How do you have a pond on your roof?! D:
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The narrow side of the driveway. Nectarines + ? To be planted on this gardens side in the fall (and mini). Lots of diversity in the garden bed to the street, but mostly planted last fall, so needs another year to fill out. But, I have high hopes for how it will look mid summer/fall. I try to plant a mix of perennials for blooms early spring to frost in every bed. Needs a few more plants… Stella cherry there is pathetic, no new growth and getting pulled in the fall. My bad for buying a 6’ tree and from Willis. Can see 4 of the pink muhly grasses that I’m convinced the pill bugs and slugs killed. Pissed off about that as they were established and gorgeous. 3 more killed on the other side of the driveway. Going to dig them up and divide and see if any signs of life.
Also picture of berry alley - elderberries, aronias, currant, raspberries and some monarda here and there.
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I’m glad I’m not alone in eyeballing the neighbors’ houses and wishing I could buy an adjoining house for the yard space
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You can see my neighbors plain, flat, totally exposed grass backyard in my last picture 
I want it so bad. So worried it’s going to go to a developer and shade my alley and driveway garden.
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that would be the worst! my only direct neighbor is really nice, she has inherited the giant rhubarb that has been there at least ten years and didn’t know what it was. I asked her if I could have some when they first moved in and she got excited. now she wants a start from my mulberry tree, we are planting raspberries and roses along our connecting fence, and she’s growing more flowers out front
across the street that house the people are really nice and they have a garden patch and lots of container plants. they did cut a huge tree that helped shade my front yard/garden which makes it harder for me to grow anything out there, that was pretty sad. they gave me some stumps and logs though when they did it so I built a bed out of those
behind my house across the alley is a guy who cut the biggest most gorgeous oaks so he could put in a RV pad that he has no RV for. that was years ago and I’m still upset. my morning coffee view used to be that big old tree and now it’s a piece of metal flashing. his place is the one I really covet because he’s got nothing but grass going, just a big flat space the size of my lot, small house. his garbage outbuildings could come down easy and I could have an actual 1/2 acre orchard with 2 houses on it
the duplex across the other street from us was for sale recently and i never needed to win the lottery so badly in my life but alas I did not. the new owner is nice and friendly and likes my apple trees and said he might put some in their front and side there.
I’m on the corner so my big trees shade the neighbors. nobody’s lot can shade mine out really. I’ve got two ponderosa the arborist said are really old. they’re in photos of the house being built in 1910. so at least that old. they shade my driveway to full shade so can’t grow much back there
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Ugh that backyard neighbor and his RV pad sounds rough. I’m sorry you lost the pretty tree view. Wonderful that you have such old trees on a corner lot! We cut down 11 to build. I mourned them for a long time. In the end, the lot is significantly more beneficial to the habitat given the native diversity, more beneficial to us since I can grow so much more food and admire the pollinators, but not sure we will ever recoup the insult to the environment from the destruction and construction. Lots are demoed every week around me and replanted with sod, boxwoods and a Japanese of Chinese maple. Breaks my heart. A lot of people are out walking in nice weather and people stop to admire the street gardens or the pumpkins, so I am planning on putting up a sign with an email and number for free help with native landscaping.
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I would hate to do this as work for anyone but myself haha
the trees out front, a bridal veil, a lilac and a mock orange are all visible in the builder’s photos. a carpenter built our house, so the plumbing and electric is bad but the bones are great.
the big trees were taller than the roof line when the house was built, and it looks like they cut at least 3 or 4 the same size to get the house on the lot. of course back then that guy owned the entire block pretty much. this was the closest to the road at that time (the side streets were gravel/dirt ruts).
a historic photo, I’ll have to dig out the ones I’ve got of our place, but this is now a 5 lane secondary “highway” through town. the dirt side street here is bigger than the street our house is on. it looked like a well worn dirt road in the old photos of the place, small, horses only really up until around that time. the “big” road in this picture is 2 blocks away from us.
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That’s wild!
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Don’t beat me up for looking too ‘white trash’ as my mother put it. It’s a work in progress and there is a method to my madness!
That is my roomate’s vehicle with the tattered cover, and my little truck behind. Along thr fence behind them, front to back, is 5-way asian pear, new planted peach that is doing nothing, Halehaven peach, and behind tarp covering hay is jujube Li and Lang which I transplanted earlier this year.
This is towards the back of my yard, in front of my garage where the sewer connection goes underground. Thinking about making more chicken space here, but also good for various raised beds or potted things…
I have a new greenhouse and the mobile chicken coop set up here.
