The Garden

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Before and After That, to June '09

The basic clean-up ... from where we started in August, 2007, the 360º tour, starting at the back of the house, turning right

Months of debris removed, then dead trees and a live mango removed,
concrete sink on the back patio removed, and then brick walkways, a cactus garden and raised beds added

Concrete blocks and a couple of dead trees removed, then raised beds out of reclaimed bricks constructed

More dead growth removed, mangos trimmed,
raised beds constructed of used brick and concrete blocks found on the property or given to us by neighbors

A metal camper top and other sheets of metal removed,
along with seven roosting chickens behind it, then more raised beds and walkways out of reclaimed materials constructed

Then looking into the neighbor's yard that adjoins ours

A mosquito breeding ground with 5-gallon drums full of water,
old tires and other garbage, more than a hundred fallen cocos, a bunch of coco fronds and weeds higher than the walls

Cleaned, with a few coco and nancy trees growing, and compost bins constructed of wire fencing

27 February, 2009

Chop, Chop

One mango tree gone, two severely trimmed...

Trees - before Jose and crew got ahold of 'em.
The mango on the left went away, two others were severely trimmed down to 25 feet high

After the fall - panning from the neighbor's lot (left) to our back patio after an impressive chainsaw, machete and rope show, then a herculean clean-up effort

Topping the mango next to the water plant's row of windows - didn't break a-one!
On the right, the mango by the back door in the process of coming completely down.

The far-back mango, naked

The theory: chop off the tops to let the branches fill in lower to the ground. Shade will return as they fill in, fruit will be closer to picking height. On the other hand, we didn't want to take all the shade away from the water plant's windows, exposed to the south. Quite abit was left up there to block the sun, and also their view into my bedroom window, although the branches overhanging their roof and scratching the windows were chopped back.

Front Garden and Carport

The front yard, way before

Stan chopped the cedars...

... but ants marched away with the newly planted ground cover

Another spot we're working, the back corner where lots and lots of gravel was flung. The plan is to augment the soil on top with compost until it's workable, and then cover the wall with something gorgeous.

While we wait for the compost to cook, we're nursing the neighbor's potted plants that we saved when she moved out - in the bucket, a Mexican Oregano smells yummy.

The Iguana Wall - shoring up the back corner,
a favorite sunning spot for mango-eaters. Adding another
little wall, before and during - stay tuned for the after.