The back yard is where we've done most of our gardening so far. I'll start at the house and move back.
The back of the house has two large windows, and below each one there are three hydrangea plants that are not on the drip system. They are doing really well though. Last summer they were covered in blooms, and in the late winter when they were completely bare, we cut each branch back about halfway down. Now in late May, they are full and green again, with many proto-blooms developing. We recently planted a fourth hydrangea in the right-side planting area.
On the west side of the patio, along the fence there's a planting area served by the drip system that originally had a huge clump of native flowering plants; we didn't like that they were taking over the whole area, so I pulled them all out. That area also had a colony of bulb plants that produced large yellow flowers with frilly petals. The flowers were similar to an iris, but the stalks were large and tubular. I don't know what they were, but they were also taking over, so I recently pulled all of them out as well. That planting area is currently fairly haphazard: we have a couple of succulents (one is aloe) that aren't doing too well (too much water?), and a small gardenia that we planted last fall. Our plan for this area is to get an espalier pear tree attached to the fence. In fact, we ordered one several months ago, but apparently this winter was so wet that the entire supply was destroyed by mold. Maybe next year!
The east side of the patio is not served by the drip system, so it is currently blank, except for our established lime tree. Last winter I pruned the lime tree to improve air circulation among the branches, which should keep pest infestation down and yield better fruit. I was perhaps a bit overzealous with the shears: there are a couple of "holes" in the canopy now! Oh well, the circulation will be excellent :), and the holes will fill back in eventually. I am currently battling a scale infestation on the lime (and the inevitable ant army that follows); more on that in a separate post.
Beyond our deck, where the back yard begins to slope up, we put in a pomegranate tree on the left side (in front of our established lemon tree), and a young Japanese maple on the right, which we received as a gift from our neighbors. We currently have a row of herbs (dill, rosemary, thyme, basil, cilantro, and parsley) along the firs retaining wall on the right.
Moving up the right side, above the second retaining wall there used to be a small red smoke bush that I didn't like at all, so we dug it out. We recently planted four blueberry bushes here in a semicircle, and a persimmon tree at the center of this circle. These plants are having...issues. More on that in a future post.
On the left side, behind the established lemon, we planted an Avocado tree. Most avocados need a male and female tree present to get fruit, but the variety we planted only needs the one tree. This avocado will eventually grow to 14' diameter and height. It's going to be huge! And hopefully give us lots of avocados over the years.
Finally, at the top of the yard we have our vegetable patch behind a wooden gate and wrought-iron railing. This flat area is maybe 10' deep and 20' wide, divided roughly in half by a stone walkway. When we moved in, there was nothing up here except a composting bin, but it is served by three 8-port drip heads (these are Zone 4 in the back yard). Over the winter, I grew snap peas, spinach and carrots. Unfortunately, something (birds?) completely ate the young spinach and carrot plants, but the peas did pretty well, so we got some nitrogen fixed into the soil. In the spring, I removed all of the pea plants, and amended the soil in the planting bed on the east side of the veggie patch (our natural soil is very heavy clay). Now we have started growing several vegetables there (this year we started from plants, not from seed): corn, cherry tomatoes, regular tomatoes, eggplant, peppers, and red onion scattered between the other plants. I installed six 360-degree sprinkler heads to cover this planted area with overlapping spray.
In addition to the veggie patch, we planted 24 strawberry plants in front of the iron railing (on both sides of the gate), along the top of the retaining wall that enables the veggie patch to be flat. We also planted a fig tree up on top, near the back fence. When we planted all of the fruit trees (pomegranate, persimmon, avocado, and fig), I dug oversize holes and amended the heavy soil liberally.
Tuesday, May 24, 2011
Tuesday, May 17, 2011
What have we done? Part 1
We've been in our house for almost a year now, and we have already done some work in the yard. The "What have we done?" series will serve to catch the diary up on year 1 activity.
Part 1: the front yard.
We haven't done much in the front, partly because it's fairly small, and partly because we're mostly happy with it (with one exception, see below). When we moved in, there were a bunch of pansies planted along the right side of the house; I tore all of those out when they died (annuals!), and that planting area is still bare. I tried growing marigolds and sweet alyssum around our triple-apple. Despite the fact that these are two of the easiest plants to grow, mine managed to die almost immediately. Not a great day for my green thumb...
Anyway, on the left side of the driveway there's another planting area that's dominated by a small-ish tree that we don't really like. It's in our long-term plan to cut it down and put up something else, maybe an evergreen? Around the base of the tree, I planted two pairs of perennial groundcover plants (ID needed).
