Jimmy - just looking through your courtyard pics. Noticed a beautiful Foxglove. Are you aware that this is toxic to animals?

That's one I didn't know about Amy, thank you. The Angel Trumpets (Brumgasia) behind one of the Foxgloves I found out was toxic as well...just handling one of the leaves and touching your eye will actually dilate your pupil I read...this area is inaccessible to my dogs though, except for walking by it when leaving the house/coming home, so in that respect  I'm ok.  The Foxglove had a "deer resistant" tag on it when I bought them,  I now know why when the plant becomes ugly, I'll remove them anyways, this area I rotate in seasonal color so it's always pretty.

Does anyone reading this know how to upload pics to here with an iPad? I'm having to email my pics to my laptop and upload them from there and it's kinda a PITA.

Ok, so Im going to finish up where I left off here in the courtyard so I can move on to my backyard. Tonite Im in between still being sick and starting to feel "ok", and im really really bored so here goes
My Asiatic Lilies...I love the color, also my Foxglove


The yellow on the left is "Yarrow" the oranges and yellows towards the right are Pansies that I planted last summer/fall that are still going


Dont remember what the pink flowers are called, or that purple clover stuff in the planter pot, beneath it in the dark red are more pansies, the straggly looking shrub in the corner is my Angel Trumpets (I cut it way back )


Here is where I hope one day soon I will have a sliding glass door with a step or two. For now, it has Begonias and some kind of spidery plannts (that multiply like crazy) and over against the wall I planted some Calla Lilies I divided from other Callas in the yard, to hide the hose bib/plumbing on that wall

So now for the backyard ok, I'll start with my biggest project first, which means it gets kinda ugly, lol. It all started when I noticed a planter up by the house was always wet. There is a hose bib there so I figured it or some piping was leaking. I should have been so lucky After digging it up, finding more and more water but no leak and then noticing wet spots here and there throughout the entire yard, it was determined the pool had a leak. So, I picked a spot, LOL, and started breaking thru the concrete. Long story short, this job was a bitch and a half. You will see what I mean in my pics. However, you will also get to meet Malukhai, my best bud, who was my "helper" and my inspiration for what I ended up doing with the yard once the pool leak was repaired. I ca't even begin to tell you how much I miss this dog

So anyways, here goes.

Here is where I started...that, I found out, is NOT dirt under the concrete. It is gunite, the stuff they use to build the pool. what they did was dump all the leftover gunite here and this stuff is as hard if not harder than concrete, is a bitch to break up, and took me over 2 months to get through enough to get the pool repaired.  


And here is Malukhai..."helping" me he would get the ball, drop it in the hole, go in and get it back out, and then repeat, over and over

Here is an example of how thick that gunite was...



Yes, it got pretty ugly...sucky part is this isnt where it ended after the skimmer assembly was repaced, and everything filled back in, next morning was more water <sighs> I had to go deeper, enough that I could fit under all that gunite so I could get closer to the wall of the pool, which is where the actual leak was  

That is a massive project. Lol. My aunt had a tiger (yes, a real tiger) that would play the whole drop the ball in the water then fish it back out game.

LOL Jenn, I never ever want to have to do this again. And even though its been covered now in concrete and flagstone, should this ever happen again, it wont be as bad. The area around the skimmer I filled with DG and the rest was filled with dirt. I have the lawn area now as well so I purposely designed the shape to come pretty close to the skimmer area so if there is ever a leak again, I can go in from the lawn.

A tiger? wow, that must have been awesome! This project was not fun at all, so when Malukhai distracted me with stuff like this, it did help me...he was so much fun.

