To get a hold of Shawn, try sending one of those modern electronic mail messages to: shawn@mirrorlakedesigns.com

Likewise, you may contact Blinda by emailing her at blinda@mirrorlakedesigns.com

And if there is something that you wish you could see on this webpage, or any problems that you might be experiencing, or photos you want to view, or comments in general, try shannon@mirrorlakedesigns.com

Even though everything is indeed bigger in Texas, I think we Houstonians know how to appreciate the little things.

Maybe it’s because we live in some of the largest, flattest, hottest suburban sprawl ever to grace this lovely planet.  So we gasp when we see a hill, we coo over small towns, and we act like kids on Christmas when the weather does this.

Even as the cold air fights it out with the warm air, producing stalling rain and ample thunder, we excitedly run in and out of doors, asking each other if we’ve been outside in the last ten minutes.

Can those who live in colder climates possibly appreciate a -10 degree change like we can?  I just don’t think so.

This is Houston.  We’re Texans–bold, independent, hot-headed, and opinionated.  We consider ourselves strong, but we have a soft spot in our hearts for our state, for casseroles, for the Alamo, and for our gardens.

This soft spot for our gardens really shows our appreciation of the smaller things in life.  We’re used to hard weather here.  Most of the time it’s like a wave of intolerable, wet heat outside.  I think that’s why we regard every moment we can be in the yard as slightly sacred.  And that’s why so many of us delight in the beauty of even a simple blooming ixora, a freshly-cut lawn, or a passing visit from a hummingbird.

I thought of this as one of our customers came by Mirror Lake this past week.  The good Reverend and his wife are dear clients for whom we did a backyard patio and planting design, complete with swing arbor and hidden basin fountain.  

But Reverend was concerned, and he whipped out his iphone and scrolled past photos of his grandchildren to show Shawn photos of his lawn.  The two men studied the collection of snapshots, and then Shawn proceeded to show the Reverend how he could tell that it was Brown Patch, and then what he should do to correct it.

It’s a small thing to have discoloration in your grass, to have someone to whom you know you can go to to get sound advice on that problem…but how satisfying to be able to correct something like that in your garden.  The Reverend left, looking relieved and pleased to soon be the proud owner of a purely verdant yard.  And an iphone full of only grandkid photos.

And Shawn returned to his favorite little place here at Mirror Lake–his putting green.  Because he knows how to appreciate little things like a perfect lawn, too.  

If you’re interested in hearing more about his advice and some background on Brown Patch, tune in next week from 6-8am on Saturday morning.  He and Blinda will be on, just like always, KSEV 700AM: Your Livable Garden.

After 30 years of landscape design and build, the hosts of Your Livable Garden have learned a few things.

This week, they’re sharing some of that knowledge–however painful, embarrassing, or downright awkward it may have been to acquire.

From plantings to structures, pools to patios, Shawn has learned from his own errors, and from the mistakes he’s watched others commit.  And honestly, some of his stories about these lessons are just hilarious.

Blinda shares some good stories, too, but I think I am most interested in one particular point she makes.  She admits that it’s a mistake that she makes many times, and that she often sees homeowners do the same thing.   It’s the failure to relinquish control.

Of course, as a homeowner, you don’t have to relinquish control of any project going on in your home.  But often times, if you’ve hired someone to do something–whether it be to build a cabinet or build a pool–it’s just your first or second pool or cabinet, but it’s the builder’s three hundredth or so project of the same kind.  So you don’t need to be designing, running the installation, etc.

If you’re spending the money to have someone design and install your garden, your patio, or any aspect of your outdoor living environment, try to allow that contractor to really work for you as he or she is trained to do.  Of course you should always check in and make sure things are going as you would like them, but let them work for you.  After all, you are paying money to hire a professional!  Let your money work for you.

Aside from these great lessons, Shawn and Blinda also have wonderful interviews with several experts.  There is the delightful lady from the Greek Festival, which is going on this weekend in Houston (www.greekfestival.org).  I know I’m going to be there and enjoying some baklavah!

They also interview Scott, the man behind that delicious blog, www.grillinfools.com .  And oh, man, I just get hungry listening to him!

They speak with Brian Flaherty again this week, and it sounds like he has lots of fun fall garden items over at his shop in Spring.  But even if you’re not on the north side of Houston, don’t worry!  Plants For All Seasons has several stores around town, so head on over to get stocked up for fall plants and garden accessories!  www.plantsforallseasons.com

I have to pull away from the radio show for a moment and comment on the business.  

