Before and After: Progression of a Rock Wall Garden

Since we are experiencing a late-season snow storm here at Chickadee Gardens, perhaps another before and after is the ticket (as I tire of snow photos). I give you the rock wall, the top of our driveway before and after, as it has evolved over the past two years. I wrote a post about the creation of the rock wall right after its creation, you can revisit that here. Since it has filled in a little since then, I owe you all an update.

The first official before photo, taken September of 2015 before we owned the house.




The area I am writing about is to the left, beyond the end of the concrete wall. It really was clumps of field grass and weeds with some aggressive oregano and Vinca minor seedlings everywhere. It took some time and effort but I eventually was able to (mostly) eradicate them. The Vinca minor, by the way, came from the neighbor's property to the north where it is in abundance in their woodland area. It travels, don't let anyone tell you differently, at least in my area of the world. It's nasty and roots wherever it touches, even the tiniest bit. It would easily cover this whole area in a year or two suffocating most other perennials and ground-covers.


February of 2016 was fairly mild so I decided to tackle this mess. We did not want to look at it every time we got in and out of our cars, so it became high on my priority list of garden projects. At this stage I had spread about 2 units of compost in multiple locations throughout the property to get a jump start on better soil health. You can see the edge of my efforts here.



Facilities Manager caught me in the act in a most glamorous photo. Here I am adding rocks from the former labyrinth and building a rock garden.


Nearly finished stacking rocks.



Mostly finished. The muddy area on the left was eventually weeded and gravel was added. In this photograph you can just make out the first thing I planted here, an Arctostaphylos 'Sentinel' purchased from Xera Plants fall of 2015. Other plants were waiting in the wings to be tucked in.



Fast forward to summer of 2016. Several Armeria maritima, Lewisia cotyledon (both native to these parts), sedums and another Arctostaphylos - this time A. 'Pacific Mist', a prostrate form to spill down the top of the wall, were planted. In the background I had moved clumps of crocosmia that had been scattered throughout this very long bed (in total, some 75 feet long) and concentrated a few here as a kind of place holder until shrubs and trees filled in over time.


The evergreen shrub at the top of this mound turned out to be a magnolia that had been cut down (not by me) and suckering like crazy. I decided to leave it and attempt to shape it over the years if it lived.


A detail of Dianthus simulans, Arctostaphylos 'Pacific Mist', Sedum reflexum beginning to bloom and Acaena intermis 'Purpurea' that has spread considerably from the tiny start given to me by a garden blogging friend.



Detail of Armeria maritima or sea thrift. It forms an evergreen basal mound of foliage and in late spring sends up these vibrant pink flowers. It is very tough and comes in a white and a light pink-flowered form as well as a purple foliage form.



Lewisia, sempervivum species and in the background, Cotula hispida spilling its gray-green foliage over the rocks.



The whole scene at sunset last year. Sedum toward the bottom of the wall has filled in nicely, helping to mitigate erosion. More gravel has been added along the way as it settles in. The Arctostaphylos 'Sentinel' is nearly in the middle of this photo. It has not grown much, although I know it will soon. To the right of the arcto is a Grevillea x gaudichaudii purchased from Cistus Nursery in 2016. It not only lived through last winter's fury, it has thrived.


It lost most of its leaves after last winter and looked terrible, but I left it in place. Late winter last year it started putting on new growth and eventually it bloomed. Its flowers are pretty amazing.



 Pictured last summer. It has since grown even more.


End of summer 2017. The grevillea can be seen in the upper right.


November 2017. The crocosmia and grevillea are duking it out and we all know who we want to win.


This winter we had a good long stretch of mild weather so I got out there to take care of maintenance where I could. The Arctostaphylos 'Sentinel' was leaning towards the ground and I thought I would have to prune out the lower branches to give it more air circulation. What I discovered is that it just needed to be propped up a bit, so I added considerable gravel around its base and added a rock on the downward side to prop it up. This way I didn't lose half of the plant to pruning. The leaves had been facing towards the southern sun, now they are readjusting to do the same in their newer more upright position. Eventually this shrub will reach 7' tall, so many of these smaller plants surrounding it will likely have to be moved. The crocosmia got a downsizing by me so the grevillea could have ample room to spread, and the magnolia has been shaped a little more to keep it from falling forward.



   This is a south-facing sloped wall with pretty good drainage so I have appropriate plants that happen to appreciate good air circulation. I have been working on opening it up over the last year as plants fill in by removing "temporary" plants as well as pruning. Also included in this garden is a Callistemon 'Woodlander's Hardy Red', a Ceanothus cuneatus 'Blue Sierra', and a Drimys winteri which will all grow considerably over the years with a little luck, especially now that I've removed a lot of crocosmia that was beginning to shade them out.

