Landscaping is Done ..............................

We are so happy with the finished product.       Susan did a great job designing it and rolling along with the on-the-spot adjustments that I made.  

This is our backyard and the plantings along the lanai.      You can see the magnolia and that smaller bed at the end.

Another view ......

This Roebellini is on the corner of our garage.

A view from the drive-way to the street.     We added a couple planters so I have a place to putz when I need to play in the dirt.

The plants along the lanai and in this lower garden were primarily chosen for their height - we insisted that it's naturally full height would not block our view when we are seated on the lanai.    

My pride and joy - the Pineapple Palm.     This was the only plant I knew for certain I had to have.

Sunset and our new landscaping.     Life is Good!!!

Trees arrive.......................

We are getting two large palms  (along with 3 additional crew members)

The Canary Palm   (also called Pineapple Palm) is going in the backyard corner bed where we can see it from the lanai.     This is my favorite item of everything being planted today.      We were able to tag the trees/plants we wanted at the nursery a few days earlier.

At this point the tractor is still hooked to the tree until the crew stabilizes it and Susan is satisfied that it is positioned correctly.

They keep the fronds tied together until it is completely planted, etc.

The sod cutter is back in business.     The bed is at least doubled from the original size.     A little more fine tuning of the shape  (at my request) and we are set.     RJ knows me so well.     He says that we can always adjust it later if I want.     It's easy to cut out sod.  

It's time for the big reveal - the cords are cut...........

What do you think?      I can certainly understand why they kept it tied until now!

It's now time to install the Sylvester Palm by the guest room window out front.

The process is the same, but this palm is a bit smaller and easier to manage.

The reveal.....  

The rest of the afternoon  (til Happy Hour) was spent planting all the smaller plants/trees and laying the pine straw.

Tomorrow's blog will be the finished product.      We love it .........

Landscaping begins..................

We bought a new home, so we had typical builder landscaping - nothing too exciting.      We've been in for three months and decided it was time to make it our own.....

Our front was nice enough with a magnolia tree, etc.     I never did like the flowering tree next to the house.     We donated that to the compost pile!

We moved in November 21st.     The next day was my birthday and I decided the best gift I could give myself would be to pull out all the ugly shrubs they had planted along our lanai.     It was actually a very easy job since they had been in the ground less than a month.

The designer and crew of three arrived around 9 a.m. and began unloading.    

We have been working with Susan (lime green shirt) a landscape designer at a local nursery.    She is one of those neat ladies who understands that while she is the expert, I am the customer.     There were lots and lots of changes as the day progressed and she took it all in stride.   In fact, after our two meetings at the nursery (and one at our home) she knew what she was facing and brought a few options for me that weren't in the plan.     Smart lady!

The crew wasted no time in removing the Magnolia tree and moving it to the backyard.

They placed the muhly grass and flowering firecracker plants along the back.      There is a bottlebrush shrub at each end   (one of them also moved from the front yard)

It was time to remove sod and form the featured bed.     It was obvious immediately that it was way too small.      Susan assured me it will be adjusted once the tree arrives.

Our large tree bed will also have two sago palms, and filler plants.     These two guys took turns digging the hole.    Fortunately we are mostly sand and it was cool today   (75 degrees)      I delivered a lot of bottles of water!     The bales are pine straw which we use as mulch.

This bed at the other end of our back yard also got enlarged a couple times.      I am so glad Susan is a patient person.      I was frequently changing placement of the plants   (you know how I like spacing between things).     I did agree that this smaller bed should be more closely planted - I can always dig a few out later if need be.

When we broke for lunch, I was sitting on the lanai and two finch were already in my bottlebrush bush.   YES!

At this point the truck arrived with the trees.     That, however, will be tomorrow's post.