Thursday, October 8, 2009

native.

I've shared plenty of pictures of our garden beds and the main part of the yard, with flowers and fruit trees and the small pond. That's where we spend all our time, and the strip of land on the far side of the house has been fairly solidly ignored for the 14 years I've been here. Once I planted a few sad spindly pineapple guavas, which I soon removed and gave away. Then I tried a few lavenders (since I didn't have enough in the rest of the yard), but they struggled because I always forgot to water over there, so I dug them up too. And there was always way too much dirt, piled up against the stucco and pulling moisture into the walls, which caused The (well-documented) Rot.

This was an initial attempt to get rid of some of the dirt a few years ago, leveling it off near the street, where we put in a handful of olive trees, but not touching the house, allowing The Rot to have a little more fun before we started the remodel.

We have a professional landscaper for a neighbor, and his yard has been so inspiring that Drew finally decided to take on the wasteland. He started with a dry creekbed to channel the rainwater in the winter, mixing in some of the leftover rock from other projects. We both felt strongly about keeping the olives (despite vehement opposition from said neighbor), but Drew really wanted natives for our bees and local butterflies (but mostly because they don't require a lot of water).

With Randy's help, he chose a couple dozen varieties (my only input was palette - blues and greens and whites). The plants are all so small right now but it's nice to have a photo of this stage - I'll post another one in the spring when they're all overgrown and have filled the space. Right now it makes this tiny strip of land seem huge. And it's completed just in time for the rainy season!