The Front Porch Gets Dressed Up

As summer sets in here in Southern California, it becomes more and more ridiculous to continue planting.  If a heatwave hits, new plantings frequently die, even if they get extra water.  Every year I make a vow to stop planting between June and October.  And every year I break my vow, although my purchases do taper off a bit.  This year, the month of June has been relatively pleasant, at least by comparison to the miserable May we had, but July is seldom pleasant so I've tried to shift my attention to activities that don't amount to throwing money away.  This year, those activities involved replanting the pots on the front porch (which can always be moved if the heat gets too intense).

I didn't take any "before" photos so the following picture, taken last December showing one side of the porch, is the best one I can provide to show what I started with.  The pots shown in this photo weren't looking nearly this good earlier this month.

The front pots were originally created to adorn the front of my mother-in-law's house when we prepared it for sale but I moved them to our house after the sale.  The ivy geranium (Pelargonium peltatum 'Pink Blizzard') took the sunny setting in stride but the Cordyline 'Renegade' struggled and the Calibrachoa eventually died off.  One of the Cordyline has been repotted and placed in a shadier location and the Pelargonium have been moved elsewhere.  The back pots were intended as temporary holiday decorations and they were definitely past their prime.

The ceramic pots, benches and bench cushions remain but I changed out the pillows and swapped out most of the contents of the pots to create a sunnier front entry.

The two sides of the front entryway are near mirror images of one another.

Bench #1

Side view of bench #1 with a close up of the replanted blue pot, which now contains Pennisetum 'Purple Majesty,' Abelia x grandiflora 'Kaleidoscope,' Echinacea 'Cheyenne Spirit,' Calibrachoa 'Peach' and 'Papaya,' Lotus berthelototii, Zinnia 'Profusion Apricot,' and leftover lime Alternanthera

Bench #2

Close up of one of the 2 back pots, which contain 3 varieties of coleus (Solenostemon scutellarioides) and yellow Calibrachoa

I'm planning to stick to succulents for any further planting I do between now and October - or at least September.  Probably.  It's a real possibility.  Well, it's a goal anyway.

Transformation

Last week my husband finished the patio table he's been working on and we put it in place in the backyard.

The table top was constructed of wood salvaged from the firewood-heated "snorkel spa" we inherited with the house.

I've previously written about the snorkel spa (here).  We used it as a spa a few times but it was more trouble than it was worth.  It took about 2 hours to heat up the water and, if too long passed between uses, it had to be drained and refilled, which was hard to justify during a drought, even when we used the discarded water in the garden.  I used it for awhile to store patio furnishings.  We disassembled it in January (as described here).

Re-using the wood to construct a patio table involved more work than my husband (or I) had anticipated.  Some of the wood had warped and some panels weren't in pristine condition.  He ended up re-planing the wood before putting the table together.  Sanding and finishing it using a marine grade varnish was also time-consuming.

Delivery of the finished table required rearrangement of the backyard patio.  I expect we'll juggle things some more but here's what it looks like now.

The chiminea was relocated to create space to move around the table.  It's now on the other end of the patio with a collection of pots, most of which I had before.

I stuck a plant in the top of the chiminea, which we've never used to burn wood.  It's an ailing Cordyline 'Renegade' that formerly occupied one of the pots by the front door, which I recently changed out.  It was small enough to fit the space but I think I'll eventually replace it with a trailing plant, maybe Lotus berthelotii (aka parrot's beak) or Russelia equisetiformis (aka firecracker plant).

The pot formerly in that space moved to the spot previously occupied by the chiminea.

I also spruced up the seating area on the north side of the house facing the dry garden.  I'd like to replace the disintegrating wicker chairs there but, for now, I made do with cleaning them and replacing the seat cushions.  I also refreshed a couple of my succulent pots.

