Many people who know me know that I’m not a cold-weather person. Yes, in Sacramento, the winters are “cold”, with the lows in the lower 40s and sometimes in the 30s while the highs are usually in the 60s. To me, this is *freezing*, but to others, I do recognize that this may be considered “nice weather” (especially compared to the midwest…). So, for much of the winter, I’m indoors, planning the next steps in my garden (along with a few other indoor hobbies) while awaiting the weather to dry up and warm up. I’m more of a “tank top and shorts” kind of person.
This site went up well after I had worked on my front yard garden hardscape. What I had started with was a very bland front yard. Sure, it was relatively presentable, but it was just… green (with some brown and grey). Nothing really colorful or inviting. Plus, the lawn was struggling due to all of the surrounding trees. And the bushes were so incredibly plain.
In fact, there was so much “lawn” that the prior landscapers had put in a bunch of sprinklers to water everything, including the bushes. Here in California, we’re known for our droughts. I removed 18 unnecessary sprinkler heads!
I prefer color. Give me flowers!!!
I believe several hundred hours went into this project. In this photo alone, everywhere you see those weed fabrics, there were dry bushes somehow surviving in something close to solid clay. Once those bushes were removed, then the pick came out and I started slowly chipping away at the clay enough to get some decent depth. Up against the sidewalk, that bed was dug down about 2 feet, which should be enough for some water to linger at the bottom of the bed while the soil on the top is able to dray slowly (because its a clay pot, so there is nowhere for the water to drain to…).
Up against the front, where it looks “barren”, there was a massive bush, which was about 7 feet tall and 10 feet wide. Maybe there were a few of them intermingled in there. I found a few things hiding in there. A neighbor once commented to parking control that she never saw that fire hydrant there. All that moisture: there is a water meter in the ground someplace. The dirt was almost standing water. Upon closer inspection, there was a gradual leak right at the box. I had the water company come out and repair the leak in their box. They called the other utility companies who put out their flags. Now I know where all of the water, gas, electric, cable, and fiber optic lines are.
Up hill a little bit, the grass was struggling due to all of the tree roots right on the surface of the ground.
And if you think that was bad, up against the main street sidewalk, there was no clay. Clay, given some persuasion, can be removed. Nope: this property is about 1-2 feet deep of clay sitting on top of sandstone. Each of those holes was a good 2-3 hours a piece making extremely slow progress with the pick axe.
What I was finally done with looked amazing. Along the front sidewalk, there are now colorful drought-resistant yellow trailing lantana (and a small 1 square yard flower bed off to the far left). And anywhere near the front, there is no more struggling lawn. Instead, there is terraced bark, to help keep the bark in place.
The front is even more eye-popping. Up against the sidewalk are some nandina (the leaves turn shades of green, orange, and red depending on the season). The two larger raised beds have well-draining soil and flowering pushes (which will help with privacy from the neighbor’s yard). The smaller raised beds have vibrant hydrangeas growing. Right above all of the blocks is a beautiful ground cover that will drape over the edges of the block with beautiful blue and white flowers. And up against the sidewalk near the door are two flower beds (each about one square yard).