Monday, June 3, 2013

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.

20 comments:

  1. Oh goody -- more garden tours, which are among my favorite things to see and do. You covered a lot of territory by taking photos of gardens around the featured garden. They are all much appreciated and admired. I've looked at them all several times. Thank you for the great pictures and report.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I glad you are enjoying these tours so much. There are always good ideas and interesting to see along the way.

      Delete
  2. What a tour! I love ideas for the garden. The sidewalk up to the home in the first couple shots is creative and interesting. I'm not sure why I like metal art in the garden but I know that I just do. It adds a little bit of fun. I gotta tell you Shirley, as we get older with our gardens, I am despising the month of June. I always leave on my big treks and I'm constantly worried about my plants in the hands of others. I pay someone to come in and make sure everything is watered but it's so hot and dry here even for the xeriscape type plants which is mostly all of them:)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I'm a big fan of stuff in the garden and I liked the metal art piece. Keeping plants when we are away is a problem, especially in the desert. Along my hot and dry driveway, I selected plants that are inexpensive and easily replaced just in case there are losses. I am putting more succulents which need less water in my containers.

      Delete
  3. What a fun street to garden on! I like that you included a look at the surrounding homes/gardens. That gives a better picture of what the area is like and whether there's a community of gardeners. There is, it seems, and they're keeping it funky! It sounds like you could go to Dallas and lead a class on waterwise gardening, by the way.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I thoroughly enjoyed driving around the neighborhood as well as visiting the gardens on tour.

      Part of reducing water use at my place is allowing plants to slow down or go dormant in August and I'm not sure that would sell in Dallas with their much colder winter.

      Delete
  4. Thank you for sharing. That is a lovely area. I love all the winding paths and art throughout.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I'm glad you are enjoying the tour. I found the area very nice and quite different from the Dallas I typically see.

      Delete
  5. Looks wild and wooly - as to the sign about hippies, I bet the owner is one! So many vignettes and accessories, yet the front walk way in slate and the assymetrical balance really grabs me.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I wondered that myself, it was fun either way.

      The walk was nice as was the rest of the home and garden.

      Delete
  6. There is lots of variety in that neighborhood. It is almost like they are trying to one up their neighbor's gardens. I would welcome that kind of friendly competition in my neighborhood.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I noted that too, they seemed to play off each other while keeping it different and funky.

      Delete
  7. I really love how kid-friendly and relaxed the garden is - our family could move there tomorrow and be in LOVE with that space. Thanks for sharing all the other funky gardens and ideas too. Loving this tour, Shirley!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Everything set up for exploring and fun and very family friendly.

      Delete
  8. What a fun place to live and garden with other folks who like to play with plants up and down the street. Love the funky vibe!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It was great and a very different view of Dallas than I typically get.

      Delete
  9. Nine gardens is a LOT! My absolute limit for a day is three. So I want to thank you for taking the time (and taking the pictures) to share all of this with us.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you Ricki! The gardens were close together and many of them went quickly because there were only a few points of interest for me. I'll discuss that in a future post.

      Delete
  10. Some very unique and beautiful gardens...love those bright veg beds!

    ReplyDelete
  11. These people LOVE their garden and you can tell. The cottage is cute and catsy.
    David/:0)

    ReplyDelete