May 2022 - 5222 Goodwin

One of our favorite things about Yard of the Month (as writers and readers) is meeting wonderful Vickery Place neighbors, especially when they are relatively new to the neighborhood. So, please let us introduce you to Tessa Schreiner and John Burkhead of 5222 Goodwin Ave – new Vickery Place homeowners since September 2021 and May 2022’s Yard of the Month winners!

Tessa, a development officer at SMU, and John, a lawyer, moved to their beautiful gray Craftsman-style home on Goodwin Ave. with their 2 twin miniature poodles, Ann “Lady” Richards and Yellow “Rosie” of Texas. With them, they also brought an abundance of potted succulents, plants and trees, their own green house, and a passion for beautifying their yard; front and back.

As their good luck would have it, Nora Clark with Allie Beth, the realtor selling Tessa and John’s now home was also a former owner of the 5222 Goodwin house and shared with them a great deal of history about the home. The former owners also kindly left behind a beautiful wooden porch swing and a pair of red rocking chairs on the spacious front porch. They serve as a beautiful backdrop and vantage point to see the abundance of color John has planted all the way around the front porch, including Swedish Ivy, Lantana, Mandevilla, Roses, Lilies, Hydrangeas of all colors, and they are trying a number of ground-cover plants including a very unique variety called “Stepables”.

We were lucky enough to spend a bit of time with Tessa and John and learned some great tips, including:

● Look at online community marketplaces for slightly (or even never) used yard items before buying new at full retail price. Tessa and John found an amazing greenhouse on Wayfair.com with great reviews but said to be very difficult to assemble. They found the same greenhouse on www.OfferUp.com already assembled, close by for pickup, and priced less than Wayfair.

● YouTube and podcasts can be amazing resources for gardening tips and techniques. John recommends P. Allen Smith and Monty Don, both on YouTube. We also recommend local legend Neil Sperry on WBAP.

● When extreme weather comes to North Texas, John and Tessa have 2 tricks up their sleeves to protect non-cold-hardy plants. First, though they have several enormous containers full of succulents and plants, they separate those plants into smaller pots before moving them all into their garage. Second, a strategically placed window in the garage allows them to store plants inside for several days or weeks while still getting necessary light to survive.

Congratulations to Tessa, John, Lady, and Rosie of 5222 Goodwin Ave. for winning May 2022’s Vickery Place Neighborhood Association Yard of the Month! We also want to send a big thank you to Northaven Gardens for their sponsorship and for the $50 gift card they generously award our winners!