Stepping back in time: The evolution of the back garden

We moved into our current house in mid-December 2010.  I started making small changes almost immediately but family concerns prevented me from taking on any major projects well into 2013.  I didn't begin documenting changes in my garden until I started this blog in late December 2012.  Taking a stroll down memory lane, I thought look at the evolution of my garden, starting with the back borders, one of the first areas I tackled.  I trolled through my photographic records but found I'd taken no proper "before" shots of the area.  The best I could come up with is a photo I retrieved from Zillow some years ago, showing the back garden in 2009, when it was put up for sale by the prior owner.

The photo's resolution is too poor to make out much detail but, given that the mimosa tree (Albizia julibrissin) and the Agapanthus were in full bloom, I expect the photo was taken that summer

Until I started taking wide shots in the summer of 2013, the vase majority of my photos were closeups that don't do a good job of telling the story of the garden.

This photo was taken for my first wide shots post on September 1, 2013.  It reflects the first extension of the back border in 2012, which nearly doubled its width by taking out a large stretch of lawn.

From 2014 through 2016, I took wide shots of broad areas of the garden on a monthly basis, making it easier to track changes.

June 2014 - By this time, my husband and I'd removed another large section of lawn, significantly expanding and extending the border surrounding the fountain.  Mexican feather grass (Nasella tenuissima) had been added there to mirror clumps of the same grass previously planted in the back border.  The orange daylilies (possibly Hemerocallis 'Sammy Russell') are the only plants, other than the trees, the Agapanthus and the hedges, that remain of the those that came with the original garden.

June 2015 - Our drought was in full swing in 2015 and water restrictions were in effect that year, which may account for the subdued color in the following three photos.  The Mexican feather grass was making the biggest statement.  You may note that we'd also "lost" a large peppermint willow (Agonis flexuosa) since the prior year's photos.  It was removed in response to a neighbor's claim that it blocked her view of the harbor.  After its removal, she continued her campaign for further tree removals and, at that point, I refused further cooperation, committing only to have our trees trimmed annually.  I replaced the willow with a Callistemon 'Cane's Hybrid', still too small to be noticeable in the following photos.  I was putting increased emphasis on drought tolerant plants at this point, reflected in the introduction of three small 'Bright Star' Yuccas, just visible on the right in the third photo.

June 2016 - The biggest change between 2015 and 2016 was the removal of the remaining lawn and the introduction of flagstone paving stones interspersed with creeping thyme (Thymus serphyllum 'Minus').  My husband and I handled these tasks entirely on our own.  The Callistemon 'Cane's Hybrid' I'd planted to replace the peppermint willow we'd removed was already well on its way to making a statement in the back border.  I'd planted more drought tolerant plants, including the Echium webbii next to the fountain.  Santolina virens made a major splash that summer, as shown in the second photo.  For some reason, I've no photo of the back garden viewed from the south end looking north during this period.

In late 2017, I switched to a quarterly schedule for wide shots so the time-table for comparisons varies in some cases.

July 2018 - In the next shots, the garden looks very similar to its appearance in 2017, although the third photo clearly reflects a decline in the health of the mimosa tree in the distance.  The front half of the multi-trunked tree never leafed out that year.  We discovered that it'd been attacked by short-hole borers.  In an effort to prolong its life, we had a large portion of the tree removed.  It also became clear to me that a native California aster (now classified as Symphyotrichum chilense) was taking over, although I still thought it was controllable at that point.

May 2019 - We undertook a major home renovation in 2019, starting in late June, and the garden took a back seat.  In the third photo, you can see what was left of the mimosa tree after it was cut almost in half in late 2018.  Although it's still bare in this photo, it did leaf out and flower in 2019.  We got good rain in the "water year" of October 1, 2018 through September 30,2019 and, in general, the garden thrived.

July 2020 - The pandemic kept many people, including me, close to home.  I did less plant shopping and less planting, at least by comparison to prior years.  I tackled other areas of the garden that had been bugging me but I didn't make many significant changes to the back garden.  I removed the large white-flowered Ozothamnus diosmifolius in the fountain bed shown in the photo above because it had gotten woody but, looking at the June 2019 photo, I'm feeling a bit regretful about that decision.  (Pulling out that blasted native aster would've been a smarter investment of my time.)  The evergreen native Toyon (Heteromeles arbutifolia) shown in the second photo, draped in reddish leaves to the rear right of the peppermint willow, died suddenly, probably due to the same pathogen than cause sudden oak death.  The mimosa tree (in the distance in the third photo) declined further and I ended up having both it and the Toyon taken out in late October 2020.

