Gardening project: Trellises & Containers

I must admit, gardening at this house has been not nearly as fun as it used to be.  We lived in our other house for 11 years and it had a decent-sized yard, but not huge.  Here are a few pictures of what our "old" house front and backyard looked like:

I loved all the lighting we had, the curving edges....in the backyard.

My side yard was small but we made the same curves and I added hanging baskets.

This shed was just SO cute tucked in the corner!

The front porch always had pansies...most of the year {my favorite flower}.

We had a beautiful Japanese maple...

Nice siding, black doors and shutters...

We had a built-in BBQ, much smaller than ours now.

Same swingset!

Very warm and inviting...I think so!

I had everything all figured out in the garden and then we moved in 2006.  But, here is what you don't see - the 405 Freeway across the street from our house!!!  Yep, that's right, people, it looks so nice in the pictures but when it came right down to it - LOCATION, LOCATION, LOCATION!!  As much as I loved that little, track house - everyone on the street had the same one with just slightly different things to it {built in the 1950s}, it just wasn't in the best location.  


Along came this wonderful home, but I had to start all over in my gardening and figuring out what plants worked best.  It's only 10 miles away from the old house but the soil is completely different as well as the temperatures!

Back entry, BEFORE.

Back Entry, Now.

I used to avidly garden, but this yard is so much bigger that I haven't really been nearly as fond of working in it - it has just overwhelmed me.  I've mostly planted annuals.  To me, the front lawn is just a waste of money.  We spend a small fortune watering that lawn and no one ever even steps foot on it!  Of course, being the person I am, I always have a LOT of ideas for this front yard.  I imagine ripping out nearly all the lawn {maybe put a small patch of the new "fake" lawn in}, using indigenous plants, and I imagine a large, front patio {to sit and chat with neighbors} with a pathway leading up to the front entrance....I can dream!

Before: front of our house, September 2006

The location of our home is in a quiet, residential neighborhood and it's sublime!

But, for now, I must keep it looking nice.  So, I plant container flowers for the front porch and I recently added some trellises with climbing flowers on the side of the house along the driveway.  

A view down the driveway towards the backyard....

Beautiful climbing flowers...I only wish I could remember what they were called!

I got these trellises at Costco - a set of three - for my birthday from my hubby!

These are sweet potato vines...

A look towards the street...my van! Notice, no freeway across the street now!

 So, tell me, have you been out gardening lately?  What is your favorite plant?  I have to plant heat tolerant plants along the driveway and on our deck as they will bake out there in the summer months!




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