vidalicious.com

A couple pretty leaf photos from my Uncle David’s back yard.

I just went down to Mountain View this week and picked out our new tree!  As you may remember, back in January we lost a tree in our yard.  It was a sad occasion and it has been a process to get to this point.  

First we had guys come out to haul away the tree - which took forever because half of SF had trees down, and since ours wasn’t coming through a wall on our house or trapping our newborn baby underneath, we weren’t considered a priority. After that we had the tree people over with their special, and very loud, machine to grind and remove the stump.  

Then the search for a replacement began.  I wanted the same kind of tree (Geijera Parviflora), but was unable to locate one locally and the correct size (24″ box). After a couple months of that I finally gave up and set my sights on a fruitless Olive. Another couple months have gone by with some hope sprinkled in there, but not until this week did I actually meet the tree that will be in my yard.  Its all very exciting.  

Without further adieu, meet the new addition to our backyard…

(its the one on the left)

There was talk of getting both the above trees, but after some thinking I decided that just the one will be enough.  The tree will be delivered and planted on Monday afternoon.   Then after that I’ll be able to finish the beds underneath with lavender and maybe some rosemary.  I’m going to do the whole Mediterranean thing in that sunny spot in the yard.  I’ll let you know how it goes.

We are finally starting to make our house OUR house. Its been 3 years and we are doing some of the things we meant to do a long time ago. We painted (had painted), our dining room, hallway, and hallway doors. What a difference it has made!

The spiffication process also included some yard work.  It is by no means complete, but we have made some changes.  The most dramatic of which is more flagstone patio.  We originally had 3 raised planter beds.  We ripped out 2 to make more room for entertaining.  Those 2 boxes never got enough sunlight to grow anything useful anyway.  Now when we sit on our new patio it feels like we are actually in the garden, not just looking over at it.

The tree, stump, and broken bush have all been cleared out. Its time to prep the ground for new plantings. We will most likely get the same kind of tree which is an Australian Willow, then plant some drought tolerant plants in the bed around it - probably lavender.

It seems the tree was getting too much water and the base was starting to rot out. When we moved in to this house someone had already installed an irrigation system in the yard. We ripped out what we could by hand, and the stump grinder finished the work. So the area now is clear and ready for some drought tolerant plants. I’m thinking of doing a Mediterranean/Napa style garden. We’ll see.
At any rate, I’m embracing the new start the storm has forced on me.

It is a super stormy day here. There are trees and powerlines down all over the city.
While sitting here at my computer we lost one of our beloved trees. 8-(

It was my favorite tree and such a perfect visual block to our 3 story neighbors.
The tree will be greatly missed.

Its hard to tell from the photo, but the tree also took down part of the fence. The post is broken and the fence is way out of whack. I’m not sure when the rain will let up and we can take care of the damage. Hopefully by next week.

Check out my pretty new maple tree! My uncle gave it to me along with a Ginkgo Biloba.

As a belated birthday gift, my friend Chad gave me an AeroGarden! It is a bit hokey, and gimmicky, but i embrace that! I am a sucker for kits. Anything in a kit really - all the camping food with the packets and small containers, first aid kits, sewing kits, even the cheese and crackers that come with the little red spreading stick. OOh, and those tuna cracker kits with the mini mayo!

The cute little AeroGarden video

Anyway back to my Gourmet Herb Garden… Within a few days i had little sproutlets.
These photos are from about 2 weeks in (taken last night):

Thank You Chad!

Our plum tree is in full bloom!

So one of my current projects is re-working a particular bed in my garden. there is a bench behind the bed and how it was planted before made it an uncomfortable place to sit. so i’ve cleared out all of the old plants (including some very thorny rose bushes), and have enriched the soil. Now it is ready to go!

All i need now is a plan.
hrmm…

Here is a picture of the empty garden bed:

Any suggestions?