As you may know, the hosts of Your Livable Garden run a landscape architecture company during the hours they don’t spend behind the microphones.  Yesterday, Shawn was out in the field to set elevations for a pool dig when he realized he was close to the house of a past client.  He decided to drive by to see how the yard looked these years later.

What can I say?  The plants were stunning.  Usually it’s the hardscaping that impresses me, but the paving in the front and back yards here were mere compliments to the luscious, sweeping beds of this rural property.

The client was home, tending to the horses (picturesque, I know!) and delighted to see her landscape architect walking up the driveway.  They laughed about funny aspects of the job, caught up a bit on life, discussed the plants that had thrived particularly well and those that might need some extra care.

But I was stunned into silence.  Clearly the customer had cared well for her yard.  But to see such full and thriving plants after such a terrible summer was just incredible.  The plants had grown and grown well, and to see how they complimented each other and the space around them in this mature stage was impressive.

And it was so obviously Shawn’s planting.  The way he combines the ultra-tailored look of several highly-pruned shrubs with the wild and huge presence of a tropical, or some of his signature combinations like the light green leaves of plumbago against the dark new growth of lorapetalum…it had his name all over it, and it was beautiful.

I’ll go back for photos, because you have to see how lovely these beds look.  These are plants that perform, and they are combined to look particularly beautiful as they mature.  It’s a design that continues to produce.

Football season is upon us!

This is apparent in many ways.  The smell of barbecue lingers in the air now.  People shop at the grocery stores in colorful jerseys, smiles of excited anticipation on their faces.  Trucks and SUVs drive to parties with their smokers attached on the trailer hitch.

Ah, the tailgate party!  Originating in parking lots around the football stadium, the tailgate holds a very special place in our hearts.  It preps us for the game.  It allows us to participate in a world where actual game tickets aren’t always affordable.  It gives us beer and bratwurst at 10am. 

And these days, it doesn’t even have to be held in those parking lots anymore.  In fact, many people just “tailgate” at home.  Bring your coolers, bring your favorite drink, bring your school colors, and we’ll party in our own backyards!

Backyards?  Did someone mention an outdoor party?  Cue the hosts of Houston’s longest-running radio show about outdoor living–Michael Shawn Kelly and Blinda Ann James have a few words to say about tailgating at home!

I wish you could see these two in the studio now.  Shawn is, of course, decked out in Aggie maroon, proudly pumping his fist in the air at any mention of his College Station-based alma mater.  And Blinda is sporting the green and white of her high school days in Livingston, when it sounds as if she may have single-handedly run the entire sports department with her own school spirit.

They’re covering all you’ll need to know about hosting a tailgate party in your own backyard.  

For instance, you’ll definitely want enough space.  Your guests will be arriving with smokers and coolers and all kinds of crazy equipment for enjoying the game, so you’ll want to make sure there is room for both people and tailgate accessories.  

You’ll also want shade.  This game is not going to be quick, and we all know that Houston weather can be pretty unforgiving, even through September.  Nobody wants to give up halfway through the game, so provide a little shelter from the sun.

To accommodate these 2 requirements of space and shade, Shawn suggests something that he often incorporates into his backyard landscape designs: using the driveway as part of the backyard patio.

I know, this doesn’t sound like it makes much sense.  But he has done it over and over again with great success.  He did it at his own house, at his friend’s house, and many of his clients’ houses, and everyone has loved it.

Think about it–the top of your driveway is often close to your backyard.  It may even be connected somehow, perhaps with a little walkway from your house’s back door to the garage, or maybe with a little fence and gate.  Shawn suggests taking the backyard patio and continuing it into the driveway, using the space as part of the backyard design.

He did this at David’s house.  David has a long driveway, and Shawn convinced him to put a wrought iron gate halfway up the driveway to separate the “backyard” area of the drive from the front.  The part inside the gate is paved with the same material as the backyard patio around the pool and outdoor kitchen, making the whole thing flow together as one space.  It’s perfect for tailgating!  Just back the cars in, fire up the smokers, pull out the coolers, and you’re ready!

Shawn and Blinda also cover some great planting combinations for showing your school spirit.  Obviously Shawn’s favorites are plants that are going to bloom maroon or white–purple fountain grass, Japanese maples, lorapetalum, butterfly bush, etc.  

But he encourages you, the listener, to contribute.  Email your favorite plant combinations that show your school spirit to blinda@mirrorlakedesigns.com .  You could win a free backyard courtyard design from Mirror Lake–valued at $1400!

