Photography by Dennis Burnett courtesy of Tait Moring & Associates, except where noted.
Austin-based landscape architect Tait Moring grew up in Texas, about a mile from where he lives now. And two decades ago after Moring bought the 22-acre property where he lives and works, he began to design a garden to celebrate the region’s natural beauty.
The swimming pool disappears into the surrounding landscape.
A fence encloses the pool to discourage local wildlife from wandering in to take a dip.
A mature Ashe Juniper tree (a Texas native) is underplanted with disease-resistant Palisades Zoysia turf grass, which tolerates shade and requires less water than the average lawn.
Cedar post fences on the property were made from Ashe junipers cleared from the property.
The rock on the wall behind the pool is limestone gathered from the site.
When Moring bought the property, “it had been a rental and sort of neglected, with not much here except some trees and a nice view,” he says.
“I really used a lot of leftover stone from other projects,” says Moring.
“This is a great little native plant most people walked by a million times and never noticed, I remember my dad pointing it out to me one time,” says Morning.
A staircase leads down from the higher elevation of the house to the vegetable garden beds.
The banister is Ashe juniper, gathered on site, and native orange and yellow gaillardias (also known as blanket flowers) are interplanted with red poppies; both are encouraged to encroach on the pathway.
Limestone retaining walls define the beds in the vegetable garden.
Decomposed granite on the driveway was sourced from nearby Marble Falls, known for being home to the quarries that supplied the pink rock used to build the state Capitol.
Photograph by Tait Moring.
Mexican feather grass is planted in clumps at the edge of the driveway and a tiered fountain next to the entry welcomes guests.
A curtain of creeping ficus covers the fountain’s walls.
“Texas is so diverse, with so many different eco-regions,” says Moring, who laid out paths and trails on the 22 acres he owns.
The fire pit is “a bit of a hike from the house,” says Moring.
Moring s garden plan You wouldn t know it but I m on a really busy highway This house was built in 1954 and I think it s the only one left A lot...
...of commercial properties here now and most of the houses are off the road The front of the house is something people drive by all the time and we try to make it feel private