Koi, ponds, gates and paths

Koi simplicity

Remodel/Addition ideas

Alotta people do the over the garage addition, but none of them look like this one. This is perfect

Add a second story

Ideas - my thinking here is that the structure can be engineered so the weight is carried by the outer piers, thus negating the need for redoing the existing perimeter foundation to support a second story.

Insidescaping cover

Frostie and ET sleeping on the couch. Both schmeezers (Siamese Crosses), Frostie was a barn kitten, and ET was a wild kitten I managed to catch, and keep.

Ideas for remodeling

Bargain - Copper Rain Chain

Copper bell cups turn down spout runoff into a musical fountain. Attach at the end of a rain gutter or any steady flow of water Reproduces the sound of a stream or fountain
Each cup is 3-3/4" diameter x 4-5/16" L Cups link together to form a chain ITEM 94542-1VGA reg.$59.99 Now only $39.99

Found this at Harbor Freight Online. Have to see if they have it instore. Can't tell how LONG it is, that will be the determining factor as to whether this is a deal or not.

I've gotten a few things at Harbor Freight - real reasonably priced solar lights, which I figured I'd experiment with. The steel pathway lights have been lighting up every night for about a year now, I have one mounted on the greenhouse, and I just added some solar "rock" lights. They have the best price on adirondack chairs, not the highest grade, but they'll give you three or four years worth of use (painted). So I just buy more every year - the price is $29,99, $39.99 on sale, something like that.

◼ http://www.rainchainsdirect.com/
Rain Chains are relatively new to the United States and the western world in general. But in Japan they have been in use for hundreds of years. Called “kusari doi” in Japanese, rain chains have traditionally been used as a decorative downspout on both temples and domestic residences in Japan.

They were both aesthetically pleasing and functional, as they guided rain water run-off from the roof...

The Goldfinches are back!

Time to fill those thistle feeders!

Spectacular Scilla Peruviana

Photo source One of the best things I've planted. Beautiful and they multiply like crazy. just about to break out in full bloom right now. The lilacs and rhodies are blooming, the other scillas are fading.

The coolest thing

Solar Cap And Wedge Lights
Solar Cap fits 4" and 5" square posts and has four bright LEDs.
Solar Wedge has three bright LEDs that cast a beam of light up to 15'.
2 or more Cap Lights/$49.95 ea. Wedge Lights/29.95 ea.

Mission Cap Lights Powered By The Sun - No Wiring Required!
These are at Plow and Hearth.

Baby Buddha

Planted Strawberries and a Lemon Tree in that green pot.

The gardener

A visitor to the garden sees the successes usually. The gardener remembers mistakes and losses, and imagines the garden in a year, and in an unimaginable future.

Getting set up for backyard dining

(Martha Stewart 'Amelia Island' 6-piece dining set. Powder coated steel with e-coat primer.) Thought about a wooden picnic table but this is easier to move around, I like the glass, and the cushions, and the set up for the umbrella.

Here's the product photo...

The kids love it, the table has a turntable/lazy susan. You know, it's funny, you start thinking you need a cabinet out there to stash glasses, plates and stuff. Should probably resist that temptation.



One new challenge - how to get lighting out there. Candles aren't practical.

Another challenge, how to further screen out the neighbors. Potted bamboo? Some banners? When the jasmine fills in across the fence, it could solve the problem, but that's also a great place for the wisteria.

Trouble is, my neighbor likes tropical colors, and her paint job REALLY clashes with mine.

Switched to a black umbrella - from Ace Hardware, $30. I like the natural canvas, and the black, but not that taupe. Maybe I'll experiment with paint and stenciling on that one. Got some umbrella lights, they look like Christmas lights but are set up to run down the umbrella spines, $20. Prices on umbrellas vary widely, $1,300 to $30. Here, where it rains alot, you'll get a coupla seasons out of them, you can put them up "for the winter" but we have bursts of nice weather all year long - ahh the dilemmas! For $30 who cares?

