Side-yard garden, pruned, green, and ready for spring
I’ve taken to strolling the garden each evening to look for the earliest signs of spring. This section of the garden, the hillside path leading from the front yard to the back, is going on five years old, and it’s finally achieved some structure thanks to maturing Yucca rostrata (center), ‘Will Fleming’ yaupon (columnar tree at right), and Arizona cypress (barely visible at left). Since this is a less-tended, less-watered, pass-through garden, I’ve planted it up with tough grasses, yuccas, hardy euphorbia, and cactus.
Stepping back, here’s a longer view, standing at the gate into the back garden. The path curves around the house and takes you to the stock-tank pond circle.
Isn’t it fun to look at “before” pictures to see how much has changed? Wow, look how much the Arizona cypress has grown in 5 years! When we moved in, the side yard was an unused stretch of patchy, thirsty grass. The privacy fence actually stopped at the corner of the house, just visible on the right. One of the first changes I made was to push the fence up toward the front of the house, effectively increasing the size of the back yard. I also ripped out a line of window-blocking, overgrown abelias along the side of the house. By the time I took this photo, only the stumps remained (at right), and I was already planting, even before I’d installed the gravel path.
Here’s my earliest picture of this space: an abelia thicket blocking the windows. Nowadays I enjoy a view of the side garden through those windows.
And under the windows is a xeric garden filled with native and adapted plants that require almost zero maintenance: gopher plant (Euphorbia rigida), ‘Bright Edge’ yucca, four-nerve daisy (Tetraneuris scaposa), spineless prickly pear (Opuntia), Mexican feathergrass (Nassella tenuissima), and Agave lophantha (potted).
All material © 2006-2014 by Pam Penick for Digging. Unauthorized reproduction prohibited.
Yes, I do enjoy seeing before and after photos. This has become such a welcoming path to the back garden.
Thanks, Lisa. I like being able to garden on this side of the house, as the other side is a work space and storage for trash bins. —Pam
Thanks for sharing the before and after photographs. You created an amazing space with a nice diversity of plants. I am going to check out the ‘Will Fleming’ yaupon further. You have some pretty blue green selections there. Nothing better than seeing your plant selections growing, surviving droughts and maturing!
I really like ‘Will Fleming’ yaupon, Jeanette. It works well as an exclamation point in the garden and as a screen when planted close together, plus it’s good for sun or part shade. —Pam
Man, you’ve done so much in what seems like such a short amount of time. has it really been 5 years?!
I’m somewhat astonished to realize how long we’ve been here too, Katina. It all seemed to be happening so slowly as I started laying out the garden, piece by piece, but now I look around and see that it’s all garden. Much of it is still quite new, mind you, but the beds are all in place, and it’s all about filling, tinkering, and experimenting with different plant combinations now. —Pam
love the changes…everything looks beautiful and works so well. I had one of those abelias too…had no idea what it was until now! ;). I love that AZ Cypress…wheels turnin’…
You NEED an Arizona cypress ‘Blue Ice’, Heather. It’s such a beautiful tree, and it loves hot, dry, well-drained conditions, which you have in spades. Just make sure it has room to grow tall and about 10 feet wide. You’ll love the fragrance when you brush past it. —Pam