OK, so...Im missing a SD card so I cant show how I laid out the design for the lawn or anything like that...and pretty much the only pics I have of how the area looked pre-lawn/flagstone decking are pics I took of Malukhai so thats what I'll show now...
So here is Malukhai in the area that is now a lawn...here it is still all concrete with a narrow planter at the edge of the yard (next pic)

Really the only "yard" Malukhai and Anuschka had that wasnt hardscape...besides the canyon


Malukhai LOVED being in the backyard with me, he was my shadow and constantly kept himself entertained. Since I had so much of the concrete decking broken up already, I decided I would make him a place to enjoy that would be soft, cool, and just chill. I decided on a lawn. Its designed the way it is to continue some of the shapes already existing, like the pool, planters at the other side of the yard etc. Once I had the design laid out, I concreted around it and then built up the area. I also installed Keystone blocks where the yard meets the canyon slope to help in keeping erosion from occuring. I also "shaped" the keystone wall to give effect. I kept the lawn level with the top of the wall to give the "drop off" effect rather than have a noticeable "border". Then I got a few boulders to place around the shrub that I already had in the spot (I used my skateboard to get them from the front of the house, to the backyard, LOL)...I seeded the area instead of sod to save money, LOL. And then started the longggggg process of laying down all the flagstone. This process took exactly one year. I could only do it weekends or when I came home from work each day, and when the weather was good. I had never done this before so I am pretty proud of myself on how it turned out. Sure it could be better, but...Im ok with it, LOL...it was also a learning process, I got better and better each time I went out there.

I can keep going with pics on the flagstones progression but that would get redundant, its in any pics I'll be showing of my backyard as well as my dogs scrapbooks so I'll just continue with pics of my backyard. I'll start with the patio area. All these pics I took this weekend so this is how it stands as of now. Sorry about the "bleaching out" of detail in the pics...the sun was really bright

I'll call this the firepit side of the patio. Its temporary...I want either a built in type fire pit, or a fire pit table with built in seating around it and I want it to be gas. The patio cover is wood, we are in a drought, and Im on the canyon so I dont wanna risk it. AND I really dont like the smell of burning wood stuck to my clothes and stuff AND a gas fire pit would be more reliable I think for year-round use. Anyways, in the pots that flank the fire pit I have red Flax and Begonias...these begonias are awesome, they do really well back here and they bloom year-round


I'll call this the dining side of the patio, LOL...it has the table and benches, a chimney style fire pit thing so when eating, a lil fire can be going...in pots that flank the entire patio area are ivy geraniums. I'm really not a geranium lover but these plants were here during the pool leak project and survived and I almost threw them out but...they were here when Malukhai and Anuschka were living so its more a sentimental memory type thing that I couldnt get rid of them...theyre doing really well now too so Im glad I kept them.


This is the retaining wall planter, dining side...sorry I dont remember the names of any of the plants...except the Texas Privet hedge...the silverish shrub *should* be much fuller, but Mishka is making sure it stays small   you can kinda also see my lil neighborhood of birdhouses, LOL


Retaining wall planter on the fire pit side. See how much fuller the silverish shrub is!!! thats what the other one should look like. Im trying to grow things to cover the fence/create more privacy


My lil birdhouse town, haha. There are actual nests i a few of them! Ive seen a momma bird feeding her babies in one of them before too!


Black Cherry Supertunias on the table

Oh how cozy Jimmy. I'll be over for tea and lunch and then play time in the pool, lol. You have such a beautiful, lush yard. So hospitable, tranquil, you would never believe y'all are in a drought. You seriously are in the wrong line of work, unless you are a landscape designer, haha. So beautiful.

I wish you could remember the name of that yellow flower in your planter box. I think I have something like it coming up in my farthest flowerbed but it hasn't bloomed yet. It has looked like it's going to bloom for about three weeks now but just hasn't. I love the pergola. We have/had one but hubby wants to replace it with an actual roof. I prefer the pergola.

I save a lot of the tags now after I've planted something, and the yellow (I remember the tag saying apricot colored flowers but yeah, look yellow to me) I might still have the tag for, I'll look for it when I go home.

My father built his dream home, one of the things he did was a patio with a solid roof, like you, I prefer the pergola. The roof makes it too dark underneath and to me look like a unfinished, kinda scrawny house, haha, BUT their are advantages too, like he had ceiling fans, cool lighting, and flat screen tv's in there. I still prefer to be able to sit there and see the stars at night, stuff like that. My pergola needs to be replaced though, no money for that right now, lol.

