Harrow & Hill
Plan your property

Tank house

Six acres on a dry creek. The stock tank stays, the cedar elms stay, and the lawn does not.

Plan your property
Live oak limbs, moss along the bark, closing over a bright sky.

The problem

A lawn ran from the porch to a tank that had silted shut.

The tank edge was rebuilt in limestone and the silt came out. Every elm and oak that was already making shade stayed. The lawn came out in one October. Inland sea oats and Cherokee sedge went down in the shade. Drip is only on the trees planted that fall.

A large oak over an open lawn, the ground the plan takes back.

The site

6 acres in Wimberley.

SoilAlluvial along the creek. Caliche on the bench by the house.
SlopeAbout four percent, from the porch down to the creek.
WaterThe tank holds after the silt came out. The creek is dry by July. New trees are on drip for two summers.
Started2019
Tank house plan diagram

The plan

Drawn for year ten.

A diagram, not the survey. North is up. The bar is 40 feet.

  • HouseThe porch stays. The lawn in front of it does not.
  • Stock tankSilt removed. A limestone edge.
  • Elms and oaksKept. They are the cooling.
  • Former lawnNow sedge and inland sea oats.
  • CreekDry most Julys. Left in its banks.
  • FenceYear 0 and year 1, then it comes down.

The same ground

Year 0, year 3, year 10.

Open lawn under a dark oak, before the lawn comes out.
Install day. Lawn from the porch to the tank. It looks finished. It will not make August.
A gravel and flagstone path through young grasses and trees, late light.
The path and the first grasses. The fence is still up. New trees are watered twice a week.
A closed live oak canopy, the shade over the old lawn.
The canopy is the cooling. The lawn is gone. The tank still holds.

Plant list

What we actually specified.

Nothing on this list needs a weekly drink after year two. The elm and the oaks were already here. We did not replace them with something thirstier.

  • Cedar elmUlmus crassifoliaModerate in year one. The existing trees stay.
  • Plateau live oakQuercus fusiformisDeep, infrequent
  • Inland sea oatsChasmanthium latifoliumLow, in the shade
  • Cherokee sedgeCarex cherokeensisLow
  • Turk's capMalvaviscus arboreusLow, shade
  • PigeonberryRivina humilisLow
  • YauponIlex vomitoriaLow

The work

Scope, money, and the years.

ScopeTank edge, lawn removal, shade planting, a short limestone path, deer fence for year one.
Budget$140,000–$190,000 built, master plan $16,000.
DurationSite walk in March 2019. Planted October 2019. Stewardship through 2029.

From the owner

The elms were why we bought the place. They still are.

JoelWimberley