Sunday, March 1, 2015

Wide Shots - March 2015

Rain was predicted for Friday through Monday this weekend but it didn't show up here until last night and it has been light thus far.  In anticipation of the rain, I took my wide shot photos yesterday, when the skies just held the portent of rain.

View of clouds over the Los Angeles harbor


The front garden, irrigated by sprinklers once a week and hand-watered as needed during dry spells, continues to fill in nicely.


Inspired by a recent series of photos from Rock Rose, I took a few pictures from inside the house this month.  This one, taken from our master bedroom, turned out better than many of my exterior shots.

Closer look of the front garden beds on the north side of the front walkway

Closer view of the area on the south side of the front walkway

View looking toward the driveway near the arbor entrance to the south side yard


Although raccoons still rummage through the south side yard one or two times a week, they seem to be doing less damage.  I've used the prickly seed cones that fall from the Magnolia tree and thorny stems from my pruned rose bushes to create rings around the newer and more fragile plants, which, amazingly, seems to put them off a bit even if it hasn't sent them packing.


The usual view through the harbor looking toward the harbor

Another photo taken from inside the house - this one was taken from the living room looking out on the side yard

The usual view looking at the side yard from the backyard


The backyard beds still have holes here and there that need to be filled but I'm holding off any work there until the tree trimming scheduled for next Saturday is completed.

View of the backyard taken from inside our dining room

Exterior view of the backyard, looking south

A longer view looking in the same direction - that "lawn" walkway is little more than a collection of weeds now

View in the other direction, looking north - the tree in the mid-border on the right, at the edge of the frame, is the one we're taking out next week to accommodate a neighbor who claims our trees obstruct her views


The backyard borders north of the main patio, both created last year, are also filling in well.

View of the 2 newest backyard beds, both filled with drought tolerant plants

View of the same beds looking in the opposite direction

Nothing much has been done with the dry garden in the last month.

Photo of the dry garden taken from inside the master bathroom


My husband helped me weed the back slope last weekend.  I did a little planting along the lower slope last month, adding 3 small Pelargoniums and two Agave attenuata pups taken from elsewhere in the garden.  I continue to hand-water the 3 Pittosporum tenuifolium I planted to create a screen between us and our neighbors but I expect it'll be a good year before we have any kind of real barrier there.  Meanwhile, I think the existing lemon, fig and peach trees are benefiting from the increased sunlight.

View of the slope looking down the cement block stairway - you can see the fig tree midway down is already leafing out

The usual view of the slope, looking up


I planted more sugar snap pea seeds to replace the seedlings previously nibbled by critters of some kind but the second round of seedlings disappeared as soon as they broke through the soil as well.  However, one of the sweet pea seedlings has already produced a bloom.  I'm seriously considering skipping vegetables altogether and using the raised beds to grow flowers for cutting instead.

A single sweet pea bloom can be seen on the plant growing up the yellow tomato cage on the right


I haven't touched the street-side succulent bed or the adjoining area I call the "glen" in the past month so little has changed there.

The succulents have filled in some but the shrub on the far left is clearly dead and will need to be taken out.  A neighbor told me that these shrubs, which I think are Auranticarpa rhombifolium, once ran the entire boundary along the street but, when they began dying soon after installation, most were were replaced with Xylosma congestum. 

The glen area is enjoying more light since the neighbors trimmed their trees and I just noticed that the pineapple gauva (Feijoa sellowiana) has already begun to bloom. (It's partially concealed in this photo, which shows it backed by other trees in the distance.)


That's it for this month's wide shots post.  My continuing thanks go to Heather of Xericstyle for inaugurating this monthly exercise.


All material © 2012-2015 by Kris Peterson for Late to the Garden Party

33 comments:

  1. Nice view from the bedroom!!
    The whole garden looks fantastic nice.
    Mariana

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    1. That view from inside the bedroom is my favorite this month, Mariana.

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  2. The front garden is looking so good! I can't believe how quickly it has filled out. You must be delighted.

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    1. I'm very pleased with it thus far, Jessica, although there are quite a few bare spots still awaiting plants in the shadier section on the far right.

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  3. Dear Kris, you garden looks fabulous! I am really surprised how lush and full many of your chosen scenes appear already. Your hard work of many months pays off and the garden is really coming together. Your view over the Los Angeles Harbor is just breathtaking!
    I think it is a very cool idea to take photos from the inside of the house looking into the gardens, since I feel a garden should be enjoyed when you are inside as well.
    I am sure your garden will become even more gorgeous during spring and I am looking already forward to following its development!
    Wishing you a nice week!
    Christina

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    1. Thanks, Christina! The indoor photos proved to be a fun twist on what's becoming a repetitive exercise.

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  4. I always enjoy your long views! This is a beautiful time of year; everything looks so fresh! The scenery looking out from within your home is breathtaking. Your garden sets off the longer views across the harbor wonderfully. I am glad the raccoons have been partially thwarted!

