Hi Nicholas,
Anything look interesting in this post??
The first one or the second one???

Look at these idea's

I think the first one is neat,
but not sure about the fencing around it into your front yard, I like the idea, but it's the building codes I'm not sure about in your town????

And the second one with the Hypertufa is in your not too much maintainence??? And low watering too if you find alpines and things like that.
**go to the one that says #10. One year later - the results......

Weezie

No, I don't think the cattle panels to construct 'hoop houses' would work for your front yard!

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Weezie

Don't forget to be kind to strangers. For some who have
done this have entertained angels without realizing it.
- Bible - Hebrews 13:2





http://photobucket.com/albums/y250/weezie13/

Nicholas,
When you looked at the first set of pictures',
there's rocks....and wondering if you could do something along that line... I know drought tolerant plants mostly come from rocky, hilly, hot and dry area's...

Also, for the second ones' with the hyper~tuffa stuff, I bet if a load of dirt was brought in, you'd get yourself a hill out of it, and use either or/or both idea's into that.....
Rocks and hyper~tuffa pots....
Fill in between the rocks with some more dirt and such, and on top of some rocks, or off to the side some of those pots....

I'll keep looking for some more...

Hopin' someone else comes thru with an idea or two for you!!

Weezie

* * * *
Weezie

Don't forget to be kind to strangers. For some who have
done this have entertained angels without realizing it.
- Bible - Hebrews 13:2





http://photobucket.com/albums/y250/weezie13/

How about Yucca or Aloe Vera plantings. They do well in arid country. I know in Arizona people do almost all of thier landscaping with cactus, etc.. and cover the yard in rock, since most grass will not grow there due to the lack of water, and all the heat. And very little upkeep.

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I won't be wronged, I won't be insulted, and I won't be laid a hand on. I don't do these things to other people and I expect the same from them." John Wayne
http://community.webshots.com/user/johncandy1005

Weezie,

I think I'm already going to be risking the ire of my neighbors and street by deviating from the conventional green lawn patch ideal, to then make a slope will send them into shock!

babysteps...

I'm pretty sure that we'll keep everything flat, as far as the ground. The screening hedge will be about 6ft tall, and then flowerbeds and bushes can be varied in height...

That's the plan, at least...but then the best laid plans etc etc...!



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Hey gang! Weezie was sweet enough to send me a polite kick in the a**, and I realize that I never followed up on this posting! Well, the reason I've not been too much in evidence on the boards is because I've been busy finally making the dream a reality: The front of the house is all done:

Day one we (my wife and I) pulled out the front lawn - 11 tons of earth and dead grass!! We Rounduped everything, and then called in the experts...

Day two had a sprinkler company install new sprinklers, and excavate the center 800 sq.feet of the 1200 sq. foot plot down to a 3.5 inch depth. So now we had sprinklers in, and a hard earth mound all around the edge at 5-6 feet width from the sides. In the middle was a lower level (by 3.5 inches), ready for filling with the gravel...I had designed a courtyard setup (can you picture it, or have my descriptive powers gone the way of my fingernails in this past month?... )

Spent the next week or two watering the earth to see if any grass or weed seed had survived the roundup. Then went and picked up two truckloads of compost and shoveled that onto the edging planting beds (the previously mentioned 5-6 wide mounds). Rented an enormous rototiller, and tried to churn up 50-year old packed clay soil, with some success…

Then what...lemme see...oh yes! The sprinkler guys came back and helped put in the gravel. Had 10 tons of 3/4 gravel trucked in and 10 tons of pea gravel to go on top of that. We put in 5" high Black Diamond edging all around the central "dip", and then wheelbarrowed in the 3/4 gravel, raking it all across the space to a depth of about 1.5 inches. We then rolled that down, and then raked 1.5 inches of the pea gravel on top. Now the courtyard was done. I painted the banister and pillar (which are wrought iron) by the front door, and got ready for the final stage:

With your help, I’ve been researching potential plants for a lonnnng time now, and finally went to the nursery to pick up my selections:

50 Pittosporum to create a hedge all around the edge
several flats of Alyssum to sit at the base of the hedge and hide the "feet of the bushes"
a couple of flats of Snapdragons on the inside of the hedge line
A Bailey's Acacia tree
A Red Plum tree
A Xitalpa tree
A Crepe Myrtle (which I'm not sure will survive - seems a little dead)
A flat of Coleus
A few Dusty Millers
Some Butterfly Bushes
Daylilies of various shades
Penstemon
Agapanthus
Dianthus
Vinca Minor
Liriope
Pampas Grass
Zebra Grass
Russian Sage
Blue Star

I also transplanted from the back garden: A Peach tree, which I planted in a large pot, and 20 or so irises...

The day after I planted everything (and boy did the muscles complain!) it began pouring for the first time this year. This was 3 days ago, and it hasn't stopped since!! I'm worried the newly planted and transplanted flowers, bushes, et al will drown, but I'm just keeping my fingers crossed and hoping…

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Can you believe I've not taken any "After" pictures yet?!

I shall have to get my act together, and take some shots, and post them. It may be awhile yet, though, as we have family visits all through the end of the year, and my wife is pushing me to paint, repair, clean, etc... (I've only managed to get online here because she's taking a nap!...NOoooI'm not *that* henpecked, just playing it up!)

It might even end up better if I wait a couple of months, before posting a shot - so that the plants have a chance to grow a little...

Is that ok?

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welllllll if we have to wait, i guessss so. but please hurry, i want to see how it went!

Hi Y'all;

I'll get to work on taking those pictures.

Weezie, re. the plum and Acacia: The plum seems to be doing fine, but the Acacia died...
I had some local "day laborers" help me plant some of the bigger items, and they broke one of the main branches as they lifted the tree out of its pot, and then just shoved it into the ground without opening the root system up... I wasn't there when it happened, but I dug down as soon as I saw the leaves turning when they shouldn't...and saw the root ball just clumped in a mass...by this time it was too far gone. It died in less than a week. Went from green to brown, and now a dull grey brown.

However, I don't think I'll replace with another Bailey's Acacia (though jury is still out) - this tree drops A LOT of leaves.

Not sure what to replace it with. Any suggestons? The location is the fornt corner of the lot, adjacent to my neighbors driveway, and the sidewalk...

Meanwhile, I'm certainly not finished! I need to buy some plants to go under my orange tree: the Veronica is doing fantastically, but the dianthus have mostly croaked (too much water?). They become these dried up mats of deadness. I need something that can sit under the drip line of the tree and fill in a little of that empty ground. No more than 8-10 inches high...something colorful and low-maintenance...

In other news: A friend gave me a plumeria cutting, and I've planted that, in the hope that it will take nicely - fingers crossed. It's bound to die a little, but I'm hoping it will rally and come back in all it's Hawaiian glory!

I overestimated my needs, though, re. plant purchases: I bought a pampas grass, and a zebra grass (6" high plantings), and now have nowhere to put them!! The snapdragons, meanwhile - due to the rains - have decided that now is the time to burst into flower, so goodness only knows how they will develop!

It will all make sense, I imagine, once I post some pics!

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