Carrie and Al Pepi purchased their farm in 2007 which had been used for cattle by the previous owner. The pastures were mostly coastal bermuda. During the construction of their home, fill was needed and was scraped from one of their pastures which left a scar of eroding sanding soil.
Once the house was completed, the Pepis called in a landscape architect from Dallas to help them improve their property. The landscape architect called in the director of the Ladybird Johnson Wildflower Center who did a survey of the property. The Pepis decided to go in whole hog for conservation and began researching what to do. They contacted some local government agencies and did some small scale hydromulch seeding that failed. They wanted a plan to succeed on a larger scale, and that is when the landscape architect found a local landscaper to do work around the buildings. It was at that time, WHF was also called in to develop a habitat management plan for the pastures and to implement the conservation activities in the plan.
The process began in 2015 with prescribed burns, cover crops, control of invasive plant species and the planting of native grasses and forbs. Each year WHF has done bi-annual monitoring site visits and prescribed appropriate actions to encourage full establishment of native plant species. After 6 years, their 7 pastures serve as a great demonstration site for the different stages of succession in establishing a prairie. The condition of each pasture is the result of how good or bad the pastures were at the beginning. The pasture in front of their house has become an established native prairie habitat, diverse and a mixture of grasses and wildflowers. The pasture with the eroding scar has improved to the point where erosion has stopped and is filling in with early successional plants and little bluestem. The other pastures have had significant success with wildflowers, and native bunch grasses are replacing coastal bermuda. A shallow runoff-fed pond is slowly drying up because the deep-rooted grasses in the pasture above it have improved the health of the soil which now is retaining more water.
The Pepis feel that they are moving in the direction of a more beautiful and enjoyable landscape and find it very satisfying. It is not the same every year. This past year was very wet, and there were 8-foot spears of Standing Cypress flowers all over the property. The variety has been amazing. They try to keep a record of what blooms and at what time every year.
Carrie Pepi serves as the Chair of the Memorial Park Conservancy(MPC) Board of Directors who are involved with the current construction of the Memorial Park Landbridge Project, which will be planted in native habitat. Last Saturday, she invited the entire MPC board to the farm for a field demonstration so that all would get to experience the different stages of native habitat restoration. WHF’s Executive Managing Director, Garry Stephens, gave a presentation and a field tour. The participants were delighted and very enthusiastic.
Recently at Tylee Farms (updated Nov. 2022):
Carrie Pepi hosted the second MPC Prairie Bramble at Tylee Farms. Garry Stephens, WHF’s Executive Managing Director, spoke at the event. WHF has planted 17 acres on the Land Bridge Project area with MPC and has recently began the next phase.
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