My patio -- problems & perks

[bixaorellana]

I moved into my present house at the beginning of November, 2010. Except for some indestructible crinums and two abused trees, there was nothing growing here.

Perhaps you all would like to see the process as I attempt to turn it into a pleasant outdoor area.

My gardening space is @10 yards x 10 yards of concrete with very narrow strips of planting space on either side and at the front.

There is a wall on the street with driveway gates in the middle. The patio fills all the space back to the house, which goes from lot line to lot line, as is typical here. The front door of the house faces north.

The concrete is in very bad shape and of course glary and ugly. There were a couple of cut-outs in the cement, but they were all filled in with loose gravel, as were the planting strips on the sides. The biggest, nicest cut-out was used by the painters as a repository for plaster, paint, who-knows-what.

This will not be an overnight transformation, but a work in progress.

I started work on it soon after I got here, but had no camera then, so there are no pure "before" pictures. Still, the photos taken a couple of weeks later should give an idea of how daunting the blank canvas was.

These two photos, taken Nov. 19, were deliberately lightened so the text would show up better. Apologies for the quality of some of the photos, as I was bumbling with a new camera when I took them.
A tinaco is a free-standing water cistern.

Taken with my back to the driveway gates, facing the house:


And with back to the front door, facing the driveway gates:

With back to the front door (facing north), this is what is on my right:


Immediately to the left of the front door --


The west wall (the one that faces east) --

[bixaorellana]

I'll add some more "before"s. They will show you the problems, but I also mentioned perks. One major perk is that I live in a place that doesn't get cold, so the fact that I was doing this in November was not a problem. Also, compared to where I'd been living, getting municipal water three times a week is paradise.

You'll see a faucet on the west wall. That only gives water when the municipal water comes in -- roughly from @10:30 a.m. until @11:30 or noon on Mondays, Wednesday, & Saturdays. The water goes up to the tinaco on the roof, which only holds 750 liters.

Water is a very big deal in an area that usually gets no rain between November and May.

I have to manually put water in the big tinaco (2500 liters) in the patio, something that is annoying since I know the pipes & float are stashed in a wareroom here. I hook the hose over a conveniently placed dead limb on the loquat tree & put the nozzle in the hole at the top of the tinaco.

That's my potting table on the left side, with the compost bin sandwiched between it and the tinaco.

Some "before"s:
My poor succulents pushed here & there as work was finished on the house.

The biggest cut-out, and the most contaminated one:

The original planting there. I later pulled out the Salvia microphylla as it was simply too big for the space.
In this picture & the one above, you can see by the size of the spade how very skinny the side planting strip is.

The other cut-out, one of the first things planted:

One big problem in this part of the world is that the angle of the sun changes radically with the different seasons of the year. It's one of those things I keep relearning the hard way. It's frustrating to carefully place a plant where it will get its requisite 4+ hours of sun, only to have it be in gloom later in the year, or the opposite, to fry after being in shade. You can see the deep morning shade in the picture with the succulents. All of that is now in full sun in the mornings.

General blankness & ugliness, plus some of the garbage left for me to deal with by the landlady & the workers.
That's a rudimentary herb garden beneath the loquat.

[bixaorellana]

To continue, here's a little progression on the well. The well is definitely a perk in terms of making the area more picturesque. There is a space between it and the wall that was the pump housing. That had been completely filled with gravel, as had the area beyond it all the way to the street wall.

Here's how it looked when I started. I filled that plastic container over and over again with dug-out gravel. Nov. 19, '10

Rampant vine, iris and other stuff planted in that space. You can see that the painters never moved the blocks piled up against the street wall.
Dec. 16, '10

Finally got the rest of the gravel out, dispersed the blocks, put in some decent dirt & painted that wall. March 5, '11


The swing set frame called out for hanging plants, although at first all I did was shove a big plastic table under it as I worked on the rest of the yard.

This was how the west side cut-out was shaded when I planted it. Later I had to shove big plants in front of it and even shaded it with cardboard in the worst part of the dry, sunny season.


Desperate little attempts to dress things up. That area was full of hard-packed dirt which I later dug out and augmented with lots of compost.

[bixaorellana]

From the beginning, the well has been a nice focal point and great for staging succulents on one side and using as a sort of nursery on the other and beneath its arch.

The vine took off!


Even in the dry season, flowers grew ~~


Then, finally, the rains came ~~

[bixaorellana]

Things started to really take off ~~

          

[bixaorellana]

I put up stuff on either side of the front door ~~

          

The rather finicky chilecanario decided it was finally happy and begin to grow strongly ~~


I can now look around and see that, even though some things did not work out as planned, I do have a garden space, with fresh scents, bird song, and fresh pleasures daily.

[bixaorellana]

Bye till later!

[bjd]

Wow! You have done a huge amount of work. Amazing what some greenery does to make a place look a million times better. Has your landlady said anything about the changes?

