Sunday, June 15, 2014

The new Rondel garden ~

A few weeks ago I decided to take out the 20x30 foot lawn in the front garden. My main objective was to cut down on water usage but I also wanted to design an area that would blend style-wise with the rest of the garden and not add a lot of maintenance; grass is very easy to maintain. 
It has been a rather large project and now it is finally done.
Hooray!

Here are the results.
 The garden fork, which you see here in the planning stages of the design has become...

 a fountain!
When the weather cools down I will plant pink roses around the fountain base among the herbs and Santa Barbara daises, but for this summer I have planted Vinca which thrives in our summer heat.
I made the iron fence a while back by bending rebar around a tree trunk to make the hoops, I was going to throw them away but I think they look interesting here.

The trickling water makes the loveliest sound and the birds love it.

And the rest of the space, which previously looked like this:


Has now become this, my new rondel garden.

The plants are all very small so there appears to be a lot of gravel but when the Japanese Boxwoods planted around the fountain roundel get larger they will obscure most of the pathway.
I have also planted trailing plants which are still too small to see around the base of the trees and in other places to soften the look of the mulch. Like most projects there is still some tweeking to be done and I think I want to add another small tree, but all together I am satisfied, and the one of the best parts...

...it is all watered by drip irrigation. Good-bye Rainbirds!

Thank you for visiting, come back soon.

10 comments:

  1. Oh you have done an amazing job. I think it is so much more interesting now and the birds will love the fountain. You have a fabulous eye for design.

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  2. How lovely! You have done such a lot of work, from design to implementation. I love your little iron fence - it is perfect where it is. Your use of the river rock is lovely - everything is just beautiful!

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  3. Love the new flower bed with the fountain. I love the sound of water - have one in the back yard and I would like one in the front. I would like to get rid of most of my grass in the front yard too.
    Your design and implementation is good. The plants will grown quickly - beautiful job.
    Mary

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  4. Hello Adrienne,

    This looks such an improvement.

    Grass is very high maintenance and, when in a small space such as this can be very tiresome to deal with. This is so much better and when the plants grow, as surely they will,you will have an extremely decorative area that will be so nice to explore and walk through.

    A really good idea for the hoop edging. Decorative and practical.

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  5. Hello Adrienne,

    You have made this area look so good. A great improvement on what was there before.

    Grass is so very high maintenance and can be tiresome to deal with when there is only a small space. Your new arrangement will be far more satisfactory and how lovely it is that you can now hear the sound of water splashing.

    The plants will soon grow and fill in the spaces. Roses are a very good choice. Your idea for the hoop edging is brilliant!

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  6. You have done a wonderful job. It is a beautiful place, and now no more worrying about the grass and all the upkeep.

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  7. It's absolutely gorgeous. I'm totally smitten with your looped iron fence. I can't wait to show this post to my husband later. Well done. You must be so happy.

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  8. Lovely transformation. Looks perfect as is, I can only imagine how lovely it will look when it fills in a little. You surely did a lot of work and a great job. How in the world did you bend rebar? You must be really strong. It looks great! I think its a keeper.
    Cindy

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  9. Wowsers, I love your garden! We're getting ready to re-do our backyard. It is sooooo *horrible* and unusable, but that's about to change!

    I love the sound of fountains. I know y'all are enjoying it so much!

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  10. Wow! The new area of the garden looks terrific Adrienne!! The fountain makes a beautiful focal point and I bet the sound of the water is just lovely.

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