My vision and plan for the front yard path, patio and garden has been in development for several years. I am motivated by a desire to:
- reveal attractive details of our 1939 Southern California home,
- plant drought-tolerant plants that dance in the breeze, attracting birds, butterflies and insects,
- re-purpose reclaimed or rescued materials to do my part keeping useful materials out of our landfills and save myself some money,
- create a unique and beautiful space where I can enjoy the plants, wildlife, shade from large nearby trees and welcome friends and neighbors.
This picture is of our home with the old plantings already removed. I used construction paper and coloured pens to visualize and articulate what the new front view of the house could look like with different plants on mounds I would add near the sidewalk. A split rail fence is drawn in at the left.
I collected path and patio materials over many months and from various locations: brick from a nearby alley where the homeowner had no further use for them for his project, rosy-pink concrete from what appeared to be an illegal dump several miles away, and other material from tear-outs or leftovers from completed jobs. Once I had what I thought was a good number of materials to work with I put together a plan on grid paper using photographs of the materials.
