Backyard Native Plant Pocket Prairie: John Hart Asher & Bonnie Evridge

A backyard once home to invasive plants and energetic weeds now hosts countless wildlife eager to nectar and feed on native perennials, wildflowers, and grasses. Even though it meant backbreaking digging and lots of soil restoration, a native plant micro-prairie was paramount to John Hart Asher and Bonnie Evridge. After all, John Hart restores prairies as an environmental designer for the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center and Bonnie works for the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality in their air permits division program. Their creative design includes a bisecting boardwalk that leads to organic vegetables, rain collection, and chicken coop. For their young son and dogs, they included shady, comfy playgrounds. Then they added a native fish pond where birds come to drink every day. Working with Thoughtbarn Architects, their top-rated LEED home respects and connects to the land that greets them morning and night. Note: The plant labeled "Three Awn" is
"Green Sprangletop."