Most of these plants are evergreen, save for the sedum which sort of dies back - at least the Sedum spurium towards the bottom of the wall seen here does. There are also several plants to the far left which can't really be seen, things I've tucked in while passing by, Zauschneria californica which is deciduous, and also (evergreen) native Eriogonum ovalifolium and Eriogonum compositum (Form 2), buckwheats purchased from work. More on those another day, the buckwheats deserve a post of their own.



 One more time. Before, February 2016.


After, February 2018. I know February is not the most picturesque time of year to be photographing a garden, but it demonstrates to my eyes structure and whether or not my planting choices are effective. I want the garden to look good year-round, so planning for that and gardening with hardy evergreen plants makes all the difference.

That's a wrap for this week at Chickadee Gardens with your rock wall update. Hopefully this snow will not last and we'll be back to our mild winter and early spring. Until next time, thank you so much for reading and commenting and happy gardening!

Comments

  1. This area is looking good. You have so many plants in there. In the photos it doesn't look 75' long. What a pleasure getting out of your car now. I bet sometimes you stand there and admire your work. You should anyway. Vinca Minor is a vicious plant. It has gotten into the base of a shrub I love and I pick and pick at it. I don't want to dig up the shrub to try to get rid of it so I keep at it. Someday I will win the war.

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    1. Hi Lisa, thank you so much for your comments. The whole bed really is that long, it's just not all photographed. It goes on and on to the right, under the awning and out towards the chicken coop to the east - in other words only about 20 feet of it were pictured here. Sorry for the confusion! That vinca - yowsers. It's a terror, I hope you are able to get it all and win that war!

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  2. Such fun to see this. As always, thank you for sharing! : )

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    1. Thank you Stephen! How does your garden grow? I'm sure fabulous...it will explode soon, spring is nearly here :)

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  3. You put in a lot of blood, sweat and tears into this project, but it certainly paid off. Your curb appeal is lovely. I'm sure that now when you pull up in your car you have a huge smile on your face. Great job!!!

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    1. Thank you Connie! I do smile more when we pull up in the car, indeed. Working on curb appeal is important, it kind of sets the tone for the rest of the garden.

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  4. I was nodding in agreement as I read about clearing the invasive Vinca. I had my own battles here (both front and back garden)...that stuff is tenacious!

    Acaena intermis 'Purpurea' — what's your secret? I've had luck with only one plant, the others I've put in just refuse to grow. Does it get much water? Seeing your Grevillea x gaudichaudii is amazing! Excellent work, as always...

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    1. Oh yes, I don't know why the even sell that stuff in garden centers (vinca). It's terrible. I guess that's what people want, a fast groundcover that takes over the world. Be careful what you wish for.

      My secret to the Acaena - no secret, it gets hot south facing sun most of the day, some late afternoon shade. Very little water, good drainage, though. Maybe it's the slope? Glad you like the Grevillea photos, it's been a pleasant surprise for me (its hardiness).

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  5. As always, I'm impressed by what you've accomplished. Posts like this one are edging me ever closer to taking a stab at the upper section of my hideous ivy and honeysuckle covered back slope.

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    1. Thank you, Kris. Oh, ivy and honeysuckle. Good luck with that..ugg! You can totally do it and I bet it will be more amazing than it is in your wildest dreams!

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  6. I hope you'll have a garden opening this year ! I would love to see it in person , and meet the girls !

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    1. Linda, you are ALWAYS welcome out here! Just give me a shout. But since you mentioned it, we are opening the garden for HPSO members on Saturday August 4th, 9-1 p.m. We're of course not ready, but what the hell!

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  7. That's quite a transformation! I like your steps at the far left in the last picture, too. You are certainly hard working folks.

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    1. Yes, I failed to mention those steps - Facilities Manager made them and they see a lot of use. To the other side of those steps it was all weeds and clumps, but he also dumped a ton of heavy gravel so that when he's on the John Deere mower he can drive right over it and head on down the property. It's kind of funny to watch!

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  8. Glorious! And that photo of the whole area at sunset has me like 😍

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    1. Aw, I'm glad you like it! Garden are so lovely in the low light of the evening, aren't they? :)

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  9. Vast improvement. You used some very choice plants, so the area will only get better and better.

    Vinca minor spread here from a neighbor's garden, but the drought killed it off. Even droughts have their virtues!

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    1. Thank you Hoover Boo! I'm hoping for better and better. Someday! I'm also glad your drought had a positive side effect. Yay! No more vinca!

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  10. Really nice solution and your plants are coming along so beautifully.

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