country n news-spring has sprung

COUNTRY N NEWS-SPRING HAS SPRUNG

this is absolutely the greenest spring we have ever had at
the country n
i can verify it by the fact that i have had to mow and weedeat
multiply times already this year

now during the drought i had to do all that maybe once or twice
a year
i may wear out my john deere riding mower and my weedeater
this year

now our house sits in the middle of 10 acres
on 1 acre that is fenced with a high fence to keep out deer
and other varmints who would just love to eat our vegetation
that i have planted around here over the years

on this 1 acre where the house is
its what i consider the yard
i have planted
6 monterrey or mexican white oaks
1 flame sumac
1 arkansas hickory tree yes its growing good here in texas
2 texas plums

1 texas persimmon
1 texas orchid tree
2 burr oaks
1 huisache tree
1 satsuma orange tree
1 persimmon tree which just got blown down by a humongous
wind storm this week
1 kumquat fruit tree
2 fig trees
5 peach trees
3 eastern red bud trees
1 elbow bush
2 yaupon hollies
1 juniper yes i transplanted one on the north side
1 texas buckeye
1 vitex which my wife she mowed over once when it was first planted
trying to help me out once
luckily its finally after 5 years making a good comeback
2 red oaks
2 texas sages or purple sages

already on the 1 acre were
2 mesquites
2 peaches
3 plums
3 pecans
1 mountain laurels
1 evergreen sumac

if you will notice most of those things i planted are xeric and native
and are in the grow green booklet put out by the city of austin
see www.growgreen.org

now our front yard inside that 1 acre has a limestone fence about
a foot high thats curves in a semicircle
when we first moved in it was all st augustine grass with old old
hackberry trees

so
overtime i cut down all the hackberries since they were dying
so they wouldnt fall on our house
the first thing i did when we moved in was to plant two burr oaks
fifteen years ago
now the largest one is about 30 ft tall
then i covered all that st augustine with black plastic
covered that up with 2-3 inches of the austin wood recycling
hardwood mulch
then
i gradually landscaped it with xeric plants

so in this yard
are
2 burr oaks
1 small water trough used as a pond and animal water source
1 rosemary
1 salvia coccidea
4 salvia greggii
1 mexican mint marigold
1 lavender
1 italian parsley that is an annual but is replanted each year
1 sage
1 germander
1 mountain laurel
2 curly leaf yuccas
1 zexmenia
1 flame acanthus
1 butterfly vine running up an old gate
1 juniper
1 yaupon holly
1 large spineless cactus
1 oregano
1 cedar sage which seeds itself under the cactus
1 cat mint
3 large 7 ft tall native grasses that regrow each year
1 texas piquin pepper
1 abelia
1 shrimp plant
1 knockout rose
1 pidgeonberry
1 texas plum
1 texas orchid
1 texas persimmon
1 four nerve daisy thats seeded itself well
1 fig tree
3 crossvines that grow up the side of the house

a 50 ft arbor covered with trumpet vines native grapes
a native vine i dont know the name of virgina creeper and
star jasmine
a circular 8 ft keyhole garden using an old water trough

now all this is xeric and since they are all well established
i havent watered them for several years
i dont fertilize them either
i occasionally add mulch about every 3-5 years
recently i started using your leaves you give me as mulch

ie my water use for these plants is zero gallons

you should think about this when you
plan your yard
plant plants
get your water bill

now there is more on that 1 acre but i will spare you
the lengthy list but lets just say it reaches close to
a 100 plants that ive planted here over the last 15 years

plus add
our solar power
our rainwater system
our 600+ square foot garden
our large chicken coop
our pole barn
9 acres of cross fenced pastures

one thing we have noticed is that we have this remarkable

return of birds lizards a few garden snakes frogs

(to the  left of that birdhouse is a purple martin coming 
in for a landing like a jet plane)
turkey deer roadrunners quail bunnies some good snakes
to our property
making
all this worthwhile
plus
so much of these plants produce seasonal flowers
mixed with all the green and all the birds and animals
sort of makes this
a paradise in our eyes

wont some lucky person really like this place if when we
ever have to leave our
country n

the organicgreen doctor