Front side yard update

Cedar sage, grown from seed

The front side yard has changed a lot since early March! The grass is buried under mulch, the wall of bricks is taken down, and plants have been planted.

First, the existing rhododendron is much healthier, thanks to a little pruning, regular watering and fertilizer. It didn't bloom this spring but is growing a lot of new leaves. I'm trying to keep the moss around it but kill off the grass and weeds - I used cardboard which worked pretty well but may need another round to get the rest of the weeds. 

I've added just a few plants around the rhododendron:

• Hummingbird sage, salvia spatacea, one to the right (east) of the rhododendron and one on the other side, they should spread a lot
• Satureja douglasi 'Yerba Buena', trying one as a groundcover in front of the rhododendron and in a couple other areas around the yard
• Inside out flower, vancouveria hexandra, way under the pine tree behind the rhododendron
• Sword fern, polystichum munitum, two on the shadier side of the rhododendron

Rhododendron

Looking east

Behind the rhododendron / under the pine tree

The open area next to the driveway is completely covered in mulch and I've been slowly putting in plants:

• Cedar sage, salvia roemeriana, planted from seed
• Day lilies, hemorocallis 'Pandora's Box'
• Geranium macrorrhizum 'White Ness' 
• Geranium thunbergii 'Jester's Jacket'
• Verbascum chaixii album 'Wedding Candles'
• Veronica 'Waterperry Blue', trying as a groundcover under the yucca
• Fringecup, tellima grandiflora, right in front of the yucca
• Bleeding hearts, dicentra formasa, may be too dry here but trying anyway

Looking east

Looking west

Little plants are trying to spread

Mullein in front of yucca bloom

The area next to the garage has changed the most with the removal of the brick wall, and re-use of the bricks as path edging. I wouldn't have bought them as edging but decided I might as well use them. I'm still playing with the shape, the top of the path needs to be a little wider. I had hoped to plant a large bush in place of the wall, but turns out our power, gas and cable lines all run right next to the garage, so I'm limited to perennials and groundcover. 

Looking east

Looking west from the gate in the fence

Planted on the south (fence) side:

• Kenilworth ivy, cymbalaria moralis, planted one along the walkway
• Creeping phlox, phlox stolonifera 'Sherwood Purple', planted one under the easternmost yucca
• Foxglove, digitalis purpurea, along the fence, grown from seed

The fence side is shadier and I'm trying to keep the moss here but kill the weeds (thus the cardboard). I have aquilegia seedlings to plant in here too. 

Planted on the north (garage) side:

• Penstemon serrulatus
• Rock cress, aubrieta 'Audrey Purple Shades'
• Sedum oreganum, grown from pieces 
• Kinnikinnick, arctostaphylos uva-ursi

The garage side is sunnier and I have visions of a rock garden, although it's mostly covered in mulch right now. I have Jupiter's beard (centranthus ruber) and rock cress grown from seed ready to plant in the fall.

Looking west from the very bottom

Everything needs to grow in, I have more to plant, and have to decide on the final position of the brick border, but this project is coming along nicely. 

In bloom this week: July 3, 2017

Bee balm

Hello, July! I'm not too excited by fireworks, but have plenty of red, white and blue in my garden:

Salvia and bee balm

Balloon flower and salvia 'hot lips'

Lavender and daisies

White lavender and catmint

Mullein 'wedding candles'

Yucca

Seaside daisies

Harebell

Radish

Plus a few other colors too!

Crocosmia

Gaillardia, blanket flower

Coreoposis

Experimental lawn alternative

Poppy

Dahlia

Clematis

Clematis

Zinnias, grown from seed

Fuchsia 'genii'

Dwarf phlox, salvia and chives

What's next? Hydrangea wants to bloom, but it'll take some time:

Front side yard

Santa skeleton hanging out in the mulch pile

The front side yard is my second outdoor project for the year that is progressing well. This area is a 13 foot strip on the south side of the driveway and running along the side of the house/garage to a fence that is above the new woodland garden. Overgrown yucca dominates this area - at least in my mind - but there is also a small pine tree, a struggling rhododendron, a few roses along the front fence, and the usual bit of scraggly lawn.

View from the street, looking east

Looking west

Looking east along the house/garage

This area is very dry in the summer and too far from either of my gardening hoses for easy watering. The light is mixed, I need to watch closer in the spring as the sun gets higher in the sky, but I think there's a fair amount of light except directly under the pine tree. Back further along the side of the house is close to the neighboring house, but there is a lot of light when the sun is higher in the sky. We have arborvitae right along the fence there too, which I'm not fond of but they're so huge, there wouldn't be any point in trying to remove them now.

Snow makes it all pretty

Poor rhododendron was really buried

My first chore was to finish trimming the yucca, which my mother started when she visited in the fall and I have to say really does make a difference. I trimmed the rhododendron to get the branches off the ground and it looks a little better; still to be determined if it will be able to stay in this location or if this is just too dry.

I had a load of wood chip mulch delivered in the fall, halfway in the driveway and halfway over the grass. I've been spreading it out (as well as hauling it down to various other places in the yard) and have started a list of plants to add when it warms up a little more. There was more moss than grass around the rhododendron and toward the street, so I'm covering that with cardboard to kill the grass. In theory, the moss will survive longer than the grass, if I remove the cardboard at the right time.

Progress

Slowly shrinking mulch pile

Trimmed yucca

I'm looking at native inside out flower to go under the pine tree, it's supposed to be able to handle dry shade and spread quickly.  Also sword fern and fringecup along the front of the yucca. I uncovered two existing sword ferns that I had forgotten were there while trimming the yucca. I've been browsing lists of California natives looking for plants that like dry but can handle clay, and may even plant a small manzanita next to the house where the stack of bricks is now.

Next step is to call for a utility locating service because our gas, power and cable lines all run right through here. They were marked last summer when the gas lines in our street were replaced so I know roughly where they are, but need to see exactly before I do any planting!