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    1. I'm trying not to feel too confident about fending off the raccoons but my little success is encouraging.

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  5. I so enjoy walking around in your garden and every time I visit I am struck by the sheer size of it! You could fit my garden in one corner and hardly notice it, you must have an awful lot of work keeping all of this looking so great! And your view over Los Angeles is just mesmerizing, I suppose you get used to it, but I don’t think I would get any gardening work done with such a view, I would just be sitting looking out on it. Nice to see all your work in progress and how it is developing, I wonder if prickly seed cones from my magnolia will deter the squirrels pestering my plants??

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    1. You pack a lot into your garden, Helene! I did too, in my former postage-stamp sized garden, which was probably smaller than yours. Adapting my garden style of this much larger lot, over 1/2 acre (huge by LA standards) has been a challenge as I still tend to think in terms of smaller vignettes.

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  6. Wow, so much to see and comment on. I love the views from inside the house, and love your plan for growing flowers to cut. I'd do the same if I had the space.

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    1. I like the idea of an edible garden but the reality is that the birds, insects and furry critters get more value out of it than I do. I'd love to have a mass of sunflowers and the like that don't necessarily fit into my landscape otherwise.

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  7. Always a delight to see wide shots of your garden Kris! Beautiful views and so many nice things to comment about!

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    1. The wide shots post does get me to think about each area of the garden at least once a month, even if some areas get more attention than others.

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  8. I abandoned trying to grow veggies due to the amount of water required. At our rates even the priciest farmer's market goodies are less expensive to purchase than grow. I do grow herbs - lots of them - their ability to withstand drought, tolerate sun and their relative indifference to pests made them a delightful option. Grown interspersed in a cutting garden as you proposed, herbs are thought to reduce infestations, so maybe you could do both!

    Love the views at your place - long and short, wide and narrow. The work you've done there is wonderful. If I were your neighbor the only trees I'd want down were the ones obstructing me from seeing your garden beds!

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    1. The bed in the background of the veg garden shot has been mostly herbs from the beginning, although I have an ongoing battle with the mint planted there by the home's last owner - it think I'd have to dismantle the bed and get a bulldozer in to get rid of it once and for all. For my part, I overdid the rosemary in the middle bed and need to take at least one of those clumps out before the bed becomes all rosemary. (There's already lots more elsewhere on the property.) Mixing in other herbs with cutting flowers elsewhere is a good idea - I have Cilantro in with the lettuce in the bed in the foreground now and nothing has touched it (even if the lettuce still got nibbled).

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  9. Such beauty! Your views are breathtaking! It's wonderful to see what the West Coast looks like right now! Lots of beautiful blooms and greenery. Thanks for sharing! Happy Gardening!

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    1. The west coast and New England couldn't be much different right now, could they? I hope you get relief from all that snow soon!

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  10. The views from your windows are lovely, and I really appreciated that you included them in your post. Your garden is already looking so lush, even the newly planted areas.

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    1. I do think those beds in the front are coming along faster than the ones in the back did when they were first planted. All that time spent on soil preparation wasn't wasted perhaps!

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  11. The long views are just fantastic. It's amazing to see how quickly all of the plants have filled out. The borders to the north of the patio are just stunning, as is the dry garden!

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    1. The borders north of the patio were actually planned before planting, like much of the front garden but little of the rest of the property, Matt. The dry garden started as a very hodge-podge effort but I'm making a concerted effort to give it a more cohesive look with each change I make now.

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  12. You have created a perfect space. I admire every corner of your garden. There is so much inspiration to take from.

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    1. Thanks, Aga! It's still a work in process (and probably always will be!).

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  13. It's all looking so beautiful, Kris! Everything seems to be filling in very nicely, and you have such a wonderful balance of flowers and structural foliage. Inspiring :)

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    1. Thanks, Amy! I'm particularly pleased with how the front beds are coming along, especially after all the effort we put into digging up the lawn and amending the soil.

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  14. What beauty here! Makes me want to start new yard projects or just sit and enjoy what I have. I especially love those little, narrow steps.

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    1. It's easy to let the projects take over in the garden but important to sit back and just enjoy it sometimes, Lisa. I'm guessing that the narrow steps you referred to are those leading down the back slope - those were installed by my husband after I fell on my back-side one too many times trying to make it down the dirt path so I consider them a necessity!

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  15. A great post, I always enjoy looking round your garden. It all looks so beautiful. I am amazed how quickly your front garden has filled out.

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    1. I think all the time spent on soil prep is paying off!

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  16. I love your garden! Everything about it is inspiring :-)

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    1. Thanks Gerhard! It's coming along (with the occasional step backward).

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  17. I love your photos from the inside looking out, something I am giving more thought to as I begin to plan my new front garden. -Jean

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