Phase 1 - Dirt

On January 22, 2010, Charles and I, along with the dogs, moved into our new home on Wild Turkey Pass in the eclectic Austin neighborhood of Apache Shores. Over the span of about a year and a half we designed and built a 1,920 square foot contemporary house that took advantage of the canyon land terrain and wide-open views - La Casa del Sol Naciente.

Now that the inside is complete we are ready to focus our attention on the outdoors, project name: Turkey Gulch. Our house sits high above a canyon that is populated with cedars and a sprinkling of Live Oaks, Red Oaks and some yet to be identified vegetation. Our 1/2 acre lot contains almost no level land. The house acts as a big dam, blocking the water as it runs down the slope headed for the wet weather creek below.

Apache Shores has no sewer system so each home is forced to be truly green with its own waste processing system. Our drainage field covers most of our front and side yard and adds all kinds of challenges when you try to plan for erosion control, plant diversity, and natural beauty. So far we have invested in soil from GeoGrowers, much to our builders puzzlement, and sowed Cereal Rye, a cold season annual whose purpose is to hold down the soil while we get our act together and plant a more permanent solution.

Our goal is for the house to look like it was gently plopped down on the hillside of the Balcones Escarpment, much like before the bulldozers, cement trucks and building debris took their toll on the land. Jill Nokes has been a great adviser. Pedro Sanchez does her heavy lifting and we are in the process of evaluating his estimate for the first phase of work.

Below are pictures of our yard as of March 14.

Arroyos and More

On Monday morning Pedro started to work his magic. After two days of labor, he and his team created an arroyo running the full length of our house, about 6 to 8 feet in from the street. The purpose is to channel the rain water away from our house and on to the right side of our property. To insure that the slope below the arroyo also drains correctly, they installed a french drain running all along the front flower beds. It channels that water down a pipe on to the left side of the house. The hole they dug was over two feet deep and about three feet wide, all done without any machinery. In case their was any doubt as to the viability of this plan, Mother Nature sent a huge gully washer of a storm Wednesday night. I'm happy to report that both drains worked perfectly and our major drainage problem is solved.

Pedro is coming back in a week or two to lay Buffalo grass sod, checker board style, over the front, side, and back yard. Charles and I plan to fill in the gaps with a "Midway Mix" of native grasses from the Native American Seed Company.

While we wait for the sod to arrive I've started filling in the front beds. I've included pictures of two interesting bushes that that are a first for me to plant, both native to the region. You'll see pictures below.