The homeowners are long time Heights residents that decided to update their garden in 2016. The front garden is shaded by several Camphor trees which made for poor lawn growing conditions. They sought help to design and install a new front and side garden and narrow area west of the house. The problem was overcome by designing a front garden that was shade tolerant, low maintenance and attractive. This was achieved by using several waves of ground covers instead of lawn and other shade tolerant plants along the house. A large ceramic vessel is placed under the V in the roof line to help divert water away from the house. Sarah wanted a garden along the side of their home that would attract birds and pollinators. Originally this side yard, which runs along the alley, was a long strip of lawn. The grass was removed and a winding path using decomposed granite edged with chop stone was put in. This space was turned into a "Pollinators Café." The majority of the beds are irrigated with drip tubing. The plants are mostly native and something is meant to be in flower most of the year. It was knocked back by Houston's 2 day hard freeze two weeks after it was installed in December 2016. It came back with only a few plants needing replacing. The deluge of rain from Hurricane Harvey has not disturbed the garden much at all even though the entire garden was underwater. Another fun feature is the back deck which Rich has painted deck/runway to the back door. One the far side we made trellis and planted Desert Trumpet vine and added easy to maintain ground cover below.