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For the Herald

Spruce Up Austin’s Yard of The Month for September was presented by SUA members, Kathy Bjorge, Toby Hovelsrud, Caitlin Olson and Don Smith to the hardworking homeowners of Cathy and Harold Sorenson, located at 2304 16th Ave SW.

Their home was moved to this lot over 25 years ago from the floodplain near where the swinging bridge once was (Some of you will remember the bridge!) The nominator stated, “They take great pride in their yard. It has taken them a lot of work over the years for their vision to come together.”

Sorenson’s yard is large and continues to be a work-in-progress. It requires a lot of attention due to the deer who roam the neighborhood. Cathy sprays to keep them away from her plantings, but she enjoys seeing them as well. Cathy is part of the Facebook Hosta Group and is in process of planting numerous bareroot hostas along the property line. She labels her hosta plants using metal nameplates.

Cathy also likes to bring indoor plants outside to mix among her annuals during the summer months. Her daylilies came from Keast Daylily Gardens in Oakland, Iowa. They are known worldwide.

Cathy showed us a basket of collected milkweed. Master Gardener Don warns us it is poisonous and should be kept away from children and pets.

A rustling water pond in the backyard with young Koi fish and a solo frog creates a soothing place to hang out. When their family visits, they spend most of the time in the backyard.

Harold and Cathy received a gift certificate from Stivers’ Nursery as well as a beautiful fused glass piece from our SUA member and artist, Deb D’Souza. Thank you Harold and Cathy for the tour of your beautiful property and gardens. Our team really enjoyed it!

This was the last Yard of the Month presentation this year. Spruce Up Austin appreciates all the people who took time to nominate yards.

Also, a big thank you to the businesses who provided gift certificates, Deb for donating the beautiful glassworks, Dave Dammen for providing the wooden holders and the Austin Daily Herald for publishing our winning entries.

Please check out our Facebook page next year for nominating more beautiful yards!