Garden Trek Series - Episode 4

This week's Garden Trek episode is really one of my favorites.  We had this face that used to hang on a wooden fence at our house in Tulsa.  My husband built a stacked stone reservoir under it and Boston Ivy surrounded it.  Unfortunately I don't have a good picture of it, but you will be able to spot it in this picture, if you look at the fence area right under the tree in the middle of the yard:

BEFORE - I am linking this post to Metamorphosis Monday and Outdoor Wednesday

At this house, we have a side yard that is simply an eyesore.  Specially because it sits right next to the courtyard leading to the front door.  When we first moved in, this area was a bed of rocks housing several dead or dying bougainvillea plants.  Mind you, this bed is flanked by buildings and sits in the darkest side of the yard - North!  How can a tropical blooming species thrive in such location?!  I don't think that the previous owners knew much about gardening...

I have seen something similar done in gardening shows, but this was going to be a bit of a challenge.  The face weights approximately 150 lbs of solid concrete.  And we do live in hurricane land, so we had to be a little ingenuous.  My Mr. Darcy dug a huge whole and filled it with 100 lbs of concrete.  He then set an 8 foot 4''X4'' pressure treated post in it.  Afterwords, he added two blocks of 4x4s to offset it from the bushes that we would then plant behind it.  The idea is to have the face float out of the hedge.

We then set out to figure out which plant material to use.  We could have chosen any tall bushes, but the supply and cost made us select Pyracantha.  I love that plant!  Even though it has thorns, this shrub produces gorgeous fragrant white flowers in the Spring, which grow into berries in the Summer.  The berries turn a lovely shade of orange by Fall and small birds feed on them thru Winter.  We planted six Pyracantha, maybe a couple of feet apart.  They will grow into each other very quickly.  We probably used too many of them, but wanted quick results.

AFTER

Steve will add a wire spallier in the back to ensure that the plants grow in the right direction.  He has also spray painted the pole with camouflage green rustoleum.  We are still debating on whether or not we'll be adding a reservoir underneath it to get the water flowing.  I have plans to only use white flowering material on this side of the house... azaleas, white hydrangeas, and a climbing rose.  But like everything with gardening, we will be doing it slowly as the plant material becomes available.

I hope you've enjoyed this episode of my Garden Trek series.  If you haven't entered my lovely giveaway, please go here and do so now.

Also, don't forget to check back on Wednesday, when we start our new series on The Shiny Pebble Designer Challenge, or: Please, make this pebble shine again.  Blog world's most popular and talented designers will be featuring their visions for my dining room on a weekly basis, right here.  You won't want to miss it.