The back door garden without a lawn.
That was a wise decision.
Way back we reached a point where keeping the lawn healthy and green became too much of a task. At that point we received notice of water restrictions - that was the last straw.
We dug up every piece of grass. The photo below was taken after a few month's work has been done and planting the aloes have already started. June 2005.
The aloes - blooming or not - are much prettier than a
half-dead lawn and the bonus is that it needs a lot less work and we do not water at all, the rain is enough.
The scene on this photo above is at the opposite side of the tree. One of the portions planted first. The aloes are from
left to right:- Aloe ferox x Aloe arborescens, Aloe mutabilis x Aloe arborescens and Aloe cryptopoda
This planting is next to the tree.
The aloes are Aloe petricola x Aloe globuligemma hybrids which Rudi raised from seeds (far left side on the photo). The close-up below shows more detail. Rudi planted a group of five plants which shows off very well when blooming together. Aloe petricola has an upright raceme and the raceme of
Aloe globuligemma is horizontal. The hybrid plants seems to be somewhat confused which pattern to follow, but I am quite happy with that, it gives an interesting effect.
The hybrid come in two colors. Dark orange
opening to yellow and red-pink opening to a creamy white, both with black stamens.
6 comments:
A green lawn in the garden can be very demanding, needs fertilizer and water, never mind the cutting every week.
I wish I could plant beautiful succulents like you show in your picture.
Looks stunning..
- Cheers from Canada,
Gisela
Canada is snow at least in the winter. That will not work with aloes. But do you have a lawn? I see many people here do patterns in different stones with some hardy small plants in between.
By hook or by crook in modern times lawns will have to go.
wow Erica those looms are so beautiful. I now have several aloe plants from the seeds you sent.
Hello Nicole. I went for a quick visit to your Caribean garden. That is so beautiful.
Maybe you should try to find a space with a stony soil for the aloes. Is there any thing that will not grow in your garden ;-)
Love your site. You are my first link on my site http://agreenearth.blogspot.com
Look forward to discovering more about your garden.
Erica, I love your garden. Thanks so much for sharing it with us!
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