Building a Mountain out of a Molehill

Way back on April 21, 2012 I wrote about some of my favorite views and one not-so-favorite one.  This is the not-so-favorite one.  It was a tiny bit better when viewed in real life, since you can focus on the view instead of the door frames.  But still, there a rather large area with not much to see.  I had run out of ideas when I originally re-landscaped the yard, leaving the three citrus trees and a few weedy Salvias.  Then a couple of years ago I took out the lemon tree that I'd grown to hate.  So behind the door frame, there really was nothing to see at all!  And this is the view from our living room. Since then, I've tried to focus on the bird feeder just to the left of this view and when my thoughts drifted to the right, I tried to figure out what I wanted to put in there. 

I've looked at plants that might be interesting enough to be a statement.  I've wondered about adding on to the water feature.   I searched Pinterest, and I started noticing some rather beautiful raised beds.  Then a few weeks ago I did a rather foolish thing.  I volunteered to have the local garden club add my garden to a tour of 5-6 of our members' homes.  Yikes!  Now I feel I need to get in there and really make my garden look its best...  and finally do something about that area that has felt like a gaping hole.

So here's my idea.  I plan to build a raised herb garden that echoes the waterfall.  And of course, I want to do it for next to nothing.  So I froze my gym membership to give me both more time and money and I'm doing my weight lifting at home.

 I started off with retaining wall blocks from Home Depot.  I've found that my car and my back can move six 60 pound blocks in a day.  I want to keep the hill from actually contacting the fence.  Like the waterfall, with tall plants in the back blending in with the ivy on the fence, it really shouldn't look too strange.  I've got I made 4 runs there.  That's 24 blocks...   1,440 pounds, if you care to know!  Plus 8 cubic yards of store-bought soil.




I went out to Peach Hill Soils to get some rocks.  Peach Hill would deliver to my house, but they would dump them onto my driveway and couldn't promise they wouldn't damage it.  The owner thought he might be able to find someone with a truck and time they wanted to fill with a small job, but I guess it sounded like too much work for not enough pay.

So my Camry is now the rock hauling "truck" and I am the manual laborer.  It is a lot of work, but the money is right!  Plus, I did say I would be doing my weight lifting in my garden.

 This picture represents two "Camry/truck" loads of rocks.  It's getting there!  maybe one more load of big rocks and I can start filling in with smaller rocks.  It's not a mountain yet, or even a molehill, but at least it hints at something to look at.

Finding the Fence

I haven't posted in a while because what I've been working on is not very photogenic.  Not only that, there's no beautiful "After" picture to show here.

It's really pretty hard to tell, but this is our ivy covered fence.  And no, that's not your imagination.  It is not straight and upright!  The ivy has been neglected for a very long time.  I let it go unchecked way back when.  When the gardeners took over, they would shave it every now and then to even up the surface.  It looked nice.  But underneath, those vines were growing thicker and higher and digging their way between the fence boards.  

 

 I tried to take a picture of what the ivy is doing as it grows above the fence.  The ivy that I think of with its delicate green vines grow thick like a tree trunk.  In fact, we thought it was a tree on our neighbor's side.  It turns out they thought it was a tree on our side!  The "vines" are about 4-5 inches in diameter in some places!  

As I cut away the old dead vines on our side, I found old dead leaves that had collected inside, turning to compost.  Judging from the odor and scraps of plastic I found, I believe it was literally a rats' nest.  Let me tell you, between the ivy growing between the fence boards, the compost and moisture rotting the wood, and the termites' damage, there's not much holding up the fence other than the remaining ivy.  

So I clipped and sawed and pulled and raked.  I filled our yard waste barrel and our large trash barrel that serves as an overflow yard waste bin.  I kept working and made a huge pile out of sight behind the waterfall.  I came in filthy each day, with scrapes on my arms, sticks in my hair, and praying I haven't been exposed to Hanta Virus or something equally nasty.

It looks pretty ugly right now.  I still hope to get a few more old vines off the fence.  Soon there will be fresh green (and soft!) vines covering the fence and it will look a little better.

The fence really should have been replaced long ago.  When we were renters, over 15 years ago, the fence was threatening to fall down.  The landlord had metal posts put in to keep it up a bit longer.  The thought of dealing with the ivy was overwhelming then.  I will have to find a way to broach the subject of a new fence with our neighbors soon.  When we do replace it, at least cutting back the ivy (on our side) will be manageable. I vow right now, to keep the ivy in check from now on!

I have to admit, as gross as it was to do, and as ugly as it looks right now, I feel better having done it. 

