Drive-By Gardens: No-lawn front yard with sedge groundcover
Driving through Austin’s North University neighborhood yesterday I spotted this charming Spanish-style bungalow. Instead of lawn, its postage stamp-sized front garden is filled with drought-tolerant ornamental grasses, golden barrel cactus, silver ponyfoot, and agave. A few red roses add pops of vivid color. Most eye-catching of all, the wide hell strip (portion of yard between sidewalk and street) is entirely swathed in sedge, probably Berkeley (Carex divulsa) or Texas sedge (C. texensis).
With three live oaks planted amid the sedge, this south-facing garden will be in shade in 5-10 years. The sedge won’t mind. The sun-loving ornamental grasses and roses will need to be subbed out for shade-lovers. That’s the nature of a garden, of course, and shade is highly desired during Austin’s summers. Until then, the owners have a beautiful, sunny garden that won’t demand much water.
My only quibble is that the ornamental grasses in front of the porch have been cut to the ground prematurely. Most grasses are fall-blooming and come into their glory late in the year; they should be left standing until February and then cut to the ground in preparation for spring growth. Update: The lovely owners, Kevin Pruitt and Eileen Gill, left a comment (#12, below) to explain that the grasses grew large and became a tripping hazard for guests, so they cut them back early for safety reasons. It sounds like they may remove a few grasses to keep the walkway clear in the future. Also, they kindly shared the name of the designer, John Davis.
The right side of the garden has been given a more open treatment, with a beautiful ‘Whale’s Tongue’ agave (A. ovatifolia) holding court amid river rock and decomposed granite. A dry stream, not visible in these pictures, keeps runoff from trenching through the gravel during heavy rains.
Gold and silver Christmas balls adorn the agave’s spines in honor of the season. Behind it, a fig is turning golden. Austin’s late autumn color always runs into Christmas decor in this way. Happy holidays, y’all!
All material © 2006-2014 by Pam Penick for Digging. Unauthorized reproduction prohibited.
Nice! They also cut down ornamental grasses too soon around here.
Doesn’t it drive you nuts, Gail? We still have a long way to go in convincing people to leave plants standing through winter. —Pam
Somebody was a little too tidy in cutting down the tall grasses. I see it here too and wonder why anyone would want to miss the beauty they add to the winter garden. Lovely street view though.
Yes, it’s still a lovely garden. But wouldn’t it be nice to see those tawny grasses moving in the breeze and feeding birds with their seeds through the winter? —Pam
No matter how many times I see that agave/Christmas ornament combo it still makes me smile.
There’s a big agave around the corner from me decorated this way. I should go take a picture. —Pam
I love the look of the grass in the hell strip. It looks heavenly.
Me too, Lisa! I like your word play too. 😉 —Pam
Very nice garden. Thanks!
I’m glad you enjoyed it, Laura. —Pam
Clever decoration on the agave. I’ve never thought of decorating my street-side succulent garden. Maybe next year.
Have you seen Rock-Oak-Deer Shirley’s ‘Whale’s Tongue’ agave and ‘Santa Rita’ prickly pear all lit up for the holidays, Kris? She’s got the knack for matching colored lights with the colors of succulents and cactus. —Pam
Hi Pam: I have to admit–that last photo of the Agave with the holiday balls is my favorite. It sounds like that’s a common decoration in your area during the holidays? Gosh, that would be fun! I LOVE the sedges in the hellstrip. Our back garden near the edge of the woods is beginning to become a shady sedge plot, and I’m really enjoying it. The grass there wasn’t happy, but the sedges are in their element. Thanks for these great “drive-by” posts.
Isn’t it a thrill when you find the plant that wants to grow in a challenging spot? And yes, agave decoration is quite popular here. I’ll have to share pics of one down the street from my house. —Pam
What a cute little yard – I’d be worried that I’d try to do way too many things in that small of a space. And I agree about cutting back the grasses – heck, most of the time I don’t see a reason to cut back ANY grasses at any time…of course, that does mean going out and “combing” the grasses to pull out the dead stuff in the early spring…
Good point, Katina. I cut back only two of my grasses in spring: ‘Blonde Ambition’ grama and Gulf muhly grass. I leave Lindheimer muhly and pine muhly standing and only clip out the old bloom stalks in spring. Purple fountain grass I treat as an annual and replace each spring. And I just use my fingers to comb the old, matted seedheads and dead sections from the Mexican feathergrass each spring. —Pam
It works so well with the house, just enough variety to enhance all the detail.
The decorated agave is fairly common around here too. Since mine is out front it might be fun and that one does look good. Yuccas, with their closer leaves, look really good decorated too. It must take a lot of time.
I haven’t seen any yuccas decorated like this, Shirley, but I bet it would work on the stiff-leaved varieties. —Pam
Dadblast it! For two years running I tried putting red balls out on a large agave close to the front of our property but something – school child or curious deer or bird or….something!… kept knocking the red balls to the ground and a few of them always shattered. Every time I see an agave or yucca decorated now I want to try again, but I’m going to search for more durable ornaments, first.
Well, that’s frustrating. I’d suggest tying on red bows instead, but it could be a hazardous endeavor to spend too much time in close proximity to your agave’s spines. Maybe it’s for the best? —Pam
That house looks just like those in a few hoods I know here and the last town…except this is one stunning landscape. The sedges make it…score! (getting ideas for something in Colorado I know of)
Are you working in Colorado now, David? If so, you get around! In El Paso, grama grass would be a nice substitute for the sedge, wouldn’t it? —Pam
Hi Pam!
We were overjoyed with this article, what a WONDERFUL surprise! I only wish you would’ve knocked on the door, we would have loved to meet you!
Regarding the premature trimming of our purple muhly grass: our fantastic landscape designer, John Davis, really planted quite a few of those and they had grown over our walkway – a few kids had tripped and then we had elderly, out-of-town guests that had trouble navigating the path – so we did what we had to to clear the way but we also see them already starting to sprout back out with this crazy weather! So fear not, we will be able to address their “thickness” in a more deliberate and informed way next time as we know just how thick they will grow! I will say, after trimming them they actually are now “fanning” out which is kinda pretty.
Please do keep up the great work, we are big fans! And thank you again for taking time out to share our labor of love here at 122 Laurel Lane – we completely gutted this house over 3 years ago and are very proud of the hard work and thought that went into its restoration!
Best wishes,
Eileen Gill & Kevin Pruitt
122 Laurel Lane
http://www.thegillagency.com
Hi, Eileen, what a surprise! Thank you (and Kevin via email) for introducing yourselves — and your designer — and sharing additional info about your beautiful garden. I’m always surprised when one of my blog posts “gets around” the way this one seemed to, and I’m glad you enjoyed it. I feel a little chagrined for mentioning the cut-back grasses. Sorry about that — I wasn’t intending to criticize but to remind my readers, many of whom are new gardeners, of when to prune. Thanks for being so generous in your reply, and for sharing the reality of how big grasses can get in a small garden!
Your garden literally stopped me in my tracks as I was driving down the street. It’s absolutely lovely and works so well with the style of your house. BTW, do you happen to know what kind of sedge that is — Berkeley or Texas, or some other type? Inquiring minds want to know. Ha!
Thanks again for reaching out! It’s always a treat to “meet” the owner of a garden I admire. —Pam