Landscape & Gardening Archives | Page 6 of 11

Here We Go Again!

Posted on January 31, 2012No Comments

If you click on it you’ll get a much larger version of Michael Parkey’s construction document.

The front garden is about to get a makeover. Today I’m showing you the planned changes and additions to the existing layout, and tomorrow, I’ll show you what plants have been specified.

It’s been ten years since the initial design was implemented, and because of the increasing shade from tree canopies and the recent years of weather extremes, a lot of the original perennials have fizzled. For some time now, the basic structure has been looking sparse and rather dilapidated, and I was increasingly having to rely on seasonal annuals in greater quantities to make up for the loss of the original plantings. This became way too labor intensive for me, and I wanted my life back.

Both of the major planting beds will be expanded. This additional depth will now allow us to introduce larger plants that can provide a fun mix of varied heights, colors, moundings, and textures, while at the same time reducing the amount of grass lawn.

Note: When I say “us”, I mean my landscape architect Michael Parkey and me.

Landscape & Gardening

The Current State of Things

Posted on January 12, 20121 Comment

Let’s play a little game. How long do you think it will take Oncor to return and clean up their spew? They are suppose to return next week (maybe) to move the transformer to the new pole, then the phone and cable companies will need to transfer their lines and connections. And we all know how responsive these various corporations are. I’m pretty sure the grass won’t survive and the weeds won’t be phased.

Landscape & Gardening

There Goes the View. Not Happy.

Posted on January 10, 2012No Comments

Click on the photo for a much larger version of this mess.

Why pick on me and my garden? Oncor is replacing most of the electrical poles here in University Park, and this new pole is located two and a half feet further in than the old pole, destroying the view of my garden from my house. I know there are going to be some smarty pants out there who will snicker and tell me that I should have installed one of those ugly stockade fences instead of the lace chain link, and that way, I wouldn’t have to look at the bottom portion of this pole. Don’t.

They couldn’t put this new pole on the other side away from my property, because that side of the old pole has a giant 800 pound transformer. This new transformer is so heavy (in order to serve the mcmansions in the hood) that it has bent the top of the old pole considerably. Refer to photo after the link. So the new pole will be larger in diameter, and supposedly we will have less outages. I’m not buying that. I think they’re deliberately going out of their way to mess up my aesthetics and me. They must hate me very much.

Landscape & Gardening

We’re Drowning Here

Posted on December 31, 2011No Comments

Where is my garden? Where are my Dogs? This photo along with yesterday’s photo represent nine days of leaf fall. That’s right only nine days. Up till now, I’ve been able to keep up with the mess. But I’ve decided to let it be for a few more days, because I find these drifts very beautiful.

Landscape & Gardening

Just in Time for the New Year

Posted on December 30, 2011No Comments

The big dump has begun and is begging me to mess up my plans for a fun weekend in order to clean it up. I’d rather take long walks while enjoying the wonderful weather we are having and spend the remainder of my time continuing to build a brand new website and blog utilizing new tricks like jquery, media queries, HTML5, and CSS3 along with the newly upgraded WordPress as the backend power. And no, I’m not kidding. I have several website design jobs that I need to tackle ASAP. Learning new digital tricks will always be an integral part of my life if I want to remain viable as a designer. With print media such as newspapers and magazines disappearing, I really have no other choice.

Landscape & Gardening

Two Winter Show-Offs

Posted on December 27, 2011No Comments

Coral Bark Japanese Maples when stripped of their leaves blaze into a riot of red during the winter months and provide a flashy contrast to their dormant neighbors. This color, I am told, intensifies as the temperature drops, and since these two trees are new to my yard, it will be my first winter to verify if this rumor is true or not.

Landscape & Gardening

Utilizing Parenthesis in the Backyard

Posted on December 6, 2011No Comments

Oh my gosh! I didn’t notice the dog poo while taking this photo.

A newly bracketed focal point. These two cast stone benches arrived Friday, but I had to wait for the weather to clear up before I could photograph them. If the brick and decomposed granite appear unusually saturated color wise, that’s because they are saturated from days and days of badly needed rain.

I did a tremendous amount of research before choosing this pair. The strict criteria of depth and length determined by the brick terrace’s shape and size, and the height determined by the central pot drastically limited my choices. And then, of course, there was the overall design to worry about. Do you know what kind of designs there were plenty of? Foo foo. Lots and lots of frilly overwrought foo foo. Bleh! The best choices were found through Campania International, and since they are strictly wholesale, Nicholson-Hardie had them ordered and delivered to me. The Pansy Bench was the only choice that had the right dimensions and clean lines. Unfortunately there’s a wee bit of flower frippery on the pedestal supports that will hopefully become less noticeable as the concrete ages.

Landscape & Gardening

Peekaboo (part 5)

Posted on November 21, 2011No Comments

This vintage 1950’s heavy iron patio furniture just arrived today. This five-piece Woodard set, which includes two barrel arm chairs and two coil spring barrel chairs, was found on one of my favorite antique websites, Ruby Lane. All five pieces are in great condition with their original finish, and the table’s solid construction is far superior to the flimsy variety that’s being produced today.

Woodard developed their first collection of hand-crafted wrought iron furniture in the 1930s, and this innovation marked the birth of casual outdoor furniture. This particular design, Briarwood, is still being produced today. Well, the chair styles are the same, but not the table. In the near future, I will be replacing the glass top with a stone version. Between the acorns and golfball-sized hail, there’s not a chance this glass will survive any length of time unscathed. Future outdoor dinners will have to wait until after the current annual acorn bombardment.

Landscape & Gardening

A Prickly Assortment

Posted on October 29, 2011No Comments

For the greenhouse. It’s a start, but hardly a full house. Not only are these cacti low maintenance, but it just occurred to me that rodents may not care to dine on a prickly diet. That’s been a real problem in the past. Why is it that when a plant such as kale is planted outside, it remains untouched, but when placed inside the greenhouse, all foliage will be consumed in less that 24 hours? Maybe it’s just that they prefer to dine in rather than dine out? Ha ha, I couldn’t resist making that funny. I know. It’s lame. But, hey! Why not?

Landscape & Gardening

Meet the New Greenhouse Whatnot

Posted on October 20, 2011No Comments

What to put in my greenhouse has always been a dilemma. I learned quickly that even with shade fabric, air vents, and a swamp cooler, the inside temperature could never be cool enough to allow most plants to survive during Dallas’ summers. This beautiful greenhouse was functional only for sheltering my summer container plants during our three months of winter and useless during the remaining nine. What a waste.

Now that the backyard’s landscaping has been completed, without plants on its shelves, the greenhouse looks like a storage bin. I’ve decided to collect interesting succulents and whatnots that won’t fry during our summer months. Eventually it will become an extension of my garden.

My first greenhouse whatnot. This oddity, which I purchased from Nicholson-Hardie where the manager admitted not knowing much about this organism and what to expect, has no name and is the creation of a local succulent grower. It looks a bit lonely now, so if any of my local friends have suggestions on where to purchase unusual succulents, please let me know.