There are a few spots in our backyard that have really fallen down the slippery slope of no maintenance, resulting in weeds and dirt.

One particular area of our backyard involves two narrow strips of dirt along two sides of our house.

Broadway, Imagineer and I decided to tackle this area and make it pretty.  We bought our teak bench and chair recently, and wanted to enjoy looking at beautiful plants, rather than dirt and weeds.

I decided it was a small enough project that with a 3 day effort of digging, weeding, and planting, we should be rewarded with a beautiful view of plants, black bark, and decorative rocks fairly quickly.

Our Trip to the Nursery

Broadway, Imagineer and I had an opportunity to visit the nursery without the distractions of Bam-Bam tagging along. 🙂  Bam-Bam was at a playdate for two hours, so the girls and I jumped in the car and drove to the nursery to utilize our time to its maximum potential.

We explained that we were looking to fill a 45ft x 2 ft strip as well as a 30ft by 2ft strip with plants that were tolerant to heavy sun exposure.  We wanted to surround the plants with decorative black bark.

The following are the plants that were suggested for our goals:

1. Golf Ball Kohuhu

2. ‘Allure Ebony ‘ oxalis

3. Stacy’s byzantina ‘Silver Carpet ‘

4. Newport Dwarf Escallonia

5. Calibrachoa Hybrid Cabaret White

 

 

6. Calibrachoa S.B. Miss Lilac

Before Picture

 

After Photo

I just love black bark and how quickly it can spruce up your yard.  Such a fun and quick project.  I’ll post more pics as the plants grow.