Harvest in January

Oranges and limes.  Oh my!  I remember our time in Alaska, spring and anything colorful outside was still about 4 months away.  I love living in Camarillo!

Springtime

The Christmas wreath from the Camarillo Garden Club is still hanging by the front door, but the Hyacinths say it's spring.

Happy New Year!

It's time for new beginnings.  In my yard, it's time to prune back the rose bushes. 

When we had gardeners, I was home on Christmas break when I saw them getting ready to cut back the roses.  I begged them to wait until after Christmas.   How lucky we are here in southern California to have roses.  I mean, we even have a parade all about flowers, especially roses, on New Year's Day.  The Rose Parade is viewed from all over and people marvel at the floats covered in plant material and billions of blossoms.  After our 8 years in Anchorage, Alaska, I understand how precious that is.

So I have roses for Christmas.

But after Christmas, it is time to cut them back.  The plants really benefit from a winter break. 

Rose bushes are actually composed of 2 plants; root stalk and the specially grown flowering plant.  The root stalk is from a hardy plant.  The tops are grown for their various special attributes.  Some roses are grown more for their coloring, others for their shape, and still others for their scent.  I recently learned that the flowers grown for florists are grown to be long lasting, but rarely have much of a scent.

But those root stalks are, by definition, hardy.  They will do their best to grow.  They send out branches usually called "suckers."  These suckers may grow flowers, but they won't be the glorious blossoms you bought the plant for. 
 
When we lived in Alaska I saw wild roses for the first time.  They only have about 5 petals and you might not even recognize them as a rose.  After they bloom, a rose hip is left.   Roses and rose hips are edible.  In fact, rose hips are sold as a vitamin C supplement.

But I digress.  Back to the top part of the plant.  Rose hips are the seed portion of the plant, but the roses we buy are not grown from seed.   They are more like cloned.  If one plant grows different looking flowers that the grower likes, branches are cut off and stuck to a cut branch on the root stalk to make a new plant.   The cut portions are held together until the desired branch can get its nourishment and grow from the root stalk.  This is called grafting.  That new type of flower is patented and it works like a copyright.  It's illegal for you to copy this process to make more roses from someone's plant. 

You can see the tag still attached to this bush.  It gives the name of this variety, Memorial Day and then in (WEXBLUNEZ)  I'm not sure what that is.  It may be the grower.  But after that, the print might be small, but the meaning is quite clear.  Asexual reproduction of this patented plant without license is prohibited.  In other words, do not make a copy of this plant by doing your own graft. 





 

If you really want those fancy flowers you spent good money for, you will cut off those suckers!  You can see a lot of suckers coming off the base of this plant.  I took my pruning saw to these branches to cut them as close to the base as I could.

You can probably see the brown older branches on this bush as well as the green branches.  The older branches are that part of the plant that was grafted onto the base.  The green branches are last year's growth.  So I cut back the green.  You could leave a little of the green on.  It will be easier if you cut back the top branches to get them out of the way.  Then you can see what you're doing easier and there will be fewer thorns reaching out to snag you.











This bush is done. 

This rose bed is done.   With the rose bushes cut back, it was easy to clean up the dead branches from the Mexican Evening Primrose.  

This is our bedroom window.  I cut that center Nandina so it doesn't block my view quite as much.

The bed looks kind of bare now.  I would have paid good money for anything green and growing in Anchorage at this time of year!   I am very happy to have a garden with something green and even colorful all year round.  The tall Nandina with its red berries and the shorter Nana Nandina with its red tinged leaves are filling the bill for this area of my garden right now.


Our bird feeder had been chewed so that the seeds just poured out of one of the holes. when I filled it.  So this is my new bird feeder.  Hopefully the birds won't be too unhappy with all of the changes!  I appreciate their yellow and red feathers and their happy songs.  Maybe they'll be back outside my window tomorrow morning.

Spring comes early here, so it won't be long before the roses are growing with refreshed vigor.   

Picture Perfect Roses

When we opened the curtains in our bedroom this morning, I was greeted by these perfect roses.  I commented that they were picture perfect and my sweet husband went out to capture the image.  I wish you could see the dewdrops that were on them. 

What's blooming in October? Yuletide Camellia

Yuletide Camellia, Camellia sasanqua 'Yuletide'

This flower is supposed to bloom at Christmas.  It's early!  Hopefully it will continue to bloom through winter like it's supposed to.  It likes filtered sun, which it gets in the corner of our front yard, under the neighbor's tree.  I just love the bright red flowers, the puff of bright yellow centers, and the dark green glossy leaves.