UPDATE: Martha's stuff is usually pretty good, but that set did not hold up. It rusted, like everywhere. We can blame it on living near the coast, I guess, and the climate here, things rust. But from now on, no metal.

Solutions: Shade Sails

One possible solution to the neighbor view problem... Could look really cool, too... might be simple enough to make. Either natural canvas or experiment with colors.
One source: http://shadesales.com/

Chinese or Japanese Wisteria?

Photo from sheridangardens.com and Monterey Bay Nursery

☛ Wisteria floribunda -- JAPANESE WISTERIA -- deciduous vine with pinnate leaves, usually 15-19 leaflets per leaf. Long, airy flower clusters open sequentially from top to bottom, extending bloom but lacking the spectacular showiness of Chinese Wisterias. Gives a more vertical, delicate look, especially when hanging down through supporting arbors. Flowers are faintly fragrant. Begins blooming just after Chinese Wisteria. Needs full sun, average to little watering.

☛ Wisteria sinensis -- CHINESE WISTERIA -- similar to above, but with more rounded, full clusters of strongly fragrant flowers opening more at less all at once. Leaflets usually 13-15. Same growth requirements.

I think I'm going for the Japanese.

☛ Worth noting: the support must be very sturdy, because old wisteria can grow into immensely strong and heavy wrist-thick trunks and stems. These will certainly rend latticework, crush thin wooden posts, and can even strangle large trees.

YIKES! Read the reviews at Dave's Garden! Invasive. don't sleep next to it the vines will kill you, can uproot your foundation, tear your house apart, constant pruning... maybe I'll stick with the jasmine, it's a little less invasive.

You'd have to plan before putting it in, provide for a sturdy support and keep it away from the house.

Looking for a DARK DARK purple lilac

Not maroon purple, real purple.
L200 Yankee Doodle - Single Dark Purple Heavy Scent Up to 8’ Tall
An upright grower that is among the deepest and darkest of the purples. Limited supply

L500 Adelaide Dunbar - Double Dark Purple Heavy Over 10’
Named after John Dunbar’s wife. He created “Lilac City” in Rochester N.Y. Limited supply.

at Fox Hill Lilac Nursery

Planted the Styrax

Ever since I saw the Styrax Japonica in Lynne's garden, I've been planning to put one in. I shouldn't put in any more trees, but it is so spectacular! So, as of Saturday the 19th, it is planted about 5 feet out from the deck. It is starting to leaf out and I think I see some sign that it might even bloom this year. (Note, blooming, June 14th)

The search for a Shooting Star Hydrangea

I had picked up a Shooting Star hydrangea in the supermarket in Montana a couple of years ago. It didn't survive. Been looking for one ever since. Found this blurb online: ...the true name of this variety is Hanabi which means falling or shooting star in Japanese. That's a real loose translation, some say it means Fireworks or Sky fire. There are several varieties of hydrangea that are close and have the same bloom and cascading effect - Fuji Waterfall maybe Shirofuji.

Shooting Star is a re-named plant that is really Hydrangea macrophylla Hanabi. A tissue culture firm introduced Hanabi to this country under the name Fuji Waterfall. So H. m. Shooting Star equals H.m. Hanabi equals H.m. Fuji Waterfall and also H. m. Fireworks. Just to confuse you, there is also a hydrangea serrata Fuji-no-taki (and that translates to Fuji waterfall). http://www.hydrangeasplus.com/product.php?productid=213">
Sources include
Wilkerson Mill Gardens, (770) 463-2400 hydrangea.com
Hydrangeas Plus, (866)433-7896 hydrangeasplus.com.
I also found links to Amazon - they sell Shooting Stars, potted, at Christmas time, in bloom, but they are not available now.

Ordered a 'Fuji Waterfall' Hydrangea yesterday from Hydrangeas Plus. Two actually. To increase the chances for survival.


Also found this version: ‘Hayes Starburst’ (H. arb. radiata) A superb new Hydrangea with completely sterile, dome shaped flower heads comprised of fully doubled star-like flowers. Hayes Jackson of Anniston, NATIVE: North America. Zone 4, 3-4 feet, gr 1, It's at springmeadownursery.com They have Shirofuji, too.

