Some Thoughts on Backyards and Hillsides
October 2020: the Before.
A very basic backyard - sloped dirt and a deck that didn't make much of a statement or go anywhere or provide enough seating or shade. Mass of volunteer champagne cherry tomatoes growing wild on the hillside. We kept the Mexican sage - cut them short and replanted them.
2021 Adding some basic terracing, pea gravel for Zen, no plant vibe. Stacked bond CMU walls, Corten steel planter to add color (eventually) and beginnings of a hedge at the top wall.
2024 Spotty hedge has grown in, added a dog run at the base of the hedge, and a space to do maintenance of the Mexican Sage which survived and thrived. Kurapia groundcover has overgrown most of the pea gravel - with the hillside covered in Myoporum parvifolium and ferny Acacia cognata "Cousin Itt". Lavender, rosemary and irises are hiding the low transition step of the CMU block wall. Ceanothus "Yankee Point" planted near top edge of block walls soften with curved masses of tight green leaves and blue pompoms during the spring.
Some lessons:
All garden walls should have waterproofing on the back dirt side, with french drainage to direct water to an area drain or a rain garden or/and overflow out of the property if there's a massive rain event.
Think about circulation and how you can see all sides of a garden from above as well as below.
Seasonal changes: Flowers. Vegetable gardens. Rocks and stumps are beautiful calm elements when plants are cut back in the fall.
Everything grows - you don't need as much as you think, if you're patient, wait for things to fill in. Also - why not design a garden that also looks good when it's empty? We saved pieces of trunks of all the trees we had to edit out (Ie: Canary Pines and Agonis) and they were excellent sculptural pieces when it was just river rock, Corten metal and concrete walls.
Dogs, children and rocks don't mix super well - so consider where you can live with scattered pebbles, and invest in a beautiful broom. :)
