Friday, October 9, 2015

October 9, 2015: Before and After

Shortly after I began this blog in October 2011, I also began a series documenting my front garden with Before and After photos.  I chose that date as the best "Before" shots I had taken from the prior year before I began blogging.

Each year these photos provide a documentation of just how my plants have changed or held up during the previous year.  Although 2015 has been a tough year for San Antonio plants due to drought, from the driveway view things don't appear to have changed much so we need to compare with 2014.

October 9, 2015



The Texas Mountain Laurel near the street has been trimmed up.  It will be a little out of sorts for a year or so and then resume its status as a centerpiece of the hellstrip.  Next to it those Golden Barrels are noticeably larger this year, and a Color Guard Yucca replaced the ornamental grass.  In the center island the Yucca recurvifolia bloomed this spring then suffered serious decline so have been replaced with an unknown Pennisetum.

October 9, 2014



We used Pennisetum which freely reseeds from our neighbor's yard, free in every sense of the word since it grows where it chooses and rarely needs any attention, including water.  My kind of plant and I'm encouraging more of them.

Moving left things look pretty good until we compare it with 2014.

October 9, 2015


The bed we share with a neighbor was a lot more colorful this time last year.  Our cool, wet spring gave way to an abnormally dry summer which has the Salvia greggii struggling this year.  Unfortunately, the visually striking Color Guard Yuccas have been temporarily replaced with much more boring Agave Lophantha "Splendida'.  The Color Guard Yuccas which were here for three years bloomed for the second time this past spring and promptly began to decline.  By June they were so sad looking we had to pull them out.  Not wanting to repeat the cycle we pulled some pups from an existing A. Lophanta and stuck them in the bare spots.  I am looking for some nice sized A. Lophantha 'Quadricolor' to replace them so we can bring color back to this spot.

October 9, 2014


Moving to the island bed, the Yucca rostrata beyond the Mexican Feather Grass has really begun to show up.  Three Yucca recurvifolia have been removed to be replaced with Pennisetum and the Spanish Lavender in the foreground has been replaced with Dyckia 'Silver Nickel' and Flax lily 'Baby Bliss' which should reduce maintenance here by quite a bit.

October 9, 2015



Color Guard Yucca is still there but has been overtaken by the Mexican Feather Grass.

October 9, 2014


Just a few minor changes in the view from the house.  Variegated Flax has been added below the Eleaegnus (in the middle back).  A birdbath added and I added Dwarf Yaupon on either side of the step.  Still quite small, they will eventually add more structure to the Inland Sea Oats.


October 9, 2014



Each year I add a new view to track in the future.  This year will be the Agave gravel garden near the front walk.  I'm trying to establish ground cover there and the Wooly Stemodia continues to struggle.  Silver ponyfoot is not deer resistant so I continue to plant the Wooly Stemodia which is that little silvery sprig between the two agaves.


One area that always looks good with little work is the view over the back fence so I'll end there.


That's the traditional roundup of my annual October look at "Before and After" in the front garden which is where we began our landscaping projects way back in 2009.  We've done a lot in the back garden this year so I'll plan another post on those changes.

Quite frankly, things have looked better in previous years.  To look back at previous posts:

October 9th 2011
October 9th 2012
October 9th 2013
October 9th 2014


5 comments:

  1. Despite this year's challenges, your garden is plenty impressive, Shirley. I do miss the Yucca 'Color Guard' along your front boundary but I've heard from others that Yuccas can lose their oomph after flowering. I admire all your stone. I dig up a lot of stone in my own garden but unfortunately it's mostly of the pebble-sized variety.

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  2. Hi Shirley! That was a great idea to start Before and After series from the very beginning of your blogging!
    Besides other plants, I do love the big trees! They add a lot to the overall view of the garden. The last picture is very, very to my liking. Hopefully, 2016 won't be so hot and dry.

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  3. I always enjoy these before and after post. I enjoy the plantings and seeing the changes. But I drool over all the stone you have access to. Looking forward to the back yard.

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  4. I do enjoy a good before-and-after and you've provided a whole series of them! It is fascinating to look at how different years present different problems and you've responded to them consistently successfully. I don't really see "better" or "worse" when I look at these areas of yours. They all look thoughtfully arranged and gorgeous from here!

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  5. I love the before and after. And it was a relief to look at your photos and realize that we ALL had a tough year this year. Things just aren’t the same as in previous years. But then, that’s the nature of gardening, isn’t it? I just want it all to be beautiful and then keep getting even better. HA!

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