More work than I'd anticipated

In the middle of our most recent heatwave, I started renovating the back garden bed that sits just outside my home office window.  While I'd been thinking of pulling out some of the succulents there for some time, I hadn't planned to tackle any renovation until late September or early October when the temperatures were lower.  But a branch of the tree-sized Leucadendron 'Pisa' in the bed was bent during Tropical Storm Hilary and required minor pruning.    As sometimes happens, one thing led to another.  I ended up severely pruning the large Acacia cognata 'Cousin Itt' that occupies the same bed, as well as pulling up most of the Aeoniums that shared the space.

I'll start with a couple of before shots.

This photo of the bed in question (on the left) was taken in May.  There were already some holes there but it's the best before shot I have.

This photo was taken back in January 2021 but it shows the mass of mixed Aeonium arboreum and Aeonium haworthii 'Kiwi' planted adjacent to the back patio when they were looking their best

 

I don't have a good "before" photo of Acacia 'Cousin Itt' but it's now a a shadow of its former self.

These Acacias produce new foliage atop masses of bare stems, dry twigs and dead foliage.  I removed the majority of the dry material when I cut this one back.  If this plant survives the experience, I may give the rest of my 'Cousin Itt' Acacias severe haircuts too.

 

I hadn't originally planned to take out eighty percent of the the Aeoniums but, when they grow as big as the plants in this bed did, pruning them halfway doesn't help their overall appearance much.

These are closeups of the Aeoniums (arboreum and 'Kiwi') on 3 sides of this bed before I set to work

 

I took a large number of presentable cuttings, more than I can possibly use.  Two-thirds or more of what I pulled up went directly into our green recycle bin.

These are some of the cuttings I saved.  As I don't expect to use the majority of them, I may offer them whatever I don't use to neighbors.

The bed is now half empty.  Still in place are the Acacia 'Cousin Itt', Leucadendron 'Pisa', Prostanthera ovalifolia 'Variegata', a Hemerocallis (now nearly dormant), a handful of Hippeastrum 'Luna', several small variegated Lantanas, and a much smaller number of succulents.

The lifted "skirts" of the Acacia are evident in this photo.  The scattering of Aeonium arboreum in the middle foreground were cuttings I planted earlier this year in an initial effort to fill holes left when the tall stems of the surrounding Aeoniums collapsed under their own weight.  I'm not yet sure they'll remain there when I replant the area.

Even though I loved the wall of mixed Aeoniums I had running along the back patio's edge (as shown in the second "before" photo at the top of this post), I'm inclined to select low-growing groundcovers here to avoid crowding the nearby patio table

As the bed outside the lower frame of this photo is filled with succulents, I'm inclined to use at least some succulents here to connect the 2 areas.  At present, I'm planning to keep the 3 Agave lophantha 'Quadricolor' that are already there, even though the plants pup like crazy.  I removed 5 'Quadricolor' pups in the process of cleaning out the bed.

These photos show the empty spaces I'm most likely or fill with softer (non-succulent) plants

 

As indicated, my plans for the empty spaces are fuzzy.  I'll probably use some of my Aeonium cuttings in the bed but, at least at present, I'm thinking of leaving the area directly adjacent to the back patio succulent-free as the earlier planting intruded too much on the limited patio space.

 

Fortunately, planting up a succulent pot requires far less thought.

A friend gave me the pretty pale green pot shown here in May and I only just got around to planting it.  The pot contains a noID Kalanchoe with pale pink flowers, Sedum 'Little Missy', Crassula perforata 'Variegata', and Echeveria 'Violet'.

 

We're anticipating our current cooler temperatures in the mid-70sF (24C) to continue for roughly another week.  Fingers crossed.

 

Best wishes for a pleasant weekend.  As an aside, for those of you interested in drought-tolerant landscapes, you may wish to take a look at the short (one to 2 minute) videos relating to the gardens of Minack Theatre, an open air space situated on the Cornish cliffs in Penzance, UK.  I was surprised at how many of the plants featured there are present in my own garden.  I learned about the Minack Theatre from an episode of Gardener's World but I found the videos here.