So now I'm ready for whatever summer throws my way.  After the heat we had last month, we're currently experiencing the "June gloom" that usually shrouds the coastal areas of Southern California in clouds and fog for half the day.  It's actually a welcome change - we'll take our moisture in whatever form it comes.

What are you doing to prepare for the summer season?

It's All About the View

My husband and I recently brought home 2 large outdoor chairs from his parents' house.  As their old metal patio set also didn't have a home, it ended up here too.  These additions required me to juggle what we already had to accommodate the new additions.

The chairs were placed on the back porch facing an existing garden bench.  They replaced a pair of wicker chairs we've had for at least a dozen years.

Frankly, I'm not overly fond of the "new" chairs but my husband wanted them so home they came.   I admit that they're far more comfortable than the decaying wicker chairs we formerly had there.  They also swivel, which allows people seated in them to face either whomever is seated on the bench or the all important view.

View of LA harbor looking toward Long Beach, which is just visible through the ever-present haze

Our backyard overlooks the Los Angeles harbor.  The view is very important to homeowners here and, as we discovered after moving in, it can be the source of neighborly conflicts.  Our community has what's billed as one of the most rigorous "view preservation" laws in the country.  Since our arrival, we've had 2 requests to cut back trees to preserve the views of different neighbors.  The first request was relatively easy to accommodate.  It involved the removal of a haggard banana tree at the bottom of the slope at the very back of our property.  The second request required a more difficult decision.  It meant the removal of the much older, 60 foot Eucalyptus tree that dominated our side yard.  After lengthy discussions with the neighbor making the request and meetings with 2 different arborists, we agreed to the tree's removal earlier this year.  I wrote about that event here.

Putting local politics aside, the change in furnishings on the back porch allows visitors to see the harbor regardless of where they choose to sit.  As to the wicker chairs, I'd originally planned on dumping them.  However, although they're clearly showing their age, their structure is still intact and the cushions I've got on them make them comfortable.  So, instead of tossing them, I've moved them to the northwest side of the house, where they now face my dry garden.

New seating area photographed from the dry garden

The dry garden area wasn't much to look at when we moved in 2 and a half years ago.  Actually, it was just plain ugly.  Originally, about one-third of it was covered with half-dead grass.  A hodge-podge collection of fruit trees comprised the remaining two-thirds of the area.  Most of the trees were added by the former owner in the year prior to our purchase of the property.  They were planted much too close together and many of the varieties were poorly suited to this climate zone.  The collection included a misshapen fig tree, a couple of guava trees, a persimmon tree, an apricot tree, 3 struggling apple trees, a diseased "fruit cocktail" tree (comprised of 3 fruiting tree varieties grafted together), and a grapevine.  The "orchard" was covered with small rocks and there was a layer of heavy plastic about 4 inches below the soil level, presumably intended to suppress weeds.  There was no obvious pathway to the sloped area below, which can only be accessed through this area.   Unfortunately, I didn't take any pictures of the area before I started work on it so you'll have to take my word that it has changed a lot.  Here's one view of what it looks like now:

Dry garden photographed from the beginning of the path leading from the paved area toward the stairs down the slope

All of the grass is gone.  The misshapen fig tree, which would have been in the middle of the rock walkway (across from the rabbit), was removed.  The fruit cocktail tree, which fruited poorly and encroached upon the grape vine, was also removed.  The apricot tree died of its own accord, despite my best efforts to keep it alive.  The apple trees, which were little more than half-dead sticks, were removed but a cherry tree sapling, removed from the slope, was replanted here (along the stairway leading down the slope, not readily visible in the picture above).  The existing persimmon tree and 2 guava trees were retained.  An arbor, constructed by my husband, was added in the back to support the grapevine.  All the other plants were added by me since our arrival.  Rocks, dug out of the surrounding area, were used to fill in the pathways here and in the vegetable garden.  (The weeds growing into the path were supplied by mother nature - I'll get to them one day.)  To improve drainage I pulled the plastic out in sections as I dug out the bedding area.

