A while back, I told you there was a 

New Project

in the works.

This area, on the side of the house, has been progressing since we got here.

Our first view was this...

The fenced Veggie Bed was there when we got here.

That black thing in the middle?  That's the septic tank.

We're hooked up to the sewer system, so that tank just is a pass through kind of thing.

I couldn't stand that.

So, one of the first projects here, was making a bed around it.

There was some grass over there then. St. Augustine, some Bermuda,

and a lot of weeds....

and ROCKS.

So, as the digging progressed, and the heat started setting in,

the bed became smaller than the plan.

I named it The Rock Bed.

Not for the rocks in it, but for the rocks I took out.

The next year, I expanded it.  I planted lantana, some autumn sage that came with the house,

moved some prickly pear from the Deer Grove, and added things here and there.

I think you've heard this story before.

It looked pretty good, for a while.

But, the deer ate the blooms off the lantana.

They shredded some of the agave.

I borrowed the prickly pear for the Drive Bed, after the evil

Snout-nosed Beetle killed that pretty yucca.

And, it all got neglected.

Weeds took over.

Horseherb and feather grass everywhere.

That wouldn't do...

So, we put up some wire on most of the bed.  If I'm going to have lantana

...or any other blooming plant...

there has to be a barrier against the deer.

But, I have bigger plans.

This new mulched area is for grasses...and other things deer don't eat.

I moved the feathergrass out of the new fenced area.

And, some autumn sage and agaves got moved.

Planted some Gulf Muhly, and moved the 

Spanish Bayonet from the front bed, where it was in the wrong place.

I dug out the weeds and the horseherb and planted a new lantana I was lucky enough 

to get at an Austin Bloggers meeting.

We made a mulch path along the side of the house.

Red mulch...I wanted brown, but ended up with red.

It does add color.

There's a bridge across a low place, where we're trying to protect some tree roots.

Is it done?

Hahaha...

Of course not!

There are plants I need to move around, blooming things need to be planted in 

the new fenced area, more grasses and some cactus in the grass bed....

And then, there's this...

It's a Never Ending Story.

Happy Gardening...

~~Linda~~

So, here we are....half time in the year....half way through.

Remember back in January?   I posted about my choice of  

One Word

to replace those old resolutions we all make.

My word was

FOCUS.

Well....now it's time to see how that's been going.

We did some focusing on fixing this view.  Old railroad ties and dead grass.

Not so pretty.

So...focus, focus and we turned it into this.

And, though two of the yuccas didn't make it, 

I have to say it all looks much better.

We've added a couple of things to the Island Bed, and it's all hanging in there.

We turned this next-to-nothing back bed...

...into something that makes it all look more complete.

This is the back of the house last fall.  Yep...it was dry out there.

A couple of years ago, I dug out a small bed back there.  

It wasn't much, but it worked for the time.  I had other irons in the fire.

You can see one of my solutions for shielding plants from deer....upside down tomato cages.

It actually works...sometime.

I had wanted a raised planter box along here.  But, the moaning that occurred whenever I mentioned the 300 landscape bricks and all the loads of soil to fill it, made me rethink what I wanted.

So, on to the new plan.  

We dug a bed, added some compost, and put bricks and rocks along the edge.

It's looking pretty good, so far.  All the plants are from other areas of the yard....

Autumn Sage, Prickly Pear, Candy Lily and Iris, Salvia Leucanthus...and some Mexican Feathergrass babies.

I moved what I hope is a Coral Vine to grow up this trellis.

It's all drought resistant.  This area gets LOTS of afternoon sun.  

Right now, we're enjoying the blooms on the Prickly Pear.

So, it looks a lot different.  I think I like it already.  And, when everything fills in, I'll like it even more.

Ah...the Last Frontier.

Well....maybe.

Happy Gardening...

~~Linda~~

We've had one tiny bed at the back of the house.  

Well....that wouldn't do.  So, we're making...yet again... another bed.

That will make beds along each side of the house.  To me, a house looks unfinished, if there is an 

'empty side'.  There's a view of this house, from all four sides.

So, we're finishing it off.

Oh...don't think this will be the last bed.  I have a couple more places in mind.

But, they'll have to wait.  It's heating up out there pretty fast.

We'll soon be spending time just keeping things alive.

Something else I'm thinking of changing....this Lamb's Ear.

It's gotten way larger than I planned.  The plan was for something nestled beside those rocks...

something small.  So, I think I'm going to move it.

What should I replace it with?  Or, should there just be nothing there....let the 'Rostrata'  be the Star?

Just another piece in the puzzle.

OK....off to dig.  

Don't you love playing in the dirt?

Happy Gardening...

~~Linda~~