Scenes from the Backyard

Green Envy

From Brix in Napa:

Around the Yard

The sweet peas:

Below is the back bed with petunias, foxglove, and hellebores finding their way through the old daffodils. Trying to restrict the color palette to whites and muted tones- a lesson I've learned from working on the front yard. The wildflowers I sowed are a bit too varied, making the front look cluttered and undirected.
First bloom on my JFK rose:

And now my sweet sad rose. It was lousy with leaves and buds before I hacked away at the black spot. Just a twig of a thing now:

And despite my best intentions, the black spot has returned:

I'm letting the leaves be from now on. Gave her some fertilizer and hope she bounces back.

April's Project: Backyard

Now that the front yard is under control, I've begun focusing my energy on the backyard. When we moved in it was a wasteland except for some singed grass and a few lavender plants here and there. The other week, I spent some time researching part sun/shade plants that are appropriate to Palo Alto's climate and came home with an assortment of:

Delphinium 'belladonna Casablanca', 'Galahad'

Pacific Giant Delphinium 'Blue Jay'

White Storm Petunias

Confection White Nemesia

Helleborus Orientalis 'White Lady Spotted'

Abutilon 'Tiger Eye'

Digitalis Purpurea (Foxglove): 'Apricot Beauty', 'Camelot Lavender', and 'Foxy'

Planted them between my spent daffodils around the patio. Hoping they will establish themselves and stay green at least throughout the summer. My new irrigation line should help.

In other news, I received three trees for my birthday: Black Jack Fig, Bears's Lime, and Santa Rosa Plum. All recommended in Sunset Western Garden for my area. I aged their terracotta pots with yogurt and expect fruit in the future.

The vegetable garden continues to grow although the slugs are doing their best to take over the place. I'm combatting them with Sluggo, beer traps, and old fashioned picking-them-off. I refuse to let my beans, kale, and joi choi go without a fight.

I planted red, yellow, and white onions today. A bit late for this zone, but the starters were a gift from an unidentified source and I have nothing to lose.

Snow peas producing like crazy, sweet peas in full bloom, and strawberries teasing me with baby berries.

It is about time for some more photos on here. I'll get to it soon, I promise.

Three in one day

This looks pitiful in comparison to the Gamble property, but the vegetables should still taste great regardless of what the garden looks like.

Trying out companion planting and starting to use the "biointensive" method of spacing instead of rows. It's all a mish-mosh at the moment.

Above: Blueberry bushes and daffodils on their last legs. When the daffodils are completely spent, I'll remove the bulbs and repurpose the pots for veggies.

Elizabeth Gamble Garden - 2

Some additional pictures of the grounds:

What my Euphorbia would have looked like (if they hadn't died):
Master gardener flower plots:
Peaceful fountain:
Something about this area reminded me of Greek mythology. Maybe it was because I wanted to "spend all my life on the bench at the very end" but reconsidered just in case I could be cursed like Midas... too much of a good thing you know:
The gardens are just heavenly. If you find yourself in Palo Alto, you must visit.

Elizabeth Gamble Garden

Palo Alto is home to the Gamble Garden. Formerly the home of Elizabeth Gamble (Proctor and Gamble), the house and gardens are now tended to by a non profit and open to the public. I took a morning stroll through the grounds and was awestruck. First a few photos of their growing techniques in the edible gardens:

Above: Instead of raised beds, these are sunk into the ground. I loved the permanent trellis structure the peas are climbing and how neat the pathways are (mulch between rows and compacted dirt in the main path)

Below: Chicken wire and plastic piping cages to keep critters out. I might have to try building one of these suckers to put over my lettuce and brassicas.

Below: I've never seen a greenhouse like this before. It seems to be made of slats and intended for hardening off.

Below: A section of raised planters with more chicken wire structures. The edible garden is part of their "Roots and Shoots" program. Third graders come weekly to the garden to learn about planting and reaping a healthy harvest.
Below: A teepee trellis in action.

More for the Front

The weather has been gorgeous recently and I've been out tending the yard daily. The front is completely mulched and lawn fertilizer goes down tomorrow. Added a few new plants to the beds and will now *attempt* to be hands off for the next few months as things grow and spread.