I spend a fair amount of time working in the dry garden and the slope below so the new seating area will be a welcome place to plunk myself down for a rest.  It also provides a vantage point from which to enjoy the fruits of my labors (no pun intended).

The small metal patio set inherited from my in-laws replaced the even smaller table and 2 chairs I previously had on the other side of the house, off the living room.  I added a funky screen a friend of my husband's gave us.  The screen has moved from area to area looking for a place to stay since we received it several months ago.  I'm not sure it will remain in its present location but, for now, at least it provides something for a potted Hoya plant to climb along.  Eventually, I think I'd like to remove some of the animal figures in the screen, possibly replacing them with pieces of colored glass.

This seating area looks out upon what was once a shade garden bordering the site of the former Eucalyptus tree.  I wrote about the changes made to this garden bed after the tree's removal here.  More changes are likely as some plants are still struggling with the transition from a shade to full sun exposure.  In addition, the grass area between this side porch and the planting bed is in horrible shape, due in part to the beating it took during the tree's removal.  I've decided that much of this grass must be removed, although I'm not sure how much of this project I want to attempt during the heat of summer.  Right now, I'm focused on just extending the existing flagstone path from the garden bed up to the paved porch.  I've made a start on that.

Whatever I do in replanting the side yard once the grass has been removed, once again I have to consider the impact to the view from the seating area, as well as from the living room.  My husband has already advised (warned?) me that he doesn't want the harbor view obstructed from this vantage point.

View of Angel's Gate, the entrance to the LA Harbor, toward the open ocean

Seating arrangements - they're all about the view.

Garden Ornaments

I don't consider myself a knick-knack collector.  While I certainly have some non-functional decorative items here and there throughout the house, I lean toward a more minimalist look.  I dislike clutter of most kinds and I regularly toss out "stuff."  In fact, whenever we're unable to find something, my husband will ask "Was it PPed?"  PP is his term for "Peterson Purge."

However, when it comes to the garden, I seem to have accumulated a lot of "stuff."  Although I disposed of clothes, kitchen items, old work materials, and even books in large quantities before we moved 2 years ago, I didn't get rid of much when it came to garden ornaments and furniture.  Maybe because I had to give up the garden itself, I held on to virtually all the old garden's furnishings and decorations.

It's an eclectic collection.

There are animals.

There are fairies and other mythical creatures.

(I swear this is the only gnome - at least the only one that stays out all year)

There are items to support bird life.

There are items kept for purely emotional reasons.  The child reading a book, given to me by my mother because she said it reminded her of me, which I use as a door/gate stop.  The sun-shaped votive holders given to me by a close friend shortly before she passed away of cancer, which I'm thinking I may use to hold small pots of trailing succulents.

There are items that don't fit any of these categories.

And then there's all the garden furniture.  I brought one bench, some rickety wicker chairs, and a small cafe table with wrought iron chairs with me when we moved.  I inherited two more benches left by the prior owner, as well as a chiminea, a large fountain, and the snorkel spa I wrote about earlier.  (The spa will eventually be removed or re-made to serve another purpose yet to be determined.)

I thought that, because our new garden is so much bigger than our old one, it could absorb a lot decorative material without looking cluttered.  However, the old garden was densely planted and, as a result, the ornaments in it were nearly invisible.  In contrast, the new garden is more sparsely planted (so far) so many of the ornaments stand out - perhaps too much.

I'd like to say the collecting has stopped but it hasn't.  Just last week, a friend of my husband's asked if I could use a wrought iron screen he planned to give away.  I took it, having no idea what it looked like or what I'd do with it.  I like it but I still haven't found the right place for it.  I put it on the back porch and have moved it around a bit but haven't yet found a satisfactory placement.

Screen, option 1

Screen, option 2

Screen, option 3

What do you do when collecting gets out of hand?  I'm beginning to think I'm going to have to rent a storage locker - or maybe re-purpose the spa as an outdoor closet.