home on the range

HOME ON THE RANGE

years ago the buffalo roamed in texas and surrounding states
they would come through eg in this area every few years
millions of them
before we our ancestors destroyed most of them

the buffalo would eat the native prairie grasses
tromping down the cedars and other trees that grew
except for the largest oaks and other trees
the cedar trees would continue to grow on the hillsides
where they belong not down on the prairie like they are now

the cedars could only grow on the prairie large enough until
the buffalo returned to destory them again
nature doing its thing

now the buffalo dont roam no more
so the cedar trees take over
i have let my pastures go the last several years and its amazing
to watch the cedars grow
they seem to pop up everywhere
before we moved in here 12 years ago the pastures were used
to grow hay and to graze horses
the cedars when we moved in were tiny ones
now they have grown large and provide coverage for deer
and birds and rabbits and im sure a few snakes
dont tell my wife she that

my pastures have a lot of what i think is that king ranch bluestem
that got introduced years ago for forage and by the highway department
to use in the roadways
now its consider an invasive grass since it has pretty much taken over
texas
all that pretty flowing grass you see on the side of the road is
king ranch blue stem

also in my pastures are spots of johnsongrass another invasive grass
introduced for forage for cattle
thanks to a neighbors pasture where he grows johnsongrass hay
i fight in on my property all the time

i plant native prairie grass seeds on any bare ground that appears
in my pastures
over the years the predominant grass now in my front pasture is
switchgrasss  amongst other native grasses

organicgardening.com

since i have let my pastures return to it native state
i have noticed a return of more wildlife to my property
we recently this summer have had bobwhites return to the
area as well as wild turkeys coming up to visit from the river
and we have fawns every year that grow up around here

in my one acre yard anytime i see bare ground i order from
the native american seed company a pack of their thunder turf
which is made of native grasses buffalo blue grama and curley
mesquite which makes a beautiful turf grass that needs no care

many of you have probably heard of this grass
sold via the johnson wildflower center in austin
but its been available through the native american seed company 
for several years

other non native grasses we not me but you plant in your yards are
bermuda st augustine zoysia all water thirsty plants

picture courtesy of native american seed
www.seedsource.com

we should all be using this thunder turf
it looks good in the yard
if you dont water it it will not die
it returns with the next rain
i have about a half acre of this and have never done anything
to it like water it or fertilize it but only mow it occasionally

now there is a push to have people to pick out a part of their yard
say at 10 ft square spot that gets good sun
rake the soil good
plant the seeds either the thunder turf or a native prairie grass mix
to have their own patch of the praire in their yard

its called prairie scaping
try it in your yard
its like the milkweed plant for the monarch butterflies
if we all do a little we will help out a little to repair our land to
back what it use to be

the native american seed company at www.seedsource.com has the
best prices for these seeds when compared to the willdflower center
and other texas seed companies
order the catalog from native american seed company
its worth keeping on your coffee table
i do on mine

home on the range where the buffalo roamed
at least a small piece of it can be yours

hopefully you dont attract a buffalo to your property

the organicgreen doctor

new house new yard new owner

NEW HOUSE NEW YARD NEW OWNER

this is the second year that ive helped with the
williamson county habitat for humanity home builds

since ive ruptured my disk and am still in recovery mode
ive been limiting what i do when it comes to heavy lifting
and ladder work
but have continued to do the landscaping since i can do that
without doing a lot of lifting since i get help with some of that
with my wife shes help and with other volunteers who help

this house we just finished will be owned by a mom with
four kids who is the first ever homeowner in her family
she and her family are quite proud of her
she and her family put in a lot of hours helping build this place
and
will get the home at 0% loan for 20 years at about half the price
the house would sell for
since the materials and labor are donated mostly

when the final calculations are done
its as cheap to have this house then it is to rent an apartment
or house in this area
where those rates are starting to escalate a lot

for this house  i talked to the home owner who wanted
to do the yard as low maintenance as possible
especially saving on grass and its care

since the budget is limited i try to be creative and use
whatever is available from the build like left over broken
concrete left over limestone bricks left over landscape timbers
soil and sand that are left over from the slab build and the
driveway build
this dirt and sand are scattered and leveled around the place
since most of these sights dont have much soil

for this sight lucky for the home owner
a friend db/kb had planted 4 large arizona cypress that the
hoa you know those guys right the hoa
said those arent central texas native so they had to remove them
after they had recently planted them around their new home
so
when they had them dug up i then transplanted them to the back of the
property along the property line

the new owner plans to put up a privacy fence also
good thing as the deer have taken a liking to the first tree on the
right and has been rutting it a lot

then
a local nursery mcintires nursery in georgetown has given me trees
to use
ones that they were going to discard
ive kept them at the country n and resuscitated them
i planted 6 nellie stevens hollies along both sides of the back yard
to provide a nice visual break for the owner when they reach
their height of about 15 ft

on the right front corner of the house a beautiful weeping yaupon holly
was planted that will not get too much taller but should
fill in nicely with its drooping limbs and red berries

