It's the "dog days of summer" here. Although our daytime temperatures haven't soared above 95F (35C) since May, it has been unusually muggy, which has made the heat more uncomfortable. It cools down most nights, which helps, but my garden still looks somewhat ragged, probably because I've continued to restrict my water usage in response to our drought. Careful as we're trying to be about managing our water usage, it was upsetting to hear about the
water main break in West Los Angeles that flooded the campus of UCLA and the surrounding area with 20 million gallons of water earlier this week (and infuriating that the media seems more interested in the impact on UCLA's basketball season than the state's ability to manage its water issues). In addition, the
Bay Area uncovered a water leak that has caused the loss of 25 gallons of water per minute over the past 4 years. Clearly, individual homeowners aren't the only ones that need to work on their water delivery infrastructures.
My monthly wide shots, undertaken in connection with the meme started by Heather at
Xericstyle, continue to be useful to track the changes I've made to my garden, as well as in assisting me in planning future changes. As usual, I'll start with the back garden, which is looking subdued now that the
Agapanthus and the red-orange daylilies have finished blooming.
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| Back garden, photographed from the back door |
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| A shot of the back garden from the left side, showing the lawn heading into dormancy |
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| This photograph of the back garden from the right side shows the mimosa tree, still in bloom and dropping floral debris everywhere |
In the side yard, much of the color is supplied by foliage.
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| Side yard, photographed from the dirt path running behind the backyard's main border, where Coreopsis 'Redshift' is putting on a show |
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| Zinnias, some planted from seed and some from a pony-pack, provide some floral color but they're struggling |
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| The Amaranth in the middle background provide a pop of red color, mirroring the foliage of Coprosma 'Plum Hussey" on the right and Phormium 'Amazing Red' in the foreground of this photo taken from the side yard patio |
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| Side yard, photographed from the front lawn area looking toward the hazy harbor view |
In the front yard, the Magnolia is still blooming in the middle of the dormant lawn and the Bauhinia, barely visible on the left, has few leaves but lots of flowers.
In the vegetable garden, the sunflowers have withered and the corn is struggling despite regular water. However, the pole beans and the herbs are doing fine.
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| Vegetable garden, photographed from the driveway |
My husband did some work on the irrigation system in the dry garden in July and I've begun removing plants that didn't perform well this year, both of which have left holes in this area of the garden. However, I'm looking forward to adding more drought-tolerant plants, like
Leucadendron salignum 'Blush,' in the fall.
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| Dry garden, photographed from the entrance to the gravel path looking toward the stairway that leads down the slope |
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| Dry garden photographed from the backyard lawn |
The lower portion of the slope looks truly awful. The drought-tolerant plants I put in down there clearly aren't drought-tolerant enough. The area needs a major overall.
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| Ugh! |
While waiting for the cooler days of fall, I'm laying down more mulch to keep the soil as cool and moist as possible. My husband has replaced the sprinkler system along one street side boundary with drip irrigation and we have future plans to convert other areas of the garden to drip irrigation as well. I also plan to remove more lawn, starting with a section in the front yard. And, I've got a running list of plant swaps I want to make in the fall on the assumption that this drought will be with us for awhile. Meanwhile, the birds have no problems with the garden as long as the fountain's running...
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© 2012-2014 by Kris Peterson for Late to the Garden Party
