Beat the Heat
for the show airing 6-27 and 6-28-09

What do you do when it’s so hot?  You certainly don’t abstain from going outside!  And while the interview on this week’s show with local medical expert (nurse Anna Marie) indicates that one should abstain from alcoholic beverages to stay hydrated in these drought-like conditions, everyone with Your Livable Garden agrees that a few margaritas really make that heat way more tolerable. 

Heck, even Anna Marie agrees that a good cold umbrella drink helps keep folks sane when it’s this hot...and only in June!

That’s right, it’s way too dry and way too scorching out there to even think of what August is going to bring.  But as I said, Shawn and Blinda don’t let a little warm weather keep them from enjoying the garden.  This week, they bring you tips from the Texas Agricultural Extension on working safely in this weather and a few testimonials from clients about how it’s really possible--and even enjoyable--to spend time outdoors this summer.

Like Janice, who took time out of her busy vacation to kindly share with us her secret to keeping her Mirror Lake back yard looking as awesome as it does: doing a little maintenance every day, early in the morning when it’s not so brutally hot. 

As a result, the awesome space she has in her back yard looks really great.  And her family is constantly using it. as she explains: the family, the kids, and friends are using it several nights a week...and Janice is using her “cell phone swing” pretty much every day.

But it’s not just Janice’s experience that we get to hear.  Peggy, a dear friend and wonderful client of Mirror Lake, also shares her experience of having her back yard, driveway, and front yard designed and installed by Mirror Lake .  Despite the heat, Peggy is outside and enjoying the yard daily.  You can even hear how much she loves it here.

Shawn and Blinda also share some of the best plants to use in this kind of dry heat: crape myrtles, desert willows, Texas Persimmon, Texas Mountain Laurel (a personal favorite!), salvias, butterfly bush, plumbago, indigo, and katie ruellia.

And finally, Chef Chris of the  Timmeron Culinary Retreat shares another great group of recipes for us.   Seriously, these are the chic-est of menu items these days: Aguas Frescas and Plank Cooking. 

Want to know more?  Well, listen to the show!  Saturdays from 6-8am KSEV 700AM.

Or email Shawn@mirrorlakedesigns.com and ask about what we do!

Father’s Day--for the show airing June 13th and 14th, 2009

There’s something special about dads and their yards.  The lawn implements, the smells, the grill--they all remind us of Dad.  Perhaps your memories of Dad In The Yard are like Blinda’s: structured, controlled chores orchestrated and presided over by a military patriarch.  Or perhaps your memories are more like Shawn’s: waiting all day for his father to emerge from his hungover slumber, shuffle outside in his grown-up jammies, and throw a frozen lump of hamburger meat on the grill.  Ah, the manly joy of providing for one’s offspring!

There must have been something defining about those half-frozen burgers, because Shawn subsequently grew up to dedicate his life to designing, implementing, and talking about really good, really fulfilling outdoor living.  The kind of outdoor living that involves delicious burgers, cooked properly.

Now he’s the owner of a 5-time international award-winning landscape architecture design/build company in Spring, Texas--that’s Mirror Lake Landscapes, Pools, & Waterfalls.  And a Bachelor of Landscape Architecture.  And a Bachelor of Floriculture (both Texas A&M).  And a former Rice University Lecturer of Landscape Design.  And, most relevantly, the host of Your Livable Garden radio show.

So Shawn and Blinda spend most of their time at Mirror Lake-- But when they’re not creating award-winning designs for outdoor living, they’re tapping their experience and sharing what they know on Your Livable Garden.  And this week is no different.  You’ll hear stories from grown men about their experiences with their dads in the great outdoors, and you’ll also hear from both sides of that great manly debate: Which is Better, Grilling With Charcoal or Gas?

So don’t forget to tune in this Saturday from 6-8am on KSEV 700AM, and
Sunday from 10-noon on KNTH 1070AM!

Gardening by Color, Part 1: Blue

Gardening by Color, Part 1: Blue
(for the show airing 5-23-09)

It’s going to be a show saturated with that
all-star garden color--blue!  It’s definitely not
the most common color out in the yard, and
that’s part of its appeal.  Blinda especially loves blue flowers, and she’s going to share some of her favorites with us this weekend on the show.

We’re also going to hear about the gardening blues--situations in your garden that might get you down if you weren’t otherwise equipped with Shawn and Blinda’s suggestions.

Of course, my favorite part is the food (no surprise!)  Blue nibbles for your outdoor garden party are on this week’s menu--from bleu cheese and black bean nachos (on blue corn chips) to that perfect blue agave margarita, this week’s show gives you everything you need to enjoy that your garden in shades of blue!

So listen in Saturday 6-8am KSEV 700AM, and
Sunday 10-noon KNTH 1070AM!

Designing for Difficult Areas

For the show airing 4-25-09

When else in life do you get a prize for sharing your problems? 

I’ve certainly never seen a therapist and then subsequently received a cookie or a gift certificate in exchange for telling her about my woes. 

The priest has never handed me the keys to a new BMW on my way out of Confession.

So it might be hard to wrap your brain around this one: sharing your landscape design problems can win you a prize.

I know, it’s a new concept, but it’s true.  Shawn and Blinda of Your Livable Garden radio show want to hear about your most difficult design area out in the yard.  Tell them how you solved it.  Tell them why you can’t solve it.  But tell them (with shawn@mirrorlakedesigns.com ) and you could win a free design from Mirror Lake Landscapes, Pools & Waterfalls.

Nice equation, right?  Spill your problem, get a design worth $1400…free.  That’s a big exchange for a little email.  And it’s happening because the hosts of our favorite show about outdoor living in Houston want to solve your design problems.

