Landscaping my friend's xeric garden
stephania
15 years ago
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lyndi_whye
15 years agolast modified: 9 years agorickta66
15 years agolast modified: 9 years agoRelated Discussions
anyone have photos of their cacti garden?
Comments (18)Well, i don't have anything big in the way of hardscaping - except for maybe my air conditing unit! haha. I do have small rocks here and there in this area but i'm looking to add a couple more (and larger ones too). This is a very young landscape (mostly done this past summer). There are many plants that are too small to see here like aloe arborescens, aloe marlothii, several agave desmettiana variegata, agave angustafolia, a cordyline australis, beaucarnea recurvata, crassulas, aloe saponaria and soon a couple of aloe broomi and aloe dichotoma. Can you already tell this is going to be really crowded? haha. Also there is the constant pulling/moving of washingtonia palms, phoenix canariensis palms and fig seedlings that pop up where the birds drop their business. This area is underneath our chimmney, which is a favorite spot for the birds to relieve themselves. Notice there is a large fig seegling behind the pachypodium. That one sprouted this summer, and if i leave it there, it will take over by this coming summer. And here is a smaller, more detailed succulent garden. I am constantly adding plants here. This is just a section of the succulent garden, but there are medium rocks, and old wood stump and a small dear antler to add extra interest (the antler is one of the juvenile antlers that the bucks shed before growing the adult ones, so no harm was done to any animals)....See MoreLandscaping Progress & flowers in my gardens (slide shows)
Comments (17)Steve, Breeze is a crushed rock fines + clay mix for driveway/walkway base. You can find a descriptiong here: Pioneer Landscaping Materials Ah, the over zealous government. Well, that side of my fence is not my property. It belongs to the town (formerly 230 residents now about to boom to 1500 homes and a super WalMart). At one time long ago when the town was still a small country town, during which time most of the current residents that weren't born here moved here to avoid larger obtrusive governments, the volunteer government enacted an ordinance that requires residents who live adjacent to town right of ways to keep the right of way clear. We have no sidewalks, just gravel & weeds. So, we all mow and keep up the area surrounding our properties at our own expense so that our neighbors can walk along the trails beside the road. All well and good for a small town until.... In 2005 the new town council decided to enact HOA type rules on all the landowners in town w/o anyone knowing they did it. Then, last year, they hired a little college girl to go around and report every yard that had "weeds" in it, rv's or trailers parked in their driveway, construction materials stacked behind the house, etc. I had allowed that tiny 1 ft strip in front of my fence to grow up while waiting for the proper time of year to pull out the iris I had planted there that were over run by the grass. The rest of the 15 ft right of way to the road was mowed. I was written up for allowing the grass to grow along my fence. Now also keep in mind that my neighbors, who have a natural "prairie garden" filled with the same varieties of grass in flower at the same time as that along my fence, were not written up. So, since the fantastic law writers could not distinguish in the law between ornamental and native grasses, such that "any grass that is allowed to flower or is greater than 6 inches tall" is considered a "weed" under the law (however subjectively it was applied), I planted the whole strip in ornamental grasses- the tallest I could find. The town now has multi-million dollar budget and still can't be bothered with taking care of their own right of way at their own expense or even put in sidewalks but they have the gall to monitor our private property for weeds! This is my protest. People on the exchange boards here even sent me grasses to contribute :) I've also allowed an 8' high by 6' wide thistle to grow and bloom inside my fence line. It is some strange variety probably from some bird seed. At first I thought it was going to be a white prickly poppy which I had scattered some seeds there. But since it isn't a poppy, and I'm Scottish by heritage so that is a national flower for my family, I thought I'll just let it feed the birds and annoy the town government. If they have the nerve to write me up about it I'll complain that they are descriminating against my heritage and see how far I can take that. Someone has got to start standing up for landowner's rights or we won't have any rights to our property left. So there you are, the whole darn story....See MoreFriend or foe in veggie garden
Comments (17)There ought to be a forum called Rotten Neighbors. I think it would be an active one. I know I could contribute to it regularly. Zach, personally I think roses are worse to handle than the cactus I have, especially when it comes to looking bloody when finished and I never look that wounded after cleaning around my own stuff. Every year I have to trim the rose growing in the neighbors yard along the property line fence and dispose of the tangled mess of branches which is mostly winter kill and ugly. If I don't do it, it don't git done (I have a list of stuff like this). The Desert Spoon wins the prize for the worst plant to trim or weed under but the agaves are the most deadly and they scare me at times. Cactus are a mere PITA with irritating glochids but I am currently suffering a swollen knuckle that got a deep puncture from a large cholla two weeks ago where the tip broke off down deep right next to the middle joint. It still hurts like the blazes when I bump it but at least I can bend the finger now. Second time I've done that but eventually they heal completely. tishtosh, I have never heard of puncture vine & had to look that up, I like the name 'Devil's Eyelashes' better. It sort of conjures up a visual....See MorePropagating Xeric New Mexican seeds in Texas Question.
Comments (78)It has been so dark here, I feel like it is wintertime in Berlin, Alaska, or some place like Coastal Washington.. The heavy stuff is going to our east. We have only had 3.5" since monday night when it started but the air is totally saturated heavy, still and fecund to the max. I am getting cabin fever.. Every mile to the east is wetter. It rained another 5 inches at my friends house last night and this morning east of austin and it is raining there cats and dogs now. I got my rain boots but can't find my umbrella. Our huge SXSW music festival is getting started last night and will end on Sunday. 1600 Bands, producers audiences file in from all over the world. Obama is here . Can you imagine the madhouse in town!!! What a dumb idea to have the president here for a big shindig now during a bigger shin dig.. I am not going anywhere today. Good for our rain tanks. they are at 20,000 gallons and shooting the stuff out of it. I think it clears up tomorrow here.I am being visited by a concrete electronic musician from London , later this weekend.Sister's friend's friend's son. One always gets drop ins during this festival.Even the homeless camps are overflowing with hipsters. I could rent out my shed for a thousand dollars but I just give it away....See Moreavane_gw
15 years agolast modified: 9 years agoLisaCLV
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15 years agolast modified: 9 years agoLisaCLV
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15 years agolast modified: 9 years agoXtal in Central TX, zone 8b
7 years agostanofh 10a Hayward,Ca S.F. bay area
7 years agoXtal in Central TX, zone 8b
7 years agostanofh 10a Hayward,Ca S.F. bay area
7 years agoXtal in Central TX, zone 8b
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7 years agostanofh 10a Hayward,Ca S.F. bay area
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