sharon lockett
spring lake garden club ransforming a yard from ho-hum to eye-catching is the outcome of Sylvia Todd’s landscaping on North Johnson Avenue in one of San Marcos’ historic districts. Beginning in 2017 when she purchased the home after moving from a house on the river that was flooded, Todd has produced an outdoor environment that is both sunny and sustainable. As November’s Yard of the Month for Spring Lake Garden Club, this property on Johnson Street between Belvin and Hopkins shows how significant change can still complement the character of an older home.
Beginning with an updated interior but outdated landscape, Todd first faced problems when insurers refused to issue a policy for a cinder block house totally covered with ivy, which can compromise the integrity of cinder block and also harbor pests. Fronting the ivy-covered walls were aged shrubs, carefully pruned but providing no flowers or attraction to pollinators, and a high-maintenance turf lawn stretching to the street. Todd began by removing the ivy and shrubs and refacing the exterior wall with stucco, a characteristic feature of southwestern structures. She chose a xeriscape design appropriate for a west-facing lot, with low-maintenance and sustainable plants including flowering native species. She gleaned ideas from “Native and Adapted Landscape Plants: An Earthwise Guide for Central Texas,” a pamphlet by Texas AgriLife Extension, City of Austin, purchased at an annual native plant sale at San Marcos Visitors’ Center (and still available on Amazon. com).
