< Previous60 COASTMONTHLY.COM | JuLY 2025 GARDEN VARIETY HERE COMES THE SUN After Beryl trashed their trees, Friendswood family uses open green space to plant gardens story by BARBARA CANETTI photos by LESLIE PLAZA JOHNSON H urricane Beryl did them a favor, but at the time Dianne and Corban Gal- lagher didn’t know it. The Friendswood couple’s home acreage — heavily wooded with old oaks, pines and magnolias — was almost entirely cleared of its trees during the July 2024 hurricane and possibly a tornado. What had been a mini-forest in their yard now was a full-sun, open space which gave them the opportunity to create several gar- dens and a workshop. “We have learned to be resilient,” Dianne said. “We loved how it looked before. It al- most looked like a park with a thick canopy.” But there wasn’t any area that wasn’t shaded and only a small area with consistent sun needed for a garden, she said. “Now I have all of this,” she said, pointing to the open green space with a manicured lawn and several interesting plots for flow- ers, herbs, vegetables and greenery — all needing sunshine to thrive. She started near the pool, creating a gar- den with blossoms and flowers that added color most of the year. She laid pavers around the garden to create paths away from the pool and into patches of petunias, geraniums, hydrangeas and jasmine. She Dianne Gallagher holds a bounty of home grown tomatoes and cucumbers from her garden in Friendswood. Gallagher and her husband, Corban, took advantage of the open space left after Hurricane Beryl destroyed the trees on their property and planted several gardens. COASTMONTHLY.COM | JuLY 2025 6162 COASTMONTHLY.COM | JuLY 2025 GARDEN VARIETY put up an arbor with a plaque, “Maggie’s Garden,” named for her dog who died but loved being out in the yard. She made several raised beds for the vegetables, using netting, cages, hoops and stakes for supporting the growing plants. In between the tomatoes, she nestled marigolds as a companion because they have similar growing conditions, thriving in warm, sunny spots. Marigolds protect tomatoes from pests and diseases, while also attracting beneficial insects to help with pollination and pest control. She also planted varieties of basil, along with a gourmet chef’s assortment of tarragon, oregano, dill, several types of mints, marjo- ram and chamomile. “I’m getting better pairing with compan- ions,” she said. “I squeeze them in between the other plants.” Her vegetable garden spans several COASTMONTHLY.COM | JuLY 2025 63 beds with cantaloupe, cabbage, collards, heat-tolerant summer varieties of lettuces, pickling beans, potatoes and strawberries. She fertilizes every two weeks and spreads homemade compost from kitchen scraps over the beds. Along her fences she used cast-iron plants because they’re hardy and never die, mixing them with sunflowers and an array of wild- flowers. In the center of the yard is an enormous treehouse, built by Corban for their 11-year- old son Charlie. “It was supposed to be just a little struc- ture, but during the pandemic, while we were home all the time, it just grew and grew,” she said. Nearby on one side of the house, Dianne built a wall of more than 100 flower pots, filled them with a collection of brightly col- ored artificial flowers, giving the area a fresh and lively look. “I had real plants there but the dirt kept draining out of the pots, making such a mess on the patio that I decided to try this,” she said. “Now I can change them out depend- ing on the season.” In another area of the yard, she created a special garden for her two box turtles, Shel- don and Shelley, in a private oasis on the side of the house. And, now, without the grove of trees in the yard, Corban was able to build a massive workshop where he tinkers with his hobbies. So, despite losing all the trees and having to jump-start the beautification process, the Gallaghers say they like the new look. “The yard was completely trashed and we knew it was going to take a lot of work,” Dianne said. Corban seemed more philosophical. “De- spair isn’t useful,” paraphrasing his favorite quote from “Terminator 3.” (From top) Dianne and Corban Gallagher’s son Charlie inspects one of the luffa growing in the family’s backyard garden; a bee pollinates blanket flower; box turtles Shelly and Sheldon have their own garden area near the patio; a wall of artificial flowers adorns the outdoor patio area. (Opposite, from top) A path from the pool deck leads into the gardens; a metal sign marks the entrance for “Maggie’s Garden,” a tribute to Dianne and Corban Gallagher’s dog, Maggie, who loved being the yard.64 COASTMONTHLY.COM | JuLY 2025 Going deep is the ticket for staying hooked up during the dog days of summer. COASTMONTHLY.COM | JuLY 2025 65 HOOKED DON’T RETREAT FROM THE HEAT Dog days are anything but over in deep bay waters story and photos by CAPT. NATE SKINNER O ne hundred degrees and dead calm. That’s a pretty accurate forecast for many days that lie ahead over the next two months. Many folks will be tempted to remain sheltered indoors until the first signs of fall. I tend to feel a little differently about the dog days of summer. I’ll welcome them with open arms, pouring sweat and all, because conditions usually result in some exciting deep-water angling opportunities. When the deep, open bay waters along the upper Texas coast turn to glass and not even a breath of wind stirs the