March, 2004
As you can see from these photographs, the garden has certainly greened up since the sod, or turf, was put down just a month ago. Plenty of light rain has really helped the grass settle nicely and it's already had its first cut.
The first picture looks out from the back door, across the patio. I've planted some bushes in the flowerbed along the back fence. At the moment, I've got some dwarf Burford Hollies, and some Nandina, or Heavenly Bamboo, only a foot high at the moment, but both of them do well in my area. I also picked up a couple of something called a Hummingbird Bush - I have no idea what it is, but it's quite attractive - only time will tell!
Lying in the middle of the flowerbed is a soaker hose, which I just laid out before taking the photograph. It will be covered with mulch next weekend, when it's lying down better and not trying to coil up. Then I'll be able to water the plant roots directly and not waste water.
Around the edge of the patio, in the area we couldn't put pavers in because we ran out of time and sand, I have planted BellaTM Lavender, an ever-blooming lavender from Australia, which supposedly does well in heat and drought - we'll see about that!