my mini garden transformation

We’ve made some changes to our garden in the back and I couldn’t be happier!

When we originally had our backyard finished I didn’t realize that some of the plants that I had counted on to cover certain areas wouldn’t make it and as a result I’ve spent too much money and time the last few years constantly replacing those plants. My small garden simply didn’t have the tailored feel that I covet.

Although I love flowers everywhere and that wild cottage garden look, my backyard is limited on space and sun with a close fence set up on a raised hill.

This wouldn’t be a problem if my house didn’t sit so closely to the fence line. As a result every time we looked out from the inside our eye was immediately drawn to the fence rather than our gorgeous pool.

Small yards are very typical with Bay Area California homes. I miss the days when we lived in Austin, TX where we had a huge yard with lots of wide open spaces.

My current backyard usable space is very narrow and small and so when choosing the design or layout of the yard I knew I needed to have more of a courtyard feel with raised gardens.

Rather than putting in a water fountain we decided to place a pool against the wall to give us a little soft scape (albeit water) and a resort-like feel while we are inside the house looking out.

This week we decided to remove all my scattered fill in trees and plants behind the pool along with a tree next to the pool that I loved but was already causing problems.

We replaced all the clay soil with rich garden soil and filled the entire area behind the pool wall with Ligustrum, (which will get tall and cover the fence) more Boxwood borders and pink Penstemon set behind the high part of the pool wall.

I adore Pentstemon in that it lends a cottage feel with gorgeous tall flower stalks and keeps flowering all year here in California until late winter.

We added 2 more large spiral Ligustrum topiaries against the fence (like the ones below against the house) where the large tree had been and added a boxwood border along with a Jasmine climber and more Penstemon.

I’ll keep the garden looking tailored and manicured like the gardens in Europe that I’ve always been a fan of. Keeping things with a more manicured look will definitely help our small garden space seem larger. I adore all things tailored when it comes to pathways, walls and yes now fences. Of course taking into account al the flowers I’ll stuff in between. ;)

Something I am worried about is if our friends with kids come and stay in our house, the kids might fall into the pool which is a major safety concern. I am going to be looking for a way to add fencing around the pool and get in someone like Total Pool Fence Compliance Brisbane to make sure it meets safety standards but at the same time doesn’t make our yard look tiny!

Thanks so much for looking into my mini garden transformation. As things take shape in the next few months I’ll be sure to keep you posted as to how things are looking~

Hugs and Happy Thursday!

xo