A blank canvas to landscape in Southern California.

[KennyRE317 21]

since you had a tiller you should have thrown in a bunch of gypsum ontop before tilling, that stuff did wonders for my crappy clay ... i wish i could have spread more but i didn't have a tiller or a means to transport one so i had to do all the compost and gypsum mixing manually

[OverGrown 516]

Well done! Maybe you mentioned it already but I'm curious to know what your irrigation plans are.

will have multiple valves for drought resistant plantings, trees, etc. I also usually add an extra line here and there just in case.

[OverGrown 516]

since you had a tiller you should have thrown in a bunch of gypsum ontop before tilling, that stuff did wonders for my crappy clay ... i wish i could have spread more but i didn't have a tiller or a means to transport one so i had to do all the compost and gypsum mixing manually

I guess I forgot to mention it, but i did two applications of gypsum. tilling by hand must have sucked

Edited March 25, 2015 by OverGrown

[KennyRE317 21]

since you had a tiller you should have thrown in a bunch of gypsum ontop before tilling, that stuff did wonders for my crappy clay ... i wish i could have spread more but i didn't have a tiller or a means to transport one so i had to do all the compost and gypsum mixing manually

I guess I forgot to mention it, but i did two applications of gypsum. tilling by hand must have sucked

gypsum did wonders for the clay, and noticed an immediate change in consistency in the clay where it didn't bond as much when wet. manually tilling with a shovel, rigid metal rake, and pick axe wasn't fun at all since the clay out here was an absolute mess ontop of being extremely dried and compacted. only way i was able to soften it up was piling on about 6" of compost and drenched the yard for a few days then mix with the shovel. the back part of my yard i pretty much just brought in fresh mix for the raised planting beds that went about 4-5' deep

[Tropicdoc 270]

Does gypsum affect the pH of the soil?

[OverGrown 516]

Does gypsum affect the pH of the soil?

gypsum is neutral.. it just helps to coagulate the clay once it has been broken up.

Edited March 25, 2015 by OverGrown

[OverGrown 516]

Update: Went on top of my roof a couple weeks ago to snap some pics. I have sprayed out this go-kart track / pathway about 4 times now...this is what I'm currently happy with. I'll live with it for a couple weeks and go over it before I decide to prep for the concrete pour. It is 7 feet wide.

[OverGrown 516]

more angles:

[OverGrown 516]

and more:

some plants from overhead:

[OverGrown 516]

more plants:

s-curve part of the track:

the straights:

[OverGrown 516]

view just off my living room window:

looking north east and towards the chicane of the track

[OverGrown 516]

Started getting things in the ground...went for color first as the hedge was already providing a lush green backdrop...needed color asap. dypsis decaryi, phormium jester & rainbow queen, burgundy lace cordylines. the area you see beyond is being deconstructed.. I'm taking out the storage shed and currently breaking up all the concrete for a more finished look and will build a shade structure for that entire side of the house.

I love japanese maples no matter how much they tend to scorch in the worst heat of summer. I plant them outside of the bedroom sliders to frame the yard view and because i love the way they glow in the morning as the leaves are backlit by the sun. Also doubles as privacy plantings from the yard looking in. I may plant a large palm to help with shading down the line.

Emperor 1's and Crimson queen

[OverGrown 516]

Pink stripe phormiums, Variegated Aeonium, encephalartos lehmanii, artichoke agave's

more burgundy lace cordylines, encephalartos munchii, encephalartos trispinosus and the lehmanii seen earlier

[OverGrown 516]

from the roof in the front yard..

mexican weeping bamboo, 4 foot wide trench for a pathway and one pink tabebuia tree

the other two pink trumpet tree's, two feather cassia's along the house. border has since been tilled in by shovel and third application of gypsum... turns out I broke a piston rod on my 5hp craftsman tiller from pushing down too hard on it.

[Tassie_Troy1971 1,061]

Big project !

