Hi DGers!
I started this over in Beginning Landscaping (http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/1356062/#ixzz2ya4MGJjj) but I'm wondering if I should have done it here in a members only area. =)
Eight years later I'm back, with a new (forever!) home, new zone (9b) and an absolute blank slate to work with. Plus a very small budget. It's intimidating but exciting!
Check out this blank slate. And let's all say it together and get it out of the way - "where the heck are the windows??" LOL. The previous owners were not much for landscaping (can you tell?) and sacrificed some street-appeal for energy-efficient design. But nothing some pretty cottage garden goodness can't fix (or so I'm telling myself).
My plan at this point is to grow Boston Ivy up the walls to take advantage of that large blank facade. Won't that be pretty?
Any other ideas for me? Right now it's all potential!
So here are some thoughts/plans:
1. I am growing Black Eyed Susan Vines in the two pots to climb up the trellises. Hopefully I can also use wires to make them go over the entrance.
2. I want to put a pot with flowers in each corner of the walkway and sink stepping stones into the grass and dirt, so that will soften and straighten out the path a little bit. Currently it is very uncomfortable to walk.
3. We want to add a stepping stone path from the sidewalk through the grass straight up to the front door.
4. I've got Nasturtium growing from seed in front of the bird feeder, along with Lilliput Zinnias and a few Johnny Jumpups, and I'm trying to grow some Creeping Jenny in the feeder. It has no drainage and is very shallow, so I don't know if it will work, but I've been trying to grow something in that feeder for eight years, and I'm not going to stop till I succeed!
5. I've planted a row of Hollyhocks along the fence on the left side.
6. I've got a bunch of Cosmos started in that left area.
Most of the green spikes you currently see are Narcissus. They've already bloomed, but since they provide the only green right now until my other seedlings grow up, I'm not cutting the foliage down yet.
Diana_K asked me about whether I'll have water this summer, which is a great question.
I'm not sure about how the water thing is going to work out. That's great advice about focusing on watering only the tree and letting the rest die. Although the tree came with the house, and has fallen over multiple times, so I'm not super attached to it. I may take a walk over to the Plant ID forum to find out what kind it is.
Our plan is to rip out the lawn and seed Ecolawn. In our area it takes watering only once a week, and mowing only once a month.
http://www.wildflowerfarm.com/index.php?route=product/category&path=20_71
However, we were going to wait to work on that project till October/November to give it a longer time to get established before our killer heat kicks in. That would mean either letting the lawn die, as you suggested, or watering it through the summer.
Thoughts?
