We moved into this house on November 15, 2010. At that time the front yard was in poor shape, the narrow side yards had been untended for years, the back of the property had a few nice trees and several overgrown shrubs on a steep bank. A small flat area was a combination of gravel and bermuda grass. As people on the HGTV show House Hunters like to say, it was a total gut job.
We re-landscaped most of the property, adding boulder retaining walls, steps, lighting, fern and rhododendron beds, roses, raised beds and so on, all filled with plants, shrubs and trees of our choosing. I’ve posted many photos of the updated property.
However there has been one area we hadn’t done anything with:
So last Thursday we dug out the plants we wanted to save. On Friday and part of Saturday this block wall went in, and new soil behind it. Plants were replanted and a few new ones added. The area went from a dry bank with lousy soil to a new raised planting bed with new soil and better irrigation. Most of the plants will be in full bloom in another month or two. The before on the left picture was taken a few days after we moved in, shivering in the cold. The after picture was taken Sunday morning.
The Broken Bullhorn 
Looking good. Wish I had the talent.
Good job. I like the stone wall a lot.
YOur neighbors must be thrilled. Wish you lived next to me.
OUr first attempts at landscaping our home have failed pretty miserably. We’ll wait to build up energy to try again.
Was this all DIY? Very impressive. Puts to shame the rebuild of our roof deck we did last year that was a DIY group effort. More creativity involved in your kind of landscaping than our basic carpentry.
Impressive work! I wish we could sub-contract our landscaping to you and Barbara.
Quite a transformation. Beautiful.