Update! Wow! My Fuji Waterfall's arrived today - and they're nice! Big! And in little pots! Not just bare root. The packing material still moist, keeping them safe.

I'm very impressed - and I definitely recommend Hydrangeas Plus!

July 4th - picked up a 'florist' Shooting Star in full bloom. With three working for me - I should be successful. Gotta say it is GORGEOUS. Subtle hints of color, spectacular flowers. Really really nice! And so far surviving quite well, potted, and outside.
__________________
◼ General Care

Step 1: Provide at least partial shade. The shooting star hydrangea grows best in morning sun and afternoon shade. Full sun will scorch the plant.

Step 2: Surround your shooting star hydrangea with an inch of organic mulch in the spring before it begins to bloom. This will encourage flower growth and reduce weed growth.

Step 3: Fertilize your hydrangea once in early summer with balanced (10-10-10) slow-release fertilizer.

Step 4: Prune immediately after the blooms start to fade, as the shooting star hydrangea is an old wood plant. This means that the blooms develop on the second-year wood.

__________________
◼ More info:
Shooting Star is not the same plant as Fuji Waterfall. Shooting Star is a Hydrangea macrophylla (Big-leaf) and is most likely a renaming of H. mac 'Hanabi' (Fireworks) and is sometimes listed as 'Sumida no Hanabi' (Fireworks of Sumida), developed as an indoor, potted plant for the Florist market.

'Fuji Waterfall' is a H. serrata (Mountain Hydrangea, small leaf) and is said to be the same as the Japanese cultivar, 'Fuji no taki', which means "Waterfall of Fuji"

The confusion developed when a nursery began distributing 'Hanabi' with the 'Fuji Waterfall' label, whether knowingly or unknowingly and since the florets of the two are similar, no one questioned the name.

...Since the fertile flower colors of both, H.macrophylla and H.serrata, are pH sensitive, you will need to maintain the current acidity level of your potted plants, to retain the blue color (tinge). A small amount of Aluminum sulphate, applied 2 or 3 times each year should suffice. but be careful not to apply too much. Fertilizers containing a small amount of Sulphur can also maintain the correct pH.
__________
The ongoing saga: One, planted in the front yard has languished until this year, finally a couple of sturdy branches, with rich, healthy, macrophylla leaves, AND a bud emerging. Two more, still struggling to keep a couple leaves going, in pots.

Meanwhile, two full grown large potted hydrangeas, a pink(red) and white, doing great. Going to put the white one (with slightly chartreuse leaves) in the Japanese garden corner under the Bloodgood Maple. Seems funny to be reaching backwards and going with hydrangeas, but they're big, lush, flowery, rewarding and virtually indestructible.

July, 2013 - YEARS down the road, just bought TWO Shooting Star Hydrangeas at the local nursery, so they've finally made it to the nursery market. These two aren't blooming yet, so we'll see if the they're properly named. But they're big and they're healthy, in gallon pots.

July, 2016 - They're big, lush, healthy, and blooming beautifully. Love them. White with that delicate hint of blue, just spectacular. Haven't seen any in the nursery this year, so i am glad I got those while they were available.

SUCCESS! Big, beautiful and lush! Worth it!

Consider Your Climate

source
ongoing lessons in geography, botany, climatology... I can't really say I pay alot of attention to this because our climate is so moderate... within one square mile there may be dozens of microclimates, within your own yard there may be half a dozen or so...

The challenges here are coastal in nature - wind, wet, presumably some salt air (we're about a mile in) - it just doesn't get HOT enough here to say, grow good tomatoes, or corn, doesn't get COLD enough to make lilacs really happy, but, on the other hand, roses bloom all year long.

The Poetry of Rain

In the poetry of the Hawaiians
rain almost always is the rain of a particular place with a specific character and an allusion to an erotic element of some story draped with names.

