Backyard Tropical Oasis

Yesterday was a beautiful day. And while most people (in the states) may have been planted in front of the TV watching the Super Bowl game, my husband and I were doing a different kind of planting. Our new home doesn't have much of a yard. Just a little side yard that is sandwiched between ours' and our neighbor's house. However, everyone that walks up to our front door will see it. For the past few years this yard has been a mess and in need of some serious TLC. We were finally tired of being embarrassed by our little yard and paid some attention to it.

Here is my hubbie with our dog looking on as we discuss our plans. We decided that we needed to move some of the pavers around to widen the path in some areas and give it a more natural curve to where it opens up into the wider area of the yard.

 Here is the path all cleaned up. As you know we love tropical and with our recent trip to Hawaii we were inspired to bring Hawaii to us. We purchased bamboo fencing to separate the path from the planted section. We put in a fern, a sago palm, a bird of paradise, some begonias and my favorite a Ti Plant. Now I just have to let them do their job and get nice and lush!

Our little dog checking out the work!

This little side section is what you first see when you open the gate to come to our front door. We used the bamboo fencing again. We put in some Kaffir lilies, a Birds of Paradise and a Fiddle Leaf Fig tree. The tree we are actually going to keep potted, for two reasons, one there is cement under where it sits so we couldn't plant it and two I think I'll need to move it in the summer when it'll get too much sun. We also poured red lava rock into this area to add a pop of color. Plus its a great home for Fred and Ethel!!

Lucky for me there was already some planters up on the porch by the door. So I picked up a few more colorful tropical plants to drop into those to greet me every morning when I walk the pups. And of course, I couldn't resist putting in a dwarf lime tree for all my cocktail needs!

Hubbie with the kids looking at what will be the more daunting task. Under that clover is more pavers. We are going to dig all the clover up and expose the pavers then pour gravel in between all the pavers. Unfortunately we didn't get to that on Sunday so it is still looming in our future. This section actually still has alot more work to be done. We ordered some planted bamboo to put in and I still need to pick up a few more potted plants. We have to figure out a good way to setup our smoker out here and find some great chairs to relax in. Plus what tropical yard wouldn't be complete without an amazing tiki statue...guess that means another trip to Hawaii in my future to pick one up!!!

We are very proud of how much we got done. Plus I realized how much I love living in Southern California because it means I have the opportunity to garden pretty much any time of the year. Within the next few months we'll be having the outside of the house painted, and hopefully by then our little oasis will be flourishing so that come summertime this will be a happy little space to hang out with a Mai Tai or two!