jessica

The yard of Pat Lero at 2314 Brooktree is the yard of the month for October 2010. Pat and her husband bought the house in 1986 so she has lived on Brookmere in Lazybrook for 24 years.

Pat does all her own yard work including planting, designing and mowing. She does get someone to do the edging.  The front yard is home to three  large trees.   In the center are two Red Oaks and off near the driveway there is a Burr Oak.  The trees were there when Pat and her husband moved to Lazybrook. They put the new front sidewalk in about 10 years ago.   It is made of pressed concrete and resembles flagstone in color as well as the surface texture. The sidewalk curves from the driveway to the front entrance to the home.

Earlier this year Pat reduced the size of some of the beds, specifically the one around the Red Oaks. Some of the original Azaleas (we think they are Formosa) which were there when they moved in are still planted between the sidewalk and the house. Pat has added some Encore azaleas closer to the front door. In addition there are some pink and some red Knockout Roses near the end of the house toward the driveway. One Caldwell Pink old rose is planted by the driveway.

All the beds except for the bed around the Red Oak are bordered with some beautiful rocks that Pat and her husband brought from their farm in Flatonia about 12 years ago. These rocks are unusual. They are a reddish brown color and they are smooth but not as smooth as River Rock. Each rock is about 5 or 6 inches long and almost as wide. These rocks add a very special touch to the borders of the beds.

Other plants which are in the beds in front of the house include two Gardenias, Aztec grass, Giant Lirope, Flax Lily and at the end, a Yellow Rose of Texas. Near the front door, Pat has selected a 3 foot tall Double Red Camelia and planted it in an ornate terra cotta pot which has aged to a beautiful mossy color.

Between the two large trees and just in front of the sidewalk, Pat and her husband placed a bench that they bought in Schulenberg. The bench has cast aluminum arms and legs which include an image of a large American eagle.  The slats on the back of the bench look like stripes on a flag and a cast aluminum rectangle with stylized stars is attached to the upper left corner of the back so the back of the bench looks like the American flag. Pat said the bench was her husband’s favorite spot before he died 3 ½ years ago.

On a Saturday morning at 8 am, I was driving by the house and I saw Pat in the yard planting yellow Chrysanthemums in the bed around the Burr Oak. I stopped and asked her if we could select her yard for “yard of the month.”  She responded that all of her hard work had paid off. Pat had placed three wooden pumpkins around the front of the Burr Oak tree.  Each pumpkin has the name of one of Pat’s granddaughters.

We have observed the house at 2218 Brooktree since late 2007 when the house went into foreclosure.   At that time the house and the landscape was a disaster.   The front sidewalk was gone and the indention where it used to be was filled with dead sod.   Whatever plants were there were overgrown or dead.

Less than three years after Vonda and Sean Bonte bought the run down property in December 2007, the house has been completely remodeled with new siding, new roof, new windows, new carport, a new wrought iron gate across the driveway, new gameroom/entertainment area in the back yard and a new salt water swimming pool, new outdoor kitchen, three pallets St. Augustine sod and new landscaping.   The house was not habitable when they bought the house but they started the remodeling process and moved into the house on July 1, 2008.  The Bonte’s have two sons, Kenneth age 14 and Mitchell age 12. The two boys do the lawn maintenance.    Sean who is an electrician did a lot of the remodeling work himself.  Vonda grew up in Lazybrook.  Her parents live on Watercrest.

Today this home stands out in Lazybrook as a prime example of what  updating can do to a 1960’s Lazybrook house.   The new landscape was designed and planted by the homeowners.   They purchased all the plants in the neighborhood at Lowes, Home Depot and Garden World.  When Vonda and Sean went looking for plants, they wanted plants native to the area and plants that were maintenance free.   They chose five Italian Cypress trees about four feet tall and spaced them across the front of the house.   They created curved beds and in the beds they planted a variety of plants including Dwarf Indian Hawthorne, Variegated Pittosporum, Mexican Heather and Foxtail Fern.   At the left end of the bed they planted a tall Callistemon or Bottlebrush and at the right end of the bed near the driveway they planted a Sago Palm.   Across the front of the beds, they planted clumps of Aztec Grass which is a variety of Giant Liriope with very distinctive green and white striped foliage.  Their  St. Augustine grass is greener than any other yard on Brooktree and when asked about how they kept it so green,  Vonda an Sean said they watered a lot but they do not fertilize the St. Augustine. The sidewalk in the front yard is new and connects the driveway with the front door.   As the concrete curves toward the door the sidewalk gradually gets wider until it forms a welcoming entrance to the home.

The driveway has been widened by adding about a foot of white gravel on each side of the existing driveway. Sean has started gathering the pine straw which falls from the large pine trees in the front yard.   He is wisely using the straw as mulch in the flower beds.    This is a mulch which is free, attractive and very effective in controlling weeds.