The Bungalow Pit

Yesterday Rachel and I went out to the Masonry Club to see what kind of stones and rocks they had for the walkways in our front yard. They had a great selection and were really helpful. We picked a pallet of their Sydney Peak stones for the walkways:

And a pallet of their medium sized River Rocks for borders and raised beds:

The semi truck and fork lift showed up 7 AM this morning:

Our driveway is now full of tonnes of rocks, stones and sand, just waiting for us to get the pathways dug and the soil evened out.

For the curious, the rocks and stones are sold by weight. The pallet of River Rocks was $300 and the Sydney Peak stones came to $485; not as bad as we’d feared.

Masonry Club • 8563 San Fernando Rd Sun Valley CA 91352 • (818) 768-3176

Rachel and I found (and bought) some great plants at the Hollywood Farmers Market about a month ago and made sure to get the vendors card. Today we drove out to see their selection. Worldwide Exotics Nursery is located in Lake View Terrace, a drive from Hollywood, but worth it as it turns out. They had a great selection and knowledgeable staff—a rare combo.

We picked up two Abutilons with deep red flowers, another double-white Brugmansia, a Cestrum, Felicia Variegata, Salvia, French lavender, and others; but the one I’m most curious about is the Clerodendrum Fragrans. We told them we were thinking of planting Hydrangeas in the front yard and they recommended the Clerodendrum Fragrans, similar in appearance but doesn’t go brown like the Hydrangea and has fragrant flowers that attract butterflies. We now have a driveway full of plants waiting to be planted.

If you don’t mind the drive, check them out and bring cash or checks—they don’t take plastic. We filled the car with plants for $170.

Worldwide Exotics Nursery • 11157 Orcas Ave. Lake View Terrace CA 91342 • (818) 890-1915

It seems there’s always something preventing us from doing what we want to do next. Take the front yard: we wanted to redesign the front yard to make it more inviting and inspirational. When we bought the house, it was too formal for our tastes and had some issues: the boxwood hedge guided you to the front door, but prohibited you from entering the yard (it was also home to an insane army of snails), the creeping rose was never trimmed and had been trained to block the light from entering the living room windows, the sweet gum tree had never been trimmed, the soil had never been treated or leveled, the sprinklers were poorly installed, leaked everywhere and were causing damage all over the property (including the foundation), the shrubs on the right blocked passage into the alley, the list goes on and on—but it looked nice on the surface:

Add to that the damage caused from other work. The Sinai Construction crew sawed through the roots of the trees in the front yard (killing one tree and damaging another), the Fireplace Freddie crew piled bricks and debris on the grass (killing it) and the dirt had to be dug up twice to put new plumbing in (a new drain pipe and new water main.)

We decided we might as well go clean slate. We’ve removed the grass, the hedges, one tree, several roses, the broken concrete, the poorly installed path lighting, and tonnes of soil. We trimmed the sweet gum tree and dug steps into the yard to create levels and deal with the drainage issues. We’ve installed a new drip irrigation system and have started our landscaping plans. Meanwhile, this is what we’re coming home to.