We had to rip our pergola down when we got rid of the hot tub that was inside the sunroom the pergola was attached to. I'm hoping to get it put back up before too long. If I get it put up fast enough maybe that will quell the whole roofing it plan. Or at least slow it down since he isn't going to want to take the pergola back down.

Jimmy i love your yard, i love foxglove but cause of the dogs have not bought any. and man that pool leak would have made me cry for days with tearing that all up! i want to come over and chill in the back!

@Renee, I'm am SO sorry I didn't see your post before this earlier I was on my phone and with that teenie weenie lil screen and my bad eyes, LOL, I just didn't see it. So anyways, thank you so much and I've told you before you're welcome anytime!!! Miya can teach my two how to enjoy the pool!!!

Ahh, and no, I'm not a landscape designer (but thanks for the compliment!!! ) my father is actually disappointed that I didn't pursue a career that utilized what he thinks are my artistic abilities

@Jenn (Twister) I looked for the tag, found all kinds but not the one for the yellow flowered plant I CAN find out the name though, next time I'm in Armstrong nursery I'll make a point to look at a tag.

LOL on your "plan" to keep the pergola
here is a close up of the yellow flower



@Jenn (jbealer) thank you so much!!! And yes, I had no idea about the foxglove and its toxicity til Amy mentioned it, I'm glad I didn't put any in the backyard. My dogs are safe where these ones are though .

Hahaha, I'm not gonna lie, there were tears in the pool leak project...once when I hit the digging bar against that gunite and it bounced back and hit me in the chest HARD, I felt the wind get knocked out of me! But that saying is true, when life gives you lemons, you make lemonade! LOL...if not for the pool leak, it'd probly still be all that ugly concrete and Malukhai wouldn't have had a grass area in the last year of his life. But yeah, it sucked big time.

Like I told Renee, you're welcome anytime to come chill in the back, haha. It'd be cool to have a big ol husky party back there!

Thank you again everyone!

So continuing on...in a raised planter of random length cut railroad ties (I cut up each one by hand...a chainsaw blade dulled the second I put it in, and it took FOREVER!!!) is my Deodar Cedar tree...I chose this one for its unusual shape not knowing its main leader branch was probly broken off previous to me getting it...not sure yet if I want to prune it to shape (creating a main leader) or leave as is...underneath it is Tam Juniper (which Mishka and Kohdi are smashing) and Pink Rosea Iceplant. Both my dogs love to "hide" under this tree


On the center post of the patio, I have this pebble pot (bought in TJ, Mexico) with this blue flax type plant w/yellow flowers to hopefully cascade over the top (I have the tag/name of these yellow flowers, haha) over it I have this cool solar lit windchime (looks like a mini-full moon at night))


ok, leaving the patio and heading towards the other side of the yard is this small planter. This planter, Malukhai, Kohdi and Mishka regularly dug/dig up so I was forced to make it like this to prevent digging (only now, Kohdi steals rocks from it for whatever reason)...I planted bouganvilla which were tall and beautiful when I bought them...Mishka chewed them right to the ground   I left the rootballs and fortunately they came back AND she is leaving them alone. After I paint the house I will put trellis up for them

close up of the flower


ok, one more pic before getting to the other side of the yard. Past the planter, I have a sitting bench with another pebble pot (smaller) up against the house with Iceland Poppies in it right now (this changes with the seasons) and Alysum. Im lucky to be able to show you this flower...Mishka plucks each and every bud on a regular basis and in fact this flower was gone just an hour later  

So I walked out and looked at my plant that I thought was like your yellow one and I had one bloom I didn't realize I had. That close up you took really does look like they are at least of the same breed type of plant. Mine is dark red. I ripped it out last year because I thought it was a weed. lol. I was smart enough to leave it alone this year.

Aww...poor poppy. It was so pretty for its brief moment in time.