The front yard is mostly on the left side of the house, and this was nicely landscaped already when we moved in with well-established flowering shrubs. I haven't made any changes to this area.
On the left side of the house, we have a stone front patio (maybe 15'x15') behind an iron gate and fence. There's a wooden fence along the property line, bordered by a planting "gutter" that is on the sprinkler system. This area just had a couple of rose suckers sneaking in from our neighbor's yard when we moved in. We recently planted a double-delight rose bush here, which smells really good. We want to get a Mr. Lincoln as well.
We also recently put small orange and mandarin trees in a pair of large pots on the front patio; this is part of our idea to "green up" this fairly sterile front entrance area (and to block view of our ugly AC unit on the side of the house :). And of course, we are looking forward to the harvest! The trees are already covered with small green proto-oranges!
Next up: the back yard, where we have been more active.
Part 1: the front yard.
We haven't done much in the front, partly because it's fairly small, and partly because we're mostly happy with it (with one exception, see below). When we moved in, there were a bunch of pansies planted along the right side of the house; I tore all of those out when they died (annuals!), and that planting area is still bare. I tried growing marigolds and sweet alyssum around our triple-apple. Despite the fact that these are two of the easiest plants to grow, mine managed to die almost immediately. Not a great day for my green thumb...
Anyway, on the left side of the driveway there's another planting area that's dominated by a small-ish tree that we don't really like. It's in our long-term plan to cut it down and put up something else, maybe an evergreen? Around the base of the tree, I planted two pairs of perennial groundcover plants (ID needed).
The front yard is mostly on the left side of the house, and this was nicely landscaped already when we moved in with well-established flowering shrubs. I haven't made any changes to this area.
On the left side of the house, we have a stone front patio (maybe 15'x15') behind an iron gate and fence. There's a wooden fence along the property line, bordered by a planting "gutter" that is on the sprinkler system. This area just had a couple of rose suckers sneaking in from our neighbor's yard when we moved in. We recently planted a double-delight rose bush here, which smells really good. We want to get a Mr. Lincoln as well.
We also recently put small orange and mandarin trees in a pair of large pots on the front patio; this is part of our idea to "green up" this fairly sterile front entrance area (and to block view of our ugly AC unit on the side of the house :). And of course, we are looking forward to the harvest! The trees are already covered with small green proto-oranges!
Next up: the back yard, where we have been more active.
Sunday, May 15, 2011
Hello, yard!
Like I said, we've been in our house almost a year now, so we've already done quite a bit to the yard. The first series of posts will serve to catch the diary up on what we've already done.
However, first I will just give a brief description of the yard. The front yard is flat and fairly small. To the right of the driveway there's a strip of yard about 4 feet wide, and extending back to the privacy fence on that side of the house. The front section is grass, about 3 feet deep (this is the only grass on our property, and our neighbor mows it for us...hooray for no mowing!) Behind that is our beloved triple-apple tree, and behind that is a row of shrubs [NEED IDENTIFICATION] with green and red leaves that will one day form a hedge along our property line.
To the left of the driveway, there is a larger patch of yard; probably 15'x15'. The ground is covered in black wood chips dotted with a variety of shrubs and flowering perennials. There is one large shade tree [NEED IDENTIFICATION] near the street (most of the yards on our street have one of the same kind). There's another smaller tree near our garage.
This area is backed by an iron fence with a gate; behind this is our front patio, which is entirely paved over except for planting "gutters" along the left-side property line, along the iron fence, and near the front gate.
Figure 1: The backyard, as it was when we moved in. Note lime tree in patio gutter at far right, and lemon tree halfway up the left side of the yard
Our back yard is fairly narrow (but long) and is split into two main parts: a back patio which is mostly paved over, and a landscaped yard which slopes upward. In between, there is a large cement storm gutter for runoff, which actually runs through all of the back yards on our side of the street. In our yard, the gutter is covered over with a deck.
The lower patio has planting "gutters" along the property fence: the wider one on the left is served by the drip irrigation system, the one on the right hosts an established lime tree but nothing else, since it is not on the drip system. There are also two planting areas below each window on the back side of the house. Not on the drip system, but there are hydrangeas here that are doing really well with just occasional watering from kitchen veggie rinse water.
Above the storm drain/deck, the sloped yard is covered with the same black wood chips as in the front. There is a paved pathway and staircase running up the center, constructed from interlocking landscaping stone. The same stone is used in several places to form small retaining walls to provide some flatter planting areas. On the left side, the second of these hosts an established lemon tree; on the right the second host(ed) a small red smoke bush.
