After the Hedge: A Foliage Follow-up Post

Earlier this month, I posted on the removal of the last remaining portion of the deteriorating Ceanothus hedge we inherited with our garden.  Not one to leave any ground bare for long, I began preparing the area for planting within a week of clearing it.  The first step involved bringing in yet another batch of what the local stone yard refers to as "small boulders" to hold the front slope.  The next step was to dig out and divide the large mass of Agapanthus.  Shopping, mostly for succulents, was also involved.  Although I expect to do some tweaking, I've completed my first pass at redesigning the area.

For reference, here's another photo of the area after the hedge was removed but before it was replanted:

In addition to dividing the Agapanthus, I cleared out a lot of the Santa Barbara Daisy (Erigeron karvinskianus), which is virtually a weed here.  The large plants in the level area above the Agapanthus - Grevillea 'Peaches & Cream', Tecoma stans, and Echium candicans 'Star of Madiera' - were retained.

And here's a look at it after replanting:

I added about 500 lbs of rock to stabilize the soil on this slope, which is steeper than it appears in this photo

View of the same area from the opposite direction

Not all the plants came from garden centers.  In addition to dividing the Agapanthus into 3 smaller clumps, I transplanted plants taken from elsewhere in the garden.

From left to right: newly planted clump of blue Agapanthus; one of 3 divisions of Arctotis 'Pink Sugar' taken earlier in the year; and Leucadendron 'Safari Goldstrike', purchased in early spring and temporarily kept in a pot

I also took cuttings of succulents I had elsewhere.

Clockwise from the left, the cuttings I took from elsewhere in the garden include: Agave attenuata, Aloe 'Rooikappie', Euphorbia tirucalli 'Sticks on Fire', what was sold to me last year as Senecio amaniensis (but may be something else entirely), and Senecio vitalis

And here are the plants I purchased:

First row: Aeonium 'Kiwi', Agave geminiflora, Anacampseros 'Sunrise', and Crassula ovata 'Sunset'
Second row: Echeveria 'Blue Atoll', E. 'Blue sky', Festuca californica, and Kalanchoe luciae
Third row: Pennisetum orientale, Sedum adophii, Sedum haworthii, and Sedum "hybrid"
Fourth row: Sedum rubrotinctum 'Aurora' and 3 noID succulents
(Not shown: both green and variegated forms of Portulacaria afra)

Most of these species were purchased in multiples and I've already picked up a few additional succulents that don't appear in my photos so, as I said, tweaking will continue.  I considered dressing the lower area with gravel but the sloping surface presents a challenge so I'm leaning in the direction of adding more small-leafed succulents as ground cover.  There's a large space just south of the variegated Echium that needs to be filled too but I haven't settled on the right thing to complement the surrounding plants yet.

As we brought home 860 lbs of rock from the stone yard, I still have about 360 lbs of rock to use elsewhere now that I'm mostly done with this area.  I'm waiting for the cricks in my back to smooth out before I get started with that.  The work that's already been done will stand as my Foliage Follow-up post this month.  For more foliage selections, visit our host, Pam at Digging.


All material © 2012-2016 by Kris Peterson for Late to the Garden Party