This month's been particularly busy yet not well documented — hard to hold a camera when your hands are wet and covered in dirt (yes, we were outside). But the lack of news does not indicate a lack of progress… we're in the midst of the following:
- A low-retaining wall along the side garden
- A higher "sitting" wall a bit further down… this will eventually be faced in Eichler siding (it's constructed of 3 stacked 6X6s) with a bench-top.
- A decomposed granite pathway… two yards down, one more to go. (fyi: Tamping by hand is a pain in the ass.).
- Installation of a 4-zone irrigation system run by simple hose-timers… we don't need much water, but when we do need it, we often forget about it, so best to make it semi-automated. We ordered (and have so far been impressed with) a few items by Claber (ordered from Amazon): a hose reel, timers, and other irrigation bits… we like the orange color. Still need to work on filters and pressure regulators. (The image below also shows our wall-mounted AC/heater unit from LG)
- Planting of Casie's garden: tomatoes, squash, herbs, lettuces… can't wait 'til july. Getting good soil in there was more problematic than necessary. Lesson learned: when you need lots of stuff, buy by the truckload, not by the bag.
- Planting of natives along the side garden. Manzanitas (shrub and groundcover), pacific myrtle, ceanothus, juniper and sedums join the existing dogwood, maple, fig and guava trees.
- Demarcation of some planting/lawn areas in the front and back… sticking with the original redwood separators
- Installation of landscape lighting along the side garden. The pepper tree looks cool when up-lit.
Still to come…
- Sod… looking to create two small "lawns" in the front and the back. As much as we'd like to xeriscape, imho, it looks a bit desolate and unkempt. We'll likely install a low-water turf-grass and have that be the *only* thirsty plant in the yard (and a small patch of it at that). We haven't had terribly good luck with sod in the past… hoping for the best here (planning on calling the "sod shop" in Martinez… shying away from the rotting bales of sod at big-orange.)
- Stepping stones: Thanks to Tony at Bertotti Landscaping, we'll be installing these 24X24 concrete pavers throughout the yard — here in a 2X2 pattern accented by landscape lighting.
A special plug: Looking for California natives was tough until I found Buckeye Nursery in Petaluma — a joint also run by Tony Bertotti (see above) of Bertotti landscaping… lots of manzanitas, ceonothus, etc… much better than the catch-as-catch-can finds at local nurseries and the big-box stores. Check them out.