All material © 2012-2023 by Kris Peterson for Late to the Garden Party

 

Slow but steady progress

Late last month I provided an update on my progress with my lawn removal and replacement project.  Work continues and, while I'm making progress, it's slow.  With my former garden, a postage-stamp sized lot, I could bring home a trunk load of plants and utterly transform the space within hours.  My current garden absorbs trunk loads of plants - and hours upon hours of work - and still looks mighty bare.

Not much has happened on the narrow north end of the new backyard space.  The house itself shades much of the area after mid-day so I need plants that can tolerate dry shade.

Thus far, I've planted Seslaria 'Greenlee's Hybrid', a short clumping evergreen grass (shown on the left), and some Aeonium arboreum cuttings.  I want at least a dozen more of this Seslaria but I haven't been able to find it locally.  I have an endless supply of the Arboreum.

If we walk south on the paving stone path we come to the backyard patio, where I've begun installing succulents.  The soil in this area is sandy and plants must be able to handle full day sun.  I've bought a few succulents but I'm also using cuttings from elsewhere in the garden.  With no overall plan, it's a bit of a hodge-podge collection thus far.

In the bed to the north of the path's intersection with the patio (photo on the left), I'm planning to use plants with orange highlights, including Euphorbia tirucalli 'Sticks on Fire', which I clipped from a more mature specimen, and Aloe 'Blue Elf', which I moved from a pot I'd woefully neglected.  The middle photo shows the bed on the other side of the bisecting path, where I've planted Senecio vitalis cuttings and 2 Agave lophantha quadricolor.  Two pots, shown in close-up in the third photo, contain varieties of Kalanchoe and other noID succulents.

Beyond the patio on the right (west) side, I've added a larger number of plants but, as most were planted from small pots, they're not yet having much of an impact.

The fountain bed formerly ended where the Stipa tenuissima (Mexican feather grass) is planted

The left-hand photo shows Santolina chamaecyparrisus (green form), Lavandula x intermedia 'Phenomenal', Lavendula angustifolia 'Superblue' and Gazanias I've moved forward from the edge of the former bed; the middle photo shows Salvia chamaedryoides, Argyrantemum 'Madeira White', Euphorbia characias 'Black Pearl, and Santolina chamaecyparrissus (gray form); and the last photo shows Echium fastuosum 'Pride of Madeira', planted just in back of the Mexican feather grass to replace Coreopsis I've moved elsewhere

On the other (east) side of the path, I've tried to create continuity with the former backyard border by using more of the plants I already had there, most notably Erigeron and Achillea.

I moved Erigeron glaucus 'Ron's Pink' forward, added more Erigeron glaucus 'Wayne Roderick' and Achillea 'Moonshine', and introduced a new low-growing Hebe called 'Purple Shamrock' here

Further down the path on the right (west) side, I've picked up on the orange, yellow and lime green tones I've used on the east side of the backyard border.

In addition to the Arctotis 'Pink Sugar', Abelia 'Kaleidoscope and Santolina virens 'Lemon Fizz' I showed in my earlier post, I've added Papaver nudicaule 'Champagne Bubbles' (shown in the photo on the left) and more Gazania from the 'Flame' series (shown in the photo on the right).  I've also moved some of the smaller semi-evergreen Hemerocallis I had in the main backyard border to this area but these aren't readily visible in my photos.

On the left (east) side of the paving stone path, as it connects to the south end side garden, I've added more succulents to link the areas.

The photo on the left shows 2 small Agave attentuata, a somewhat larger A. attenuata 'Raea's Gold' (one of my biggest splurges thus far) and Agave bracteosa in addition to Coprosma 'Pacific Sunset', Leucadendron 'Red Devil' and more Iceland poppies; the photo on the right shows the Furcraea foetida 'Mediopicta' I moved from a pot, 2 Agave 'Joe Hoak' (one a pup I received from Denise of "A Growing Obsession" earlier this year), Agave 'Cream Delight' moved from another area of the garden, and more Aeonium cuttings

I've also been working on changes to the south side garden.

