Hardscape Done at Cambria House

New path and stairs around the garden. 

 And a few random pics.

Finally Rain

My 1,800 gallon cistern is finally filling up. All it takes is three inches of rain to fill these suckers up. But here in southern California the drought has taken it's toll. Now that the cistern is full a hose attached to the overflow redirects the the excess water to anywhere in the garden that can use a little extra saturation.

Doing Fine Without a Lawn

I took out the lousy lawn many years ago. I replaced it with wood chips provided by my tree trimmer. Every two or three years I tell him to drop off a load from one of his tree trimming jobs. It saves him a dump fee and costs me nothing. BUT no pine or palm trimmings. Last load of chips was from a Cedar tree!!!

You should have been around when I took out the front lawn 13 years ago. The HOA wasn't thrilled but they learned quickly not mess with yours truly. Now our HOA president (sounds important but he's a good guy) has replaced his almighty lawn with drought tolerant stuff.

First morning of Autumn 2013. 

Trails

Whether in a long shadowed forest or your own backyard trails always provide a sense of exploration. 

I eventually paid for the trails I built with a blown out back. Rocks are heavy!! I figured I laid about 2 tons of rock along the trail.

The color of the Santa Ynez stones, used to line the trails, closely matches the natural rock found in the area. A garden should be part of the natural environment and not compete with it.

Rosemary Prostrata and Rosemary Tuscan Blue are the primary ground cover. The larger shurbs are Sugarbush and Lemonade Berry (a relative of Sugarbush  with serrated leaves)