I love the look of an expansive green lawn and grass is relatively easy to maintain, but it takes a lot of water to really look nice. So late last spring I decided to take out the remaining rather patchy grass in the rear garden and replace it with planting areas and mulch.
I planted a flowering pear (Ovrus calleryana) tree and a Western redbud (Cercis occidentalis) tree here a couple of years ago to add more shade to a very hot and sunny garden. At the time I ws thinking that if I ever took out the grass I would enlarge the basins under the trees for planting and as you can see that is what I did. I installed drip irigation for watering ease and water conservation.
You can see how it turned out in the before and after pictures below.
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This is definitely a work in progress, I will be adding more plants, including white trailing lantana and perhaps a brick or gravel pad...maybe even a small meadow of native grasses for the bench to sit on. There is always something creative to do in a garden!
Thank you for visiting have a happy day.
Thank you for visiting have a happy day.
Great idea to rid yourself of the water hungry grass and redesign the space adding more flowering plants. Its fun changing things up in the garden...hope you are keeping cool.
ReplyDeleteIts super hot here and smokey from all the forest fires.
I have heard that it has been warm weather for you lately. Here for the past week things have (wonderfully) cooled down a bit - in the low nineties. Still hot but at least it is not in triple digits. I am so looking forward to fall.
ReplyDeleteAdrienne, I think something was mentioned awhile back that you and I were kind of on the same track. Well, we did it again! and I will post about it next time. Your's is much bigger and prettier but, like you say, it is a work in progress..Happy Wednesday..xxoJudy
ReplyDeleteOh good! I am looking forward to seeing what you did. This is fun!
DeleteWOW!!! It is truly beautiful!! You have done a fantastic job and it looks so peaceful. I could see relaxing there with a cup of coffee and a good book! xo Diana
ReplyDeleteThank you!
DeleteOne of the reasons I put the bench there is because I always thought it might be a nice place to sit. I haven't done much sitting so far LOL but there is always that chance.
Good for you to take out the lawn, and I love what you did instead. I'm still in the process of doing that in my backyard bit by bit and I'm still thinking what to do with the part where I have my Adirondack chairs and small table. It looks like to put out mulch or wood chips? Would you let me know? What did you put in beneath it? It looks so good.
ReplyDeleteI put weed barrier fabric down then laid mulch over it. I have a lot of mulch from having my trees trimmed last year. You can also buy it by the scoop which is much cheaper than in the bag. Have you thought of using gravel... it makes great, inexpensive seating areas.
ReplyDeleteGood luck and please post the results, I love seeing pictures of your garden.
It looks wonderful...a lot of work, I can see.
ReplyDeleteI used to have a small garden that I loved working in...as I aged and it became a chore instead of joy to work in it, I kept downsizing it. Now, at 80, I love container gardening. If I am still here next year, I want to do a bit of veggie growing in containers....wish you lived next door so you could show me how. xo
I like what you have done with the mulch. I think it's a great idea. I am tired of so much lawn and it's not necessary. It's been wetter than usual this summer and weeds plus grass are just too much to mess with. All we do is cut grass and when it's dry, it crunches when we walk on it. I love your yard the way it's designed.
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I needed to come over and see what beauty was in your life today Adrienne! I really love how the mulch makes your garden look. It must be so hard to keep the grass green in the kind of heat you have been having this summer and this looks like the perfect solution.
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It's a great idea to get rid of grass, but your solution turned out looking better than the grass. Love it.
ReplyDeleteHow absolutely stunning! I've had huge spruce trees taken down this summer and I'm planting deciduous trees in their place. These photos have so inspired me!! xoxox
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