Milner family gives gratitude to previous owners for sustainable, water-wise yard
“It came with the house,” is a common description of plants in home landscapes, but for first-time homeowners a legacy landscape offers a significant advantage to settling into a new neighborhood. Spring Lake Garden Club’s April Yard of the Month recognizes the efforts of both current and previous owners of a home just one block west of Brown Street, off Bishop Street near Hopkins Street. Kristen and Madisson Milner moved into their home (built mid-1950s) in August 2024 and maintained sustainable and water-wise native plants through the hottest days of summer and through recent freezing weather. The Milner’s yard is a testament to how sustainable landscapes can be both attractive and low-maintenance.
Having lived in Houston before coming to San Marcos, the Milners recognize how different gardening is in Central Texas compared with the Gulf Coast, especially the effects of drought and browsing deer. Kristen’s earlier years in southern California’s mild climate are reflected in some of the plants added to their landscape, such as a large pot of fiddle leaf fig, which is moved to a backyard shed when a freeze is predicted, along with other potted plants. The backyard is not yet fenced against deer, but so far damage is minimal.
Front-yard plantings are concentrated in beds beside the driveway and in front of the house, edged with large limestone rectangles and benefitting from partial shade of oak trees near the house. Planting areas may be extended into the large front lawn at a later date, but for now new homeowners have a full “to do” list. Near the entry porch a “rain chain” guides water from the gutter into the planting bed below, which is mulched with gravel so water easily flows into the soil underneath.
Meanwhile, existing mature plants all combine in a symphony of leaf shapes and shades in the front yard. Two tall dark green shrubs contrast with a saltbush (Atriplex crescens) marked by lighter green toothed leaves, fronting a group of lower height sages whose blooms will accent the yard in warmer weather. A pot of dark green elephant ears (Colocasia) beside the entry porch enjoys partial shade and protection from cold near the house. Red yuccas (Hesperaloe parviflora, actually an evergreen succulent) at the end of the drive are also protected from wind but not deer, who favor the colorful flower stalks. Other red yuccas fill large pots in front of the house.
In sunnier areas of the yard, several clumps of Mexican feather grass form light gray-green clumps in the mulched beds, along with numerous variegated yuccas’ long green leaves edged with bright yellow. Two sago palms (Cycas revoluta) near the street mark the driveway entry and like others in San Marcos have survived freezing weather without covering. This popular plant is not a true palm but a cycad, a slow-growing ancient species which has survived until the present day. Pups or young offshoots produced by both the sago palms and the variegated yuccas may be removed and transplanted elsewhere to fill out planting beds if watered regularly until established.
