dry creek Archives | Page 3 of 3 | Diana's Designs Austin

When it rains, it pours…and pours and pours…

3.66.

That’s my lucky number. At least for a while, it is.

That’s how much rain we got yesterday between 6 a.m. and 3:30 p.m. It came down in buckets. And I began putting out buckets, and watering cans and coolers. We have several rain barrels, but I didn’t want to waste a drop. It was delightful … but a little scary, too.

When we get rain here in Central Texas these days, especially in the middle of what they’re calling a 10-year drought, we see quite a few gully washers. Because of our rock and clay soil, a high volume of the good stuff, results in serious flooding. This dry creek, for example, isn’t supposed to be a creek at all, just an interesting addition to the landscape in this spot. But it had moving water in it yesterday.

The rain came so fast that the overflow pipe from the pool (only a few inches in diameter), was gushing, but just couldn’t handle it all.

This was the pool at 3:00 when we were still in the deluge. I thought it was going to overflow and started to worry about all the surrounding beds.

The path to the greenhouse and the vegetable garden looked like an aquarium for a while. Those plants, used to very little water and hot, baking sun, may be a little stressed for a while.

And the AC made terrible noises. I thought it was going to blow up! I turned it off and it’s fine this morning.

The migraine is gone and it’s cool and windy outside. Feels like fall. Real fall. Fall like they get way up north. Ahhhh. Jeans and long-sleeve weather. Football weather (oh nevermind, we’re not going to talk about that – Central Texas readers will know whereof I speak).

I’m about to bundle up and pull on my galoshes and head out to survey. Something I do most mornings. I know that one Candlestick tree – Cassia alata — was pushed over by the weight of the rain, but it isn’t broken.

I can imagine the plants – all recharging and taking deep breaths, ready for an amazing growth spurt and some fabulous bloom time.

I know some of the plants – especially some of the indigo spires salvias – will have brighter blooms. They’ll do that with even a little extra water, so there might be a show this morning.

While I’m excited about seeing the garden, it’s going to be an inside day — too wet and mucky to do anything outside. Organizing my office will be the perfect chore for a cool, breezy fall day, and it will feel good to finally focus on the inside for just a while. (A short while!)

Ahhhhhh….

By Diana C. Kirby|2017-11-29T23:27:13-06:00September 21st, 2013|Blog, creek, dry creek, flood, flooding, rain, rainfall, Sharing Nature's Garden|0 Comments

Reducing your lawn with beautiful alternatives

Last year, almost all of my landscape clients were searching for ways to reduce their lawn, water use and carbon footprint. The cost of water here has risen dramatically and our water restrictions make it difficult to keep certain kinds of turf looking decent anyway.

So what to do? Paving it over isn’t a pretty alternative, but there are many other beautiful choices to incorporate other elements into your landscape.

Creating an attractive and inviting landscape usually includes an interesting mix of plants and paths, patios and other areas designed for outdoor entertaining and enjoyment. Of course, you can build a few big beds and fill them with drought-tolerant native and adapted plants.

You can replace lawn with sitting and entertaining space — using paths of mulch, decomposed granite or flagstone, patios of native stone or bricks, wooden decks and gazebos, creating an inviting garden space when combined with planting beds. Dry creeks can be added to meander through your landscape to address drainage issues or simply for aesthetic use as a textural contrast to plants and mulch.

You can create a patio area in the front yard so you can watch kids play or visit with your neighbors.

Water features from ponds to disappearing fountains in ceramic pots can add a focal point and invite wildlife into your garden. Play scapes, hammocks, washer pits and fire pits or chimenarias also can be placed on a variety of hard scape materials in lieu of grass.

You can even put in that greenhouse you’ve always dreamed about. What a great way to rationalize that purchase!

I found some of the best inspiration I’ve seen, along with great step-by-step DIY information, in my friend and fellow blogger, Pam Penick’s new book, Lawn Gone!, Low Maintenance, Sustainable Attractive Alternatives for your Yard.

You can read more about Pam’s book and available lawn alternatives in my Austin American Statesman story. Or, check out her Lawn Alternatives Facebook page.

For some great ideas and practical suggestions, look for a copy of Pam’s book at Austin bookstores and nurseries or at Amazon.

So, if you want to reduce your lawn, take heart. There are endless attractive and practical solutions that will enhance your landscape.

By Diana C. Kirby|2019-07-15T19:14:41-05:00February 24th, 2013|beds, Blog, dry creek, greenhouse, lawn alternatives, Lawn Gone, Pam Penick, paths, patio, play scapes, reduce grass, Sharing Nature's Garden|0 Comments

Spring garden project …before, during and during…

It’s time for spring garden projects — time to implement the ideas that have been percolating over the winter, waiting for sunny days and a fresh, new start.

A section of my landscape has been sad for several seasons. It wasn’t quite what I wanted and most of the plants just wouldn’t grow anymore. Lantana wasn’t growing, for heaven’s sake. What does that tell you?!

So, this week, we (the royal we – meaning I had help!) dug up the strip of grass designed as a contrast, shoveled up the existing rock to make a more natural-looking dry creek, brought in a yard of soil and turned up what little existing soil was there — some of which was caliche and some was actually road base, left by the construction workers when they built the house 12 years ago. Seriously? You just dumped it here?

