I smell like a beast! But it's a good thing. D and I worked so hard in the garden today. We did our big shuffling of plants. We had Kaffir Lilies (also called Bush Lily) in the backyard along side the south fence/wall. They've been doing fantastic but I know come summer they'll fry. They don't like much exposure to sun and they would get all day long there. It also dawned on me that we need a hedge running along side that wall to hide the wood beams supporting the wood portion to the wall. We have quite a few Rosemary that would be perfect. I love the idea of having an edible hedge. Rosemary is also so fragrant I think it would be perfect in this area where P runs around. She and the dog will rub up against it and smell delicious.
The Rosemary were in pots running alongside the pool and the back fence of our property. Last summer I realized that anything in pots needs to be watered daily. I don't have time for that. So, the Rosemary went where the Kaffir Lilies were and succulents started to go in the pots.
To move the Rosemary and the Kaffir Lilies I needed to move the river rocks from the front entrance of our house to the north fence, in front of the bamboo. The bamboo is our neighbors. She didn't put in a root barrier so it has come over to our yard big time! This space always looks ragged. Until I have the energy to dig 2-3 feet down by 20 feet wide, I'm putting the river rocks and hoping it may slow down the bamboo. Today, every move hinged on something else moving to make space for what was coming in.
I also added a few Kaffir Lilies to the garden space in front of our bedroom window. Kaffir's are one of my favorite flower so this seemed like an appropriate spot. I started working on this space back in September.I cleaned the area quite a bit making it lovely for P and I to spend time there. P's climbing structure was sort of pushed into a corner. She loves playing on it but it was so isolated from anything else in the back yard. It's in the shade for most of the day so I didn't want to move it elsewhere.
Today, I put three tree rounds under the shade of the tree so P can play and I can sit with her. D found the perfect tree stumps in the Malibu neighborhoods while scouting at work one day. I angled the structure so it's part of the space not just pushed in the corner. I also laid wood chips down in the entire play/garden area to distinguish the space. Grass was only growing in patches. This looks much better than half mud half grass.
It was all a lot of work but well worth it. I'm so sore and tired. We've been spending a good amount of time in the garden clearing the front yard. Trees, shrubs, steel edging, and decomposed granite are in the near future. Here's a few before and after shots. I'm awful at remembering to photograph the before. I think it's because I'm never quite sure if the after will really be all that much better.
Labels: garden