The garden waits for the rain, responds to it at once, opens to it, holds it, takes it up and shines with it. The sound and touch and smell of the rain, the manner of its arrival, its temper and passage are like a sensuous visitation to the garden

WS Merwin 3/97 House and Garden (Pulitzer Prize Winner for Poetry in 1970)

The Beginning

Problem: No access to the backyard through the house, only access is through the garage or around sideyards. There is a grass alley that gives us vehicle access to the backyard. Virtually no existing landscaping. No plants. No style, no care, no nothing. Nothing has ever been done here.

There are two flowering plums in the front yard (on every lot on the street almost), the lawn is shot, the sideyard has a cyclone fence on one side, and on the other is a broken down fence. The backyard is often 2' high pasture grass. Not really a lawn though it can be tamed with a mower.

Ideas and Plans

In the beginning you have to assess your needs.
Access, trails & pathways, improve curb appeal, give the kids a "place," overall improve livability and resale value. Start with an overview - the skeleton (bones), paths, walks, define areas, and then fill in.

Here, plans include landscaping for privacy, camouflaging the cyclone fence, need a deck, a play area...

Early plan

Early Ideas for a Play Area

The back corner of the yard.

Something to remember - the further the sandbox is from the door to the house, the better. The more time the sand has to fall off the kids...

Thumbnails... Ideas

The beginning - composite shot

That's the bare lot, the fallen down fence, the neighbor's shed... the challenge.

The Plan of course, is to plant for privacy. To create a sanctuary. On a third of an acre.

Extended Composite View

Choosing Paint Colors

Looking for a warm grey with white trim like the ones in the pictures. Things to consider - most houses have light bodies with darker trim. Using lighter trim will, in theory, expand the building visually, opening up rather than closing in and containing the space... windows will seem larger... interior colors alway appear two shades darker than you think - exterior colors will appear two shades LIGHTER... try samples... ended up picking Behr Meteorite, and learned another important tip - Write down the formula for the paint color you choose. Five years later you won't remember, the company may have discontinued it, or the paint store may have closed.

I like this color. It seems to disappear into space visually, it's very zen, very stealth, not intrusive and not overly trendy. It really sets off the greenery, looks fabulous with white flowers... It doesn't work well with blues (pots and furnishings), that's the only drawback. We have an ongoing discussion as to whether it is grey (I say) or green (John says). Perfect.

The house was built in 1963(ish) and has been painted a variety of colors including a lime-ish minty green, pink, taupe and powder blue. I figure those were subdivision trendy way back when. Will this be looked at that way?

Misc. clippings

White Roses and Purple Peonies, a neat trellis, a nice color scheme... images for the mix.

Another early plan

Early plan in color

Leaves, Trees...

Leaves - facing page

A deck?

View to the greenhouse

The deck in progress. the backyard stripped. The Cat came and did 6 months worth of work in a couple of hours, stripped away blackberries with 40 foot canes, leveled ground, and cleared around the pond with that extended bucket as delicately as you can imagine. Quite a sight to see. Man and machine working as one.

Planning to put in sod. I'd seed it but I don't think that'll work with the kids and the dog. Can't keep 'em off it for that long. There will be sidewalks surrounding the grass and making a barrier between the grass and the planting beds.

IMAGINE how good this is going to look with the grass in.
______________

So the funny story that goes with this is - the trenches were dug for water lines, the ground was stripped, as you can see in the pic, and the gophers were a little nonplussed. You could see they'd tunneled to the  precipice of the trenches, which had interrupted their normal paths.  And one day, the kids came running in, "Mom! Mom! There's a WILD hamster in the back yard! And sure enough, there was the gopher, poking his cute little head out of a hole in the middle of that barren expanse. Not a problem - the kids laid many scrumptious offerings around his hole. What a nice surprise for him. They did quickly realize he was not, of course, a hamster after all, but it didn't matter.