You could also win this free design by emailing her all of the school fight songs played on the show this week.  In the order in which they were played.  Can you name them?  Give it a try!

In the meantime, we also hear from Raymond Haak of Haak Winery.  Located in Santa Fe, TX, this little vineyard is a great getaway from Houston, and it sounds like they have some fun weekend activities going on.  Check out their website, www.haakwinery.com , or just drive down and visit them.  They’re only 38 miles from downtown Houston, right off Highway 6.

We also hear from Brian Hill of the Houton Zoo.  He informs us that no less than 8 college and professional football team mascots are represented at our zoo.  And if someone would be the Fighting Meerkats, then there would be 9.  I’m not holding my breath on that one, Brian.  But check out the website, www.houstonzoo.org, to catch up on all the fabulous things our zoo is doing.  The new African Forest sounds like it will be an amazing addition…who doesn’t like the idea of feeding giraffes face to face?

We hear from Pam Baggett, author of Tropicalismo, a book by Timber Press Publishers.  Blinda really loves this one, because the book is such an easy reference for anyone interested in taking advantage of the plants that really thrive in our climate here in Houston.  Pam explains that this was her goal with the book.  She wanted to make it very photo-heavy, and she wanted to include good companion plants for all the species she includes so that people would feel like they have a little direction in their planting schemes.

And finally, we hear from Chef Chris from the Timmeron Culinary Retreat out in Wimberly, TX.  As usual, my stomach is growling by the time he finishes sharing his ideas for outdoor cooking.  This time, his recipes center around tailgating yummies, and these ideas are really perfect for cooking out with your football fan buddies.  

Triple Quesadillas with Black Bean Salsa

• Just use your old wok–often gathering dust in the back of a cabinet somewhere–over a little butane burner.
• Layer several tortillas with different cheeses and fillers, and be creative!  Try some queso asadero, some portabello mushrooms, go wild!
• Then mix a can of black beans with some pico de gallo, and suddenly you have a great salsa to go with these cheesy treats

Tailgate Pizza

Make your fail-proof pizza dough with

• 5 c all-purpose flour
• 1 3/4 tsp salt
• 1 tsp yeast
• 1 3/4c + 2 tbsp water

Mix this in your mixer with the hook attachment for 5 minutes, let it rest, then mix for 2 minutes again.  Flour up your hands and stretch the dough into a pizza pan.  Then…put that pan on the grill!  That’s right, you’re grilling this baby.  Flip the dough and then put the ingredients on the top, maybe a little pesto or goat cheese, sausage, even seafood, then shut the lid and finish grilling.  Serve immediately!

He also shares some great ideas for tailgating desserts, and at this point, I’m practically salivating into my keyboard here.  Don’t forget to check out his website, www.timmeronculinaryretreat.com .

And don’t forget to check out Shawn and Blinda on Your Livable Garden every Saturday morning from 6-8 on KSEV 700AM!

This week’s show gives sage advice.   In many ways.

As usual, the tips shared by Shawn and Blinda are great, smart, useful–in a word, sage.

But then Janice Teas adds her own dash of sage. 

In fact, her interview is all about that delicious, versatile herb.  From silver-leaf sage to ornamental sage (you and I know them as salvias) this little plant spices up both our flower beds and our cooking. 

And actually, now is a great time to plant sage, because by Thanksgiving you’ll have grown plenty to use when preparing your turkey.

Gardening Guidelines you’ll need to properly grow sage:

1. plant it high, either in a container or preferably a raised bed, because it does not like to get its feet wet. 
2. when you cook with it, you don’t have to dry it out; fresh sage is delicious in your recipes.  Just remember the dry/fresh herbs rule–double the amount of herbs the recipe calls for if you’re using fresh rather than dried herbs (the water content of the fresh herbs renders the flavor less intense than the dried herbs).

The sage advice our hosts share goes beyond, well, sage (the herb).  If there’s anything you ever wanted to know about patios, their construction, materials to use, their greater purpose in the universe, then this is a show you’ll want to hear.

