A 'Sustainable Success'

“It’s a community project” is how Heidi Luna describes the handsome front yard of the home where she and Justin have lived and landscaped for the past five years in Blanco River Village. In a relatively new and highly walkable development — opened in 2006 — of small homes and apartments, the Lunas offer a model for urban native plant enthusiasts as Spring Lake Garden Club’s yard of the month for January.

Heidi and Justin are new to gardening but fast learners, taking advantage of advice from neighbors, nurseries with native plants, and even a plant identification app, PictureThis. As the second owners of their home, they began landscaping by clearing out tall shrubs masking the entry of their house, but kept other plantings such as a bed of plumbago and roses, large decorative grasses lining the side of the house, and two healthy magnolia trees. They concentrated on designing the street side corner of their lot, exposed to full summer sun and chilly winter winds. The solution: a series of interconnected tiered planters holding rich soil which can be covered in cold weather with tarps easily attached to planter edges and elevated by tall metal posts.

Colored pots set on gravel spotlight portulaca plants between sidewalk and tank planters.

The Lunas found an unusual source of planters in used propane tanks, with tops and bottoms already removed, at San Marcos’ Green Guy Recycling. Then the cylinders were cut into semi-circles by Project Parsons Yard Service, whose owners happened to be neighbors in Blanco River Village. Once the tanks were cut, they were arranged to form a tiered corner garden and welded together by Project Parsons, with decorative metal rope edging the top. A steel plate beside the sidewalk was added to contain an area of gravel below the tanks, which now showcases multicolored pots filled with hardy purslane. Then came the homeowners’ most challenging tasks: spreading gravel and filling the planter tanks with good soil.

Variegated yucca in full round planter is surrounded by red lantana and trailing frog fruit.

Since installing their new landscape, Heidi and Justin have succeeded in gathering a group of plants which thrive in this environment, including many which Justin grew from seed. Blackfoot daisies are reliable bloomers, joined seasonally with Mexican petunia, rock rose, and lantana. Silver pony foot fills in gaps between plants, aided by grasses such as blue stem, side oats, and inland oats. One smaller full circle planter at the side of the yard is anchored by a variegated yucca surrounded by mist flower and baby bluebonnets, with green frog fruit trailing over the planter’s edge. Trailing purple lantana beside the planter has proven itself hardy even with frosty nights, which affected red lantana in the planter.

Purple trailing lantana covers ground at base of planter.

With minimal lawn, the Lunas are free to concentrate on the mix of plantings which highlight their landscape, including a pot of decorative peppers near the front steps and a sago palm marking the entry. The gravel area bordering the sidewalk has become a place for neighbors walking by to interact with the yard art fashioned from discarded railroad tie spikes. And new items always show up: a horseshoe left near a spider-like mix of spikes, or a small garden ornament added to the mix. As Heidi noted, “It’s a community project” as much as a sustainable success for new gardeners.