stifling air, I go looking for schools of redfish. Much like hunting, this approach involves stalking — scouring miles of water in search of signs that swarms of red drum are feeding nearby. One of the most obvious signs is com- motion along the surface. When schools of redfish are in a feeding frenzy, they’ll often chase hordes of shrimp, shad or mullet up from the depths to the surface. There’s no doubt about what’s happening when this takes place. The water literally boils and takes on a golden, orange sheen as the bronze-backed fish chomp on just about anything in sight. Most of the time, you can cast any lure into the chaos and hook up immediately.Often, birds such as terns hover over and dive into schools of redfish feeding along the surface. The birds are picking off an easy meal by preying on shrimp or baitfish the reds have chased to the surface. Birds have excellent vision, and can spot schools of fish we can’t see. Even if the fish aren’t in a frenzy at the surface, a group of terns hovering and diving might mean reds are schooling down below. Other signs of redfish schools in open water include slicks and mud boils. A slick is just what it sounds like — an oil slick on the water. They are caused by fish regurgitating oily matter from the prey they are digesting below the surface. Fresh slicks are small, round and usually mean the fish are nearby. Larger, oblong slicks are likely farther from the fish, having been moved by breeze or cur- rent. Cast upwind or up-current of older slicks because that’s likely where the fish are feeding. Mud boils also look just like they sound. They are clouds or patches of muddy water caused by schools of redfish aggressively feeding and stirring up mud or sand from the bay bottom. On water with several slicks and mud boils, the best approach is to thoroughly cover areas upwind of the signs. The fish almost always feed into the wind or current. For chasing open-water redfish, I prefer soft plastics rigged on jig heads weighing from 3/8 to 1/2 an ounce. This setup allows you to cast long distances in any direction to reach a school of fish or cover plenty of water with your lure. Anglers also can expect to find schools of speckled trout feeding across open bay waters during the heat of summer. Specks often produce numerous slicks and topwater lures and soft plastics generally draw strikes. Other deep-water options during the dog days include the jetties, the edges of spoil islands along channels, nearshore rigs in the Gulf, well pads and gas wells in our bays and drop-offs along the Intracoastal Waterway. Fishing any of those can yield quality redfish and trout. Go deep to find success in this stifling heat. Once you start catching fish, you’ll realize it’s not as bad as you thought. Besides, a little sweat never hurt anybody. 66 COASTMONTHLY.COM | JuLY 2025 HOOKED (From top) Schools of redfish can be found feeding aggressively across open bay waters when winds are calm; stretches of deep water along upper coast bay systems will hold the most active fish for the next couple of months. COASTMONTHLY.COM | JuLY 2025 67 American Red Snapper Michael Crispy Soft-Shell Sandwich: buttered Texas toast, panko encrusted soft-shell crab, arugula salad, ripe tomatoes, pickled red onion and house-made spicy tartar sauce. ADVERTISING FEATURE: GOOD EATS68 COASTMONTHLY.COM | JuLY 2025 Nancy Ryan teaches water aerobics several times a week at the Clear Lake City Sports and Recreation Complex. People in their 50s and older attend her classes, which feature low-intensity movements and stretching that is done in shallow water. COASTMONTHLY.COM | JuLY 2025 69 SHIP SHAPE WONDERS OF WATER WORKOUTS Enjoyed by people of all ages, pool exercise is good for health while easy on the joints story by LAURA PENNINO photos by STUART VILLANUEVA T eaching water aerobics comes naturally to Nancy Ryan. Ryan has fond memories of swimming as a child in Queens, New York, just outside of Manhattan. Her father took her and her sisters to swimming lessons at the neighbor- hood YMCA, and she swam on the team for her Catholic elementary school. A resident of the Clear Lake area since the mid-1990s, Ryan can be found leading water aerobics at the Clear Lake City Sports and Recreation Complex indoor pool every weekday morning throughout the year. The only exceptions are holidays or when she’s traveling. Serving as a substitute instructor at Williams Indoor Pool and Recreation Center in Webster in 2007 inspired Ryan to begin teaching water aerobics on a regular basis in 2008, she said. Her training has been “on the job” and “in the pool,” and certified lifeguards are always on duty when she’s teaching. “The water is my happy place, so sharing with people how to enjoy the water for exercise and fun brings me joy,” Ryan said. “My class is called Gentle Joints, and it features low-intensity movements and stretching that is done in shallow water. We are working all muscle groups, and we are working our brains by following routines.” From 10 to 15 people ranging in age from their 50s to their late 80s attend her classes year-round, Ryan said. She teaches her Gentle Joints classes at 10 a.m. Mon- days, Wednesdays and Fridays and 8 a.m. Tuesdays and Thursdays. Aqua Fitness classes and Deep-Water classes taught by Rosemary Wolstenholme in the same indoor pool offer more intense workouts, Ryan said. “Participants in my classes like the combination of Next >