Cleaning Up the Back Garden

One of the projects that i completed in 2018 that seems like a small change, but is paying huge dividends this spring, was the change to the path at the bottom of the hill. Here is the before:

Hillside with path

This hill used to go straight up from that retaining wall, with no clear way to get anywhere. A few years ago, i had access paths installed using railroad ties, with a path on the top and bottom. The top path (which runs along the block wall fence) was just dirt, and the bottom was compacted decomposed granite (DG). The top path got replaced with a gravel path to help with weed suppression and better access.

The bottom path with DG worked for a while,but over time, lots of weeds would grow in it. Also, as the plants on the hillside grew, they grew over the path. That was great, but then they started growing through the DG. So finally, last summer, the landscapers came in and dug out the DG, and replaced it with gravel, matching what is on the top path:

it's about 3 inches thick.

It worked great! And right now, weeding the gravel is much easier than the DG path ever was. The plants are already growing over the path again, without growing into the gravel.

On a side note, i can still never get over how full the hillside is now versus just a few years ago. Here is the view from the other side:

looking south

While the landscapers did that, i also had them clean up and put a new top coat on the main DG in the back garden. While i don't have them do this every year, it makes it look so good...

clean DG - no weeds and no annoying gopher holes!

They also trimmed up the Palo Verde, so it resembles more of a tree, and less of a blob:

the agave ovatifolia can breathe!

One of the biggest adds was the new stock pond, which i'll share lots more about later!

stock pond added

Of course, looking at these pictures now makes me want to call them back for a spring refresh of the DG! But if i did that now, i wouldn't have poppies later this spring, so back to hand weeding it is!

MidWest in the Fall - Wednesday Vignettes

This whole winter, I've been spending time in the midwest, where it's been cold, especially for my desert-adjusted blood! Earlier this fall though, these trees outside my hotel caught my eye with their brilliant fall colors...

I wanted to remind myself of these colors during my last visit, when it was 19 deg F!

Agave Close Ups

This weekend, I marvelled at how unique the agaves look from above. Because that was better than marveling about how giant my pile of trimmings were, even though i still had so much to go!

agave parrasana

agave shawii (plus many pups!)

agave 'Cream Spike' (still looking for pups)

agave 'Crazy Horse' 

I've been looking at the plant catalogs and websites... i think more new agaves will be joining the garden this year!

Favorite Austin Vignettes

And now, for the last Austin post! In addition to all the lessons i learned, great gardens i saw, plants i wanted, and awesome people i met, there were some vignettes, of both gardens and other places, that i wanted to remember and look back at. So without further ado or comments, there are some of the many (many) things that caught my attention in May 2018:

A huge thank you to the 2018 Fling organizers, gardeners, and sponsors. My first fling was outstanding, and i can't wait until Denver!

Hummingbird Visitors

If you follow me on Instagram, you may have noticed at some point every stpring, my feed gets taken over by baby hummingbirds! I wanted to capture all the pictures in one blog post, to better see how quickly these cute little birds grow up. In a few months, they'll be doing it again!

First, some stage setting - the picture below shows where the nest is. For the last few years, hummingbirds have built a nest on my string lights, above my patio couch, right by the patio door, and under the 2nd story deck. Most of the pictures i take are from above, through the cracks in the deck. The birds don't seem to notice.

Orange circle around the nest

The house got painted in Spring 2018, so i was very worried that the hummingbirds wouldn't come back. But on 28 April - there were eggs!

two jelly bean sized eggs... 

On 9 May, there were still eggs:

momma hummingbird making sure the next was good!

 By 13 May, there were 2 tiny birds:

tiny birds!

 By 20 May, they were bigger:

they're both still in there - although its getting a little cosy

6 days later, they're starting to look like actual birds:

On May 26

Hummingbird parents do not approve of taking pictures from the patio - i got buzzed right after this picture. The couch & patio are basically unusable while the babies are in the nest.

May 28

 On 1 June, they really didn't fit any more

their beaks grow so much!

This was also the time when the babies started to test their wings - which makes them sound like angry bees.

By 2 June, they were ready to leave the nest!

staying really close first

 But by the end of the afternoon, only one was left (and figuring out how to fly away):

i was a bit worried - it was facing a window here. It managed to fly away without any issues...

And while I can't guarantee that this is one of the same birds - on 23 June, there was a very immature hummingbird hanging out on the aloe bloom stalk:

it let me get pretty close! (and yes - the agave needs cleaning...)

The first thing i did after the nestlings flew away was clean off the patio couch cushions and window - it's nice having my patio back! But i'm happy to share it again next year, so here's to hoping they come back again!