In this area I've added a Agave ovatifolia 'Vanzie' (another splurge), 2 more Aloe Dorotheae, 3 more Lavandula angustifolia 'Hidcote', an Agave 'Blue Flame' pup, 3 Carex testacea to mirror those planted on the other side of the path, more Gazania, and an Agave americana mediopicta pup (received from Hoover Boo at "Piece of Eden")

Meanwhile, work also continues on our digging and sifting exercise in former front lawn area alongside the street.  My husband spends a little time there early most mornings and I spend a little time there in the late afternoon, usually as it's growing dark.  We're making progress, even if it's slow.  I also put in a few plants mail-ordered from a California native plant nursery late last week in the area left bare by removal of a mostly dead Ceanothus.  They're very small in relation to the size of the area so it also looks a little sorry at the moment but I hope to add some groundcovers before the heaviest rains arrive.

The plant on the upper left is a Garrya elliptica 'James Roof' and the 2 on the right are Salvia 'Celestial Blue'

I took cuttings of Pelargonium tomentosum and Plectranthus ciliatus 'Zulu Warrior' for use in providing cover for the bare soil

I keep reminding myself how bare the main section of the front garden looked last year when I started planting.  Hopefully, next year at this time I'll be as happy with the current project as I am with last year's project.


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

Wide Shots - December 2015

I had the devil of a time getting half-way decent photos of the garden for this month's wide shots post.  It seemed that, whether I took photos in the morning or the afternoon, I had problems with sun glare, deep shadows or both.  I didn't remember having the same difficulties last year at this time but, when I looked back at my December 2014 post, I discovered that those photos were taken under gray skies.  This week, the skies are bright and sunny but only a few of my photos are worth sharing.

As I reported in a post last week, the backyard is still torn up as the result of removal of the remaining lawn area in late September; however, planting is underway.  You may notice that there are nursery pots strewn throughout the area.

The usual view from the door to the backyard, looking out toward the entrance to the Los Angeles harbor, which is barely visible in the sun's early morning glare

This photo shows some of the new planting in progress.  The Furcraea foetida mediopicta on the right was transplanted from a decorative pot elsewhere in the garden alongside 2 small Agave 'Joe Hoak' (one a gift from Denise of "A Growing Obsession") and a few Aeonium cuttings planted late Sunday afternoon in the half-dark.

I've done relatively little with the northeast end of the backyard thus far other than plant creeping thyme

While a portion of the front yard is also torn up, that mess is confined to an area between the garage and the street that I seldom include in my wide shot posts.  The area alongside the walkway to the front door is relatively unchanged.  I've added a few plants and cut back some others but the changes aren't dramatic.

The usual view looking toward the front door from the driveway area

A closer view of the planting beds to the left of the front door

A view of the area to the right of the front door, looking toward the Magnolia tree

A closer view of the portion of the pathway leading to the south side garden

I have only one decent photo of the side yard to offer.

The usual view looking toward the harbor through the arbor marking the entry into the south side garden

I took a few photos of the street-side succulent bed on the southwest side of the property too.

The Auranticarpa rhombifolia in the middle of the bed appears to be dying, once again raising the question of what should be done with it and the rest of the shrubs that once made up a hedge alongside the healthier Xylosma congestum on the far left

A closer look at the left (northern) side of the succulent bed

This photo shows the area that slopes down from the main level of the front garden above the succulent bed.  A dying portion of the Ceanothus hedge was removed last month.  I'm awaiting delivery of a Garrya elliptica from a California native plants nursery to plant in this area.

The right (south) section of the succulent bed

The garden is taking the lion's share of my free time this fall.  I suspect this may continue into winter, although, if the rains that accompany El Niño are as frequent as anticipated, that may slow down my progress.

As usual, I offer my thanks to Heather of Xericstyle for prompting my monthly wide shot posts.  They've provide me the best record I have of the changes in my garden over time.


