Drive-By Gardens: Cottage updated with modern, no-lawn garden
February 23, 2013 Cruising through north-central Austin’s Brentwood neighborhood last week, I rubbernecked at this newly installed lawnless garden, whose contemporary styling really stands out against the cottagey charm of the home. There are a lot of things to admire about the design: the very drought-tolerant plant palette, which includes ...
Great audience at my first talk and Lawn Gone signing!
February 18, 2013 The awesome crowd at my talk last Saturday My 7th blogiversary came and went on Valentine’s Day, and I forgot all about it until last night. Seriously, it’s a wonder I remember my own name after the whirlwind ride of last week. My book, Lawn Gone!, debuted ...
Come see me at The Natural Gardener tomorrow!
February 15, 2013 Hey, Austin friends! I hope you’ll come on out to The Natural Gardener nursery tomorrow, Saturday the 16th at 10 am, to hear me talk about lawn alternatives for central Texas. I’ll be signing copies of my brand-new book, Lawn Gone!, afterward. Meet me in the big, ...
Lawn Gone! is officially available!
February 12, 2013 I woke up feeling a bit like a child on her birthday. But the birthday I’m excited about belongs to my book. Today, after 3 years of planning, researching, writing, and editing, Lawn Gone! is born officially released. Whoo-hoo! If you ordered it online, it should be ...
The case of the disappearing lawn
February 11, 2013 Here I go again! You might be under the impression that I don’t have any lawn left to rip out, but that is (was) far from true. While the back lawn has been gone for several years, I’d only whittled away a little of the front lawn ...
Book trailer for Lawn Gone!
February 04, 2013Even books get trailers now, not just movies. So to help publicize my upcoming book, I made this trailer for Lawn Gone! over the weekend and uploaded it to YouTube. I hope you like it! If you do, please feel free to share it with your friends. And ...
Inspired by Christy Ten Eyck’s garden on KLRU
January 31, 2013Ten Eyck’s Austin gardenLinda Lehmusvirta of KLRU’s Central Texas Gardener has produced one of the best episodes ever in her interview with acclaimed landscape architect Christy Ten Eyck, who moved back to Austin in 2006 after 22 years living and designing gardens in Phoenix, Arizona. Watch the episode ...
Drive-By Gardens: Looking good in winter with lawn-gone gardens
January 23, 2013 I’m starting a new feature called Drive-by Gardens to show some of the many interesting gardens I see while driving around Austin on a daily basis to meet clients. Today I spotted three lawn-gone or reduced-lawn gardens that look pretty darn good for mid-winter, so let’s have ...
Seeing the garden anew through a photograph
January 01, 2013 I included this photo in my upcoming book, Lawn Gone!, to illustrate how a simple water feature like a stock-tank pond can be used in place of lawn. This is the main focal point of my back garden, formerly a nondescript swath of St. Augustine. My 16-year-old ...
First copy of my book is in my hands!
December 21, 2012My new book!Forget all that Mayan doomsday hoo-ha. The very first, sparkly new copy of my book, Lawn Gone!, arrived in the mail from my publisher today, and I’m just gonna have to gush like a new mother holding her firstborn for the very first time. It’s the ...
My less-lawn obsession goes WAY back, I discover
December 17, 2012Mowing sucksWhile sorting through my filing cabinet this morning, I came across an old newsletter published by my former neighborhood association. Why in the world did I save this? I wondered. Flipping through the yellowing pages, I saw an article about reducing lawn that I forgot I’d ever ...
New retaining wall eliminates hard-to-mow slope
December 09, 2012 Before: October 2008 We almost didn’t buy this house because we didn’t like the front exterior. We’d read the listing online and drove by but were turned off by the bland, 1970s style and the way the heavy-browed garage wing in front appeared to be sinking into ...
Want a sneak peek of my book, Lawn Gone? Here’s an excerpt!
December 06, 2012My new bookMy book is taking its first baby steps out into the world. An excerpt is now available on Scribd, so check it out (below) if you’d like a sneak peek! The excerpt includes the introduction and chapter 1, plus the table of contents, so it’ll give ...
Want a sneak peek of my book, Lawn Gone? Here's an excerpt!
December 06, 2012My new bookMy book is taking its first baby steps out into the world. An excerpt is now available on Scribd, so check it out (below) if you’d like a sneak peek! The excerpt includes the introduction and chapter 1, plus the table of contents, so it’ll give ...
Updating the old homestead and lawn-removal “after” pics
November 28, 2012 Giving our aging ranch house a facelift has been an ongoing project since we moved in four years ago. The house is comfortably proportioned and liveable on the inside, but the exterior is, well, homely, so we gave it a brow-lift earlier this year with a gabled ...
Mark Word landscape design at El Monumento in Georgetown
November 20, 2012 Last month I had the pleasure of meeting Mark Word, a highly regarded residential and commercial designer here in Austin. Thanks to his work designing unique and memorable gardens for Liz Lambert’s boutique hotels, including uber-hip Hotel San Jose and the more luxurious Hotel Saint Cecilia, Mark’s ...
