For the past 22 years, Sandra and John Tyndal’s residence has been known as the “house that decorates” or the “Christmas house” here in Westcreek.   Sandra was inspired by her childhood experiences in Utah when her mother would take her to a local park to see the Christmas decorations.  Memories of that happy time motivate Sandra to decorate her yard, recreating the displays bit by bit as she adds to the collections.   

Her first decorations were the Nativity which was soon followed by the beginning of her collection of snowmen. For this year, the family has added Santa, a snowman and a penguin on a Christmas sled with pulled by a dog in a Santa hat.  Sandra is inspired by finding something different for each year’s addition and in creating vignettes,  each telling their own story.  Visiting her yard, you will find the Nutcracker, Polar Express, the Nativity scene, a variety of  Santas, Elf Landing, Snowmen, Christmas Gingerbread men,  many penguins, and lots of lights. The fences are decorated as well, with many lights and a poinsettia wall.  The process takes weeks to complete and involves her entire family, with her husband John, daughter Tricia, and grandson Micah taking active parts.  The neighbors are also involved in wrapping lights, setting out candy canes or offering parts of their yard as the collection expands with animated reindeer. 

When asked, Sandra admitted that most of her decorations are outside rather than inside her home.  The outside decorations always come first – as her shirt says .’My favorite color is Christmas lights”.  As the collection has grown, off season storage has moved from the attic to a larger storage building that also houses the decorations for Halloween, Easter, and the Fourth of July.  Each month Sandra has a different wreath representing something special and unique.   Her passion and enthusiasm for decorating brings her joy and reminds her of the warm feelings from her childhood.

The decorations this year will stay up a little longer than usual this year to share the joys of the season with our neighborhood.   Everyone is invited to stroll through the lights!  The Tyndalls ask that you stay on the pathway for your safety and obey their Christmas House Rules of spreading a little Christmas cheer. 

Along with the recognition as Yard of the Month, the Tyndall family receives gift certificates from Leaf Landscape, Klingemann’s Car Care Center,  D’Lites Ice Cream , and Cypress Grill.  

Make sure your tour of the seasonal lights includes this amazing house at 5006 Summerset.  You may see the family on the porch greeting friends and neighbors or making sure the elves and snowmen aren’t up to any Christmas mischief!

Our Yard of the Month for October – Sarah and Zach Henke

We continue to celebrate our neighbors by recognizing the yard of Sarah and Zack Henke at 6505 Fair Valley.  The Henkes have lived in Westcreek for five years and enjoy walking the neighborhood with their children, Clair,(6), Brooks (4), and Wyatt (1 ½) along with their dog, Ranger.  Sarah mentioned how much she enjoys her friendships with their neighbors and other moms, and maintaining those important connections even while social distancing.   

Zach and Sarah were inspired when designing their yard by looking at other landscaping projects and getting some advice from professionals.  Their goals were to select plants native to the area that are easy to maintain and to incorporate some of Zach’s talents in welding to their landscaping. The pandemic offered them the time to get to work on their plans. Zach worked with 3/8” steel to create the edging for the beds and to build the rectangular planters in the front bed and side yard.  

The planters are filled with asparagus ferns with more natives filling the beds across the front:  blackfoot daisies, wavy spinless prickly pear, Texas brush sage, ice plants, silver leaf ponyfoot, and bulbines.  They love their live oak trees in the front and back, noting these were part of why they were drawn to the neighborhood and their home. 

They have done extensive work in their yard, creating the beds, widening the driveway with stepping stones and crushed granite, and adding river rock to the side yard by the sidewalk.  The end result is a natural yet neat setting that adds value to their home and beauty to the neighborhood.

As Yard of the Month winners, the Henke’s receive the following awards from the sponsors of the Westcreek Neighborhood YOM program:

• Free oil change from Klingemann’s Car Care Center ($37.95 value)
• $45.00 gift certificate from Cypress Grill
• $15.00 gift certificate from D’Lites Ice Cream Shop
• $50.00 gift certificate from Leaf Wholesale Nursery 

When asked about information they would like to share with our neighborhood, Zach laughed and said he would apologize for the barking of Ranger, their golden retriever who guards the back yard.   He describes Ranger’s bark as “healthy”, adding that in person he is more of a “friendly dude” who likes everyone.  

When out and about, give Zach and Sarah a “high five” to salute their hard work in helping to keep Westcreek a beautiful and friendly place to live. 

In September, we are recognizing the home of Cathy and Rich O’Sullivan at 6415 Steer Trail. Cathy and Rich have been part of our neighborhood for a little over 2 years. Since moving in they have done extensive work on both the house and the yard.  Rich describes both as a “work in progress” – he still has plans to add cedar fencing on both sides of the house to match the cedar columns added to the front, add stone edging and continue to add native plants to the yard.  Cathy describes their efforts as a continuous experiment to discover that will grow in the Texas sun.  They are off to an amazing start!