Gardening Guidelines for choosing a patio material:

1. Concrete–you can get broom finished, stamped, even something mortared to the concrete slab (like flagstone).                                                                                                                                       PROS: Compared to other materials, concrete is relatively cheap.                                              CONS: In Houston, concrete will crack.  It just will, so don’t believe anyone who tells you it won’t.  Expansion joints and wire mesh help with the expanding and shrinking that concrete will do in Houston’s variable climate, but they will not prevent cracking.  WHAT TO LOOK FOR: Someone who knows to slope the concrete to allow for water to drain off (1″ for every 10′ of conrete)
2. Sand-laid brick–this is what you want to use if you’re going to do it yourself.  Sand-laid brick is very forgiving for those of us who need to learn through a couple of mistakes.  There is no concrete to begin setting up when you stop to think through a step, and if you don’t like the way it looks as you work, you can easily re-do what you’ve already put down.

Of course, overall, you can just follow Blinda’s advice if you want to do any project yourself and try out that first DIY in the backyard, away from the neighbors’ judging eyes.  Or, a step further (and Shawn’s advice), try that first DIY in your neighbor’s backyard.  Then, when your learning curve has passed through that very flat stage, try it out in your own!

It may not be your style to make your first gardening mistakes in your neighbor’s yard, and that’s okay.  You can just keep listening to Your Livable Garden (every Saturday from 6-8am on KSEV 700AM) to glean the information you need to confidently go forth, spade in hand, and make your own outdoor living space without error.  Listening to this week’s show will really give you plenty of skills you’ll need–check out the rest of Shawn and Blinda’s tips for this week:

Gardening Guidelines for Garden Remedies:  we hear about these from an interview with Jeff Gillman, author of The Truth About Garden Remedies.  Find out whether mouthwash, beer, or gravel can really be beneficial to your plants and pots.

And don’t forget to email your best garden remedy to blinda@yourlivablegarden.comto win a few copy of Jeff’s book.  The best garden remedy will be the winner, so think of a really good one and be sure to email it to Blinda!

You’ll also want to listen in this weekend for Gardening Guidelines for Ugly Fences–all about what you should use to paint that fence, what to plant to screen it, and even what sort of textures you may use to mask it.

But really, I think my favorite are the Gardening Guidelines for Grilling With Charcoal, which we hear through Shawn and Blinda’s interview with Nicki from the HEB at Stuebner Airline and Louetta in Spring, TX.

Nicki works with the Cooking Connetions at HEB, and she is a self-proclaimed Charcoal Girl.  As she readily admits, she gets excited when she sees folks pick up a bag of charcoal, because she knows they’re going to be cooking something yummy.  And she shares important tips with us for charcoal cooking:

1. Don’t overcook.  Use a medium heat, and you can achieve this through the “hand method” of holding your hand over the flame.  If you can leave your hand there 5-7 seconds, you’re on medium.  Two-four seconds means it’s on high, and you need to turn it down some.
2. Do let the lighter fluid burn off, otherwise you’re going to get some really chemically-flavored meat off that grill.
3. Don’t be afraid of buying beef with some fat content–a lot of that fat cooks off on the grill, leaving your meat leaner and more flavorful.

So take it from a wise lady who was born and raised right here in north Houston.

And be sure to listen in this Saturday for all the details you need to know to make your outdoors a little more livable !

I never used to imagine what a radio host looked like when I listened to his or her voice.

But now that I’ve had the opportunity to sit on the other side of the glass while Michael Shawn Kelly and Blinda Ann James host Your Livable Garden (every Saturday morning from 6-8am on Houston’s KSEV 700AM), I often wish I could share the visual element of the show with their audience.

They just each have their own unique way of providing entertaininment–beyond their funny quips and thoughtful garden advice. 

Both go in the sound room with about a ream of notes.  And while Blinda’s notes are carefully annoted and referenced, Shawn’s quickly become scattered, blotched with the morning’s coffee, and discarded for his own current flow of thought. 

Many times these thoughts of his provoke a major eye roll from Blinda.  In more extreme cases, I find myself flailing my arms at him from the other side of the soundproof glass to try to get him back on topic. 

He loves outdoor living so much that he can talk about it for a very, very long time without interruption.

We haven’t had to unplug his microphone yet, but sometimes Blinda looks like she wants to.  This is usually the case when he begins to talk about the different ways men and women use the garden, or when he takes a big gulp of his breakfast merlot, or when he alludes to Blinda eating large amounts of carbs again during commercial breaks (anyone who knows her can attest to her clean diet and corresponding fit physique).

So our illustrious landscape architect tends to wander far from topic.  I guess that’s not too atypical of “experts” in any field.  And it provides for great information on the show…and great visual entertainment for those of us in the studio!

Welcome to the (improved) Your Livable Garden Blog!  Find all the updates on this week’s show, including notes from the studio, recipes, and tips from Shawn and Blinda.