October YOTM: 154 Bon Aire
Old Lake Highlands October Yard of the Month goes to Suzy and Rob Renz at 154 Bon Aire!
We have lived in East Dallas for over 40 years, and in OLH since 2013. We were thrilled to find a nearly one-acre property surrounded by two creeks and ligustrums, cedars, cherry laurels, hackberries, cedar elms, althea and a sycamore. Our frontage is 400 feet, tapering to a triangle shape in the back. There were just 3 big trees in the front yard (Live Oak and Bois d’ Arc) and the rest of the property was lawn. The back yard is really the WOW! spot, it just takes our breath away every time we look outside. The house was built in 1973 and had never been updated, so after a 22 month remodel/addition it was time to work on the yard.
The pool was built first, as a track hoe is so large it couldn’t get into the back yard once the addition was built. The back yard has a 12-foot drop from the screen porch down to the bottom of the yard, so we were desperately in need of two retaining walls and two sets of stairs which came next. Then we removed all the grass on the property and started work on the hardscape.
Suzy is a Dallas County Master Gardener but needed a bit of help with the design - a one-acre bare piece of land is really big! Once we got the flagstone paths laid, the next step was adding boulders all over the property. Then we added many trees: Japanese Maples, Shantung Maples, Vitex, Eve’s Necklace, Texas Mountain Laurel, Sumac, Rusty Blackhaw Viburnum, Redbuds, October Glory Maple, Sweet Gum, Senna, and Saucer Magnolia.
Then came all the shrubs and perennials. We have hundreds of plants, too many to name. This is the third year for the garden and it’s filled in very nicely. We try to lean toward Texas Natives and Water Wise plants, but of course there are many adapted plants that do well here too. We were on the Dallas County Water Utilities Water Wise Garden Tour last year (receiving the Best in Show award) and will be on it again this year virtually (savedallaswater.com). Our garden is nationally certified as a Monarch Waystation, Butterfly Garden and a Wildlife Habitat.
We have many plants that attract hummingbirds, butterflies, and bees. (We also have a bat house, but don’t have any occupants yet.) We put up an owl house two years ago and after chasing squirrels away we were rewarded with a feral beehive!
We are so glad we finally found OLH – we feel like we live in the country, it’s so peaceful. We are out in the garden often so please stop by and say hi!
-Suzy Renz, OLHNA Treasurer & YOTM Committee
