The Front Yard

Now that I've hit a comfortable point dealing with the inside of our rental home, its time to take another look at the outside. Below you can see a before and after (you might have to click to enlarge).

The grass was fried when we moved in but it has slowly (albeit clumpily) grown back. A good application of chicken manure and grass seed back in November has certainly improved it. We're hoping that the baby blades will fatten up and take over in the Spring. Other than the grass, planting bulbs, and digging up the spikey brown plants (wish I knew the name) from near the walkway, we haven't done much to alter the yard. Below is a view of the fence after I started weeding and trimming the trees today:

Wouldn't it be nice if it could look more like this:

Or this:

Both of those yards were featured in Sunset and use many native, drought resistant plants. I like how they use a variety of species to bring color and texture to the yards. Now we can't get rid of the lawn, like they did but we can follow their example. We hope to improve the look of the yard and reduce our water bills by planting some Mediterranean and native plants around what already exists. I took a stroll around my neighborhood to scope out what seems to thrive in our area:

That is just one example. I'm researching my options and hope to get the front yard into tip top shape by the time the bulbs start to bloom.

Goals:

- Work within a budget as it is a rental afterall. I'll scour Craigslist, try to propagate some of my own, and see how far I can stretch my dollars at the local nurseries.

- Accentuate the aesthetic of the cottage and work with the existing plants.

- Plant all native or water-saving plants.

- Work in some edibles -like the rhubarb I planted under the window.

- Attract wildlife: birds, bees, butterflies.

First up:

- A visit to the local nursery

- Thorough weeding after our rains subside

If you know the NorCal area, plant suggestions welcome!