SAN ANTONIO – Among the many stellar activities of the Bexar County Master Gardeners is the garden creation and upkeep at the Shultze House, a quaint Victorian cottage on the grounds of Hemisfair Plaza downtown, just 100 yards from the landmark Hemisfair Tower.
The Master Gardeners have leased Shultze House from the City of San Antonio since 1993 for a nominal fee and operated a gift shop at the house to support their garden activities.
Among the many stellar activities of the Bexar County Master Gardeners is the garden creation and upkeep at the Shultze House, a quaint Victorian cottage on the grounds of Hemisfair Plaza in downtown San Antonio. The new focus has been transformation of the perimeter gardens to a xeriscaped look using native plants and plants adaptable to South Texas. (Texas Cooperative Extension photo by Jorge Ramirez).
Jim Feighny, a Master Gardener transplant from South Carolina, inherited coordination of Shultze House garden activities last year. His focus has been transformation of the perimeter gardens to a xeriscaped look using native plants and plants adaptable to South Texas.
Xeriscape, the use of native and adaptive plants for ease of care and water savings, has been a major agenda item for Texas Cooperative Extension. The benefits of xeriscaping, pointed out Feighny, besides ease of care and water savings, include hardiness in times of extreme weather because of the use of raised planting beds.
The gardens proved that point during San Antonio’s floods in early July, with the raised beds readily surviving the 30 inches of rain with minimal damage.
According to Feighny, original Shultze House garden coordinator Edna Ward Towland first landscaped the garden with a period garden typical of the time when the house was built and occupied.
Over the years, he said, it developed into an English cottage garden featuring annual demonstrations every fall and spring.
Now, because of water scarcity and a general lack of leisure time, the Schultz sports a new look that has cut back on labor and expense.
“We don’t plant large beds of annuals anymore,” he said. “We use them only as color spots’ to complement the xeric part of our design.”
In the fall of 2001, Feighny’s Shultze House volunteers removed the Bermuda grass that covered much of the gardens. The grass was covered with newspaper and mulch, causing it to die out, and the Gardeners installed pecan mulch walkways and raised beds containing native and adaptive plants such as lantanas, grasses, and salvias.
With the help of fellow Master Gardener Mary Beth Roecker and the Native Plant Society of nearby Boerne, a “rescue team” saved many native plants from destruction at building sites and transplanted them to the gardens.
The gardeners created raised planting beds with materials provided by San Antonio Livestock Exposition and Fertile Gardens nursery. The City of San Antonio nursery and the San Antonio Botanical Gardens donated most of the plants.
Feighny and crew hauled in 20 yards of soil for elevation and put in edging and rocks to give the garden detail.
While not all the plants are native to Texas, they all adapt easily to this area, said Feighny.
“We were looking for plants that we could pretty much ignore,” he said. “With these plants, you can water once a week, although at first you do water more to get them established. The plants are easy to care for and for the most part the beds look nice through the seasons.”
The xeriscape plants, which look hardy and tall, were mostly planted from one-gallon containers in the spring. They were chosen for their ability to take heat and sun without too much water. Among the plants in the various beds are Mexican Bird of Paradise, lantanas, grasses and sage.
“What we’re trying to demonstrate is that people that don’t really have a lot of time to put into maintenance can also have a garden,” said Feighny. “With this type of garden, you make the raised bed, buy native or adaptive plants and then spend 10 minutes a day on maintenance.”
Planning, of course is required. One reason is that different plants may bloom at different times. “This is not a year-round photo opportunity. The beds don’t look great all the time,” said Roecker. “But there is good in that. The dormant time provides food (seed) for birds and other animals.”
Besides the new xeriscape beds, the Schultze gardens also include an herb bed started by Judy Daughety, as well as lush tropical foliage planted previously around the neighboring Texas Engineering Extension building.
Anyone interested in finding more about the Master Gardeners can call coordinator Diane Pfeil at (210) 467-6575.
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