Self-sustaining landscape beautifullysuited for Stage 3 drought conditions
landscape ready for current Stage 3 drought restrictions is November’s Yard of the Month, sponsored by Spring Lake Garden Club, on the far side of Summit Ridge Drive. Home to Dennis and Margaret Dunn for 20 years, the landscape sustains itself in both shade and direct sun, relying on native and deer-resistant plants in a simple design bordering a circular drive. The yard includes no lawn but offers attractive contrasts, from mounds of miscanthus (maiden grass) near the front curb to pots of skeleton cactus, with yellow jasmine filling a shaded area under oak trees in the driveway oval.
“We planted 20 years ago, and now all we do is trim back,” is how Margaret Dunn describes caring for the landscape, which takes full advantage of both shade and sunshine. Broadleaf plants near the house benefit from shade and rainwater directed down the driveway, but water first seeps into ground covered by rock mulch near the street, and flooding is controlled by directing excess flow towards the lower backyard. Planting beds on each side of the entry include flowering yellow esperanza and red flame acanthus on one side, with purple leaf tradescantia on the other. A pair of tall blue ceramic pots with Japanese boxwood flank the door, which is painted in contrasting colors of blue, red, white and yellow, copying a door the Dunns admired in Ireland.
The sunny area near the street is covered with white gravel, where lantana, cenizo or Texas sage and sago palms have established a xeric showcase. Two large specimens of miscanthus (also called maiden grass or eulalia) dominate an area near the curb, with mounds of thin green leaves contrasting with gray cenizo and dark green fronds of sago palm. Planting areas at both ends of the driveway feature cacti in colorful pots, including prickly pear and skeleton cactus. On one side, these succulents stand out against a background of red oleander, cenizo, sago palms and Mexican fan palms. Jasmine spills out from under oak trees on the opposite end of the drive and provides a green backdrop to more cactus pots, cenizo and mountain laurel beside a path to the side yard. Volunteer plants (probably imported by birds) have joined the original mix, with Texas persimmon and nandina sprouting up in the midst of thick jasmine, so like all gardens, change is ever constant.
One unusual item of ground level garden art is a trefoil or Trinity cross crafted by Dennis Dunn, using a repurposed circular tabletop edged with a metal band, now set into white gravel near the drive. A dark garden hose outlines the Celtic icon inside the circle, with the hose figure secured to the tabletop and surrounded with gravel infill. Back under the oaks, other garden figures offer interest in the shade: a ceramic angel and a whimsical green frog. Clearly a sustainable landscape can showcase creativity, as much or more than a lawn relying mainly on decorative plants and shrubs.
