Succulents and More™

The front yard project I first mentioned a couple of weeks ago (see “ Eeking out 40 sq. ft. of additional planting space ” and “ Planting the newly gained space in the front yard ”) is closer to completion. After planting the new space, the two major tasks left to do were putting down decomposed granite on the walkways and adding top dressing to the beds. When the material arrived on Tuesday morning – 1 cubic yard of DG and 3 cubic yards of 5/16" red lava rock – I was worried for a second that I’d ordered too much. But that’s how it always is; in the end, there’s very little left over. Tuesday morning, right after delivery By Tuesday evening, I’d spread most of the red lava: Wednesday morning On Wednesday morning, I distributed the rest of the lava and spread the DG on the paths, both the walkway into the backyard through the new gate... Just in time for the rain on Thursday ...as well as the walkways around the two succulent mounds inside the front yard fence: The original pathfi...

In November 2018, the Sacramento Cactus and Succulent Society (SCSS) created a demonstration garden at the Shepard Garden & Arts Center where our monthly meetings are held. Check out this post for all the details and to see photos I took on the day we installed the garden. I posted an update in January 2021 , at the height of Covid, but have been remiss in keeping you informed on how the garden has evolved. In 2023, the SCSS was invited to expand the garden to include the short leg at the far end of the L-shaped bed you see in the photo below: Most plants were donated by club members; a few specimen-sized plants were purchased with club funds The SCSS demonstration garden faces McKinley Boulevard, a street that gets a lot of foot traffic. The garden has high visibility and is seen by many people walking by. Thanks to regular maintenance (weeding and general cleanup) by SCSS volunteers Dave, Bill, George and others, the garden looks fantastic. Let’s take a look, beginning with th...