[ChrisJordanDDS 40]

Wow, fun project to watch. My back aches just reading through the whole thread!

[redbeard917 202]

Is that actually for go karts? And, I see you've started planting back there already. Aren't you worried the concrete guys will trample any plants that are too close to where they are working?

[OverGrown 516]

Is that actually for go karts? And, I see you've started planting back there already. Aren't you worried the concrete guys will trample any plants that are too close to where they are working?

Yes, it is for real go-karts, I have two gas powered ones and an electric toy car in the garage. Not worried about plants getting trampled as I have left plenty of walking space and areas for the finishers to do the work properly without interference...This is only round one of the planting to get a few things established whilst they were available to me. I do plan on a few larger feature palms but that comes later...still have lots of trenching to do.

[OverGrown 516]

Finally got my partial retaining wall in.

[OverGrown 516]

Got a ton of prep work done over the past couple weeks.. I was feeling pretty burnt out between the many projects I had going on and trying to squeeze time to work on my own place...Called up the big homie Sergio while I was passing by to get a little inspiration... His yard has exploded with growth since most have seen it. Took mental notes of some palms that I want to incorporate into my own garden... Sergio's garden has been a true inspiration for resort style landscaping and I've learned a lot from his visiting his garden over the years. Big homie laced me up with a dypsis pembana x lanceolata hybrid, a few chamaedorea radicalis trunking form, and ton of triple dypsis plumosas. I plan on doing a mass planting of these to create a grove by the path. Much love my palm brotha! And thanks for everything!

Edited June 3, 2015 by OverGrown

[OverGrown 516]

finished planting out the front border... three rows of mexican feather grass planted at 32" on center and two rows of pink muhly grass 24" on center.

well aware that the pink muhly will get large but I'm attempting a tighter planting for decadent blooms come fall...mulch was also on sale so I took care of that on memorial day weekend...right when I was finished buying them for 4 for $10 at Home depot, I drive by Lowes and see a line of cars buying them for 5 for $10 FML.

[Danilopez89 651]

Wow! What a project! Looks like you have everything planned out.

[OverGrown 516]

a few more in relation to the hellstrip... About three times a week people drive by and take pictures of the place...and at least twice a week I give curious neighbors a tour of the property and the ongoing work...It's having a positive effect on the neighborhood and people have begun fixing up their own places...I've noticed more people making it a point to walk by the house...

[OverGrown 516]

Close of a few plants in the hell strip; Torbay Dazzler and an echeveria that grows big and purplish

5 torbay dazzler cordylines planted in a V formation so that it still looks good coming from both directions of the street.

and from across the street.

Macrozamia and wandering jew

Agave mediopicta alba and pup

[OverGrown 516]

Front door was replaced as well as all windows and sliders...I wonder if it's obvious a plant addict lives here.

Blue Longifolius beneath the front window...

Alluaudia procera beneath the other

eugene maraisii tucked in between

[OverGrown 516]

Entering the backyard...I have not replaced this gate yet but will eventually..in the meantime, I'm enjoying its patina.

Defensive plantings and VERY drought resistant container plantings just off the west facing dining room window.

tucked in a pair of electric pink cordylines behind the rainbow queen formiums and planted out a few flapjack cuttings.

I believe a mistakenly called these burgundy lace awhile back when they are actually Festival Burgundy Cordylines. growing in nicely although the middle one is falling behind for some reason.

[OverGrown 516]

Nice sunburst aeonium planted to brighten up a corner.

I moved these two pink dusty millers and put them in between three dioon edules...common, I know, but they were priced right for their size and still look cool in repetition to accent an otherwise mundane hedge...may upgrade later.

Found a bunch of somewhat hard to get variegated japanese maples at Costco and loaded as much as I could fit in the car...successfully created a picturesque forest like view out my master bedroom window... now thinking about running shade cloth over the top of this section to help them out.

Planted Southern Splendor cordylines outside my daughters bedroom window.

