White Rock East Garden Tour Dallas: The Nady Garden and Eustis Avenue

The third garden in my series on the White Rock East Garden Tour in Dallas is the Nady Garden in the Little Forest Hills neighborhood.  During a recent weekend in Dallas I toured nine gardens near the Dallas Arboretum.  The gardens on tour ranged from new homes with very standard landscaping to older homes with lots of character and personal backyard retreats.  I'm featuring my favorites in individual posts and will combine highlights from the rest.  The second garden in the series, the Wright Garden which was also in Little Forest Hills is featured in my previous post.

The Nady Garden is set around a pretty Craftsman house built in 1938.  The tour brochure describes the house as "architecturally entertaining" which earns points for accuracy considering the use of modern tile on the column bases.

The walk to the back garden around the side of the house is nicely landscaped
 
  
A close look at the original details on the house.

Inside the fence we find an enormous backyard with mature cedar elm trees.  The term "park-like setting" often used in real estate ads comes to mind and the tour brochure states that the house and garden encompasses three oversized lots.

Comfortable and casual, this garden is for family fun.  The homeowner said this firepit took about twenty minutes to build.  It looks like they use it often.

A large waterfall and pond fed by a stream which seemingly flows out from the house

The pond and a view of the walking trails through the wooded part of the yard.

 
  
The family vegetable garden in colorful raised beds near the house.

Fence decor near the house and an outdoor kitchen with a copper downspout.

More walking trails near the front of the garden and plenty of lawn left to mow.  Easy to tend metal chickens complete the scene.

I noticed on the way in that Eustis Avenue had interesting cottage gardens so I took a walk down the street.  First the north side yard at the Nady home.

I liked the large ceramic pot back by the gate.

I'm not sure if this belongs to the Nady garden or next door.  An old picture frame in the ground cover with a metal art piece fit right in to the neighborhood.

This cottage is named "Hissy Cat Hollow" and even the chimney pipe gets into the cat theme.

A neighbor assured me the owner wouldn't mind my taking photos over the fence so I'm sharing views of a fun garden which was open on the same tour a few years ago.

Note the bowls on the porch for the cats which were probably being kept in due to the excitement outside.

A stone trough fountain seems placed for viewing out the window of what appears to be a converted garage.

A natural branch fence beyond the driveway and a look at the traffic and parking this tour brings to a small area each year.

Across the street a leaded glass door marks the front walk to another cottage.  In researching the tour I found that this garden had also been open in a prior year.

A few doors down this garden beckoned.

Fishscale siding on the cottage and a baby bed converted to a bench.

The owner was out working in his garden and we had a nice chat while I snapped away.  He has been asked to show his garden on tour, but it is small and would be awkward for handling a crowd.

When I told him I live in San Antonio he was particularly interested in discussing waterwise gardening since we've led the way in Texas for twenty years.  Another couple stopped to join the discussion and offered to compare water bills.   It was a big surprise for them to learn I use about half as much water in my large garden.  They went away with the understanding that they could reduce their water use even more.



I didn't ask about the Oregon Trail marker.

"Keep Little Forest Hills Funky"

Yes, please!

My next post on the tour will be a personal backyard retreat unlike any I've seen.

Reminder:  Austin author and blogger Pam Penick will be speaking at noon on Monday, June 17th, at the San Antonio Garden Center.  More details in my post here.