When I find out the name Jenn, I can look it up and see the different varieties. I wouldn't doubt they are. I bought it from Armstrong Nursuries here and the reason I like them is because they don't just sell the "basic" plants, they have awesome varieties of stuff from all over the place. I have a Western Garden Book but what I hate about it is I actually have to know the name of the plant I'm looking up, lol. I need a book that *tells* me the names, haha. I'm going to Armstrong this weekend so I'll know the name soon

Yes, Mishka has had it in for that poor Poppy since the day I brought it home ...if I ever see a flower, it's never for more than a few hours. Her and her plants <rolls eyes> she hurt herself really bad last night though it broke my heart. She was in so much pain her face was twitching and she couldn't hold her eyes open. She's fine now though but ugh, it really broke my heart to see her that way. She was chasing Kohdi around the pool and was going full speed when part of her went in the pool but her speed slammed her against the flagstone edge, I thought she broke something she was screaming so loud, I jumped up and ran to her and held her still, the crying stopped then but her face twitched and she wouldn't open her eyes. Later I looked at the area of the pool she went in at and there was actually her fur stuck to the sides of the flagstone. She is fine now though...and tonite she didn't chase Kohdi around the pool.

OMG, Jimmy, I'm so sorry, glad Mishka is ok today, poor baby......

Thank you Renee, honestly it scared the sh** out of me. Mishka is tough! so when she cries, she has reason. It was pitiful. And poor Kohdi, he rushed over and licked her face, and kept putting his nose in her ear and then laid down next to her, he was worried

Ok, I need to get these pics off my laptop so Im going to finish wth what I have and then I'll be pretty caught up and then just post pics of future  projects as I do them...

This is the other side of the yard...this planter has the asparagus fern (they get pretty big!) and a pot ( its kinda keeping the fence from falling down, lol) with those flowers that I already forgot the name of (sorry) and a small juniper type tree, ground cover is the Pink Rosea (bees LOVE it)


To the left of that, heading towards the back of the yard, I have this planter bench...on each side, in the ground, are red Salvias and this cool lil solar flickering candle type of light that hangs, its got a hummigbird design...in the planters of the bench I have petunias, alyssum, and Dahlia's (?...I think)


Close-up of bench planter flowers...



Past the bench is a small Texas Privet hedge with boulders underneath it to help prevent digging from Kohdi...then we come to one of my latest projects...I made a small sitting area here on the edge of the yard, its cool for enjoying the "view" and for keeping an eye on Mishka when shes searching the canyon for trouble, I mean sticks here I found a home for my ugly frog planter, LOL, and the tree on the slope is a Mexican Palo Verde


To the right, in the corner, I have an oversized pot with a variegated Ficus tree in it...helps hide SOME of the ugliness of my neighbors Yucca trees


And beneath that, on the slope next to the fence i hae a whiskey barrel that used to have a pretty vine in it, also in hopes of covering the fence to hide neighbors ugliness, but a cold snap in december took out my vine and so I just stuffed the barrel with ivy geraniums...its also, as you can see, a perch for Mishka while she 'hunts'


ok, next will be my smaller/narrower side yard where I planted part of my veggie garden...

Jimmy, I am confused, is the Texas Privet a bush or a tree or a little of both? I was looking it up as something that may grow here in Texas, haha, but the close up pics on the web some look like hedges or bushes, and other pics it looks like a tree. Since my eyes don't hone in on your description of your pics, can you give me a better idea? Sorry to be a pita......That asparagus fern is awesome, wow, it looks like something that grows under water, very cool. Would that be suitable here(me)? Sorry for the questions, but I guess I got the garden bug, lol. Also, it is quite recommended that (from the ag extension) to plant things that are native to my area, so should I focus on more native plants?

Renee, Texas Privet is a shrub but can be pruned I guess into a tree...Mishka did that to mine, LOL...in the second pic (Id post another but I noticed posting pics makes other pics Ive posted in the past disappear at times ...some of my scrapbook "stories" dont make sense anymore cuz the pics are missing) anyways, 2nd pic, to the left of the bench are my Texas Privets...theyre the ones with the boulders underneath them. Mishka pruned mine to be small trees

The Asparagus Fern, in my opinion, would do well there. They like some shade and something that provides shade would also provide somewhat protection from freezing cold temps/snow. These are pretty hardy plants. Amy posted a link w/descriptions of the different varieties in Jenn's (Twister) gardening thread, I think these are called "Fox Tails" (of all things, haha)

Native plants are good, but I dont think u need to limit yourself to them...natives dont necessarily do better, I know that sounds stupid but here, many natives do poorly. But if you like a plant, look it up and see what ideal conditions for it are and judge for yourself if you think itd be a good choice for you. I bought a Colorado Spruce for my front yard, not really suited for here cuz of our dry santa ana winds in the late summer...with a lil bit of xtra care from me during those times, my tree is doing well. Basically all I do is let the Olive tree grow without pruning it, it provides necessary shade, then in the late fall, after the santa ana's are past, I prune the olive tree.