I planted a row of bright edge yuccas and some mystic spires salvia along with a firecracker fern. There are still some Mexican mint marigold there, along with some blackfoot daisies that are going to have to move, but I had to look at them with the other plants to make decisions about what to do with them.

So, it’s not done-done, but it’s pretty close and I’ve got a good sense of what I’ll do next.

When it comes to spring projects, are you still plotting or planting?

By Diana C. Kirby|2016-04-14T02:39:32-05:00February 13th, 2013|Blog, bright edge yucca, dry creek, landscape project, projects, river rock bed, Sharing Nature's Garden|0 Comments

Garden resolutions 2013

I’ve long given up New Year’s Resolutions — but I do make some to-do lists. If I call them to-do lists, I seem to get around to them better!

This year I have a long garden to-do list. Perhaps committing it to eternal, world-wide view on my blog will help me check things off my list!

So, here goes:

1. Plant more trees outside the back fence in front of scrubby cedars. I love this smoke tree and planted one for a client this fall, wishing all the while that I had one to enjoy.

2. Have an a corner arbor build to showcase my tangerine cross vine and my wisteria. The cross vine winds along the fence and then climbs 20 feet up into a tree where I can’t see it. The wisteria spends most of its time hanging out on the opposite side of the fence — hiding from me — to be closer to the morning sun. A tall arbor would give them both plenty of room to keep growing — growing where I can enjoy them!

3. Replace the pride of Barbados that I lost over the last two winters. I love the explosion of color these trees bring in the late summer and I’ve missed mine. I vow to find some great hot spots for them to thrive.

4. I will buy more bigger starter plants this year. I’ve bemoaned the fact that my newer plants struggled to come back from harsh winters and scalding summers. Some years they even came back smaller than when I planted them! When I can, I want to invest in more established plants.

5. With too much on my plate, blogging and scrapbooking have waited in the wings too much this year. I love those creative outlets and want to give myself more opportunities for gathering inspiration from them.

6. Divide, divide, divide. I have irises, bi-color irises and lilies that really need dividing. In fact, they needed dividing this fall. This will be the year of dividing, replanting and sharing.

7. Prune, prune, prune. My cottage garden, cutting garden and hot southwest garden all suffered from overgrown-itis this year. Yes, the plants were all beautiful, but I know that pruned properly they would have complemented each other and showcased their individual characteristics better.

8. This year I will plant my bulbs before January … oh, wait … that means today! Yikes – better go find them and get to planting!

9. I WILL make homemade pesto from my basil “trees” this year. I say that every year when my basil gets out of hand — I mean stunning — but this year I really mean it.

10. And last, well, there never is a last, but I plan to dig up most of this and rebuild the dry creek with moss rock and other, larger stones. The recycled glass will come out and I will raise up the bed to help plants thrive there. With very little soil and a berm to avoid soil on the fence, the plants don’t get enough water and the soil just isn’t deep enough. The solution — protect the fence from rotting by putting hardy board against it and rock in the front to add good soil.

That’s the list — for now. As with everything in gardening – it’s organic and will change a thousand times over the next year. But it’s a good start and I feel good about making decisions to tackle some of my current and perpetual problems.

Guess we’ll see where I end up this time next year.

What’s on your garden resolution list for 2013?

By Diana C. Kirby|2017-11-29T23:27:15-06:00December 30th, 2012|2013, basil, Blog, blogging, bulbs, cross vine, dividing, dry creek, pesto, planning, Pride of Barbados, projects, pruning, resolutions, scrapbooking, Sharing Nature's Garden, smoke tree, to do, trees, wisteria|0 Comments

Signs of fall in my garden…plants and projects…

There are several signs of fall in my Central Texas garden. The Mexican Mint Marigold is in full bloom after a summer of green. I can always count on their bright and cheerful flowers after the temperatures begin to cool.
The fall asters are look like lavender firecracker bursts with the fine little petals.
The end of summer also brings out these sunflowers – Helianthus Maxmilliani. They are rather leggy this year from getting too much shade under the oak trees, but I still love their statuesque 6 feet tall form.

Blooms are the only thing that comes with the fall garden. As the temperatures drop, I get the itch to start a garden project…or two!
This little bed on the edge of our woods was pure happenstance. After laying out the bed below, I had quite a bit of leftover recycled glass and decided to make use of it, clearing out little understory scrub oaks and cedars and making a proper place for the birdbath that was tucked in the brush.
But this was the real project. This very large terra cotta pot (not my favorite) had been sitting at the edge of the woods gathering dead leaves, because I kept forgetting to water it and the deer kept eating my plants.

So I decided to move it to the crushed granite path entrance as a focal point and surround it with some recycled glass so it would look like a pond leading into the dry river rock dry creek.

Inside it, I planted a volunteer agave, from a passalong given to me by Phillip of East Side Patch . (One of many, I might add! He’s renown for sharing his agaves.)

And the small river rock outlining the tributary came as a donation from my neighbors — left over from a project they did and sitting by the side of the road with grass growing in it! I asked to buy some and they gave it to me.

With the free rock, $5 worth of recycled glass from the city, and old pot and a volunteer agave, this was designing on a budget! My only real cost was labor for the help I had hauling and spreading the rock.

I’m happy with the result, and now I have some more space in the accidental bed for planting! Imagine that!
While we’ve had temps down to 40, the days can still get up to 80 here, so we have about another month to garden here.