That's a well cover, Shirley. Actually I plan on jackhammering out the top two feet of well lining, dropping in a slab of slate, and backfilling with dirt. I am hoping next year to finish the privacy fence around my yard. After that, I have a source for railroad ties. I am going to do 30" high raised beds, probably 10 feet long by six feet wide, three of them by two to fill the large area of grass in my back yard (with deeply mulched paths in between.)
I inherited the bones of this garden from the house's previous owner. All I am doing is refining. She had a habit of sticking plants anywhere, without regard for their prefered environment. I found yuccas (yucca filamentosa) stuck out in a shady, rocky area where they were slowly dying. When I moved them out front in the area where I have my palm tree, they went insane. Yuccas r us.
I hear wonderful stories about needle palms. I am seriously considering cutting out the smaller of the two maple trees out in front of my house and replacing it with a needle palm. I know it will need to be sheltered the first few years, but I suspect after that it would do fine. Plus, it would look dramatic on my street. :)
The trifoliate orange I want for the smell of citrus blossoms. I'm not a big one for marmalade (which you can make with the peels), but the smell of fresh citrus blossoms can't be beaten. The oranges look pretty in winter though, so it should be an attractive plant pretty much all year long. With the neighbor boy, who I've nicknamed Dennis the Menace, the thorns of that tree might keep him at bay. He's a good kid at heart, but wow, what an active, destructive little fellow. The little cretin maimed my musa sikkimensis a few weeks after I took that picture.
Another good reason to finish my fence, so at least the obstacles into my yard are a bit taller. :)
Does anyone know of a hardy bay laurel that might handle my zone?
-Joe
