Ecological Restoration

Christ Church uses this “backyard” space for church-wide gatherings, playground play for children, teen youth nights, and even a welcome space when transitioning from the parking lot to the building. The plant design was guided by a deep respect for native plants, and a desire to see an ecological restoration from a formerly bermuda lawn. Children are invited into gardens featuring natural play materials like stone and stumps. Playground equipment was selected for open-ended play and movement, increasing the number of children that can play in the space at one time and creating a space open to the diverse needs of kids.

Each zone has multiple ways it can function, because of the many ways this space is used by the parish - a winding bench could be a youth night hangout space or a Sunday outdoor classroom, and a rain garden becomes the setting for a play feature containing a “rock island”.

Bryson Owen of Rubric Consulting Project Manager

Danny Bravens of Native Son, landscape installation and plant design collaboration

A small urban playground with wooden balance beams and large rocks, surrounded by greenery, with city high-rise buildings and a basketball hoop in the background, during sunset.
Rain gardens were added for water harvesting and soil benefit.
Urban outdoor park area with tall grass, trees, and wooden benches in front of a white building, with city skyscrapers in the background and sunlight peeking through.
A long winding bench is meant to be a gathering space for teens, a spot for parents watching their children to sit, or an outdoor classroom space.
A "rock island" play feature is in the middle of a prairie garden, bringing kids right into nature.
Rather than using garden edging, we used natural items that double as playground equipment.
This playground went through safety clearance.
Rocks were used to border the playground, adding more useable play equipment.
A playground area with a large tree at the center, surrounded by wooden logs and natural landscape features, with a building in the background.
Landscape plan of a backyard with labeled features including a picnic area, rain garden, seating area, playground, basketball court, pre-kindergarten play area, perennial garden, survey lines, and plant species annotations.

Seasonal

Knowing the homeowner’s high interest in seasonal gardening, we designed a natural hedge to take the place of a good amount of St. Augustine grass, complete with a large variety of perennial and self-seeding annuals that can be used as cut flowers. Shrubs and grasses were included that would add filler to arrangements from nearby cut flower beds. A new flagstone walkway was added, which welcomes guests from the street, and draws attention to the front door.

Installation: Top Choice

Photos taken three months after installation; I can’t wait to see this garden grow!

A lush green front yard with a stone pathway leading to a house, surrounded by trees and shrubs.
A curbside garden with various plants and flowers adjacent to a residential street, with cars parked and houses in the background, shaded by large trees.
Design plan of a garden or landscape layout with various plant labels and pathways, including trees, bushes, a pond, and a grassy area.
A house with brown roof and white brick exterior surrounded by a garden with various plants and flowers, including tall grass and small white daisies, with a large tree in the background.

Naturalistic

Entirely bermuda and St. Augustine lawns were eliminated to accommodate perennial beds containing native and adapted plants. This garden has seasonal-interest plants and trees, and is planted with summer and winter dormant plants. Photos were taken eight months - three years after installation.

A garden with a variety of green plants, shrubs, and flowering plants behind a dark wooden fence, with trees in the background.
A lush garden with pink flowers and green plants, sunlight filtering through trees, a black fence, and a house with a brick chimney in the background.
A lush garden with various green plants, including leafy bushes, lavender, and other flowering shrubs, under bright sunlight.
Close-up of green leaves and white fuzzy flowering spikes on a plant.
Yellow lemons growing on a lemon tree with green leaves.
A lush garden with various green plants, bushes, and purple flowers.
Close-up of flowering plants with purple and white flowers in a garden or natural setting.
A garden with various green, silver, and white plants growing next to a black wooden fence, bathed in warm sunlight.

The Everything Garden

The owners of this gorgeous space needed no preaching! They know their plants (and even have some impossible to find natives already!), care about ecological responsibility, love beauty, and have even volunteered at our beloved Wildflower Center! My job was to listen, organize a plan, think for the future phases of this garden as lighting will shift in the 5-10 year range, bring in some resources and creativity to start addressing drainage with landscape design. I truly believe nothing was left out in this plan. Prairie? Check. Sedge lawn? Check. Seasonal shrub border? Check. Rain Garden? Check. Nature play space? Check. Spaces to chat with neighborhood friends? Check. Mini food forest? Check. Spring-Fall successional flower border? Check. Erosion control plants? Check! I couldn’t be more excited to see this garden take shape!

A detailed garden landscape design plan with various planting arrangements, a fire pit area with chairs, a deck with multiple plants and trees, and labeled plant species and landscape features.

The plant design on this central Austin project compliment the character home the garden will surround. This space not only benefits the homeowners, but also the guests they welcome into their space. The softscape plan is lower maintenance and drought tolerant, but also a plant palette that thrives in an entirely shaded property. Drifts of perennials and even a curated list of wildflowers mean that there will be blooms in every growing season. The hardscape plan uses lots of natural materials and penetrable paths.

A Welcoming Garden

This property already has an established native and adapted cottage-style garden. The homeowner wanted a plan for adding a front-yard pond and some gentle, natural privacy from a corner street view. In addition, they wanted an outdoor fire pit gathering area and needed a plan that can be implemented with a historical designation. I offered additional perennial garden bed plant designs, and plant additions for open spaces and seasonal diversity in their cottage garden.

Images coming soon!

Cottage Garden

Landscape garden plan with diverse trees, shrubs, flower beds, pathways, and garden features labeled with plant types.

Gardener’s Native

This garden is for a client who loves native plants, enjoys maintaining her garden, and wanted a succession of seasonal interest. In the design, we considered how the space might be both welcoming and beautiful in the the city neighborhood, but also a space that feels private enough for teens to enjoy, or an early morning walk coffee walk around the garden. In addition, the space was designed to offer seating and conversational areas for gathering, and offered ways to use the existing deck for multiple purposes at two levels instead of changing the footprint.

Acreage Property

The new stewards of this property, one being a master gardener from another ecoregion of Texas, wanted a design for phased installation of a ecologically responsible garden. The design needed to address some privacy concerns at property lines, include drought tolerant plantings overall, and provide the backdrop for a large family to stay, gather, and build memories. Our first step was to assess the health of existing trees with an arborist, including small groves of live oaks post oak-wilt treatment. We took inventory of what was on the property, assessed the direction water moves on the property, and how lighting conditions and land might change with the owners plans for the space, and then created zones for different gardens and activities the extended family enjoys. I also created seasonal palettes of plants to demonstrate how Central Texas plants move through the seasons for this seasoned gardening family. The client was referred to an installer who could offer prescribed burns and tree spading (for oaks collared by a prior owner) and has a heart to stagger installations in the right season.

A New Vision

The homeowners of this large backyard in South Austin suffered the loss of a heritage live oak, which completely shaded the yard prior. After its removal, we designed a new vision for the sun-soaked space. We planned for several years of sun at the same time we designated a spot for a new oak tree to be planted for long-term shade. This garden needed to be resilient, with a plant design that could be watered with temporary establishment drip in the event irrigation isn’t installed. It’s a kid-friendly garden that will require minimal seasonal maintenance, and will address some standing water concerns with a rain garden. Lastly, this backyard is used frequently to host gatherings, so spaces were designated for gathering and a child’s path around the garden was marked clearly, with thought and care for what might bring joy along the way!