One of the factors that drew them to the house was the old, magnificent live oak tree in the back –  it towers over the house and yard!  With the goal of attracting owls, Rich built a house that attracted an owl family last year.  As you can tell from the picture, it has a new resident who seems to be making himself very much at home.

Since moving in they have created defined beds and added planters bordering the front and side.   Rich built the metal planter in the front as his first welding project. (He says you can learn to do anything by watching You Tube!)  It is filled with foxtail ferns with a touch of color from the vinca plantings on each end.  The large pot came with the house and was painted to blend with the other landscaping.   It is filled with asparagus ferns, flanked by more native plants and succulents, and accented with driftwood.  .  Across the front, you will also see bamboo muhly and the metal rain chain.   The entire yard is a blend of native grasses and succulents with several areas accented with colorful annuals.   

As part of the remodeling on the house, Rich took out the fireplace. After first putting the stone outside to give away, they decided to keep it and get creative –  the stone facings became the border for the beds in the front.  

Cathy and Rich met when skydiving and they have brought this sense of adventure to the projects in their house and yard.  You may see them out working on new beds, building new fencing, or catch sight of Rich on his scooter with their French Bulldog, Rupert, along for the ride.  

Along with the recognition as Yard of the Month, they receive gift certificates from Leaf Landscape, Klingemann’s Car Care Center,  D’Lites Ice Cream , and Cypress Grill.  

Drive by, say hello, and get inspired by their hard work and creativity.

The Yard of the Month for August belongs to Yvette and Chris Wagner at 6401 Steer Trail.  Yvette and Chris have lived here for 26 years and really love the community  –  especially their neighbors on Steer Trail.   One neighbor had the idea that they adopt the name “The Trail Peeps”, a group they describe as always being willing to share a cup of milk, help care for an animal, or join in for  a visit and refreshing beverage in the yard in the evening.  There is a feeling of great fun and pride on Steer Trail. Their neighbors, Gail and Barry McAtee, (former Yard of the Month recipients), came out and applauded their recognition as we were putting up the sign. 

The inspiration for their new landscaping was to solve some drainage problems with runoff water.  The Wagner’s worked with Marian at Waterloo Landscape Design to create an entire new plan for the yard that included a dry creek bed, seating area, river rocks, flagstone, and lush and green plantings.  The front beds under the oak trees feature leopard plants, tropical sage, foxtail ferns, flax lilies, with Regina Walking Iris, and agapanthus lilies lining the front of the house.   Chris is particularly proud of his Texas Native Pecan that has grown from a seedling from the LBJ ranch.   

When asked what inspires them to work in their yard, they both named “weeds” as the motivating factor.  Their lush St. Augustine grass was evidence of their good work!  Some of the gardening advice covered their approach to managing the  mosquitos.  It’s the result of the group effort by their neighbors to have their yards sprayed on the same day (by Barfoot Mosquito). It makes it much nicer for everyone to enjoy the yard.  

Along with the recognition as Yard of the Month, they receive gift certificates from Leaf Landscape, Klingemann’s Car Care Center,  D’Lites Ice Cream , and Cypress Grill. 

Drive by and appreciate the design and hard work of their beautiful yard.  Feel free to stop by for a socially distanced visit if you see them in the yard! 

The Yard of the Month for July is the home of Clayton and Laci Smith at 5408 Wolf Run.

Clayton and Laci and their dog, Boo Bear have been part of our neighborhood for five years and enjoy the convenience, location, and neighbors of Westcreek.  

Laci and Clayton were inspired by walking the neighborhood to see the native plants others had included in their landscaping and set a goal of creating a low maintenance yard utilizing plants of varying heights and textures. Living with Austin’s water restrictions lead them to a decision to xeriscape.  Working with Leaf Landscape Supply, they selected native plants – Blackfoot daisies, a selection of grasses, artemisia, bottle brush, ocotillo, and Santa Rita Prickly pear.  Two new trees were added, a burr oak and desert willow.  They installed hardscape using a combination of decomposed granite, Oklahoma Pecan patio stone, and river rock.   Other features include the planter of succulents by their front walk and the driftwood Clayton found on a hike that was added to the front bed.  

They enjoy taking care of their yard  and see it as a form of beauty they can shape and care for as it fills in and matures.  Along with the recognition as Yard of the Month, they receive gift certificates from  Leaf Landscape, Klingemann’s Car Care Center,  D’Lites Ice Cream , and Cypress Grill. 

Drive by, see the sign for Yard of the Month, and enjoy the creativity and hard work they have poured into their yard!