January 13, 2025
From Cattle Ranch to Wildlife Paradise
These days, wildlife graze four acres of native plant gardens on former Blackland Prairie ranchland in Jarrell. With ingenuity and lifelong commitment to conservation, Ann and Doug Garrett unearthed tons of limestone boulders to frame waterwise plants dotted by venerable live oak trees.
“We call it the three B ranch: the bird, bee, and butterfly paradise. And that’s what we’ve worked to do,” Doug told us in May 2024. We missed the bluebonnets and other early spring bloomers and the summer-to-fall sensations. Still, we scrambled to see even a fraction of the May floral kaleidoscope.
They moved from Austin in 2010 to the former ranch pastureland, now a Wildlife Management Cooperator Private Lands Program of Texas Parks & Wildlife. Here, director Ed Fuentes frames shots from the front porch pathway framed by yellow yarrow, red yucca, bee balm, salvias and muhly grasses.
Doug noted, “Everybody in the development manages their land for the benefit of the wildlife. You know, bees, birds and butterflies, deer, foxes, bobcats, a cougar, red foxes, you name it. It’s quite a show, a great place to live.” A field of white yarrow supports a community of beneficial pollinators, visible even at night.
Doug’s been involved with green building since 1986, when he founded the City of Austin’s energy conservation programs. He still works as an energy consultant, and in 2014, co-authored Green Home Building: Money-Saving Strategies for an Affordable, Healthy, High-Performance Home.
Back at the ranch, so to speak, he and Ann tirelessly installed four-inch pots of native and adapted perennials. About 1500 plants later, they’ve got flowers for pollinators, host plants, succulents, clump grasses, and reseeding annuals. Annual bee balm randomly pops up to beautifully companion with Henry Duelberg salvia and ‘El Toro’ muhly grass.
Salado Creek runs through the back of the property that sits on Blackland Prairie clay. But it is full of rocks, as they quickly discovered. “I bent two rock bars, and we unearthed all these huge boulders that you see surrounding all the beds,” Doug said. He hauled them around with a two-wheel dolly, a project that hurts my back just thinking about it!
They also unearthed globular rocks. “When you bust it open, we found that it was a form of flint called chert, which is a very not just regular flint, but the best flint for making tools, knives, arrowheads, spearheads.” He discovered that the area, now known as the Gault Site in Florence, is one of the oldest continuously settled parts of North America. Schedule a tour and learn more at The Gault School of Archaeological Research.
Doug and Ann experimented to come up with plants that go along with clay, rock, and little to no irrigation. If a plant lives, but isn’t especially happy, it seeds itself to a more amicable spot. The Garretts are delighted to let plants make design decisions, freeing them up to just enjoy the wildlife visitors. White-blooming datura attracts pollinating moths by night, while Russian sage nurtures other pollinators by day, along with golden-flowered zexmenias. Silvery artemisia and strappy Lindheimer muhly texturize and complement.
“So, I don’t try to force gardens to be certain things and have plants be in like little rows or anything. I bet you 30% of the plants in this yard are volunteers. We started off with a couple of four-inch pots and all this stuff just spread,” he said. Annual standing cypress (beloved by hummingbirds in late spring – summer) popped in against stately whale’s tongue agave.
They do provide multiple water stations for wildlife to get a drink.
Since animals respond to the sound of water, Doug rigged up a self-feeding dripper tube in a large plastic planter positioned above a bird bath. He used the pedestal from a bird bath. Bee balm and white mealy blue sage (possibly ‘Augusta Duelberg’) feed hummingbirds, bees, and butterflies.
Doug drilled a ½” hole in the side about an inch up from the bottom. “Then I insert a grommet that’s 1/2” outside and 1/4” inside diameter. Next insert about 18” of 1/8” inside and 1/4” outside diameter copper tubing often used for connecting ice makers to the wall.
Attach the ball valve to the end of the tube (it’s a simple click on connection) and insert into the grommet (get this in the plumbing department). Fill with water and adjust the drip rate.
In the morning, just fill it with 3-4 gallons of water for hours of moving water. Birds and lizards will be right over so you can grab a photo.
Both Doug and Ann are makers–from practical tools out of scrap parts to artistic totems and fun thrift store garden art finds.They add sentimental bits to colorful totems, especially chunks of colored glass and stones for their light-catching sparkles. (They planted inland sea oats in this low-lying area that can get soggy in heavy rains.)
They’ve been organic for years, not only for their own health, but the health of the wildlife they treasure.
An old mountain cedar tree invited a playful blue vase tree and striking golden flamingo to safeguard a blooming nolina (Texas bear grass) and slightly spiky sotol. “I enjoy learning about new things. I always enjoyed learning all of my career in life,” Doug said. “There’s endless amounts you can learn about plants and nature.”
Thank you for stopping by! Linda
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