When Lindy McGinnis and her husband, Larry, moved to Rollingwood 12 years ago, the front yard was filled with Bermuda grass and other water-hogging nonnative flora.

“I grew up in Austin, and I knew I wanted to focus on natives,” the master gardener said. “I didn’t want plants that I had to fuss with.”

As the garden grew, other natives came to set up shop. So far, the couple has provided a home for armadillos, owls, opossums, foxes and raccoons to raise their young.

“If I plant something, I try to make sure it benefits someone,” Lindy said.

Her fairy duster has a constant buzz of bees enjoying the blossoms, and her spectacular pride of Barbados bush attracts as many migrating monarchs as it does inquisitive passer-sby.

“It’s how we’ve met most of our neighbors,” Larry said of the towering bush that freezes to the ground each winter, then grows more than 10 feet tall each summer and explodes with yellow and red blooms.

Because of Lindy’s dedication to making her garden a home to more that just her family, her Rollingwood Drive residence was the first stop on the Inside Austin Gardens Fall Tour on Saturday. This year’s theme was “Sustainable Gardening for Urban Wildlife,” and proceeds went towards the Travis County Master Gardeners Association.

“I just love being outdoors, digging in the dirt,” Lindy said. “It’s kind of like an artist’s palate for me.”

Each time a gap appears in her garden, be it from a deceased plant or a larger planting area, Lindy goes into research mode to pick out the perfect plant to add the right color and persuade or dissuade a specific animal from moving in.

“We have deer in the area, so I try to plant things that they’d have to be really hungry to want to eat,” she said.

She also leaves out pots full of water for the various animals in the yard.

“For some reason, when I leave water out, the deer seem to be less destructive,” she said.

Nestled amidst the verdant growth stands a sign proclaiming her yard to be a certified wildlife habitat. This designation comes from the National Wildlife Foundation for gardens with a specific range of food, water and shelter for animals.

In addition to being a sanctuary for the Rollingwood fauna, the McGinnis’ yard has become the same for them. Lindy is an emergency manager with the Department of Homeland Security and Emergency Management, and Larry spends his days as a lobbyist with K&L Gates.

These high-stress jobs would get to most people, but it’s clear in the easygoing manner of the couple of 20 years that any vocational stress stays in the office.

“It’s the gardening for me,” Lindy said.

Larry contributes to that by doing what the couple calls “infrastructure,” or hole digging.

“It’s her garden, I just happen to live in it,” he said with a smile.

Larry’s hobbies include trains, guitars and jukeboxes, including the old record-playing model that sits in the garage and provides a soundtrack for the bustling lawn.

Because of the native plants, Lindy said her garden flourished through the hot summer, bringing up blooms on her yucca plant like she’s never seen. The watering restrictions had no affect on her low-water zoysia grass.

“There is a reason these are southwestern native plants,” Larry said.

While their front and side yards are a tribute to Texan wildlife, the McGinnises’ backyard is a bit more experimental and has the aroma of a Mediterranean kitchen filled with herbs and a rotating vegetable garden.

Mexican lime and fig trees sit alongside a planting box where broccoli and other winter crops are just beginning to peek through. The hot summer destroyed Lindy’s tomato crop, but she said it was the reason her hot peppers and okra fared so well.

The animal inhabitants mostly leave these plants alone and focus on the ones that she puts out specifically for them, that can hold up to the nibbling mouths.

“We wanted to show that you could have a wildlife-friendly yard that’s still attractive,” she said.