The top of the back yard is capped with a flat area, maybe 15'x15', separated from the rest of the yard by a short iron fence and a wooden gate. This area was just bare dirt and a composting box when we moved in.
The side fences in the back yard are wood frames with a wire grid; when we moved in our neighbor on the left had grape vines on that fence, and our other neighbor had some bushes. In the patio portion of the back yard, the fences are 5'-high solid wood privacy fences.
However, first I will just give a brief description of the yard. The front yard is flat and fairly small. To the right of the driveway there's a strip of yard about 4 feet wide, and extending back to the privacy fence on that side of the house. The front section is grass, about 3 feet deep (this is the only grass on our property, and our neighbor mows it for us...hooray for no mowing!) Behind that is our beloved triple-apple tree, and behind that is a row of shrubs [NEED IDENTIFICATION] with green and red leaves that will one day form a hedge along our property line.
To the left of the driveway, there is a larger patch of yard; probably 15'x15'. The ground is covered in black wood chips dotted with a variety of shrubs and flowering perennials. There is one large shade tree [NEED IDENTIFICATION] near the street (most of the yards on our street have one of the same kind). There's another smaller tree near our garage.
This area is backed by an iron fence with a gate; behind this is our front patio, which is entirely paved over except for planting "gutters" along the left-side property line, along the iron fence, and near the front gate.
Figure 1: The backyard, as it was when we moved in. Note lime tree in patio gutter at far right, and lemon tree halfway up the left side of the yard
Our back yard is fairly narrow (but long) and is split into two main parts: a back patio which is mostly paved over, and a landscaped yard which slopes upward. In between, there is a large cement storm gutter for runoff, which actually runs through all of the back yards on our side of the street. In our yard, the gutter is covered over with a deck.
The lower patio has planting "gutters" along the property fence: the wider one on the left is served by the drip irrigation system, the one on the right hosts an established lime tree but nothing else, since it is not on the drip system. There are also two planting areas below each window on the back side of the house. Not on the drip system, but there are hydrangeas here that are doing really well with just occasional watering from kitchen veggie rinse water.
Above the storm drain/deck, the sloped yard is covered with the same black wood chips as in the front. There is a paved pathway and staircase running up the center, constructed from interlocking landscaping stone. The same stone is used in several places to form small retaining walls to provide some flatter planting areas. On the left side, the second of these hosts an established lemon tree; on the right the second host(ed) a small red smoke bush.
The top of the back yard is capped with a flat area, maybe 15'x15', separated from the rest of the yard by a short iron fence and a wooden gate. This area was just bare dirt and a composting box when we moved in.
The side fences in the back yard are wood frames with a wire grid; when we moved in our neighbor on the left had grape vines on that fence, and our other neighbor had some bushes. In the patio portion of the back yard, the fences are 5'-high solid wood privacy fences.
Chapter 0: A Geek in the Garden
This blog will serve as a running diary of my current hobby: gardening-slash-yardwork. I've always enjoyed the idea of gardening, but until recently my living arrangements have not afforded me much opportunity. Now I am diving headfirst into it.
My wife and I are new homeowners, and we are having fun getting the yard into the state that we want. Our general idea is to keep things fairly low-water and "productive", in the sense of bearing lots of fruit and veggies for hopefully minimal effort (we don't have much time to spend hours in the yard!)
When we bought the house, the front and back yards were in decent shape, but a bit sparse. We have an amazing apple tree in the front yard that bears three different kinds of apple (we call it the "triple apple"), and two citrus trees in the back. These trees are a bit odd: one is a lime tree that produces yellow limes, the other is a lemon tree that produces orange lemons! Both front and back yards have automatic drip irrigation systems, without which my gardening efforts would be a complete non-starter.
My wife and I are new homeowners, and we are having fun getting the yard into the state that we want. Our general idea is to keep things fairly low-water and "productive", in the sense of bearing lots of fruit and veggies for hopefully minimal effort (we don't have much time to spend hours in the yard!)
When we bought the house, the front and back yards were in decent shape, but a bit sparse. We have an amazing apple tree in the front yard that bears three different kinds of apple (we call it the "triple apple"), and two citrus trees in the back. These trees are a bit odd: one is a lime tree that produces yellow limes, the other is a lemon tree that produces orange lemons! Both front and back yards have automatic drip irrigation systems, without which my gardening efforts would be a complete non-starter.
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