Pix to remember the garden by, and first boxes

I loved and hated this yard. I mean I really did love it because of the scenic mountains we could see from here, and it was so large it was great for the pets and it buffered the neighbors, so we could feel that we had our own space. But the weeds were terrible and it needed a lot of water. I might try xeriscaping if I were to do it again. I understand now why so many people here landscape by putting down black plastic with rocks over the top and not having plants at all, or having a few peeking through, but I don't like that, and I wouldn't do it. We tore out all of the old black plastic but then the weeds had a field day. Once I found out that kitchen sage grew well, needed little water, survived winter, had purple flowers, and kept down the weeds, I began planting it everywhere. Unfortunately, I had to leave before most of the plants got big enough to do what they were supposed to do. The ones in the planter here are getting a good start, but they're still having to cope with the weeds, and the weeds were too much for me.

Here Elvis, Leila, and Pterelas are all enjoying being outside. Whenever I came out to work, I had lots of helpers.

The catnip has sprouted way up since last photo. I can't say Elvis pays any attention, but I like looking at it.

The plants in the front are sage. I even put one in the empty spot in the box with the rose bushes.

Happily-growing sage plants.

Here's another view of the garden facing west. Mt. Garfield is just behind that house. The grass had become a big problem. The gound got hard, as it will eventually since the soil is mostly clay. The weeds grow and the grass doesn't. It looked good when we moved in. It seems we needed to learn about lawns. I don't remember that lawns were such a science in California. You watered them and mowed them. This seemed to be a different set of rules.

Here are the first four moving boxes. I love bankers' boxes. They're so easy to stack and store. They're big enough to be useful and small enough not to be cumbersome. I got the bright idea to order a whole lot of them for everything that would fit in that size box, label them carefully, and place them on two-by-fours so they wouldn't get wet. It worked extremely well. I didn't realize it yet, but I was investing in furniture for my future apartment, too.