Potatoes and choice sunchokes planted in the boxes on the left.
On the right: Two types of muscadine I dug from the ground and potted. Broke one and think I killed it. The stem still green though.
The big circular pots are elephant ear.
The wire cage makeshift planter is yacon grown from seed.
I also totally forgot I actually do have some loquat, neglected, grown from seed someone sent me from Florida. Regular landscape variety.
Elephant ears and three types of yacon. The windows are protection for my garage because there are no gutters! I was originally going to make a greenhouse out of the windows.
You also see pot storage and toolshed.
I know this looks horrible but my husband slapped this cold frame together for me last season to test it. It worked and he’ll actually frame it out soon!
Side garden with new chicken tunnel. Just planted out all my corn, and few tomatoes.
This front greenhouse doesn’t get as hot. So far been using to start/kick out of house plants. The back one is for tropical types.
Three types of figs under eave of house.
Raspberries and mint in pots. Mostly unknown varieties but the far left is a black rasberry 'Jewel. There is also a cascade gold.
I’m hoping bees will move into my hive. I have FINALLY seen a good many honey bees on my kale/collards stand there.
I’ve got some different varieties of blackberry in the black totes. Thanks @krismoriah .
I really wanted a pond but could not decide where to dig one, so I figured on getting a 300gal stock tank would work in a pinch. My Mom gave me a bunch of pond stuff since she dismantled hers. I want to have plants stacked around or growing over the water tower/filter/waterfall, but haven’t decided how.
Behind water tower is Currant Corner.
Other side of pond has two persimmon trees. (One Fuyu and one Meader, one died to rootstock but not sure which.) Behind them is a sort of ‘nursery’ where I’m rooting some plum tree cuttings.
Front of house: dead Puget Gold apricot and sad Ume in center. Strawberries going ham. Wheelbarrow flowers and some currant cuttings.
Front front of house! Purple artichoke line the sidewalk. Some flowers coming!
Two avocado trees up front from the hardy project.
Three plum trees- Santa Rosa, European prune, and a multi-grafted.
Trying out the hay bale garden this year to grow squash. Gonna let them run free out there.
Probably cant see too well at the far end, a small apple tree from seed that also hosts my first successful graft. Also a shanso pepper tree, and random fig from GA.
I think that is about it.
Fuzzy kiwi cuttings in greenhouse.
I am exited for strawberries!
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You’ve certainly packed in a lot and gotten really creative with containers! I’ve been toying with getting a bunch of rectangular storage bins for the section section of fence I don’t want to excavate to plant. They’re holding up well for you? Not warping in the sun?
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Some of the street garden. There are 75+ different varieties of natives in there and around the side and front foundation (way more actual plants), it’s really hard to capture it especially as it’s all just getting big and green. Spring bloomers are mostly done and summer are getting big and some just starting to form flowers. It’s only 1.5-1year old and might bust my heart when in full bloom this year! The invasive hedge crap in the background are the rental property neighbors and I 100% despise them. Planted a ton in front and hoping by the mid summer, I shouldn’t be able to see a lot of it. (As long as I continue to prune it to them to 5-6’…) pumpkins and melon starts and seeds when into the edge closest to the grass a week ago.
This is what the pumpkin/melon yard becomes. Last year of this then it’ll grow in and around the TB-planted mini orchard.
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This is why I won’t live in a city. I need space
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That is just leaf rot and green rot compost. It is very light. I call my place, the Beverly Hillbillies East. I use 55 gallon half barrels filled with compost for a wall to hold the loose medium.
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That is a low spot and the water is about 1 inch deep at the deepest.
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The roof tree is in a barrel?
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No It is in the compost on the roof. I will have to strengthen the rafters as the tree grows and I add more compost.
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Would hardy kiwi vines or passionfruit grow over top of bush honeysuckle like a trellis?
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I have a small urban lot of only a tenth of an acre. I have had a vegetable garden the last few years and am just starting to add trees and berries. Thank you to every one contributing to this thread. Its great to see ideas and layouts that are more applicable to my situation.
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Sorry I didn’t understand this question right. Deleted what I wrote. Interesting idea.
I particularly love your pond solution, I’ve been dreaming of one for a while, but don’t want to commit that space. I have little tree frogs in my yard that keep nasties at bay, and found a little toad in one of my kiwi planters. They sure would enjoy a water feature as long as they can get to it.
Also the window cold frame! I picked up a window from the side of the road in 2021 that is still sitting unused in my shed. I had and still have lofty goals for it, LOL.
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