The landscaping of an entry way is very important. It's the welcome you give people and in a way says something about you. I've given this space so much thought...too much thought. The whole front yard is my nemesis to be honest.
When we first moved in the grass was dead. Dave felt it was important to get lawn in and to let the neighborhood know we were here and had plans on making the house beautiful. He spent $700 on a seed and labor to make the front of the house respectable. That was a wasted $700....even he'll cop up to it now. Maybe because I'm from Florida, where grass grows without trying thanks to all the rain, to me green does not equal a lawn. A lawn is just grass, no weeds. A pristine carpet of lush grass that feels soft between your toes is what a lawn should be to me. Our front yard was full of weeds from the start. If it's constantly mowed it looks ok but it feels awful to walk on it in your bare feet. It's always been awful.
About a year into our move we came to the realization that keeping a lawn alive in the summer, in the San Fernando Valley, was a huge expense. Our front yard alone was costing us $300 a month. We also have a pool, so between the front and back that's $600 a month June-October. One of them had to go and it most certainly wasn't going to be the pool! The whole front of the house is now drought tolerant landscape. You can't think drought tolerant without thinking succulents. I love them so I thought it quite appropriate to place them in the space just outside the door.
Back in March I bought pallets of plants. Succulents and flax for the entry and lavender for the north side of the yard. I have a plan for lots of lavender which I'll share in a future post. It took me about a month to go from buying plants to finally having them in the ground.
The process went as follows:
We had river rock laid over plastic tarp. I moved the river rocks around the corner to the side of the house. Under the plastic, crab grass grew this long, viney, tangled mess to where ever it could make it's way out from under the plastic. It took some major weeding despite the ground cover.
I've read in a few different sources that newspaper is a great weed barrier. I don't know what happens after it gets wet and old but I thought I'd give it a try.
And finally mulch on top and a finished product. We get our mulch from the city. So far it's been clean and quite lovely and freeeeeee!
Labels: garden
