Wild roses (couldn't drag me away)

Since the gazebo is about 12 foot tall, I'm guessing the rose bush is...9 feet?

Last spring when we had our first contractor come in to give us a bid on remodeling the backyard, he could not get over our taller-than-us iceberg roses. He snapped pictures to send to his wife and kept telling us, "I had no idea roses could get this big -- I love them!"

Our iceberg roses stand about nine feet tall, and when they bloom the white-on-green color is amazing. It's especially beautiful by moonlight.  In our last home, we had a Mojave rose we allowed to do the same thing, and every spring it was a profusion of sunrise colors in our back yard.

Big bushes.

I believe in letting things take their natural shape and size whenever possible. These roses had been kept to about a two-foot height by the gardening company that kept the yard tidy for the lady who lived here before. And yet, apparently they always wanted to be larger. So when I realized how many of the neighbors' lights were blocked out by having larger rose bushes (giving us a darker sky and better view of the stars), I decided to let them become what they wanted to be. I prune them in January every year, taking a couple of feet off, and I dead-head after each bloom, but they recover quickly.

I also have a Bay Laurel "tree" that seems quite committed to becoming a bush, so I'm allowing it to do that. I had a tomato plant last year that wanted to sprout in November, so I let that happen and it's overwintered and is now ready to produce fruit.

Over-wintered tomato in January. It's twice this size now.

Some plants you can't allow to run wild. I have coyote brush outside and if I let it go it would crowd space that's designated for other plants, so I have to keep it within bounds. Other plants I will allow to blossom before cutting them back to where they should be. 

But where you can, why not let gardening be a little bit fun and see what natural shape and size some plants will grow into? Not knocking the well manicured hedge or the symmetrical 2-foot rose bushes that are pruned down to their canes every year, but it almost seems that plants can and should reflect their owners, so I guess it's no surprise that my garden will be a little unorthodox and rebellious. 

I like my roses wild, thank you. Like my life.

Spring blues

Vinca, foreground, with Wooly Blue and Rosemary in background. Spring blues.

This is the time of year when everything blue and purple seems to bloom. Rosemary, of course, is in total crazy abundance, which the bees are thrilled about. Our rosemary bushes literally hum this time of year. But also Vinca and Wooly Blue.

This 10 year old rosemary is magnificent this time of year and hums with bees.

Our large planter bed in the back yard now has finished brickwork (except for the capstones for low seating, which we'll install once the planting is done) and is filled with soil. We hauled the last five yards of soil using our neighbor's tractor, which made it so much easier. 

Just starting to plant this bed, got the Irises and Agapanthus in place so far. Watch this space!

And we have the first wildflowers coming up in the pasture. Actually it's amazing how green everything is right now, although there are still plenty of trees that are dormant and bare. 

Vines are sleeping but wildflowers are up and at 'em.

Vinca loves spring but hates summer around here.

Our El Nino seems to have pooped out as far as rain goes. Thus far we've had average rain. Since we've only lived here since 2012, when this drought really got started, we've literally never seen a normal rain year here...and if February and spring are as dry as everyone is predicting, we'll go another year without seeing the rain that is "normal." 

I like Wooly Blue and Yarrow together.

Unless, of course, this is the new normal. Let's try not to believe that until we absolutely have to.

Another brick in the wall

Today we are working on the raised bed which will house my irises, milkweed and assorted annuals. This is going to be a focal point of color in the back yard, and we've therefore decided to build a raised bed for it all, using blocks. In the pic above (to the right), you can see the poor irises and some agapanthus struggling in the crappy soil that is our hilltop.

Big Ag is doing the first level, which involves the kind of precise leveling I do not have the willpower for ("it looks close enough" is pretty much the grand theme of my life), but after the first level of blocks is finished, I will be able to do the rest myself. 

I'm excited to get the irises out of the place I stuck them when I moved. It has very poor soil and is under constant threat from gophers as well, so getting them into a secure garden bed (there will be chicken wire under the planter) will bring a good feeling, and of course with spring coming planting some annual color will be fun.

Garden Art, for art's sake.

We've also invested in some pottery and I snagged two metal agave plants at the last auction, planning on using them in the yard. These are the kinds of finishing touches that are always the most fun to do, and I'm really looking forward to adding some interest to the landscape by the pottery elements and annual color.

I'm thinking of putting this big ball in the center of the raised bed. What do you think?

The voice in my head (our marker for the septic tank) said it wanted its own ball. Who am I to argue.