They should; they’re on the air 4 hours every weekend.  That’s enough time to plow through a lot of difficult design areas in the yard.  In fact, they cover a lot of typically tough places to design in this week’s show (which you can catch, as always, Saturday from 6-8am on KSEV 700 and Sunday from 10-noon on KNTH 1070.)

These are some of those places in the yard that make you just scratch your head.  What do you do against the garage wall?  In the side yard?  Well, if you need ideas for designing these areas, you can get all the information you need from Your Livable Garden this weekend.  These are those design areas Shawn and Blinda will be covering: 

• The drip line of the house
• Mail box and sidewalk  
• The place against the garage wall
• Between the house and driveway
• Side loading garage area
• Places around big tree roots
• Your very oversized lot
• Your existing pool

As always, Shawn and Blinda don’t fill up the entire 2 hours with their own wisdom—they bring in outside expertise through interviews with local, well, experts.

Jimmy Turner, Senior Director of Gardeners at the Dallas Arboretum (www.dallasarboretum.org) returns to the show to give us ideas for plant combinations.  This time his combinations are for those places that are the most challenging to plant—in wet shade, dry shade, and among tree roots.  You’ve had a hard time with these areas, too, so be sure to listen in to what he has to say.  With a title like Senior Director of Gardeners, you can be sure that Mr. Turner has good ideas that work.

We also hear from Bob Borta of The Brass Baron company. Bob describes for us the detailed process of creating the stunning brass statues and fountains his company provides.  Talk about difficult design!  The process his company follows to create their products is a complicated, perfected set of steps.  Check out their beautiful work at www.brassbaron.com .

And once again we hear from Sarah Pounders for more creative, interactive garden activities for parents and kids.  This week she shares ideas for making bean tepees and sunflower houses.  You know your kids loved her Field Journal project, and we couldn’t get enough of her ideas for natural Easter egg dyes, so don’t miss out on her newest activities!  And you can check out www.kidsgardening.org for more.

Difficult design areas—solved.  More great interviews.  And a contest to win a free Mirror Lake design!  It’s another show packed with information you’ll really be able to use. 

And though Shawn and Blinda mention it on the show, don’t forget that they spend their weeks running that little award-winning company in Spring, Texas: Mirror Lake Landscapes, Pools, & Waterfalls. 

Maybe you’ve recently had a design drawn up for a pool or a front yard planting or an outdoor kitchen.  Have doubts?  Not really sure if it’s what you want?  Call Blinda at (281) 350-0515 and she’ll set up a time for Shawn to talk to you about your design.  It’s free, it’s just 15 minutes, and he’ll review your design and talk to you about it.  Why not try it?  He’s got 23 years of award-winning experience under his belt…he’ll tell you how your design could work or how it might work better if changed.

And in the meantime, turn on your radio, and sit back to listen in to this week’s Your Livable Garden.

Your Livable Garden Techniques

for the show airing 4-18-09

My best friend married a kind, sweet man.  He’s a sensitive cowboy type who plays the guitar, wears boots, and likes Shiner.  But soon after the wedding, Nichole admitted that Clay must not have ever washed dishes before.

“It’s like he’s aware that both soap and water are involved in the process.  Clearly he’s seen someone else wash dishes before.  But he doesn’t seem to know the actual process…there’s splashing and dishes and soapy water, but no real cleaning involved.”

It’s true that knowing the ingredients is not enough.  Knowing the process is what it takes to get you from A to B.  And technique makes all the difference. 

Shawn and Blinda cover a plethora processes and techniques for the yard on this week’s “Your Livable Garden” radio show (catch this and every show Saturdays from 6-8am on KSEV 700AM and Sundays from 10-noon on KNTH 1070AM).

Not sure how to prep your beds for planting?  They cover that.  A bit apprehensive about tackling drainage issues in your yard?  They cover that.  Wonder just how to approach irrigation in this alternately wet/dry climate?  They cover that.

Have no idea what/where/how to plant?  They most definitely cover that.

I know you’re intrigued now.  And you should be.  You should want to know how to till your own soil, and what to add to it to make it nutritious for your plants.  You should want to know the 3 different ways to drain water out of your yard.  You should want to know whether Shawn and Blinda think you need a real irrigation system in your yard.  And you should want to know how deep, how far apart, and how big to plant.

Luckily, they’re not keeping it secret.  They’re telling you how to do all these things on this week’s show.   You can have the skills, the techniques, the processes you need to do right by your yard.

And why stop there?  Why just let the show hosts give out valuable information?  Of course they should involve other local spokespersons and experts.

So they do.  We hear from Tracy with the Houston International Festival, going on this and next weekend right here in Houston, Texas.  It’s all about Ireland this year, but you’ll be able to find more than Celtic knots, Guinness, and Shepherd’s Pie at the fest.  Check out their website for more information, www.ifest.org .

They also speak with Linda Guy of Novalis about their Plants That Work series.  We hear about the Hedgehog Aloe, the Heirloom Amaryllis, Cornelius Agave, and Soft Caress Mahonia (yes, it’s a soft mahonia that you can pet without poking yourself!)

We also hear from that incredible Miracle Fruit Man himself, Curtis Mozie (http://www.miraclefruitman.com/ ).  You’ll definitely want to hear this one—Curtis sells a fruit that does something amazing to your taste buds for a couple of hours.  Tune in for this interview, folks, because you’ll be eating lemons and limes like candy!

Okay, well, I’ve given you enough tidbits to get you interested…so be sure to listen in!