rotten board last fall i knew it was time to stop patching and make major changes here s how the thought process went see if you relate the deck is rotten underneath in the structural area it isn t safe i really want a screened in porch to enjoy the yard when i imagine myself sitting in the new porch i realize there is nothing i want to look at i m frustrated with the state of the backyard that used to feel so private over the years photinias that screened the neighbors died 3 huge lady banks roses that screened noise from the street died and i removed several humongous invasive nandinas that created another screen there s no longer the feel of intimacy things look really sparse in the winter and there are no privacy shrubs anymore so before i added on a porch i needed an overall plan to create a backyard i m happy with this was a new thing usually i just do one project a year and sorta try to make it coordinate with other stuff already there needless to say that led me to where i am unhappy with the whole shebang i called on a few friends for ideas friends with better visions than i of outdoor spaces oh boy that opened a can of worms lori gardener of good and evil mostly evil right now wait till you read the work list below reminded me that since she has known me i ve complained about problems with my pond and waterfall truth be told i ve had problems with the old poorly made pond since i moved in 14 years ago she also noticed something i ve not publicly complained about but struggled with when trying to design around there are too many awkwardly placed egress points from the deck the pathways limit other uses of the deck i also realized that once i modified my fence 7 years ago my privacy has been compromised back here affecting my enjoyment of the yard more than i was aware the plan rapidly became 1 completely tear down and remove the existing waterfall 2 rebuild a new waterfall to integrate it more into the surrounding environment 3 remove the old bridge one egress point and falling down nautical style posts surrounding the bridge before we can remove the bridge we have to 4 create a new appropriately placed walkway through the old pond area thus immediately giving that space context that it lacked to create the walkway i have to a remove a bed b move a several hundred pound boulder c dig out a 30 year old dwarf yaupon and hopefully move it intact d remove old deck slats in the way to remove the old deck slats i have to i empty the garden tool shed so it can be moved out of the way ii cut off existing deck beams that will interfere e add steps through the old pond area to create a grand new entrance to the backyard this will become a lovely pathway with visual interest i because of the new entrance i have to create a focal scene as you step into the yard in this area this involved an area that had never been touched in at least 20 years sigh all the other completed areas over the years and the one area that hadn t been touched now becomes a must do 5 privacy plants needed to go into the yard asap before summer sets in but lori bless her heart also noted that the ugly fence another mistake i allowed my neighbor to influence the fence style when it was newly put in 7 years ago needed to be changed she convinced me that painting it would help me enjoy my plants more and regain an intimate feel to the yard a before plants could be put in the fence needed to be painted this is the phase it s in right now which leads me to the cool stuff finally if you ve ever wondered if you should paint your fence i think these photos will convince you i knew what color i wanted so i had a custom color created at lowe s here s the before and after this is now going to be the first thing you see as you enter a large part of the back yard not good it s already dramatically better painting the fence and adding variegated pittosporum and a couple of pots makes a huge difference while waiting on plants to grow i can live with this easily until the plants fill in i connected the new focal area with the rest of the yard with this new bed i added the rock edging to bridge the new focal area and the side daylily bed next to the neighbors and after paint wow what a difference right i think that sculptural dead tree deserves a clematis or equally pretty vine don t you i absolutely love how this tree can finally be seen it s always been a favorite and i never knew how to show it off note nothing on that list fixes the deck which is where this problem started isn t that how it goes i ll make it safe to use this year and a new patio deck will become next year s project after the plants have gotten a bit more established the deck footprint will change accordingly then who knows maybe i ll get a screened in porch the new view as you enter from the new entrance when those pittosporum and aralia grow that s going to look so lush i m hoping it will screen the backyard neighbors many structures this entry was posted on march 9 2014 in 2014 garden year seven hardscape and tagged aralia painted fence pittosporum 20 comments back in the saddle mar 9 2011 just about did me in it was a six month long summer from hell beyond any heat and drought imaginable i am strongly affected by the weather and that year drove me to resent where i lived i didn t go outside for 5 long months may through september everything in the yard was dying or struggling including decades old oaks and elms i gave up gardening then never had i worked so hard for such meager rewards many things bit the dust in 2011 subsequently in 2012 i posted about things other than gardening and then finally nothing at all i got very busy with a new job venture and gardening went by the wayside other than maintenance then the maintenance became too much too hot too expensive too much to do every year in my efforts to create a lovely native landscape my water bills went up my mulch bill skyrocketed and now i had to pay the lawnmowers plus trim a bunch of native plants more work and not enough enjoyment i had begun to hate my yard i decided last summer that the winter projects this year are all intended to make the yard look better with less maintenance that means less perennials to cut back twice a year that means more tough evergreens that don t need to be babied pretty but too much work to maintain to accommodate this the plants in the front yard stop sign bed played musical chairs in the fall things that were overgrown were either yanked out or moved i only kept the perennials that i really really liked for me that short list is pride of barbados one of the reasons i created the bed was so i could grow this esperanza moy grande hibiscus lantana and fall aster everything else now in the bed is either evergreen or a bulb tuber iris society garlic creme de menthe pittosporum daylilies lambs ears crape myrtle mountain laurel color guard yucca hardy ice plant pics to come later when things start to green up right now it is just a bunch of sticks secondly all the front beds were finally at long last finished off with limestone edging the existing black plastic edging that was supposed to be temporary ended up being there over five years so glad to see that gone before the beds don t have a good transition between the grass and they are so empty in the winter with the perennials that i was using they re gone now to be replaced soon by low maintenance evergreens after stage one so much better already once the new plants are in place i ll put this bed to rest for a while with some mulch and weekly watering good friend and tough love landscape designer lori gardener of good and evil reminded me to plant what works somehow i was finally ready to hear the advice stop trying to create the landscaping of my dreams that doesn t grow here i can never have lush acid loving plants like hydrangeas camellias azaleas lilac and more it finally sunk in that i have to observe what can survive in central texas harsh environments and put in more of those things loropatelum zhuzhou more upright and easily pruned to a small tree than other varieties is one of those so it was added where i need some height by the front entrance it grows quickly so hopefully it will own that spot soon i ll soon add pittosporum aralia color guard yucca and non invasive firepower nandina to populate this bed it will give me a consistent look winter and summer and is very low maintenance yes there s so much more to come i ll be blogging over the next few months the re do to create less maintenance has morphed into a complete makeover front and back it s fun i m enjoying it and hopefully i can continue to enjoy gardening again as i learn to stop trying to push the river this entry was posted on march 9 2014 in 2014 garden year seven hardscape and tagged front yard limestone makeover 11 comments chihuly night at the dallas arboretum may 26 this gallery contains 13 photos this entry was posted on may 26 2012 in 2012 year five garden decor garden tours and tagged chihuly dallas arboretum 12 comments post navigation older posts search for recent posts my new waterfall and grotto inside austin gardens tour 2014 backyard makeover the plan back in the saddle chihuly night at the dallas arboretum bloom day may 2012 chocolate chip 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