Austin vs. Seattle? (Portland, Roma, Round Top: neighborhoods, to buy, allergies)

[woodinvilleguy]

I must admit that I miss all the wild berries that we had access to in Seattle. I remember picking blueberries for like $1 a pound. And don't get me started on the raspberries..... yummy, and cheap to.

In my eight years in Washington, I think maybe I was able to grow one or two tomatoes that got to be ripe on the vine.

[jread]

Originally Posted by Jenbar

I am having a great deal of luck in particular, with my crape myrtles, butterfly iris, agapanthis, lantana, clematis and jasmine.... but haven't really had any of my plants die on me. For where I am, full sun items have been the happiest. My roses are doing well. My avacado and peach trees look GREAT - but no fruit yet.

I just planted some mexican hair, and this whitish/green shrub thing with purple flowers... I don't remember the name.

I also have ajuga as filler/ground cover and hostas as well as a couple of other hardy shade loving things in a few areas.

I did what the poster above said, and built up the beds a bit with good soil, and took some rock and clay out.

I don't have to water too much really... and my grass is gorgeous. I have St. Augustine. I water 2-3 times a week, for 10 minutes a zone.

Do you have an automatic sprinkler system? We don't have one yet and the lawn is a real pain to water without one.

We have Crape Myrtles but they don't seem to be doing anything. The roses are doing very well and we have two Oleanders that have gone completely insane. Our Texas Star Hibiscus is also going strong. Other plants, though, do not do so well. Everything seems to get scorched by the intense sun during the summer/early fall months.

One of my main problems is finding trees that provide good shade and grow quickly enough to be helpful. Most of the trees I've tried either grow too slowly or cannot handle the drought/sun/crappy soil combination.

[jwb123]

What sort of Crape Mytles do you have? They are typically fast growers and don't need a lot of water. BUT - there are all sorts, maybe yours are the smaller versions? You should be getting your new growth on them now. I bought mine as sticks last year, and they are growing by leaps and bounds. I have the Natchez kind - the tallest growing kind, but they are still no where near what they will be in a few years. They shouldn't be flowering yet... also DONT cut them back in the early spring like people tend to do. It's not good for them.

I have a Texas Ash shade tree that's doing great. It was a stick last year, and now it has significant height.

If you buy drought tolerant, full sun plants - they shouldn't have any problems.

My guess is that you maybe be buying plants for the look of them, and not so much as for what will work best with the area you want to put them in? Take pics and ask questions at the nursery... you don't necessarily need to buy there, as they are usually $$$ but - they are a wealth of information and will help you with ideas.

You also may need to build up your beds a bit with good soil - a bag of Scotts (Red & white) at Home Depot is $2 and goes a long way in plant health. I usually dig out the hole, discard the clay, put some good soil in, and replant with the good soil....

Also, mulching is super important to help keep in the moisture....

As for the lawn, I do have an automatic sprinkler system - but this is the first time ever that I have had one. In WA I just had to move it around the lawn every 10 mins or so - but I really like yard work, landscaping - so it was never a bother to me...

I am anti-shrub - they are so ugly, so everything I have flowers at some point. I also don't plant anything that won't come back next year - I am so not into planting, pulling out, replanting etc.

[jread]

My Crape Myrtles are the "Red Rocket" type. They do sprout new leaves every year but they have yet to flower since I bought them. I don't know why. They may be a smaller variety but I figured they would at least flower in the spring.

I definitely want to invest in a sprinkler system as I can't stand spending all evening moving sprinklers around.

Thanks for all the other advice and I will definitely take it into consideration.

[Mckellyb]

Miracle Gro = flowers

I've made plants flower in Vegas... Nuff said. ;-)

You can put quickly put down a 'drip system', which is a hose connected to a faucet, then laid along where your plant's bases are. Don't even have to bury it, if you don't want to.

Much less expensive than a dedicated sprinker system, and if you invest in a timer, $15, it's even automatic!

