Around the Yard

I mainly want to post this so I can have a good idea of the "before" of our yard and landscaping. I have planted a ton of plants but they are all so small and sparsely located that it really hasn't made a big impact yet, at least in the backyward. 

I have ample planting dreams that arise from watching many, many British and Irish gardening shows.

This sunny area near the house will be for raised bed gardening. I am going to try and repurpose our two box springs into raised beds. 

Orange County Extension gives away two free trees once every other month and I scooped up two slash pines and they are doing well. 

We hope to put a chicken coop near that Norfolk Island Pine by the shed in the background. 

My dream is to do big meandering beds around these large oak trees: camellias, azaleas, pretty much any shade loving plant.

These old rotting piles of logs will hopefully be a nursery to some edible mushrooms in the future.

The previous owners built an open tree house that I use as a hammocked reading spot. I am trying to grow jasmine and wisteria and passion flower up the beams. 

I have a lot of work to do in some of the beds but they are coming along. I love the two cacti that were here when we moved it. Hopefully they will stick around.

I tore out a whole row of scraggly looking loropetalum and put in canna lilies. I might add some more butterfly attracting flowers there too. It's a work in progress.

Our lawn grass is not really there. It is more of a mixture of about 20 "weeds". But I don't really consider them weeds at all. We are trying to get away from the urban monoculture of lawns and allow a diverse population of plants to grow, hopefully more native than not. As long as it is mostly green I am happy. 

I've had fun trimming the lemongrass and making tea. I also have rue, thyme, oregano, tulsi basil and rosemary in that pot. I hope to grow a wide variety of herbs and medicinal plants in the future. 

The butterflies and bees love this porter weed. It might be one of my favorite things I have planted so far. Its antenna like wavy stalks of tiny purple flowers looks neat. 

I have my rosemary by the door to greet friends and patches of lavender too. Is there any plant you consider a "must" for a garden or home to have?