[tod2]

Bixa you are to be congratulated on the fantastic difference you have made to your outdoor patio area!! What a triumph to have turned a virtually deserted block of concrete into a fabulous garden of Eden
It is so lovely to see so many plants in your garden that are also growing in mine! I don't know the names but I was particularly interested to see what the top of the tall thick spiky cactus-like plant looked like as mine is approaching that stage.

I bet people passing by are stopped in their tracks as they catch a glimpse of the beauty through those cylinders in the wall !!

[bixaorellana]

Thank you, ladies!

Yes, Bjd -- the landlady is very impressed with the way I take care of the house & yard. I always give her bits or duplicates of any plant she admires, if I can.

Tod, I don't know the names of everything, either. That tall spiky one is Pachypodium -- not sure which one, but it definitely has a season for blooming. It comes from your part of the world. Wikipedia says there are 25 known species, of which 20 are from Madagascar.

I was recently at my sister's house in south Texas. My brother-in-law toured me through their cactus & succulent garden. It was particularly interesting to me as many of their plants were originally from my garden in s.Texas. Their Pachypodium (P. lamerii) has never flowered in that climate, but it now taller than the house, thickly leaved, & with some branches at the top.

My neighborhood is very small, & plants are a great unifier, with sharing going on. I've gotten some nice stuff recently from neighbors.

[bixaorellana]

All of the last group of photos above were taken the morning I left home to go to the US for two weeks. It had been raining for ages, with more rain forecast, so I just hoped that there would be enough to keep everything alive. Apparently I got my wish, along with an unwished-for windstorm. My neighbor had to get on my roof to replace the covering over the back patio!

Anyway, when I opened the gate Sunday morning upon my return, this is what greeted me. There was no damage, but all of the tall stuff (which is now much taller) had flopped over. Sorry about the poor quality. I was pretty bleary-eyed when I pulled the camera out, leaving my suitcases outside the gate, to take some of these pics. Some were taken later, when I was more alive.

This was one of the least-bad looking of the green bean vines .     I pulled many of them out.


          

[mickthecactus]

The minute you turn your back on a garden it just seems to rebel. I go away for a week and it's total chaos on my return....

Bixa, first picture#5, is that an ivy or Senecio macroglossus? If the latter, I've been searching everywhere for it.

[bixaorellana]

Yeah, and the guys are finally coming on Tuesday to put in the roof gutter. The pipe to carry the water away has to go on that east wall, so if I do a good job of shoring up the flopped-over purple jamaica plants, they'll be in the way of the destruction pipe-affixing process. I have cut some of their limbs, since I'm going for a loose espalier effect.

That is a Senecio macroglossus ‘Variegatus’, which are pretty common around here. You can see a larger one in the first pic in #1. That one is more advanced now, & I keep trying to keep it from winding into the tree.

[bixaorellana]

This is not a real update. I just posted that picture of a view of the patio w/hanging birdbath as an excuse to come here and >>>brag<<<    

Today I tackled the compost pile. Took all the newer, unrotted stuff off the top and set it to one side, then got in there and started scooping. It was soooooo beautiful! Usually, out of desperation, I've had to use the stuff when it was partly digested & slimy. But this pile got to set all through the long rainy season, then had almost two months of being allowed to dry somewhat. It had turned into a wonderful loam. I filled a gunny sack & set it aside to mix with potting soil bit by bit. Then I kept scooping from the pile and top dressed every bed & many of the pots in the patio.

Rich brown gold!

[mickthecactus]

People who have never had a compost heap don't realise how satisfying it is when it goes right.

I was delighted a few weeks back to find my biggest bin packed full of little red worms all doing their composting stuff.

[Kimby]

bixa is a perfect example of the expression "bloom where you're planted"

[bixaorellana]

[Deleted]

My goodness!!!
What a labor of love Bixa.
And, exactly a year later.
I have huge, serious admiration and respect for what you have created with that space. (not to even mention your chronicle of it!)
It must been so so gratifying for you to have snapped that pic given all that you've done.
Just beautiful.
Well done, "you done good"!

[mich64]

The last photo of your view out the window is so wonderful. I can imagine how hard you work to keep this garden so healthy and beautiful, you must be constantly picking and pruning to have gotten such full foliage and blooms. I love it!

[bjd]

The greenery in front of your window has to be so much more pleasant and satisfying than broken concrete and bare walls. I do hope your landlady doesn't decide she wants her house back now.

[lugg]

I too am filled with admiration in how you have transformed your concrete patio into a beautiful garden

[bixaorellana]

Apologies for being so slow in thanking all of you for the kindness and encouragement!

Here's a "before" picture taken earlier today. I had the world's most destructive dog here for over two months & she finished wiping out what was planted under the Japanese plum. She's gone now, & I've shored up that little area & filled it with wonderful potting soil.

The plants and pots are barriers to keep the other two digging demons out of there. I made a nice little shade garden this afternoon, but the pic will have to wait until tomorrow, as I finished up in the dark.

[Deleted]

Jeez, the work never stops! As magnificently satisfying as a garden can be, I would never have the energy to do everything that needs to be done. I am in complete admiration of you, Bixa