New Look Red Celosia

Silvery Summer (Cerastium tomentosum)

Grace Ward Lithadora

Also planted strawberries and fernleaf dill.

When reinstalling the drip hose, I found an adorable cobblestone that was hidden. Hopefully the meter man will step on it instead of my plants when he comes to take his readings. Current photo of front coming soon.

Front Yard Project - March Update

Took Banjo on his first trip to the nursery today (clarification: Banjo the dog-- the plant nursery). Bought two redwood planters for my two blueberry bushes and three Sweet Broom plants (genista spachiana). Since I'm so concerned with looking for what water and light the plants I pick require, I seem to have a problem reading labels for size. Oops. My tiny plants will grow to be 5-6 feet tall by 6-8 feet wide. I planted them around chimney and citrus trees-- clearly a bad move. Oh well, crossing fingers that pruning will keep them in check until I move and take them to a new home with more space. The good things- their yellow flowers help to make the front beds more cohesive, they require little water and no fertilizer, and they smell like lemons!

The crocus blooms have gone and the daffodils are taking their place:

One of the hyacinths on its way up:A wider view of the front. Having lawn mowed this weekend and will try to take one of the entire front. Unfortunately this week's rain has brought the return of the weeds... but as soon as dryer times hit, the weeds will disappear and my plants should flourish.

The trickiest part is trusting that all the plants will grow, fill in the empty spaces, and become a gorgeous composition of texture, color, and depth. Things look dinky now but this plot has great potential.

Moss Love

I've noticed many articles recently about "painting" moss. It is an interesting idea and certainly the results can be beautiful but does it do damage? To rooftops? Fencing? I might the technique on some stone steps, but doubt it will take due to our hot, dry summers. But then again, I have been finding a lot of moss in my walks around the neighborhood... so we'll see.

Not moss, but nice inspiration:

These people are considering a green roof on top of this amazing building (a shipping container repurposed into an office):

(all photos nabbed from various web sources that I have since forgotten)

Front Yard Project - Day 3

RAIN! Grow baby, grow.

Front Yard Project - Day 2

The plant roster is as follows:

Herbs:

Kitchen Sage (H 16- 24")

Golden Sage (H 1-2')

Silver Queen Thyme (H 12")

Lemon Thyme (H 10")

Italian Oregano (H 18-24")

Lavender Otto Quast

Rosemary "Prostratus" (also groundcover)

Ground Covers:

Dymondia (H 2-3")

Fleece Flower Polygonum

Succulents:

Sedum Jet Beads

Graptopelalum Paraguansis "Ghost Plant"

Crassula Dwarf Ruby

Aloe Vera - Medicinal

Echeveria Species Copper Roses

Aeonium Jolly Green Low Growing Clumping Green Rosette

Others:

Euphorbia "Shorty" Spurge (H 15-18")

John F. Kennedy Rose (H 4')

Double Delight Rose (H 4')

Ceanothus Ray Hartman California Lilac (H 20')

Ceanothus Dark Star California Lilac (H 6')

Ceanothus El Dorado California Lilac (H 6'- 10')

Dusty Miller (H 8-12")

The lilacs grow up to be very big shrubs which I didn't know at the nursery. Perhaps I should move the El Dorado which is currently in front of the citrus trees. Perhaps I won't. I'll be out of the house by the time it becomes a big guy. Anyway, nothing pruning can't control I'm sure.

Today I planted the two roses, divided and moved the spikey brown plants, and put the rest of the rosemary in the ground. Of course all of this involved more weeding but now the yard is all tidy and ready for the rain to come.

Front Yard Project - Day 1

Today was full of WEEDING. Pulled up as much crab grass and miscellaneous other weeds as possible before planting my haul from the nursery. In the process, I uncovered some bulbs that were sprouting - very exciting.

The new plants include: succulents, sages, oreganos, low growing rosemary, lavender, thyme, native shrubs, dusty miller, and full-sun ground covers. Tried to pick plants that will spread or grow quickly to fill up as much space as possible.

Two rose bushes will go near the spikey plants (above) tomorrow. The grey dust over everything is organic fertilizer. Hoping tonight's rain will give it all a good head start.

Good news: Still within the budget! Hooray.

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!

Last Week