Watersaver Landscape Tour 2013: Santa Fe Trails

The San Antonio Watersaver Landscape Tour sponsored by the San Antonio Water System (SAWS) held each October encourages water wise gardening.  This tour is an opportunity for homeowners and gardeners to see how their neighbors have replaced thirsty turf grass lawns.  For the first post in the series you can look back at my post on the Sun Oak garden.

Two neighboring yards in the Santa Fe Trails neighborhood with plenty of good ideas were featured as one stop on the tour.  The first is a no-lawn front yard filled with art, cacti, succulents, and plenty of waterwise plants.

The owner has accented the small yard with metal art pieces

A custom arbor greets visitors from the sidewalk.

Artfully recycled metal work on the arbor gate.

Near the house this big guy is on a pedestal

The view from the front porch across the shallow yard.  Boulders and stones help add structure to the landscape design.


 
Along the narrow side yard a huge butterfly vine and trellis adds privacy.

  
The metal art display continues in the backyard.

The metal frame leaning against the fence is an idea I'd like to copy.

A large comfy deck with a bench around the perimeter offers a great view of the gardens

A cool galvanized tub for planting

Relaxing pond near the deck.

These sculptural oaks add to the art in the garden

Back out front, plantings line the walk.  Spineless prickly pear of course.  The leafy plant on the right is a Cassia.

A mix of stone adds interest.

Then going next door where the owner showcased a collection of container plants on a large patio in the back yard.  I liked the idea of displaying these pots on overturned saucers.

The enormous oak surrounded by ground cover is the centerpiece of the back yard.

The view from the patio reveals most of the lawn has been removed in favor of a garden of easy-care flowering plants such as daylilies and abelia.  This seems to be a fairly new garden area and most of these plants will fill in over time.

Around front the lawn is still being whittled away so we'll admire more of the owner's collection of terracotta pots collected over time.

There are so many different approaches to water wise gardening, and these tours have showcased numerous good ideas which can be easily put into homeowner gardens around San Antonio.