June 8, 2021 - I took the last three photos yesterday.  The mimosa and the Toyon are long gone.  The mimosa was replaced by a Ginkgo biloba 'Autumn Gold' and the Toyon by a still tiny Olearia albida (aka tree daisy, not visible in the following photos).  I cut back the bloomed-out Echium webbii next to the fountain on Monday.  The orange daylilies surrounding the fountain have bloom spikes and should begin to open within days.  Before the mimosa tree was cut down last October, I dug up many of the Agapanthus skirting it, divided them, and replanted the best bulbs.  They're just starting to bloom but their summer show will be less splashy than in prior years.  Callistemon 'Cane's Hybrid' continues to get bigger and is currently covered in peachy-pink blooms.  That California aster must come out this year, even if I have to dig up half the fountain bed to be rid of it.

I hope this post wasn't too repetitive or boring for the reader.  It helps me track the garden's progress and provides some food for thought about changes that might be useful moving forward.

All material © 2012-2021 by Kris Peterson for Late to the Garden Party

Wide Shots - Odd Angles

I've made a habit of taking my monthly wide shots from the same vantage points in my garden to facilitate comparisons over time.  This month I decided to change things up a bit by posting photos taken from less obvious angles to provide a different perspective.

In some areas, getting a different angle is easy due to level changes.  While my backyard may appear flat in most views, it slopes down a foot or more in front of the hedge (before plummeting steeply behind the hedge).

The usual view from the back door looking toward the harbor

View from the dirt path that runs behind the backyard border in front of the hedge, looking north toward the mimosa tree (Albizia julibrissin)

Another view further along the path: you can see the earth sloping downward beyond the Mexican feather grass (Stipa tenuissima) on the right

View from the same path, below the mimosa here, looking back toward the south

View between the trunks of the mimosa looking north toward the dry garden

The path through the dry garden leads down onto the back slope.  When we moved in, there was no path, nor any stairs leading down to the bottom of the slope.  I didn't even know that section of the garden existed until I happened upon it during the pre-purchase home inspection.

The usual view, focused on the gravel path we installed through the dry garden in 2012

View from under the grape arbor looking back toward the house

View from the upper portion of the cement block stairway that runs down to the bottom of the back slope, looking back upward toward the grape arbor

After curving around the hedge, the stair my husband constructed leads almost straight down, pivoting just in front of the lemon tree.  The property slopes down again about 12 feet beyond the lemon tree but that second drop represents the property line.

There are level changes in the front garden too.  The driveway slopes downward to the street.

The driveway slopes downward on a gentler gradient than the back slope

This photo was taken from the dirt path that separates the Ceanothus hedge on the upper level from the Xylosma hedge that runs parallel to the street

This photo was taken from the far northwest corner of the property behind a large Abelia shrub, looking past the garage on the left toward the house

And this photo was taken from under the Magnolia tree on the south side of the front door looking toward another area where the ground slopes sharply downward

Peering downward, you can see the flat area below our stacked stone wall and a peek of the succulent bed that runs below it along the street

Just to the left of the red-trunked Arbutus 'Marina' shown in the last photo is the arbor that marks the entry into the south side garden on the level of the house.

The usual view looking at the side garden and the harbor beyond

This photo was taken from yet another dirt path leading up from the area shown in the second to the last photo above

And we come full circle here with this photo taken from the path behind the backyard border looking back toward the south side patio and arbor 

That's it for my May wide shots post.  While these monthly photo shoots are useful to me in assessing developments in my garden, I expect the often subtle month-to-month variations in my photos are less interesting to those who read my blog.  Rather than post monthly updates, I'm going to move to a quarterly schedule.  My next wide shots post is planned for July.


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

Wide Shots - September 2015

This month, rather than posting wide shots of all the major areas of my garden, I thought I'd provide a visual history of one area, specifically the back garden.  We moved into our current house just before Christmas in 2010 but I didn't do much with the back garden until early 2012, when we expanded the back border that ran inside the Xylosma hedge that sits atop the back slope.  I launched into this project without taking any "before" photos.  The best I can do is to show you a photo of the back patio with a view of the lawn and the narrow border in the distance.

This photo, taken in January 2012, shows a back garden dominated by lawn with just a slender border inside the hedge

However, I did take a few photos of the area after the lawn was removed.

In March 2012, I pulled the border out 6 feet at its widest point in the middle, narrowing at either end following the general contour of the original border

By early May 2012, I had the area planted.  As I had a group of friends coming to see the garden in early June, I hustled to fill in the space.  In retrospect, I should have moved more of the smaller plants forward and filled in behind them with taller specimens.  My husband is always concerned that I'm going to block the view of the harbor but I think I could have worked in more 4-5 foot tall shrubs without doing that.

My plant choices at the time were limited by what was readily available in the local garden centers.  Many of these plants are long gone but some, like the Achillea 'Moonshine, Stipa tenuissima, and Abelia 'Kaliedoscope' are still there.

My first wide shot post in September 2013 focused on the backyard border.