Edited June 3, 2015 by OverGrown

[Hilo Jason 3,104]

Nice update, thanks for posting all of the pictures. Would love to see a photo of your Dypsis Pembana x Lanceolata that you mentioned!

[OverGrown 516]

the go-kart track / path has been trenched out and the excess dirt was used to level all the planting areas...once that was done, I started moving plants into their final positions... I want to touch on a design element that I am applying in these next two pictures... I like and appreciate rare plants like the blue encephalartos but because of limited resources, I cannot justify buying high dollar plants and just tucking them here and there..So to create a high impact look, I have planted them right up front to have a greater percentage of visual impact when one looks out onto the garden. So when I look out the window in my living room.. I have a foreground of interesting textured small agaves &low growing phormium jesters, mid ground of blue encephalartos, a negative space punctuated later with feature palms and then the burgundy cordylines in the distance with the hedge as a final backdrop. I have also planted these Pisang klotek / ceylon bananas up close for several reasons; they will provide weekly interest with every new leaf, gives it an instantaneous tropical look as the feature palms establish themselves and grow in down the line. They are also planted in this position because I'm using the house to act as a wind shield. I am not sure yet how they will do next to the encephalartos but every plant will have their own calibrated drip lines.

munchii, dioon merolae, trispinosus, pisang klotek/ceylon

pisang klotek/ceylon, lehmanii

Edited June 3, 2015 by OverGrown

[OverGrown 516]

Container clusters between the sliding doors..

looking forward to the giant horsetail growing in.. ipomea platense in there as well

Long leaf ficus (ficus alii) with arial roots is pretty cool...and the common variegated ficus elastica just pops off the house color.. it don't have to be rare to look awesome.

[OverGrown 516]

Back to the front.. small cape rush and all my blue chalk stick cuttings rooting on the other side of the driveway.

I forget the name of these white euphorbia's but they are rad. Also have chrome balls on either side of the entry to add a little shine and sculpture in the silhouette of abstract plants. Also contrasts well with the house color.

Got these cool sculptures on either side of the steps to the house.

[OverGrown 516]

Couple adeniums, a calibanus hookeri and other familiar goodies as you walk up to the door.

That's it for now...

[Pip 752]

Hahaha love the flamingos. Looks like everything is coming along nicely. It is a bit of a thrill to have the neighborhood taking an interest in your garden. I have mine go crazy over Brugmansia amd get told they have never seen it before I can think of five other garden nearby that also have them.

[OverGrown 516]

Nice update, thanks for posting all of the pictures. Would love to see a photo of your Dypsis Pembana x Lanceolata that you mentioned!

We've been getting fair weather over here in North OC when I placed all the small plants on my south facing driveway, then two very sunny warm (81f) days that caused it to yellow up a bit.. it is now on the north side of my house.

[OverGrown 516]

Here a few pics of the views looking out the windows of my house to give you an idea of what I'm talking about when I try to create a picture-esque view of the garden.

From my living room:

Standing right up by the sliders

looking left

looking right

[OverGrown 516]

View out my daughter's window. it looks and feels much better in person without the obstructions

View outside of the master bedroom of the maple forest...LOVE this!

[Tassie_Troy1971 1,061]

Its all looking really nice -but where are all the palms i have seen less than a handful so far ??? maples and cordylines !

you do have a great eye for plant color !

[Moose 1,458]

Is that actually for go karts? And, I see you've started planting back there already. Aren't you worried the concrete guys will trample any plants that are too close to where they are working?

My thoughts too. Well it will be the best landscaped go cart track I know of.

[DoomsDave 8,045]

Is that a parajube in one of the pictures?

Do you have room for an 800 Pound Gorilla Palm?

[OverGrown 516]

Its all looking really nice -but where are all the palms i have seen less than a handful so far ??? maples and cordylines !

you do have a great eye for plant color !

So far I only have about three palms planted...Palms will be a large unifying element of the garden design but they will have to come after the hardscape.