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

Lawn Removal Progress Report

In late September, we had our remaining sod removed.  Afterwards, my husband and I began what turned out to be a longer and more difficult project than our prior projects removing the lawn on the north and south sides of the house or even last year's project with the main front lawn area.  While we recognized that the areas we cleared this year were larger, we closed our eyes to just how much more area our newest project involved.

Removing the sod was the simplest part of the project.  We paid a crew to strip the sod and haul it away, which took one day.  But, having learned from prior experience that removing the grass roots and plastic sod netting, then adding topsoil and amendments to improve soil quality and drainage makes a major difference to the health of future plants, we spent a good part of October digging.  Much of our soil is heavy clay and a lot of it is embedded with rocks, the legacy of the rock quarry that once operated on our site.  The good news is that we've made considerable progress.  The bad news is that we have the aches, pains and battle scars to prove it.

We're done digging in the backyard.  We've added about 4 cubic yards of topsoil.  Our new path, consisting of 3100 pounds of flagstone, is down.  And I've planted creeping thyme alongside and between each and every stone - 13 flats in all.

Photos show, from left: the state of the backyard lawn prior to removal, the space after the sod was stripped away, and the area at present with flagstone laid and creeping thyme (Thymus serphyllum 'Minus') planted

Closer shots show all the empty space.

North end of new flagstone path

Mid-section of new path

South end of new path, which links to the existing flagstone path, creating a continuous path circling three-quarters of the house

I've slowly begun the process of filling in small portions of the new garden area we've gained by taking out the lawn.

I added Argyranthemum and Briza media (aka quaking grass) here

I planted 3 Salvia leucantha 'Santa Barbara', a compact grower, Geranium 'Rozanne, and Salvia chamaedryoides 'Marine Blue' here

In this area, I planted Ozothamus diosmifolius (aka rice flower shrub), Arctotis 'Pink Sugar' divisions I took from plants in the front garden earlier this year, 2 Abelia 'Kaleidoscope' (1 moved from elsewhere in the garden) and a few Santolina virens 'Lemon Fizz'

I added Seslaria autumnalis 'Campo Verde' (some moved from another area of the garden), Alternanthera 'Joseph's Coat' and Gazania plugs here

This area is marked for renovation.  The Stipa tenuissima, Grevillea 'Peaches & Cream' and Leucadendron 'Safari Sunset' will remain but I'm planning to add Agave attenuata, Leucadendron 'Red Devil' (a compact form), Coprosma 'Pacific Sunset' and Carex testacea (shown still in pots above).

There's a LOT more space to fill.  I have plans for some areas but not all.  Integrating them to create a coherent landscape remains a concern.  Meanwhile, we've started work on the neglected front area along the street as well.

Photos show the ongoing metamorphosis of the area inside the hedge along the street, from left: grass lawn prior to removal, area after the sod was stripped, and the current work area with a shade to screen us from the sun as we dig

We've had numerous setbacks in this area.  The soil here is heavy clay and riddled with tree and hedge roots (in addition to rocks!), making digging particularly difficult.  We discovered that those roots have cracked several irrigation pipes while careless digging damaged others, requiring my husband to spend countless hours on plumbing repairs.  (Happily Unfortunately, I have no expertise when it comes to plumbing...)

We also need to install a path to the street here for use in hauling our trash bins for the weekly pick-up and, as we couldn't find anyone willing to accept a contract for the job, my husband is building it himself, using railroad ties and gravel

After clearing sod netting and adding a thin layer of new topsoil around the ornamental pear tree, I planted woolly thyme as a groundcover

I took a break for a plant shopping trip to Santa Barbara County with a friend last weekend.  Much of what I bought is intended for the backyard but some also went into filling holes in the front and side yards.  It was wonderful to focus on the fun stuff, if only for a while.

