“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

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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. Maintena ….  more