You are not a PITA

Renee - the reason all the extensions are pushing natives is that many of the non-natives become invasives, threatening the local habitat. What is comical is that our local Soil and Water Conservation District is part of the Green Arbor program in New York - and the green arbor program is where we pick up a lot of shrubs, trees and plants. And many of them are now on the invasive species list. Our autumn olive hedge, that has produced multiple grand and great, great-great grandchildren all over the fields around here? Invasive species list. THe black locust, the honeysuckle (shrub, not vine), trumpet vine...the list goes on. Looks like the DEC and SCWD do not talk to each other

As for me - I translate "invasive species" to mean...oh, it will grow here

Ok, these will be my last pics for a little while, these pics will bring me caught up so the pics I post after these will be future projects.

This is my smaller side yard...its narrower than my other side yard. This area used to be sloped (houses are on a hill so my house is slightly higher than the next one) and dirt used to be pushed up against the fence and stuff like that. I used it basically to store stuff I wasnt using/didnt use much but I want it useable space so I made a lil wall along the fence, then filled in low spots with top soil so itd be flat. I made a simple walkway with stepping stones and at the end I made a drop down to a larger stepping stone area and put a storage bench there. Since  I dont know what I want to do here yet, I simply planted along the sides with Calla Lillies I seperated from my front yard. On one side though, a cherry tomatoe plant comes back each year so I figured Id just plant part of my vegetable garden here with it. Its just tomatoes, a cucumber, and onions.
Full view...

left side...

right side...cherry tomatoe is the clump closest to the entrance


Future projects include my other, larger, side yard (Ive already started it) re-doing my fire pit area...Im thinking maybe building one, with cool built in seating around it, and re-doing atleast part of the behind the pool plantings. But I've also got stuff to do like painting the house, re-building the pergola, and a "dream project" of a deck off the slope (I have an amazing view of the city from there...I used to from my backyard as well but this neighbor is fairly new and doesnt maintain his plantings and his slope is overgrown and blocks 90% of my view ) however from my slope, I can still see it (so pretty at night)...but that deck is $$$ so itll be awhile, haha

WTH, where did my pics go? LOL, they were there I swear!

Edit. Ugh, now they're there...I don't like this iPad sometimes

That's a great spot for a garden. You can walk down the middle so easily to get stuff. Your tomatoes are bushing out well. Mine are fighting off aphids right now. Maybe an "accidental" overspray of week killer when the wind is just right would fix your overgrown neighbor's hill problem.

Thank you Jenn, if I can keep the tomato plants from falling down when they get bigger, then I think I can use the walkway still. Last year there was only the cherry tomatos and it got too heavy for the cage thing so they fell over.  I started late this year so the plants you see were bought, I didn't do these from seed. The area doesn't get as much sun as I'd like but if I only get 10 tomatoes instead of 20, I'll be ok, haha.

Ok...the weed killer in the wind...umm, I've done it once already , accidentally of course  the guy has Yucca and those Giant Blue Agave right up against the chain link fence, they were going thru the fence so I got crazy with the sprayer/weed killer, haha. It's those damn Eucalyptus trees I want gone

With aphids on your tomatos, how are you getting rid of them? Normally just spraying with water will do the trick but I'm thinking that could then cause the leaves to get mildew, no?

Also Jenn, I found the tag for that yellow flowered plant you asked about. It's called "Gaillardia Arizona Apricot" I havnt looked it up yet to see if it also comes in red but when walking Kohdi and Mishka, there is a house near by that has a plant that looks very similar and its flower is an orangish yellow color with red shades on it. Maybe it does come in a variety of colors