From the upper left: 2 more Aloe 'Johnson's Hybrid' were added to surround the one I planted earlier; 3 Cordyline 'Renegade' replaced the spindly Coprosma 'Plum Hussey' I had in the south side garden, to which I added cuttings of Pelargonium tomentosum; another Corokia x virgata 'Sunsplash' was added between Echium 'Star of Madeira' and Grevillea 'Peaches & Cream'; and I found a Correa 'Ivory Bells' to complement the Corokia in another of the front beds

After a break for the Thanksgiving holiday, I'll be back to digging in the front this coming weekend, although I may fit in another nursery run if I get a chance - I do still need a lot of plants and I want to take advantage of the rains expected to accompany El Niño to get the plants established before drought conditions take hold again.  In addition to the empty spaces in the backyard, we pulled out 2 more sections of mostly dead Ceanothus hedge so those areas need planting too.

The Ceanothus weren't especially tall but they were very wide and their removal left large expanses of exposed soil in these areas, which slope down from the main area of the front garden toward the street on the southwest side

Best wishes to all of you celebrating Thanksgiving this week.  However you're spending the holiday, I hope you enjoy it!


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

Racing El Niño

In late September, we had our remaining lawn, a long strip in the back averaging 8 feet in width and a section along the street in front, removed.  Although the service provider assured me he and his crew would do more than strip the top layer of sod, that was not the case.  As a result, my husband and I spent hours upon hours digging up the soil to clear it of grass roots, sod netting, and some of the rocks that riddle our soil.  We completed that effort in the backyard this week and also spread 3 cubic yards of new topsoil, which we tilled in to raise the soil level and improve drainage.  While we haven't yet touched the former lawn area in the front yard and still need more topsoil for the back area, we nonetheless got started laying a new flagstone pathway through the backyard.  Frankly, we were tired of tracking in dirt every time we walked through the backyard.

The new path through the backyard continues from the point the side yard path leaves off, marked here by the 2 green pots.  The new stone we've laid here represents only one-quarter of the new path through the backyard.

We brought home, unloaded and laid 1000 lbs of stone, which is the maximum my husband's truck can carry.  Now, spatial relations has never been one of my strong suits but it dismayed me to discover that it'll take at least three more trips to the stone yard just to complete the pathway through the backyard.  I suppose this shouldn't have come as a surprise given the time it took just to complete the digging process - the area is much larger than it seemed when it was laid with lawn.

The last section we dug, shown here covered by the bender-board that formerly divided garden beds and lawn, was 25-33% rock, which was especially time-consuming to "sift" out.  This property was part of a large rock quarry in the 1940s and we've found large masses of rock here and there throughout the garden.

My husband handled most of the heavy lifting in laying the flagstone.  I took care of filling in the soil between the flagstones and laying the creeping thyme (Thymus serphyllum 'Minus').

It's hard to believe that's 1000 lbs of rock, isn't it?

'Minus' thyme grows only 1-inch in height but it spreads more slowly than some of the creeping thyme I've used elsewhere

I'm also responsible for plant selection once the path is completed.  I expect I'm going to have to move some of the low-growing plants that formerly lined the lawn area forward and fill in with taller specimens behind those.  In addition to replacing plants that didn't make it through our hot, dry summer, I'm going to need a lot of new plant material to fill the area created by taking out the lawn.  I'm already eyeing some of the plants I have sitting around in pots for in-ground installation.

Agave bracteosa is screen testing for a role in the backyard

Furcraea foetida mediopicta is outgrowing its pot and looking for more root space

I may take cuttings or relocate other plants.

This hybrid Cotyledon orbiculata 'Silver Storm', supposed to grown just 18 inches tall and wide, is already expanding its boundaries in the front garden and may be a good candidate for relocation

Buying sprees, by mail order and road trip, are also in the offing.  I'm racing El Niño to get what I can planted before the rain that accompanies that weather phenomenon arrives.

I have no idea when I'm going to get around to tackling the denuded area along the front of the property.

Grass is already growing back in this area but it's taken a backseat to work in the backyard

What garden projects do you have hanging over your head as winter approaches?


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