Drive-By Gardens: Contemporary, lawn-gone front yard
I walked by this home in my northwest Austin ‘hood the other day and — bam! — the landscaping stopped me in my tracks. A silver-green planting of whale’s tongue agave, woolly stemodia, and grassy Lindheimer nolina (I think) makes a textural, deer-resistant welcome to this 1970s ranch. A low wall manages the sloping grade change and creates subtle separation between the public-facing part of the yard and an inner, more-private patio by the front door.
Speaking of the door, I adore that sky-blue paint job.
Looking lengthwise, you see how the curving lot was accommodated with an apron of gravel, which provides easy access for visitors parking along the curb. There’s no reason your visitors or the pizza delivery guy must squeeze past your plants — or, heaven forbid, step on them — when exiting their cars. A strip of gravel solves that problem. This gravel strip absorbs the curve, and then the modern straight lines of the steel edging and wall take over.
Inside the wall, under the shade of trees, inland sea oats provides more grassy, deer-resistant texture. The small, mounding plants by the potted cactus look like asparagus fern (Asparagus densiflorus ‘Sprengeri’). It looks like the agaves have been troubled a bit by deer-antlering during the fall rut (as mine have been), and I suspect the owners will have to cage them from September through April to prevent further damage. A frustrating fact of life in my part of town.
It was so nice to run across this beautiful design that eliminates thirsty lawn, updates the house, and creates a semi-private front-yard living space. Win-win-win!
I learned later that woman-owned B. Jane designed this garden and Fertile Ground has done some of the maintenance. Nice job, ladies!
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I wish I saw more front gardens like that here. The woolly stemodia is wonderful – I understand it’s native to your part of the country but I wish we could get it here.
Yes, it is native to southern and coastal Texas and Mexico, according to the Wildflower Center’s plant database. It’s one of my favorite groundcovers — tough and drought tolerant and deer resistant.
Love the landscape design & plantings. I would have preferred the wall a few feet taller. Woolly stemodia is a new plant to me, after looking it up seems it needs acidic soil, do you know if it does well in alkaline conditions (southern CA)?
What is the recently planted small tree near the driveway? Love your article ideas for drive-by gardens, I can learn so much!!!
Woolly stemodia is native to southern and coastal Texas and Mexico and does very well in central Texas, a very alkaline region. We’re on lots of limestone here.
I can’t identify the small tree from my pics. Next time I walk by, I’ll take another look. Thanks for reading!
Thanks, Pam! I’ve been thinking about doing something like this with our front area; the photos help me visualize possibilities.
Good, I’m glad it’s giving you some ideas. B. Jane’s designs are always wonderful.
What a beautifully done conversion to a lawn-gone front yard. It’s very peaceful and soothing, but then there’s that surprising and delightful, bright front door. Love the courtyard in the front, too. Nice find!
I was happy to discover it!
I’m in Anderson Mill off 183 – any chance this is near me? It would be helpful to see it in person. So much inspiration!!
It’s in the Westover Hills neighborhood. Sorry I can’t be more specific.
This reminds me soooo much of B. Jane’s front garden— the low wall, the fountain tucked into the corner, even the way the plants are arranged. I admire the restraint!
It’s her design, which I mentioned at the end of my post. Don’t know if you saw that — but yes!