My Back Yard after one year

I thought I'd post a few before pics and after pics on how one year can change your backyard with a little back work......The first two pics of course will be the before with three after pics......hope you enjoy.....

The second before pic

Here is the start of what it looks like now

the next

Now that I have showed you mine you have to show me yours........before and afters.....

OK... here my back yard is 3.5 years ago

another shot of yard ... a clean slate- perfect spot of a nice palm garden...

Here are the palms ready to move in (some... many have since gone to the big compost pile in the sky)

unfortunately it turns out I have a hankering for LOTs of plants... not just palms... so here are a few more waiting in the wings (this is now about 3 years ago)

I have been pretty busy since... this is last month... not too many palms visible, though there are about 30 palms hidden amongst all the succulents

This is the same shot from the same vantage as in the very first photo

here is another shot looking in a differnt direction.. only palm visible in this view is the wispy leaves of Ravenea xerophila at very right edge of photo

Here's a shot down the central aisle of the back yard... can see some Hyphaene leaves on very right edge of photo... rope swing is for the bird that lives back here

Front yard might be more interesting to you as it has mostly palms... but here it is as a blank slate

then I put in a few Parajubaeas in the lawn (exactly 3 years ago)

then I neatened things up a bit and added a few more palms (this is now 2.5 years ago)

then I started to add a few palms with different colors (Brahea armata, Bismarckia and Chamaerops 'cerifera')... this is 2 years ago

a year ago now and you can see the succulents and cacti have invaded the palm area

and this shot is from a few weeks ago... things getting bigger and more crowded

a shot of the far corner of the 'palm garden'... filled with all sorts of non-palmy things nowadays...

last shot showing the Parajubaeas mostly (can see three along the side walk with other palms in between) finally looking a bit like palms.

Dang palmbob You have been a busy boy.....The transformation is awesome. I like the way you made trails in the back and the use of all your plants. Hard work pays off though. Thanks for showing us your yard gotta love it..

Excellent job radman,I take it you are a renter is that why they are still in pots?One year does make a difference,well done!

Geoff,What an interesting eclectic mix you have there and don't the very different genera go so very well together such a great combination..In #7 is that a tillandsia in the hanging basket,( I can just visualize lots of different bromeliad species looking right at home there too) and is that an elkhorn fern in the left background.Your garden is stunning...oh and that includes your great looking front yard...How well the palms and succulents compliment each other..great work!

lots of tillandsias all over the garden.. but that is a large root completely covered with them (about 20 species)

brical1.......Yes I am a renter, but I like the fact that I can move them around and get a different look when I want. Most of the palms you see under the shade house and the ones in the greenhouse will be for sale once they get to a size thats worth it. I will have a big palm sale here in a year or two.....:)

Amazing collection Geoff. How long does it take you to hand water? :)

I hand water 2-3x a week for about an hour... most things don't mind if I don't water them for weeks, though really almost everything seems to like being watered- even cacti and the most drought tolerant succulents (are a few exceptions... but I quickly rot those out of the way)

Very nice fellas.

I really enjoy the "this was then and this is now" pictures. It's helpful for those of us that live in like or near-like areas and zones to get an idea of what kind of growth we might anticipate. Thanks!

Ok, not as dramatic as others here :-), but here's my contribution...

Before pics first

Another before pic

Yet another before pic

This little exercise has made me realize that I don't have real good after pics...

After pic 2

After pic 3

After pic 4

Pics wouldn't be complete without the mural pics..

Mural pic 2

Mural pic 3

Oops, here's another along the back fence. I had done some trimming and still hadn't picked up my mess.

I have two parts to my back yard as it wraps around the sides and back of the house (we use to have the backyard split by a fence because of the dog, but he's gone now). The other side (non-pool side) has the shed and my nursery and still needs to be landscaped, cleaned up, etc.