Houston Garden Conservancy Open Day
Contact
Bethany JordanPeckerwood Garden Conservation Foundation
979-826-3232
eventregistration@peckerwoodgarden.org
Sustainably Green
2709 Albans Rd
Houston, TX 77005
This lovely naturalized cottage garden contains many pollinator-friendly plants, special plant collections, and “green” and sustainable features on a standard-sized West University lot. Elements include a custom-designed green wall/fence, which adds approximately 135 square feet of vertical gardening with ornamental and edible vegetation; a 1,000-gallon above-ground, galvanized rainwater tank for roof-water collection; below-ground tanks for rainwater collection and storage through a porous driveway pavement system; water storage systems for plant watering; a concrete porch made with recycled glass; an exterior deck made of recycled plastic-bag/wood waste product boards; a naturalized dry creek that works as a detention swale for sixty to seventy percent of normal site runoff; and a rain garden created from porch roof runoff. Flowering, edible, and fruit-bearing plants are incorporated effortlessly into the landscape throughout the front and back.
*Note: this garden is listed as the garden of Steve Stelzer and Kathleen English in the 2018 Open Days Directory.
Itchy Acres Artist Community
405 MARTIN STREET, HOUSTON, TX, 77018
Welcome to the Itchy Acres Artist Community, an informal, unofficial small neighborhood of artists, musicians, and other creative souls tucked into the northern edge of Independence Heights. Artists Paul Kittelson and Carter Ernst moved to their heavily wooded lot covered in giant ropes of poison ivy back in 1989. Over the years their artist friends joined them, drawn to the natural landscape despite the ivy! Their adjoining yards are filled with plants, wildlife, dogs, and sculpture—and a peacefulness only nature can bestow.
*Plants on sale from Peckerwood Gardens at this location.
Directions: Itchy Acres Artist Community is located just north of the Heights, about a mile from Loop 610 on Martin and Thornton streets between Yale and N. Shepherd. Travelling on Yale, turn left onto Martin Street. Number 405 is the entrance for this event, and parking is available on the street or at our nearby neighbor’s, NSM Industries.
Peckerwood Garden is proud to partner with the Garden Conservancy to bring you this Open Day, a self-guided tour of 4 private gardens in Houston that is part of the Conservancy’s national garden visiting program.
A portion of the proceeds of this Open Day will benefit Peckerwood Garden.
Admission to each garden is $7 for members and nonmembers without tickets purchased in advance. Or, purchase a day pass for $24 to see all four private gardens on this date; available at each location.
Peckerwood Garden staff and volunteers will be hosting a special sale of plants found at Peckerwood Garden and perfect for your own.
The Peckerwood Garden Plant sale will take place at Itchy Acres Artist Community located at 405 Martin Street, Houston TX 77018.
Special free entry certificates will be available for Peckerwood Garden Open Days at all 4 garden locations. http://www.peckerwoodgarden.org/explore/visit-peckerwood-garden/
See more images here: http://www.peckerwoodgarden.org/2018_garden-conservancy-houston-tx-open-day/
Selia Qynn's Garden Habitat
10037 Hazelhurst Drive
Houston, TX 77080
Selia Qynn's home is a backyard habitat certified by National Wildlife Federation. It is located on a three acre plot in Spring Branch. Her garden comprises three adjoining properties. It features a 12,000 gallon pond with bog, lily and Koi areas divided by stepping stones and an island. Additionally, there are numerous water features throughout the garden, including fountains, ponds, waterfalls, many sitting rocks, art installations and animal habitats woven together by lush plantings.
Heights Pollinator Café and Shade Garden
413 West 13th Street
Houston, TX 77008
The Dotys are longtime Heights residents who decided to update their garden in 2016. The front garden is shaded by several camphor trees, which made for poor lawn growing conditions. They sought help from a local design and landscaping company. The problem was overcome by designing a garden that was shade-tolerant, low-maintenance, and attractive. This was achieved by using several waves of ground covers (instead of lawn) and other adaptable plants along the house. A large ceramic vessel is placed under the “V” in the roofline to help divert water away from the house. Sarah wanted a garden along the side of their home that would attract birds and pollinators. Originally this side yard, which runs along the alley, was a long strip of lawn. The grass was removed and a winding path using decomposed granite edged with chop stone was put in. This space was turned into a "Pollinators Café." The majority of the beds are irrigated with drip tubing. The plants are mostly native, and something is meant to be in flower most of the year. The garden was knocked back by Houston's two-day hard freeze two weeks after it was installed, in December 2016. It came back with only a few plants needing replacing. The deluge of rain from Hurricane Harvey has not disturbed the garden much at all even though the entire garden was underwater. Another fun feature is the back deck, which Rich has painted into an airplane runway.