Two Different Tour Gardens, and Trees

 Back in 2019 I attended an Open Garden Day, took some photos, did a blog post about it...and somehow forgot to publish the post.  

This particular garden was not part of the tour.  It was on the walk from one Open Garden to another.  The design and the plant choices were admirable, so I took some photos.  Climate-appropriate plants included  Grevillea, Palo Verde  'Desert Museum' (a big thing here at that time), a young olive, Cereus, Coprosma, Calothamnus, Callistemon, Euphorbia, and the like.  Even an Agave or two. 

There was an award plaque (the grey tombstone-like object in the photo above) showing it had won the grand prize for the local nursery's "California Garden" contest in 2016. 

 Covid and a few other years have intervened since.   This year,  back to the same neighborhood for the same Open Garden Days event, and the above garden I admired in 2019 was now one of those featured.  The front garden was about the same, with only some minor changes.  It has been very nicely maintained.    'Desert Museum' was much diminished, as has proven to be the case with many of them in our area, but the olive tree had grown and was shading a different set of furniture in the sitting area.

2022:  Looking towards the street from the driveway:

Looking at it from the public sidewalk:

 The award stone from 2016:

An umbrella has been added:

This year, it being part of the tour, we had the chance to see the back garden.  The driveway is behind the low wall in the above photo.  On the other side of the driveway, bordering the next property, is a narrow planter nicely stuffed with succulents:

Moving towards the back yard, a fence separating the neighbor's home from the tour garden's driveway is topped with Bougainvillea and Clytostoma callistegioides:

At the end of the driveway in front of the garage door, before entering the back garden proper, was a display of "before" and construction of the back garden: 

As you can see, a modest space.  The designer did an amazing job of using every bit of it in a functional yet charming way.  I roughly plotted it out using the photo:
 a dining pergola (rectangle) and a sitting area (ellipse) surrounded by plantings, enclosed by an L-shaped "hallway" path.  At the far back, behind the short leg of the "L", a utility area for storage, potting bench, herb planter, and waste bins. 

The first part of the "hallway", along the garage.  Choice plants include Leucadendron 'Jester', Westringia, and succulents.

The short leg of the "L", with the hidden utility area on the left behind the fence.  The dining pergola is to the right, behind more plantings and a low fence:

The utility area was very functional and had its own charm:

The roof of the dining pergola is visible at the top of this photo:  the short "L" of the "hallway" is behind this fence: 

A succulent planter against the back fence of the property:

A whole lot of function, hidden away.  More storage tucked in a space behind the garage:

Gardens need a utility area, for the trash bins, if nothing else.  Now to the main socializing area of this property...a panorama shot:

(Typical Open Garden Days lighting:  harsh)

There is a dining table under the pergola, a sitting area with umbrellas adjacent, and room for plants.  The 2019 photo shows the orange chairs were painted white and located in the front garden back in 2019. 

I overheard another visitor ask the homeowner if they ate outdoors much--"Almost always." was the answer.  This was a wonderful garden that seemed to really work as an extension of the home.  Lots of personal touches and personality, too, like the flamingos scattered throughout the garden, all painted in a playful Dias de los Muertos style: 

A second garden on the tour makes an interesting contrast.  

 Larger in size and much larger in budget:  this landscape and the exterior of the home was completely redone in 2021 in the currently popular "Modern Farmhouse" style.   

Boundary fence between the street and front yard. Bunch grasses and Senecio mandraliscae on the street side:

Inside the fence, extensive lawn and narrow straight line shrubbery beds edging the lawn.  The large mature tree (Sycamore? London Plane), part of which can be seen on the right side of the photo, was the only survivor of a previous garden.  Everything else, newly planted:

Bunch grass, Senecio mandraliscae, 'Meyer' Asparagus fern, and boxwood in the narrow planter.  Narrow strip of lawn--why be so stingy with space for the boxwood hedge  and create a mowing annoyance on top of that? 

 

That was about it for the front.  What more can be said about a lot of lawn?  On to the back. 

I thought maybe Bay Laurel on those shrubs, but the tour description said Ficus nitida.  God forbid they leave any space for fence maintenance.  Eyeroll.  

Pool.  The two-boxwoods-one-Westringia planter--they must have put a whole lot of thought into that.  

Standing on the covered patio attached to the back of the house...

Are the tables always set on your garden tours?  My patio table is full of plants and spilled potting soil.  

A shot towards the other side of the yard.  There's the two-boxwoods-one-Westringia thing again.  There's a spotlight aimed at the Westringia--so maybe those plants were just temporary, for the tour?  A lone young Olive tree behind the sofa in the distance.  There's a cornhole game set up (the game is about throwing beanbags into a hole in a sheet of plywood) on the far side of the lawn.   They must have a dog (burn spots on the lawn).  

And that was it.  It looked like pictures in a magazine and was about as personal. 

 Curious as to what the property looked like before the remodel?  The blurb referred to the house as originally "Craftsman".  Did they tear down an old farmhouse?  I looked on google maps--aha!  Bingo!  A 2020 photo:

Hmm.  I like the "before" better.   Sure, replace some of the shrubs could be replaced (or not shear them into globes), and ditch the ring of plants around the Sycamore, but overall...it was lovely.  They pulled the two maturing Arbutus 'Marina', near the driveway.  A gorgeous, slow-growing, climate-appropriate species.  Sigh.  

One of the finest things about the tour neighborhood were several streets lined with beautiful mature trees.  There were streets with oaks, with Sycamores,  and with Jacarandas.

One of the Open Gardens was on a street without any trees, and it was a whole different experience--not just hotter, but also not as welcoming.  Something about a grand archway of trees evokes wonder and comfort.  

There were some strange uses of trees, too.  Stump -as-plant-stand?

Stump-painted-gold-as-fountain-stand?  What's the rope for? 

Old Eugenia cloud-pruned for decades.  With June's typical SoCal flower:  Agapanthus

The Tecoma looked lonely, so I took a photo of it:

An Italian Stone Pine probably original to the street constructed in 1947. 

TThey appeared to have repaired the curb very recently without distubing the tree:

Towering!

Euphorbia ammaks grow pretty fast here. 30(?) years old at most?  

Just a side glance at the street with all the Sycamores.  It was especially nice.  

Enough for now.  Those lawns!

Do you live on a tree-lined street?