April Yard of the Month
The April Yard of the Month is awarded to Bob and Merrye Gratzer of 22450 Bucktrout.
Bob and Merrye Gratzer have lived in the Settlement for the past year and a half and have been residents of the Katy area for the past 44 years. Mr. and Mrs. Gratzer have three grown children and five grandchildren, four of which are in their teens. The beautiful pool and patio in the backyard keep their grandchildren coming for frequent visits to their beloved Grammie and Poppa Bob’s house.
Bob Gratzer is a retired law-enforcement officer and is semi-retired from his landscaping business. He maintains his and Merrye’s gorgeous yard and gets occasional help from his old crew on the heavier work when needed. Mary is a retired KISD teacher who still subs in several junior high schools in the district. She’s in charge of planting and maintaining flowers in the yard, changing out the seasonal yard décor, maintaining and growing the vegetable garden, and maintaining the pool. These two obviously stay quite busy!
The Gratzer’s love the friendliness of our neighborhood. They met several of their neighbors within the first week of moving into the Settlement which was a pleasant experience for them. They like how the residents will wave or say hello when walking by and were equally happy to see the children in the Settlement do the same while making their way to the bus stops in the mornings. They also discovered many of their friends lived in the neighborhood, a bonus of being longtime residents of the Katy area for the past four decades. Bob and Merrye can’t help but wonder why they didn’t move to the Settlement sooner.
They feel fortunate to have inherited a beautifully landscaped yard when they moved into the neighborhood. Like many of us, the Gratzer’s lost many plants in last year’s freeze but have diligently been working on bringing their yard back to life.
The front beds are beautifully adorned with blue plumbago and spirea (bridal wreath) throughout. Bob and Merrye put in several new Japanese Yews that line the back fence and love watching their Leopard plant bloom with beautiful yellow flowers at the end of the summer. Merrye changes out the flowers with each new season for added color and texture. She urges the neighbors to stop by and admire the yard in later spring when her flowers and Crepe Myrtles are in full bloom.
You might catch Bob and Merrye sitting on their relaxing front porch enjoying time together in their rocking chairs. If you do, be sure to stop and say hello!
