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(female narrator) Susan Sanders never cared for gardening
when her yard meant carpet grass for endless yards.
It was very ordinary, very plain,
it did nothing to enhance the house--
it was boring, I'll put it that way.
I grew up on the South Plains,
and there's a lot of grasses--
water is very valuable--
it's dry out there--it's semi-arid--
I'm not used to wasting water on a lawn.
But then I ran across Elizabeth McGreevy Seiler
and she is a real proponent of native Texas gardening and natural environments,
and she and I just really hit it off.
(narrator) Elizabeth, a certified permaculture designer
with a masters in landscape architecture,
saw the potential for an urban meadow garden,
including the clump grasses that Susan loves.
With boulders and paths, Elizabeth gave structure to the new idea.
Then she layered with plants for progression to flaunt the seasons.
She paired bold evergreen forms to stand out against subtleties.
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To continue the vertical eyelift,
a cascading butterfly vine signals entrance into a front porch cove,
shaded by the dense foliage.
In back, she and Elizabeth created another communion in the shade.
Edging and paths formalize the design.
Shade-loving groundcovers, perennials and shrubs
replaced the remnants of lawn,
with a vibrancy that it could never offer.
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A broad patio of flagstones near the back door was an aesthetic,
as well as practical, design addition.
But in this garden makeover,
the ultimate renovation was in Susan.
I said, you know I want to save money--
I'm not going to hire people to just come over and do this for me--
I want you to tell me, in order, what do I need to do.
(narrator) First came soil amendment,
including cereal rye to be tilled in,
followed by planting bands of seeds around the rockwork.
It's quite a process--
I had not really been a process person before--
I'm an instant-gratification-type person.
(narrator) Susan began to understand the gentle, patient
awakening of a garden,
recognized as a certified Backyard Habitat.
(Susan) It's just so much more interesting
to come out and see what's blooming--
what kind of little critters are crawling around.
It just is deeply pleasing...
very deep pleasing--it's in line with my values,
so I feel a lot of...personal integrity
and authenticity about this.