[schoenfraun]

Originally Posted by anjim

Hi Shoenfraun! So happy to hear that you are loving the Austin area. I must admit I feel silly for responding to such an old post, but it was i-osprey who I was responding to. I felt I needed to give a different perspective on Seattle. Anyway, when you rented in S. Austin how was it? What were the rents like, if you don't mind me asking? Just trying to get an idea of what areas I should be checking out. Thanks!

Honestly I have no idea what rents are like in South Austin; I know only my own experience.

We rented a 2 bed, 2 bath 1/2 duplex with a carport, about 1700 square feet, between Woodland and Oltorf near Parker for $950, with a 6-mo lease and the ability to go month to month after that. We stayed 8 months. I also gave a security deposit of only $400, and no pet deposit for my cat, and I got the whole $400 back.

I don't know if $950 for that kind of space is a good deal, bad deal, or just the norm. But the rest of it--the small deposit, no charge for pets--I know is not the norm and was a great deal. This was not an apartment complex but a duplex owned by an individual who became a friend to us. We rented the place sight unseen because the owner was just buying the building and an Austin friend suggested it to us. At the time we were in Illinois. I think it worked out well for us.

When the other side of the duplex became available, only a 1 bed, 1 bath, a friend of ours from Chicago moved in. His space might be about 800 square feet, and he pays $750, also month-to-month. He's still there.

There is a lot to do in South Austin, but for us there was a limit to how many "First Thursdays" we could go to before we said, okay, done that. I think we went to 2 of them. "Doing" things costs money--food, drinks, tickets, whatever.... So there's a lot to do in South Austin, but you can blow a lot of money! Cool shops, music at the Continental....

The best thing, I thought, about the area was being able to walk around Travis Heights, which is a great neighborhood, really pretty. Very $$$ to buy there. And, sadly, people are buying there and tearing down and putting up behemoth houses that do not respect the historic fabric of the neighborhood. So what makes it pretty and pleasant might be gone in 10 years if folks aren't careful. They won't recognize the place.

Some folks love South Austin/South Congress restaurants, like Guero's and Magnolia Cafe (I know the original Magnolia is not on S Congress), but I think they are way overrated. It's more of a people-watching thing than a delicious food thing. They're mediocre at best.

Of course being near the lake and the trails is a plus...

I hope you find a place in south Austin that you love.

[anjim]

Thanks for all the info. That sounds like a great deal on the rental you had. In Seattle that would be $1400. I'm pretty much over the whole nightlife scene as I was a bartender for fifteen years and have had my fill. I do love to be close to shops, though. Isn't it strange that people would not prefer the old historical houses? They could just up-date and not tear them down. But change is going to happen. Can't wait to get there. I am trying to sell my condo in Seattle, so who knows how long it will be. The market is not as bad here as most other places so I feel lucky about that. Thanks again for all your great info and take care.

[jwb123]

They may be a smaller variety but I figured they would at least flower in the spring.

How long have you had them? Crape's flower in the mid to late summer. If they were very small when you got them, they may have not been old enough. My Crape's are 5 ft tall, and were total sticks when I bought them - they had a few blooms but not much. I expect more this year.

Oh, I also add the fertilizer tree spikes in the soil at the start of spring.

[jread]

Originally Posted by Jenbar

How long have you had them? Crape's flower in the mid to late summer. If they were very small when you got them, they may have not been old enough. My Crape's are 5 ft tall, and were total sticks when I bought them - they had a few blooms but not much. I expect more this year.

Oh, I also add the fertilizer tree spikes in the soil at the start of spring.

I've had them about a a year and a half, but they are still small. They had blooms when we bought them but have had none since. I did notice last year that they had the "berry" things on them (like what the flowers bud from) but no actual flowers.

[achtungpv]

jread, are they still alive? sounds like they are in severe stress if they are. Crepe Myrtles are overhyped weeds and should be growing nearly out of control by now.