Ben and Judy Svoboda’s house on Dickinson Bayou is surrounded by live oaks and water oaks dripping with Spanish moss, and palm trees. Photo by Kim Christensen
Ben and Judy Svoboda aren’t just homeowners — they’re keepers of history who enjoy looking through an album of black and white photographs documenting the lives of the people who lived on the Dickinson property before them. [Read more…]
Diane Royal displays beets from her backyard garden. Royal ventures out into her backyard most evenings to pick everything needed for a salad. Photo by Stuart Villanueva
Ten years ago, Diane and Glenn Royal of Seabrook saw a house they wanted to buy, but some other buyers beat them to it. Fortunately, the Royals became friends with the owners through the Seabrook Rotary Club. And when those owners needed to move last year, the Royals quickly bought the house. [Read more…]
Aimee Jackson, her husband, Gilbert, and their children Alivea and Garrett, love working in the yard of their 1-acre League City home. The property, a mostly bare field when they bought it in 2003, is now lush and colorfully landscaped. Photo by Jennifer Reynolds
It’s clear Gilbert and Aimee Jackson and family are serious about yard work. [Read more…]
Margaret Cherry’s League City yard might be small, but it is home to hundreds of tulips, including the Banja Luka variety with flaming yellow and red petals. Photo by Kim Christensen
Margaret Cherry ought to know a thing or two about tulips. A few months ago, she planted 1,600 bulbs. [Read more…]
Phil Speer stands in the doorway of his greenhouse. The 8-by-20-foot interior is home to hundreds of bromeliads. Photo by Stuart Villanueva
Phil Speer hands me a cutting from one of his bromeliad plants surrounding a tree in his Clear Lake-area front yard.
“Just try and kill this,” he said. “It won’t happen.” [Read more…]
Lynn Weeks and her husband, Richard, have the perfect vacation spot in their backyard. They transformed the once wooded area into a botanical wonderland. Photo by Kim Christensen
When Lynn and Richard Weeks moved to their house on 6.5 acres on Dickinson Bayou in 1983, it was basically surrounded by a wooded forest. [Read more…]
Karen Craig tends to tomatoes in the backyard garden of her Bacliff home. Photo by Stuart Villanueva
Although Karen and Bobby Craig’s Bacliff backyard is lush with blooming flowers and tasty vegetables, it’s the yard art that takes center stage. [Read more…]
Helen Bashline worked hard to revive the gardens surrounding her 1920s era home in Galveston after Hurricane Ike hit in 2008. Photo by Jennifer Reynolds
Helen Bashline is the sort of person who likes things balanced, and that applies to her yard. [Read more…]
City of League City gardener Steve Blum handpicks weeds at the Ghirardi Family WaterSmart Park in League City. Weeds are hand-picked to avoid the use of pesticides. Photo by Stuart Villanueva
The neighboring houses surrounding the Ghirardi Family WaterSmart Park, 1810 Louisiana Ave. in League City, have quite the view these days. Neighbors to the park are able to enjoy its beauty and amenities and educate themselves on how to be more conservation-minded when it comes to dealing with their own backyards. [Read more…]
Marty and Cindy Price enjoy a glass of wine at their bistro table in their backyard. Photo by Kim Christensen
It started out as a barren backyard of sandy dirt.
“I put big umbrellas and seashells out for the kids, and we pretended it was a beach,” said Cindy Price, referring to how her League City backyard looked 13 years ago. [Read more…]