In 2013, just a small bed surrounded the fountain in the foreground

My wide shot post of the backyard in September 2014 reflected a major expansion of the bed surrounding the fountain and further reduction of the lawn area.

The fountain bed was extended both outward and along the length of the pathway leading to the garden on the south side of the house

The September 2015 shot shows the same view minus one of the 2 peppermint willow trees (Agonis flexuosa) in the background.

I miss the tree, especially during heatwaves.  By comparison to last month the borders look less substantial, which is partly the result of summer-time die-back and partly due to an intensive effort to clean up the Stipa tenuissima (Mexican feather grass) in both borders.

The impact of water rationing, begun on a voluntary basis in 2014, and continued by state mandate in 2015, shows in the side-by-side comparisons of the back border.

Viewed from the left side of the backyard border, the end-of-summer garden in 2013 (left-hand photo) was much greener than it was in either September 2014 (center photo) or at present (right-hand photo) but there's a noticeable difference even between the 2014 and 2015 photos 

Next month I'll feature past and present comparisons of other areas of the garden.  My thanks again to Heather at Xericstyle for starting this meme, providing me with a pictorial history of my garden's development.


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

Wide Shots - April 2015

My garden is sunnier in this month's wide shots.  No, this isn't due to the weather - in fact, we've had fog every morning this week.  Removal of one tree (discussed here), trimming of other trees and foliage, and the sudden demise of a section of hedge in the front garden is letting in more sun.

The change is most pronounced in the backyard border, where a tall Agonis flexuosa was removed in mid-March.

The photo on the left shows the back border on March 1st and the one on the right shows the same area on April 1st

View of the backyard looking south toward the remaining Agonis

Photos of the backyard, looking north toward the mimosa tree (Albizia julibrissin), which is just beginning to leaf out

2 views of the backyard from the north, looking south

The mid-section of the back border has been replanted, although I haven't decided if I'm satisfied with it yet.  After great suggestions from commentators, much deliberation, and a round of several nurseries and garden centers, I selected Callistemon 'Cane's Hybrid' to fill the vacancy left by the tree.  The Callistemon, only 3 feet tall now, will reach 10 feet at maturity, not tall enough to become a source of any future complaints on the part of my neighbor about her view of the harbor.  However, it'll be a few years before the area fills in and additional tweaking is likely.

Two-thirds of the plants in the mid-border were in the area before or were moved from nearby sections of the back border.  New plants include the Callistemon (shown in close-up on the lower right), 3 Digiplexis and 2 Salvia 'Wendy's Wish.'

The area on the south side of the house experienced relatively few changes, although it too is getting a bit more light due to the thinning of trees at the front of the property.

The usual view of the south side garden, looking through the arbor toward the harbor

Other views of the south side garden

The area I call the "glen," which sits below the south side garden and next to the street, is a lot sunnier. Two of the neighbors south of us cut back their foliage and we, too, trimmed hedges to eliminate obstructions to the views of the neighbors directly across the street.

From left to right: path from side yard down into the glen; the area looking to the upper level; and the recently pruned hedge material

I've filled in more of the blanks in the front garden area.  Everything is filling in nicely.  I've lost only one of the plants I put in after the front lawn was removed.  However, as mentioned, a large section of hedge died off suddenly this month, leaving a gap on the upper level.  As I'd already lost one of the shrubs along the street, this has left what was a relatively private area of the garden exposed to the street.

The usual view from the driveway looking at the front door

On the left: a view of the bed on the left (north) side of the front walk; on the right: the 'Joseph's Coat' rose that grows up the chimney just outside the frame of the photo on the left

Photos of the garden beds on the right (south) side of the front walkway, viewed from 2 directions

These photos show the gaps left behind by the loss of a large section of Ceanothus hedge on the upper level and removal of the dead Auranticarpa rhombifolium along the street.  I'm currently leaning toward filling the gap along the street with another Xylosma shrub, expanding the existing Xylosma hedge (visible on the left in the photo on the far right).

Circling around the house to the north, I still haven't done much with the vegetable garden.  My Coriandrum (cilantro) and lettuce are bolting in response to the intense heat we had in March.

Like the south side garden, the dry garden on the north end of the house hasn't changed much, except that the grapevine and deciduous trees have leafed out.

More plants are blooming every day along the slope.  Carpenteria californica surprised me by blooming this year.  Centranthus ruber and Oenothera speciosa are flowering but are weeks away from reaching peak bloom.

From left: the view of slope looking down from the stairway behind the dry garden; the view of the area looking up from the bottom level; and a view of the boundary between our property and that of our neighbor, showing the 3 Pittosporum tenuifolium I planted in February

That's it for this month's wide shots update.  My thanks again to Heather of Xericstyle for getting me started with this exercise.  In the future, I'll be moving to a quarterly overview of the entire garden, while perhaps featuring reviews of specific sections of the garden in between.


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