Backyard Landscaping Part Two

Thanks for coming back for the second half of the back yard.  When you walk down the stone steps you enter the open space with the Palo Verde trees, cactus and grasses surrounding the big fountain.  When you look to the left you see the "working" half of the garden with the pergola and fireplace in the foreground. As I said in the last post, the pergola is made of recycled barn beams.  They have wonderful notches, holes and splatters of paint on them.

The fireplace is asymmetrical with a low seating wall extending from each side. There is a piece of metal inside to protect the stone from the flames.  It is a wood burning fireplace instead of gas. We have propane here, which is very volatile. It just didn't seem smart to go with a gas fireplace, at least with one this open. The asymmetry gives it a little modern feel along with the cables on the pergola. I've been trying to order chairs to put in front of the fireplace but they are out of stock. That is a bummer, although, it is not fireplace season for quite awhile.  

When you walk out of the house through the patio doors this is the view that you see.  I'm in love with my swing.  Its a scosh crooked, but the way our contractor made it, would have been virtually impossible to get it exactly straight.  It is, however, incredibly strong and built for two. 

This is a view of the shed from down on the slope a few months ago when the Gazania's were in full bloom.  It is kind of a fun perspective.  People on Instagram thought it looked like a Hobbit's house.

My raised beds are between the pergola and the shed.

 There are three sets of four with the fountain at the center point. 

We had this fountain at our last house.  I'm so happy to get it going again.

I just showed Joe a photo of a shed I liked and he copied it exactly. Isn't it darling? 

I already had the window from a garage sale. 

 My husband built this garden bench for me years ago, it is warped and weathered, but I like it.  Joe had an old sink that he had saved from another job and when I said I wanted a sink, he was all over that prospect.

It's perfect.

This is the view from the upper level on the left side of the house.  My planters are not doing so well at the moment.  The peas and herbs are really happy, but not much else is.  It doesn't really matter.  I can experiment and putter to my heart's content.  Thanks again for visiting.  I'm sure you'll be seeing more of this garden, so stay tuned. . . 

Backyard Landscaping Reveal

Around the first part of December we began what we thought would be a fairly quick landscaping project on the backyard.  When we moved into this house three years ago, the yard was a blank slate.  Nothing had been done other than it was graded and weeds were allowed to take over.  We had gone around and around for probably a year on what we wanted in the back.  We weren't in too much of a hurry since we were recuperating from the front yard project which is now two years ago.  Because we weren't doing too much hardscape we figured it wouldn't take too long.  Our landscaper even said maybe two months.

Well, here we are the end of May and it is finally finished and photo ready.  Keep in mind that all of the plants are babies.  This will look significantly different by the end of the summer.  If you follow me on Instagram, you have seen an occasional peek of my shed or fountain.

Here are a couple pictures of the first day.  The pile of rocks came from the other end of our property when we were working on the front yard.  We were trying to plan ahead.

Our ground is DG (decomposed granite) so a power shovel has to be used to dig.

 There were some crazy antics during the process.  

For example, these two were trying to lift these old barn beams up on their shoulders while standing on ladders!  I even got it on video. The rest of this post is going to be photo heavy.  There are also too many to post so, I may continue to post about this for a few days.

 As you walk down the stone steps from the front yard you enter the open part of the yard. We wanted it open and simple.  There are Palo Verde trees that have green bark and beautiful yellow flowers.  They are a little past their blooming prime at the moment.  They contrast beautiful with Red Bud trees which bloomed a month or so ago and the purple cactus.  Also in this section are grasses that will grow tall and sway in the breeze, which we have an abundance of.

My big fountain is in this area which is made from an old culvert.  The birds LOVE this fountain. This is the same area where you saw the big pile of boulders in the first picture.

When you look to the left you can see the pergola made from recycled barn beams from Vintage Timberworks.  We've strung cables across for the Lady Banks roses to climb upon.  There will also be strings of lights in the future.

Come back next week for the rest of the garden reveal.

Oh the Possibilities

The cutting garden possibilities are laid out before me.  In order to not get in over my head, I'm trying to start small.  I'm also trying to think ahead, "what would I want to use in the house"? Zinnia's of course.  I planted some from seed, then I gave in and bought some from the nursery. How could I resist these happy colors?

Here is a great article about picking plants for a cutting garden from the Gardenista.

I would love to be able to make pretty arrangements like these.

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I did plant a dahlia and am planning on some Nasturtiums.  

(via)

This picture makes me want to plant bleeding heart.  I don't think I could plant Lily of the Valley out here, but, the bleeding heart is one of my favorite perennials. Kelley has a beautiful garden and writes interesting gardening posts on The Polished Pebble.  Sharon Lovejoy also has a gardening blog.  She is a well known gardening author. Does anyone know of wonderful gardening blogs?  I'd love any suggestions.  

Signs of Spring

I enjoyed our monthly antiquing fun last weekend. 

 Last year they used baby chicks, this year, baby bunnies.

 I wish this photo was clearer, because the detail on this bed was stunning.

Yard Work

 Spring means cutting back grasses and pulling weeds. 

It's easy to get distracted by pretty blooms, though. Yes, I keep my phone close by.

 Afterglow Echeveria and Santa Barbara Daisies (Erigeron).

 Margarita Bop Penstemon

 I added a little Ranunculus to the mantle.

I wish they looked like this forever.

Happy Succulent Spring!

Years ago, I might not have recognized the beauty of succulents. During our years of living in the Midwest and New England succulents were not in vogue.  Now, living in Southern California, they are a necessity. I visited a new-to-me nursery last week. They had some lovely containers and gardens to walk through. 

 You could plant in an old washing machine.

 Or an old bathtub.

 Just gorgeous all jammed packed together in this pot.

 Echeveria

 Aeonium

 These two different rose bushes looked beautiful together.

 I took this little beauty home with me.

Only to have it spill over twice in my car on the way home. 

I did salvage it, but couldn't get it all to fit back in.

Here's a view of our back slope with a little peek at our new garden shed. 

Happy Spring!!