Bringing home the color -- update!

So I've come to the most fun part of the back yard landscaping project, which is picking out the plants to adorn the growing space! For us, this is the perfect time of year to plant, as it's temperate and not hot enough for the plants to get shocky when placed in the ground. And since it's supposed to be 70 degrees this afternoon -- perfect planting weather both for me as well as the plants -- I think a trip to to the nursery is in order.

I already did a diagram of how I want this section of the yard to look, ran the drip lines, etc, and so it's just a question of finding the plants themselves. I've picked drought-tolerant, easy keepers which will be a pleasure to look at but don't need a lot of work, since my work efforts are mainly centered in the vegetable and fruit growing areas of the property. 

The only plant here which requires some vigilance is the Yellow Broom, which tends to get moths laying eggs in it and then hatching, thus destroying parts of the plant. I will have to be sure and put on some bacillus thuringeinsis (BT) spray on a regular basis in the summer months to ensure I get my yellow flowers...but I think yellow flowers are worth it.

I also bought four milkweeds about a month ago, with the idea of using them in this section of the yard -- but after seeing the constant problem they have with aphids (and you can't spray them with anything other than water if the Monarchs are going to use them) I've decided they will go in some side areas where their looks will not be so important. What with old age encroaching, perhaps I should probably find a space like that for myself as well. Just put me on the side where you can't see the imperfections unless you're really close up. Ah, with plants as with life, yes?

And I'm ordering two rose bushes as well -- after the holidays, so I don't have to go down to the post office and wait in a long line of Christmas package senders and pickers-up. I'm going for one "Barbara Streisand" hybrid tea rose, which is a gorgeous lavender (to complement the blue agapanthus and lavender plants, plus the purple crape myrtle tree) plus a "Good as Gold" yellow/gold rose for an accent color. 

Since I was five years old, I've known that there's nothing better than going to the nursery to buy plants. Talk about a gift that keeps on giving, especially appropriate during this time of year.

Update: Here it is all set out in the yard, waiting to be planted...Provence lavender, foreground, couple of yellow brooms, salvia, penstemon, agapanthus and one very nice Italian buckthorn, which was a whim kind of purchase. I think it adds some nice variance in color from the natives.

I feel like I'm in the home stretch, but that's because I'm ignoring the fact that there is 9 yards of bark I have to order and move into place. Denial is SO convenient sometimes!

Next phase

Fire pit and surrounding area will have gravel/bark.

So our patio project has now reached the next phase, which is adding some gravel around the fire pit and next to the door of the chicken coop. After that it will be on to adding plants, drip lines and bark, but we don't expect this to be a lot of trouble since it's a relatively small area. We'll probably add 10 drought-tolerant plants, just to provide some color and sustenance for the bees and butterflies.

Speaking of which...four milkweed plants will go in, in order to help our friends the Monarch butterflies. 

Bark and decorative gravel will surround the chicken coop/run.

Another phase of my life may be starting soon as well, I have applied to train as a Master Gardener with the local University Extension office. If I get accepted I will begin taking classes next February - June, learning all about plants, pests and their management, and landscaping in our region. I will then be assigned a certain number of volunteer hours each month to help others with their garden ideas and issues. 

In the meantime, while the backyard project has become a lot more enjoyable now that winter weather is upon us, I'll be happy to look outside the back door and see it all done.

Backyard progress

Patio is almost done.

As you can see, we are making progress on the backyard landscape. I'm really pleased with my choice in flagstones, and the fire pit (with safety grate -- no brush fires here!) will be a very nice addition to the entertaining space. Today they are adding the border and sand to fill in the joists, plus bordering the fire pit (we will be bringing in the gravel ourselves in order to save some money).

We have dreamed of doing this since we moved in three years ago, but there were other priorities for the house that took precedence. And then of course,we had to save up some bucks, so we could pay cash for this and not incur any debt. (Maybe I should just have done a kickstarter campaign instead lol)

Future fire pit.

The next steps will be waiting until the rainy season and using a sod-buster to level some areas where there is dead turf so we can add bark without making it higher than the patio or fire pit. So we have a bit of a reprieve until the rainy season really gets going in earnest. 

One thing the landscaper told us is that the type of soil we have is almost impossible to grow a healthy turf on. From looking at the grass he had to remove, he said the roots were very shallow and the grass was just generally unhealthy. One more reason to stick with native plantings.

But we're well over halfway done at this point, and it's easy to see how its all going to look once its finished. And with only cosmetic stuff plus some planting going on, the bulk of the hard labor is over, too.

