Visting Xericstyle Garden

"Have you two met before?"  asks a somewhat surprised David Cristiani of The Desert Edge just a few minutes after Heather and I began chatting about plants.  Well, no, we haven't actually met in person but we have been following each others' garden progress through our blogs for a while so we were already friends in a way.

And that's how I began my first visit with Heather of the San Antonio blog Xericstyle while David was in town a few days ago.  This is a modern and welcoming front porch.  Those are tiny succulent planters on the door.

Not too long ago this house and yard were in sad shape.  That was before Heather and her husband went to work fixing it up.  Heather devised a beautiful lawnless garden plan for the front yard which she is almost finished installing.  That's David on the porch getting his "money" shot

Plenty of room for plants to grow in this new landscaping

She hauled the rocks over from a neighbor's house

Heather has added cool touches like this gate with the hand.

A mature Texas Mountain Laurel anchors this bed at the front corner filled with agave, Mexican Bush Sage, lantana, and rosemary


  
Love this container of silvery plants and blooming germander by the front door.

Around back they first had to repair the siding, put new posts on the overhang and replace the roof.  After the repairs Heather added the frogfruit lawn (front left).

 
Red seating in the truck wheel firepit area makes a bold statement

The bamboo muhly she planted last year in the side yard is beginning to fill in

Hammock and bike parking for her young children under the pecan tree

Flowers and herbs near the patio

These galvanized pieces were in the attic and  they added irrigation covers for the ends.  Filled them with plants and they look so cool hanging on the fence.

Heather just keeps on going.  Here she continues to put down cardboard and mulch to smother the weeds and build a garden.

We enjoyed a yummy lunch at the tables in the background.  They call that area the "beer garden" and a shade cover is in the plan.  Here she is discussing the berms she built with David.  Heather used dirt removed from a parking area they had built near the garage.
 
  
They are a bit too steep so David is demonstrating the best shape for a berm.  I have no doubt she'll soon have them whipped into the right shape.  All this while working at a new job which combines her professional background with gardening.  How cool is that?

Of course we had visit with the now legal chickens.  That's another chicken coop over the fence in the neighbor's yard so they all have plenty of company.

She dug the holes and built this fence by herself while managing two very young children.

I enjoyed getting to know Heather.  She hails from Hundred Mile House, British Columbia in Canada which is pretty far north of here.   I didn't ask just how, exactly, she ended up in San Antonio, Texas but we'll save that for our next visit.

You can keep up with Heather at her blog Xericstyle.