“It’s what was here”: A prairie garden grows near downtown Austin

You wouldn’t expect to find a huge prairie garden so close to downtown Austin that blue-glass skyscrapers peek over the treetops.… Read More

The post “It’s what was here”: A prairie garden grows near downtown Austin appeared first on Digging.

You wouldn’t expect to find a huge prairie garden here — the backyard of a private home so close to downtown Austin that blue-glass skyscrapers peek over the treetops. Owner Colin Corgan bought a historic 1880s house in the Travis Heights neighborhood a few years ago and embarked on a transformation of both the house and the property, a transformation that respects the history of each.

He restored the old Victorian home, retaining its connection with the past, while adding onto the back a contemporary, glass-walled annex that embraces light and outdoor views. Even before construction was finished, Colin turned his attention to the 1.3-acre lot, which occupies an entire city block. In place of a jungle of weeds and invasive trees that had colonized the property over the decades, he envisioned a native prairie garden flowing around existing live oaks.

Colin brought in prairie-restoration expert John Hart Asher of Blackland Collaborative to prepare the soil and establish a native prairie garden and a green-roof meadow atop the pool house. (Other parts of the garden were designed by Shaney Clemmons of Shademaker Studio.) John Hart gave me a tour of the garden last week.

As John Hart yanked up an invasive bromegrass (Bromus catharticus), he told me that the prairie is becoming well established in its second year. Maintenance includes cutting it back hard once a year in February, before it breaks winter dormancy. Otherwise, he prefers to vary the maintenance schedule of a prairie to keep from accidentally creating conditions for just a few species to dominate. “Maintenance is a time for evaluation,” he says. “The strength of a prairie is the interactivity of it.”

As with any garden, weeding is critical. Woody plants especially threaten a prairie garden, John Hart warns, because they shade out sun-loving annuals and perennials. To pull woody plants with deep taproots, he recommends using a weed wrench.

Later I asked Colin, who spoke with me by phone, why he wanted a native prairie garden. “Because this is what was here,” he replied. “For me, it’s not just the plants. It’s the ecosystem. Since planting this, there are more birds and lizards. They know it’s here. It takes time for that to happen. And it’s beautiful. I derive joy when I’m out there. It’s appropriate for this environment.”

A native Texan originally from Dallas, Colin appreciates that his half-acre prairie, when fully established, will require much less water than a traditional, lawn-dominated landscape. When I asked him what happens with the prairie in summer, he was matter-of-fact: “It goes dormant, right? It turns brown. And that’s OK. It doesn’t bother me. I mean, it’s 109 degrees. What is it supposed to do? I go dormant also.”

Of course, a prairie doesn’t go completely dormant in summer, even a blistering one. “You still have activity in summer,” Colin added. “It’s just that the colors aren’t there. But that’s also part of Texas. It’s a tradeoff.”

Chunky slabs of limestone cut a rugged path through the garden, curving under a shady belt of live oaks and junipers.

Blue curls, a charming annual or biennial wildflower, attracts bees.

Blue curls seedheads

Colin doesn’t have traditional turfgrass, and he has zero regrets about opting out. “What I tell my friends, and I firmly believe this – people have an idealized image of what their yard is going to look like: close-clipped green grass year-round, and it’s going to be beautiful. I understand that’s what you want. But that’s not going to happen. It’s not the end result. So many friends with ‘normal’ yards — they don’t look the way they thought it would look, and they requ