Eastern Mojave Vegetation Front Yard Landscaping  
 

Tom Schweich  

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Tuesday, September 19, 2001
 (No Preface)

Locations: Garden, Front, Right.

Images:
- Work begins in the front yard.
 

 

Images:
- New drainage pipe in place
 

 

Images:
- The Pallet of Rocks.
 

 

 

 

   

Tuesday, September 19, 2001

Today is the day. I can't put off digging the hole any longer. It's time to do it.

Images:
- The Hole, as seen from the South.
 

 

Images:
- The Hole, as seen from the North.
 

 

Images:
- The Hole, with geotextile and rubber membrane.
 

 

Images:
- The Hole, with geotextile and rubber membrane.
 

 

Images:
- Trimmed membrane
 

 

Images:
- Trimmed membrane.
 

 

 

   

Wednesday, September 20, 2001

Today, I started out by getting some rocks to line the bog. I went to American Soil Products in Berkeley and bought 132 pounds of "Bouquet Canyon." These rocks are a blue-gray schist that tend to be fairly flat, but also have rounded edges, rather than sharp breaks.
  I also trimmed a large branch from the Bay Tree in the back yard. This branch will be used to separate the bog into the high part and the low part. The branch was one that growing through the electrical, telephone and television cables, so removing it from the Bay Tree wasn't a bad thing. The branch was about 4 inches in diameter at the large end 2 1/2 inches in diameter at the small end. Unfortunately the branch wasn't quite as straight as I wanted, but it should be OK for the purpose.

Images:
- Bog, filled.
 

The bog is a little more regular in shape that I had in mind. I was trying to accomplish a shape that was somewhat irregular.

Images:
- Bog from North.
 

This view, from the north looking south, shows the unfinished "outflow" area. At the moment, it looks pretty ugly. It looks more like an appendix. I think when I place the rocks around it, I will try to stagger them a bit to break up the smooth lines.

You can also see the remaining rocks arranged in a line on the walkway, waiting to be dispatched to their new location in the yard.

Images:
- From East
 

This photograph is taken from the east and looks across the front yard to the neighbor's house. We have begun to place the rocks. The objective is to achieve a "random" look. I seem to space the rocks in regular intervals naturally.

Images:
- Gneiss with many lichens.
 

 

 

 

Images:
- Rocks in place

- Rocks in place.
 

Friday, September 21, 2001

Today we shopped for plants at Berkeley Horticultural Nursery, and then finished placing the rocks in the banks. The "Appendix" looks better, but still needs some work.
   

Images:
- Planting Rhamnus ilicifolia.
 

 

Images:
- All planted! No bark.
 

Here it is on Sunday morning. Everything we have is planted. Today I finished the irrigation for the plants we bought yesterday at Yerba Buena Gardens, and then spread a little bark around.

 

 

Images:
- One month, some growth 1-2 inches.
 

November 4, 2001

This is how the garden looked in the morning of November 4th, 2001. The plants have 6-8 weeks of growth, depending on when they were plated. We've lost one Campanula and the Kenilworth Ivy doesn't seem to be doing very well but otherise all the plants are growing. The Huckleberries have nearly 2 inches of growth, and one of the older plants is flowering!

Images:
- Penstemon heterophyllus Lindley var. purdyi (Keck) McMinn
 

This is Purdy's Foothill Penstemon (Penstemon heterophyllus var. purdyi. I think I tried to grow this at Lyon Avenue. It did OK for a while, but then died, I think it got watered too much. The place where I have this will never get any diret watering.

Images:
- Mimulus sp. "Purple Hybrids"
 

This is a hybrid Mimulus that we bought at Yerba Buena Nursery. It was with a group signed "Purple Hybrids." It is very pretty and gets lots of compliments.
If you have a question or a comment you may write to me at: tomas@schweich.com I sometimes post interesting questions in my FAQ, but I never disclose your full name or address.  


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Date and time this article was prepared: 3/11/2026 7:41:59 PM