Good luck omen over the site?

Drought solutions

Future flagstone patio!

As I am writing this, there is the whine of a tractor in the back yard as the landscape guys scrape off several hundred square feet of dead lawn in preparation for a flagstone patio and fire pit that will go in its place. All over the western US, people are starting to do the same thing as we are -- come up with backyard alternatives to the water-sucking lawns we no longer have enough water for.

There are lots of alternatives to grass, depending on one's budget. The flagstone patio, gravel fire pit and wood bark with a few drought-tolerant plants scattered around is pretty medium-cost. Decking is about three times as much. Artificial grass is yet another popular alternative. Leaving dead grass or dirt to just sit there costs nothing, of course, except for aesthetics and resale value. 

Future fire pit (mmmm, s'mores!)

But whatever your constraints, there is something everyone can do to lessen the drought, and killing the lawn is by far the easiest.

What we can't do is keep on watering as we have been over the last 50 years. In the last month or so I've been both to Los Angeles and Fresno, both of which are still extremely green in comparison to the county I live in. On the one hand, that's a positive because it means people here in my home county really do understand that life has to change, and are willing to do what it takes to change it. I'm proud of myself, and my friends and neighbors for that. 

On the other hand, it also means that cities with hundreds of thousands (millions for LA) of people are still not getting the message, and living life as usual. Ugh.

On another homesteading blog I read frequently, a Los Angeles couple stressed the importance of keeping trees watered in the area because trees provide shade and are beautiful. But if the trees are not native to the area, watering them is just kicking the rock down the road a little more. We need to deal with the ridiculous things we've planted in the name of them being beautiful and realize there are a lot of beautiful things we don't have here: Fireflies. Ponds. Snow. And you know what? We are OK without them. They don't belong here, but there are many, many other beautiful things that do belong here, in our dry Mediterranean climate. We're not starved for beauty by any means.

And so, here in SLO County, the waiting list for landscapers to come and do lawn removal and backyard renovation is long, as people get in on the act and start to live a different life than what their parents did. 

As for us, I'm exciting about having a new entertaining space, and although I will miss the cool green grass outside the back windows, let's face it -- it really never belonged here in the first place.

Got an appointment

So next week we are getting our septic tank pumped. Here in California, one of the requirements to sell a rural property is that you must get a well test and empty your septic tank before new buyers move into the place. Since we moved in June of 2012, it's easy to remember the last time the tank was pumped. It was right before we moved in, while the house was still in escrow.

Since we've been here a little over three years now, we're getting into range for when it will need a pump, and so we'll take care of that next Tuesday. Goodbye, sludge! The range you can go in between pump-outs is calculated by your square footage and how many people you have living in the home. Since we had Groceries, plus Big Ag and myself, plus regular friends and other family who have visited, we figured the estimate of getting it pumped in 3.9 years was good, but could be moved up just a bit. And so, at 3.2 years, we're going for the pump-out.

The other reason we want the septic guys out right now is that we're going to install a flagstone patio on an area which formerly had grass, and I want to be sure -- absolutely positively sure -- we are not going to be placing stones over the septic system, in case it ever needs to be dug up. The odds are it will not overlap, and the odds are even better that we will not need to dig it up, but it never hurts to be on the safe side on either count. So when the guys come out to pump, they are also going to locate our tank and find exactly the dimensions so we can avoid covering anything up. 

There's a lot you can do to extend the life of your septic system if you want to avoid trouble: Don't plant trees with invasive roots near the tank, leach lines or leach field. Get the tank pumped out on a regular basis. And although I'm not sure how much good it actually does, the experts say it can't hurt to use RidX or some other kind of bacteria boosting additive to help the waste breakdown process go smoothly and quickly.

Getting the tank pumped is not a glamorous or fun $450 to spend, but it is a necessary cost if we want to avoid something backing up into the house or worse, needing new leach lines or the leach field dug up, which can cost thousands. Luckily we've saved for the pump-out, and so it'll just be a question of writing the check and getting it done. I've already written it into the cost of the patio renovation, as just a little bit of insurance that once the yard is done, we will have taken steps to everything stays good back there for awhile. 

Sludge. Leach fields. Decomposing matter inside a tank under your lawn. Just a few of the lesser talked-about, but absolutely necessary parts of rural life. And if you think it's hard living with the responsibilities of a septic system, try living out here and NOT having one! I know which one I'd pick. Bring on the pump-out.