Oh My: new plantings

I love it when I get to cross stuff of my list. This weekend we got to check one off that's been on the list for ever.

Here's our pool equipment area.  It's nicely hidden behind this modern structure my husband built years ago.  This area of the backyard is all cement.  So I have to use containers to garden.  I'm not the best at watering these plants, whatever I plant has to be able to handle full sun and little to no water.  Succulents are the way to go.  I bought this long vine succulent at the antique swat meet a while back and have been able to use it a variety of places in the backyard.  This weekend I planted them in my blue pots along the top of the fence.   I love the shadows the plant creates as it flows in the wind.  

We have also slowly been replanting our back planter.  It was full of invasive bamboo that was removed over a year ago.  It's been a barren space all year and I'm so happy to have plants again.  I'm planting succulents back here too.

I can't wait to see these plants fill in.  The large succulents in the front, grow big fast. 

new pots

I'm back. We just has stay-cation over the last 17 days. My normal routine was changed up a bit. Our stay-cation seemed like an endless list of things to do around the home front. We did a lot of weeding and got the front yard ready for spring. I cleaned up my little succulent garden and was able to plant a whole new area with cuttings from the cleaned up area. I love it when I don't have to spend any cash on plants.

I picked these pretty aqua pots up at the dollar store.

They look so pretty with my succulents in them.

Here's my little container garden.  It has been so neglected.  I haven't watered it in like 6 months.   I pulled out all of last years dead plants and found all kinds of new things growing.  It looks like will have some dill and lettuce in a upcoming weeks.

A Little Bit Change

Here is what our back yard used to look like.  Please note the bamboo, it served as a nice living wall in the back corner for a good 9 years.

We had to move the container garden to another home.

And now this is the back corner.  A barren space in need of a lot of help.  We have to remove all the roots system from the bamboo.  This is a very difficult job.  We are going to hire out for this one. 

 

We removed our little retaining wall.

It looks like we'll be under construction in the back yard for a while.  I'm kind of excited to design a new landscaped space for us to enjoy.

Garden Tour: La Mesa

Come with me on this tour of our friends wonderful backyard.

Welcome to the vegetable garden! I love the fence and gate.

This garden inspired the school garden design.

Here's the view up the hill from the garage.

Here's the stairs from the upper terrace.

The fire pit kept us nice and warm.

The kiddies on the tire swing. How cool would it be to raise you kids in a yard like this?

Every nook and corner has a thoughtful placement of plants and place to sit and think or whatever.

The succulents are abundant and healthy. We went home with a bunch of cuttings for our yard.

A view from the top!

Just some of the tomatoes.

Lush and tropical.

Thanks for coming with me on my tour. I left feeling so inspired.

If you are in the San Diego area and are interested in XERISCAPE landscaping, contact GFG Landscaping.

potting plants

My darling daughter requested a plant for her classroom. So, we found this pumpkin pot in the garden shed, filled it with soil and raided the succulent garden out front. She neatly arranged each cutting into the pot. Beautiful job sweetie!

Oh My: Dead Plants

I was a very bad plant waterer this summer. Our hanging baskets totally died. I pulled them down and cleaned out he dead plants and added some cuttings from my mom's house. Hopefully the cuttings will take hold start growing.

Sweet Peas are here again

My sweet peas are blooming right now. Like 5 months late. I'm so happy because I thought they were gone forever. You see I planted a bunch of them many years ago and they come back every year. However, this year come spring nothing was growing. After a clean up of the garden I started to see the vines popping up here and there. Now I have a full batch. Our house smells so wonderful with these purple and pink beauties. This week I put them on the mantle in an old turquoise glass jar. If you are one of my neighbors, please feel free to come over and get some for yourself, the more we pick, the more blooms pop up!

Oh My: Gardenia

This is a story about a sweet smelling bush next to our front door. It's about 3 years old and hasn't been the best performer. However, the tides are turning, and here's our first healthy flower to bloom in two years. The smell of this gardenia is off the charts. I clipped this one and it's in our family room smelling up the place with the best aroma. It's filling half the house with it's yummy odor. Did I mention how great this smells? The smell evokes memories of our wedding, all the mommies wore this delight all night and every time I hugged these ladies, I inhaled this wonderful scent. Thank you little gardenia bush for taking me right back to that day!

worm update

Well folks, I've been a bad worm composter. I haven't fed or checked on my worms in months. So, I decided I'd better feed the little guys. Much to my surprise they were alive and still eating the pumpkins from fall. These are my kind of pets. They require very little attention, yet give back so much. They are now fed and happy and hopefully in a month or so I can gather all the poo and fertilize the garden.

This week in the garden

Our back yard is looking great. We've been watering very little and lots of plants look sad. However, these babies are thriving with the low water. The birds and bees are loving it around here too.