Saturday, June 1, 2013

White Rock East Garden Tour Dallas: The Wright Garden and neighbors

This is the second post in my series about the White Rock East Garden Tour in Dallas where nine gardens were featured in three neighborhoods 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.  My first post in the series was the colorful and relaxing Collins/Spalding garden.

The Wright Garden in the Little Forest Hills neighborhood featured a modern home with a no-lawn front yard which included a stock tank vegetable garden. 



The front yard is decomposed granite.


Stock tanks for growing vegetables filled the front yard.



Agaves in the gravel.  I was surprised by the number of agaves I saw on tour in Dallas.


The house is set well back from the street leaving plenty of room for the edible front garden.


Nearer the house a steel fence enclosed a front courtyard.


Rose climbing on the fence.


Groundcover in the shade.

Gravel courtyard with seating.  That's the neighbor's garage so this lot is quite narrow.


Weeping atlas cedar for sculptural interest.  These grow well in Dallas, but not where I live in south Texas.

Shoe scrapers are a very good idea when you have gravel and decomposed granite in the yard.

This photo tricks the brain a bit and requires a little visualization, it's a cut piece of limestone fitted on the corner of the house.  I surmise this stone keeps people from kicking the wall?


A wood deck walkway leads to the back yard.  This view looks toward the front.


A deck with seating matches the front


View of the seating deck from the yard.


These metal grate stairs looked good with the house and garden but they moved around when I stepped on them making them feel unstable.


In the back along the fence are beehives.


There's a bit of glare, but I wanted to show the back of the house with its screened porch on the top floor.


  
A look at the xeric border bed leading back to the street along the driveway.


Now for something a bit different.  I noticed many visitors were avoiding the crowded street by leaving through the neighbor's garden so I followed their lead and took photos of this pretty Texas-style cottage garden next door.















On to the next-next door cottage which was also  a lawnless gravel front yard with agaves, desert willows, and Mexican feather grass.




In my next post we'll tour a large garden designed for family fun around a beautiful old Craftsman home.

20 comments:

  1. It is good to know that I am not the only one in the Dallas area with a stock tank in the front yard! Looks like it was a good tour. I am glad you got to see some of DFW that is not obsessed with the typical lawnscape.

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    1. A very interesting tour in that these gardens would be typical for a tour in south or central Texas but seemed exotic like a visit to the zoo for many volunteers and visitors who had never heard of Salvia greggii for example.

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  2. The first and last gardens in this post do not look like any part of Dallas I've ever seen -- more like south Austin! I like the first one, though the front is a little austere for my taste. But the Texas cottage garden, which wasn't even on the tour, is my favorite -- more of a plant lover's garden, obviously.

    How nice to see different styles of garden on this tour. It seems like a good one.

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    1. Definitely more of a south Austin feel to this neighborhood which surprised me a bit too. That was a nice cottage garden and it reminded me a lot of your previous garden. I'm so glad they left the gate open for us!

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  3. Neat neighborhood - I enjoyed this tour Shirley, thank you. :) I think I liked the cottage garden you walked through on the way out best - sweet and colorful.

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    1. It was pretty and they seemed to be prepared for the tour. They left the gates open which I thought was quite nice of them.

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  4. My sister lives in Plano and everything there is very typical. It is interesting that xeric landscaping is catching on there. I'm surprised the iron fence wouldn't be too hot for the rose? Doesn't it heat up in the sun?

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    1. They had a very severe drought last year and some communities prohibited all outdoor water use. The restrictions were a surprise to many residents who were not prepared. For the first time there was a lot of talk in the area about reducing water use in the landscape.

      The front of the house faces east so I imagine the rose and fence get some relief from the heat.

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  5. Nice tour.
    I think I like the cottage garden the best.

    I'm a bit surprised that people hadn't heard of salvia greggii. I had it all over the place, when I lived up in DFW. Had enough to bring several plants down here, in fact.

    Thanks for the tour. Looking forward to the next.

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    1. There is a lot of Salvia greggii in DFW, but I'm used to tours sponsored by garden groups and staffed with gardeners so this was very different because it was more about the neighborhood and raising money for their local projects. Being helpful, I used the term at one garden and the volunteer disagreed because she had been told it is "some kind of sage"!

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  6. Thanks for taking us along on this tour! I liked the cottage garden here best, it is definitely more my taste. I'll never tire of seeing upended pots with plants "spilling" out of them. I agree with Pam that the first is a bit too austere and sparse, although I do like the form of that weeping cedar.

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    1. It is and perhaps they will fill in more over time but it does reflect a change in views of landscaping in Dallas which is important.

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  7. The first garden really compliments the style of the house. I agree with Pam... It looks like it is in Austin, not Dallas. I love the cottage garden. Of course, that is my favorite gardening style:)

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    1. Of course, I would never be able to edit my garden down so I have to go with the cottage style too.

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  8. Sure enjoying the virtual tour. Thanks for sharing.
    I love those agaves coming up out of the granite! And the steel fence is wonderful!

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    1. That is a good look for agaves. I very much liked the fence along with the house.

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  9. Sounds like the influence of the Hill Country Death Star is engulfing Dallas! So many elements this garden tied together, but I haven;t found my favorite part in it, yet. The next door garden, entry flanked with feathergrasses, is stunning in its design but restraint.

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    1. The architecture and garden worked together and being there felt cohesive but I have to say my favorite part is the house, especially the upstairs porch. The design on the last one is good, but a little too much desert and not enough prairie for a Dallas Craftsman cottage.

      The last two summers were hotter in Dallas than in San Antonio and with the drought several communities nearly ran out of water. The emergency restrictions were enough to get the whole area at least thinking about the issue.

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  10. I keep being surprised by the use of stock tanks. I would think the plants would be fried in your heat. The idea of a "cottage garden" takes on new meaning in your climate, doesn't it? Unlike most of your commenters, I am drawn to that first garden.

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  11. I like the next garden and the next next garden better than the original feature.
    Very cool to have so many gardeners together in one area.
    David/:0)

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