by Lisa Roberts
I recently had the pleasure of visiting with Julie Nelson and Kay Angermann at their property in southwest Travis County.
Julie is a 20-year Realtor with eXp Realty, specializing in home sales throughout Austin and the surrounding communities. She is a Travis County Master Gardener, as is her spouse, Kay Angermann. Julie & Kay’s southwest Austin 2.7-acre property is on the tour this year so Julie thought it only made sense for her business, Julie Nelson with eXp Realty, to be a tour sponsor. Julie serves buyers and sellers of any and all types of properties throughout Austin and the surrounding areas, helping her clients navigate the scene and assess their options.
As well as being a practicing licensed Realtor, Julie is a business coach, trainer and a published author. She tells me that she loves people—especially her clients and her fellow Master Gardeners! Part of Julie’s business approach is that she helps her sellers polish up their landscape to make the best first impression possible. Julie says location, curb appeal, and first impressions are everything! She helps her sellers achieve these priorities with a recipe that includes freshening up their gardens, trees and shrubs by pruning, edging, and adding fresh native mulch. She says that quality landscaping definitely helps a home sell! She helps her buyers see the possibilities in their new or prospective yards. She says that for many of her clients, she advises adding simple, appealing features to the back yard of a home so that it’s a pleasure to be out enjoying that personal space. Her garden work is reflected in picturesque ways throughout the property.
The land is surrounded by deer-proof fencing. This provides the ability to plant just about anything that can thrive in Central Texas.
The front yard is in its natural condition, with native grasses and a large meadow area on which they have planted bluebonnets and other wildflower seeds. It should provide quite a show in the spring!
The backyard gardens showcase the same advice Julie gives her real estate clients, and consist of a wide array of native and adaptive plants, mulch, and several “mini gardens” with seating nooks. These special spots are differentiated by names such as the “Church Garden” which includes Thai ruellia, shrimp plant, majestic sage, red and pink turk’s cap, esperanza, and Mexican honeysuckle. The backyard berms are planted with Jerusalem sage, gopher plant, wax myrtle, prickly pear, red salvia greggi, and mountain laurel. The pool area contains a variety of sun-loving plants including knockout roses, pride of Barbados, Lindheimer muhly, Mexican sage, peach trees, germander, and ornamental olives. There is also a butterfly garden with plants that attract hummingbirds and many species of butterflies for much of the year.
These sites provide focal points for the back yard and are enhanced by the use of native rock, mulch, and wood. Kay, a retired teacher who is currently an antique dealer specializing in vintage signs, has left her touch throughout the property through the use of signs, bits of glass, antique shutters, and many other found and vintage objects—all a part of this creative garden and back yard space.
https://julienelson.exprealty.com/
You must be logged in to post a comment.