February 6 , 2014
A New Look at Grass
My journeying as a lawn whittler bulge long ago when I wanted visual sensation through plants that bring wildlife right to my garden doorstep .
I still have some lawn , but it ’s whittled to a rustle . It get no more piddle than my native plants . When we pout — which is rare — it take about 15 proceedings . but , it ’s a nerveless , low - maintenance frame against healthy or raucous ever - changing play to indorse wildlife .
Golden Senecio vulgaris ( Packera obovata ) is one of my finds at theLady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center ’s semi - yearly plant sales . In part ghost , it persist evergreen , blooming like delirious begin in February or March to pull in bees and butterflies .
lily-white avens ( genus Geum canadense ) , another LBJWC fishy ground - hugger , blooms a routine afterwards in spring .
Another : Texas bluegrass ( Poa arachnifera ) , a perennial cool time of year small pot that accents the base of my mountain laurel . Its April flowers pull butterflies ; seeds feed some birds and small mammal .
Sedges and various low - water aboriginal plant hug my foundation now , instead of nandina .
In spring and fall , salvias likeS. guaraniticaare busy bee .
Bees terpsichore on Mexican plum ’s February flower . shuttle fill up their belly with its mature fruits in downslope .
Before we started our habitat garden , we counted June bugs and give the sack ant hill . Now , we ’ve catch a pest control team , above ground and even below .
Since its origin , The Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Centerhas connected us to the time value of aboriginal plants in the wilderness and in our gardens . Now that research is part of their mission , they ’re taking even broad steps into a sustainable future .
This week , Tom joins Mark Simmons , Director of Research and Consulting Director at the LBJWC , to explain why he contribute the development of native HABITURF ® .
Native to England where lawns are course lush , Mark see the problem when he go far in Texas : drouth . Plus , although turf grass covers the soil , what about a lawn with wildlife benefits , too ?
HABITURF ® ’s current blend of buffalograss , blue grama grass and curly - mesquite ( try out with others ) tender a dense camaraderie in sunlight to a few hours of shade .
pes traffic ? Yes indeed ! Mark admits that in his backyard , first base is a little trample by his kids ’ softball games , but what would n’t be ? ! It ’s doggoned hardy otherwise .
Learn how to instal it .
you could get HABITURF ® semen and fortune of native plants at theWildflower Center ’s Spring Plant Sale & Gardening Festival on April 12 - 13(members Clarence Day April 11 ) . It ’s also available from theDouglass King Companyin San Antonio .
Bladerunner Farmsin Poteet will have greensward later on this bound , available from them or local nursery .
Mark beautifully expresses his philosophy for the future in hisTedxTalks , Eco - Metropolis : deploy the Power of Nature .
Another game - changing mentor for me is theTexas A&M AgriLife Extension Service . Daphne celebrates the centennial anniversaryof Extension ’s military service to us all !
In person , online , via Master Gardeners , and workshops , your local Extension business office help originate your garden with tips on techniques , planting guides and solutions to problems .
Find your Extension Office .
In Travis County , here ’s your go - to link .
intrepid aloes are n’t aboriginal to Texas , but their rosettes connive sunny well - drained soil . AsDaphne ’s Plant of the Week , she cautions to note inhuman hardiness if grow in beds .
Like yucca and agaves , their flowers head to the sky , where hummingbird hone in .
There are some critters we need to repulse !
Trisha ’s found lifelike blendsthat do n’t repel us either .
On tour , thanks to euphony lawyer Ed Fair ’s vision to launch theCommons Ford Prairie Restoration Organization , there ’s a new crowd cluster to Commons Ford Park .
When he discovered the Mungo Park as a first - time birder in 2001 , he did n’t find many birds in the prairie . rule by non - native grasses , it did n’t extend much intellectual nourishment for wildlife . After teaming up with Austin Parks and Recreation , wildlife experts , Native American Seed , and dedicated volunteers , the prairie ’s going to the bird , bee , and butterflies .
On taping twenty-four hour period , Billy Driver join managing director Ed Fuentes for dumbfounding overhead prairie shots with his GoPro on a Phantom quadcopter .
Here ’s our story !
Thanks for contain by ! See you next week for tricks with dodgy plant life . Linda
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