It is funny that, when you think about it, many people have beloved rats for pets, and they are smart, good companions, but mostly people hate rats and devise ways to kill them. And many people have hamsters as pets, spending small fortunes for elaborate tunnel cages, with wheels and sleeping compartments, and feeding them treats, enjoying their stuffed cheeks and hoarding habits, whilst simultaneously working to eradicate the lowly gopher.  Such are the disconnects.

We like the raccoons that come, they eat the snails, and they're highly entertaining. We feed them to encourage them to stay. But try looking up how to feed raccoons, and most of what you get is how to trap and kill and eliminate them. And it is true of all the urban wildlife. We feed them, and they like it, the momma raccoon even allowed her babies to take the risk and come up on the deck. Yet we are also cognizant of the fact that it is better if they don't trust us too much, or they may think other humans are trustworthy, and the simple act of standing still as if to greet, or check to see if they are safe, will be enough to get them killed by others in the neighborhood who are not happy with their being here.

And to be fair, the neighbors have chickens, but not very sturdy chicken coops, so there is a never-ending war on raccoons.

The Japanese-y Garden area

A passthrough area between the garage and shed. The sidewalk leads to the gate. The idea here is simplicity. Zen. Quiet. Green. The Japanese Maple, baby's tears, and some simple plantings. Ferns were in the original plan, but ferns do not stay small, so I have taken them out.

Japanese elements

...

The Plan with Spring Color

SaveSave

The Plan with Fall Color

The East View

The greenhouse and garden area.
SaveSave

Projected View to the West

This shows the way the plantings will accomplish the goal. Privacy. Obscuring the neighbor's shed. The top sketch is a tissue overlay, the photo beneath is one of the ones in the composite.
SaveSave

Inspiration and The Joy of Digging...

They LOVE digging! And you see the landscaping challenge - a cyclone fence, a need for privacy in a subdivision. We're lucky, the lots here were put in in the early 60s, they're big by today's standards. But it's still too close together. You see your neighbor coming out of his or her door when you are coming out of yours. The goal is to screen it off with plantings. Trees, and vines. The vines will cover that cyclone fence. (They have since covered that fence) Ivy, honeysuckle, potato vines, passion flowers and jasmine. And they have to beat back the blackberries which grow rampant and are impossible to eradicate. (They haven't beaten back the blackberries, primarily because you cannot control what your neighbors do, or don't, do)

Sideyard - Step 1

Putting in the sidewalk and the gate to the backyard was the first step really. A step towards setting up the infrastructure, making a mark, and taking ownership of the place. New fence, new gate with trellis overhead... maybe for wisteria and clematis (ended up Iceberg roses and evergreen clematis) New walkway, weed barrier and bark. Started planting. First successes. Only drawback - now the kids can't dig here.

The Side Yard

The Bumblebee Garden

This is the side yard, where the kids were digging in the picture above. It was a strip of dirt and weeds. There was no sidewalk. No gate. A blank slate except for the cyclone fence between the two houses. All of the plants on the list were planted. Some have come and gone. Some things need to be redone now. It turns out that corner by the gate is ideal for roses. Wouldn't have thought it would get enough sun, but they thrive on that side at all of the houses on the block.

The best thing turned out to be the purple penstemon - because the bumblebees love it, and they crawl up inside the flowers. So we named this area The Bumblebee Garden, and set up a bench for Bumblebee watching.

The Sideyard Gate

The inspiration
The design,

Lattice

The Sullivan Garden is a great example of using lattice successfully. The diagonal lattice has become somewhat ubiquitous, so I have come to prefer the horizontal lattice. Maybe it's just that horizontal lines seem to go with this house - a nondescript 60s tract house, rather low and flat, not much pitch to the roof, a 'Morningstar' house, built around 1963 by Chub Morningstar, a local (lecherous) contractor/developer.

But the low lines and the heavy fascia mean this house leans easily into both Japanese and Craftsman, if you want to fix them up. There are some other good things - the siding is redwood plywood, t-11, I think. The floor joists are solid heart redwood. These houses all have hardwood (oak) floors, brick fireplaces, and a relatively open floorplan.

Anyway, the fence I planned has the lattice top, and the key to the look is the proportions.