4 dwarf yaupon hollies that will get 3-4 ft wide and tall were
planted in the front bed on the right
these were bought very cheap from an wholesale nursery that gives
me a big discount on plants since they are used in the habitat for humanity
landscape

on the left side a viburnum spring blossom was planted in an area
that was heavily mulched
this viburnum will gow 6-8 ft x 8 ft and will actually fill up this space
and block the view of all the electrical boxes

a spineless cactus from the country n was placed as shown
in the first picture surrounded by crushed limestone bricks
it will grow to 6 ft x 10 ft
no watering or care needed

the area around the live oak was heavily mulched with
texas native hardwood mulch at about 3 inches over a
layer of cardboard to suppress weed growth
this cardboard will soon disappear over time
the temperature of the soil in the summer around this tree
will be a lot less and will be warmer in the winter
the mulch will also hold a great deal of water and keep it on
the property

on both sides of the front yard river rock was brought in and placed
over thick black plastic to keep grass and weeds from growing

the new homeowner will be putting decorative containers in this area
we also placed some blocks of concrete that look like native rock
leftover from construction

also concrete rock was used to line the mulch beds and left over
limestone bricks were used to line the front bed on the right

the area that was to have sod laid had an inch or more of landscape mix
of dirt and compost placed before the bermuda sod was laid

because of the beds and mulching we eliminated over 50% of the grass
and it will not ever have to be watered fertilized mowed or cared for

in the back 2/3 of the backyard the thunder turf from native american seed
was seeded
its made up of the native grasses buffalo blue gramma  and curly mesquite

once established it doesnt need care unless the homeowner wants to
no watering no mowing no fertilizing
it goes dormant when its dry but comes back to life when it rains
i have this planted at the country n around my barn and in my yard
its the grass that use to be here in this area before we destroyed it
you know when the buffalo use to come around

also in the back yard i made small berms of soil across the yard that
will slow down the flow of water as it runs off the house
to help keep the water on the property
the rock and mulch in the beds around the trees there will do the
same
i also have placed a row of rock on the lower part of the yard
that the homeowner will move against her fence that will also
slowed down the water flow
this will make her backyard native grass do much better and also
the trees

so what we have for this homeowner is a xeric yard
none of the plants or the native grasses will need any care once
they are established well after a year or two
saving her a lot of water and expense

sure hated to put down that bermuda but its a compromise we made

lets all do this xeriscaping stuff at our house

the organicgreen gardener

perfect grass, no gloves, stealth, bb

PERFECT GRASS
we live in central texas
we have had little rain since october
the lakes are dropping
water restrictions are on the horizon
the pastures are as dry as a bone
and this is our rainy season

we are about to hit our hot dry season in 2-3 weeks
this doesnt bode well for our gardens and lawns

grass choices in this area in the order of most water
used are st augustine, bermuda, zoysia, and now a new
combination that the lady bird johnson wildflower center has
been testing now
they are looking for grass that can withstand the sometimes
harsh climate here

what they have come up with is a combination of buffalo grass,
curley mesquite grass, and blue gramma grass
they are all native
looks good when watered
doesnt require much water
if not watered will go native and turn brown but will come
back when watered

have a large area around my barn that was beaten down by
horses
its about a quarter of an acre in size
five years ago when we were in this rainy season we are suppose
to be in now i planted this combination
i never water this fertilize it or do anything with it but look
at it
without rain it looks browned but still has a lot of green in it
it does have a spattering of wildflowers in it also
it looks like grass should look in texas

if watered though it would green up and pass the hoa test

i have seeds of this mixture to plant in another area on my property
but have decided to wait because its so dry
maybe will do it next spring

the seeds can be obtained from the native american seed company
at this website link thunder turf at www.seedsource.com
the combo is called thunder turf
browse their website also
this is where i get all my grass and wildflower seeds

this thunder turf uses less water and less fertilizer and has to
be cut less often or not at all

hummm why isnt it used more

NO GLOVES
ok so i have all these gloves of different types
they are kept hanging on an old clothes line on my
arbor by our back door so i wont lose them all
sure am rough on them
many of them have holes usually in the planting finger
just cant throw any away
besides i keep misplacing them
maybe i need to spray bright orange paint on them like
i plan to do my garden tools

so i just cant help it when i plant beans corn etc and dig in
my garden i just have to feel the dirt between my fingers
it must be genetically imbedded in me somehow

at the end of working in my garden my hands are blackened
guess im bonding with my ancestors some way
sure enjoy it though

STEALTH
so the helicopter that crashed in the raid on bin laden
may have been a new stealth helicopter that the navy
seals use
thats one of the ways they were able to sneak under
pakistans radar
also why extra time was used to destroy the helicopter
when it would not fly out of the compound

BB
the lakers are definitely in trouble
they have to win 4 of the next 5 games
dont think that will happen
bulls made it back
rose looks ok
tonight a night of rest for all the teams
celtics need the rest the most

the organicgreen docotor