Thanks for both your replies!! To answer why a raised bed... Mainly because the depth of good topsoil in that area was very shallow with grey clay underneath. So in deference to digging or tilling it all up and amending (got a bad back so digging is no fun), it was easier to just build (and I used that word lightly...) the raised bed and fill it with good soil. It also seems to be a good idea because I never have to weed that area and always assumed it was because it was higher than the grass. And why not take it down..... Aside from liking the way it looks, the main reason is that the outer edge of it runs along the "property line' between my yard and my neighbor's. He pulls his car onto his side to wash it and he's an ass, so I wouldn't put it past him to run over or step on my flowers if there wasn't some sort of wall there. Plus, it keeps people from accidently stepping into the garden when walking up my walkway which I fear they might do if it were ground level. bonnie

If you suspect your soil is not good, just mix up a potting soil and fill the boxes with that. In any case it is not a bad idea to begin this way, as it removes one variable. A simple formula is one part peat moss, one part perlite, and one part good compost. You don't have to be all that exact about it. Mix it a little at a time in the box, or mix it on a tarp and then shovel it in. If possible, mix a variety of types of compost. Some landfill places give away free composted solid waste from the sewage plant. I wouldn't trust that stuff, because a lot of bad stuff goes into the sewers. A 4 x 4 box one foot deep is 16 cubic feet. So you would want something over 5 cubic feet each of peat moss, perlite, and compost. If you have gophers, in your area, make sure you staple half-inch hardware cloth to the bottom of the box, or you will regret not doing it later.

If you have a long narrow bed, think about removing just some of the oleanders, but not in a rigid 1-2-3-remove/1-2-3-remove formation. It'll be just as boring. Instead, think about how to incorporate some of them in "clumps" of one to three, removing the plants in between. For 40' I'd use two clumps and then landscape around them. If you have mature oleanders plus a fruit tree or two, your other plants will be living in mostly shade. I live in the Oakland hills but frankly, flax doesn't really like being shaded. Lantana will grow in bright shade, no problem. I like a mix of plants. 5' wide to me is pretty wide, many of my beds are extremely narrow! This is a composite shot of two long narrow beds - the first showing the "bones" in 2002 when we started landscaping and the second what it looks like April 2006. Right behind the tall white-variegated tree on the RH side, which is a variegated rhamnus (buckthorn), is a white oleander trained as a standard. I bought it from HDepot for $30 and it blooms more than half the year. I love them as trees because you can grow a lot of stuff in the "low" and "mid-level" height beneath them: Up here the big box garden centers have to compete with some really good nurseries so they try harder with good plant selections and prices. You're in a warmer zone than I am (I'm Sunset zone 17) so maybe bahia or some of the others who live in warmer areas can help more with plants. If I were you I'd concentrate on getting plants with foliage color and shape different than the oleanders. They have wonderful foliage themselves, but anything in excess is overwhelming, no matter how pretty! For instance, something like this Lavatera olba "Aureum" would contrast - about 4' tall and around, chartreuse foliage, bright purple flowers once a year. BTW, this is a nursery plant, not big-box store: Heucheras will live in partial shade and flower prettily once a year too. This is "Roseda": Maybe your zone is warm enough to keep this plant alive - mine wasn't, it's very tender. Strobilanthes "Persian Shield" on the left, spikey leaves of bearded iris (love their foliage and cool blue-green color, plus mine reflower twice a year) in-between, and a colorful hybrid pelargonium "Skies of Italy" on the right. The pelargoniums are often called geraniums by people, but that is botanically incorrect. See what I mean about shape and color of leaves? There's not a flower in sight but it's just as pretty. BTW, you can pick your lemons easily enough with a fruit-picker. Buy it at any big box garden center. It's a long pole (sometimes breaks down into two halves) with a stiff wire basket. The basket has a few raised "tines" on one half so you can slide it around the fruit, catch it between the tines, and tug it loose into the basket. Works very well. I'm surprised you get so little fruit from your Meyer. They are a heavy-bearing, vigorous hybrid that naturally grows as a bush. If you have a tree it has been grafted. I have one bush and two trees. This tree was planted in 2002 from a 5-gallon can, and the photo was taken in 2006: Citrus are very heavy feeders. I go through one of those big bags of citrus fertilizer annually with 3 lemons and 1 lime. I'm also a proponent of tossing what doesn't work, so regardless of what your mystery fruit is, I'd yank it out and toss it in the greens cart for something more productive!

First it would help if you re-posted your photos on this forum. I went to look for your post and saw them but most people need to see them here to respond. I saw a very nice bed that should grow daylilies with no problem once you build up the bed away from the large tree. Don't put any dirt on top of the tree roots and risk killing it. As tclynx said you don't need a hard border to make a raised bed and I wouldn't do that unless you want to put a border around the tree (very hard with roots there). It's really easy. Dump topsoil and/or any composted stuff (mushroom, horse manure) on the outer edges 6-8" tall and plant. Then put down newspaper or cardboard on top leaving space around each plant for water to get in. Then mulch 2-4 inches on top of the newspaper/cardboard and you're done. No hardscape is necessary and would look more natural without it. You have a nice space. Just let the tree have room for it's roots and use the outer edges for your daylilies. I LOVE daylilies, so forgiving and easy to grow here as long as you use evergreen or semi-evergreen types. Mine are in bloom now planted last October and I'm trying to resist buying more becuase that means more digging. Wish I had a nice bed like yours I could just add soil to and plant. Good luck Denise