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We got a good rain last evening and I was out picking up the dead palm debris that always comes down after a hard wind and rain and I noticed a very small holly bush coming up from the mother root of the one we have at the corner of our house in the front. Now that holly bush we had to cut down because it had a big tree growing up right beside it that would have been way too big that close to the foundation. We are talking a mere 6 to 8 inches folks. That is too close, so we pulled out the whole thing and guess what? The holly bush is growing back there as well. I know we didn't get all the roots of that out and I did not mind cuz holly is a good foundation bush. The little one that I dug up today got transplanted over on the south side of our house to help hold the bank. It will be pretty and hopefully will have berries for the birds.
I looked further into the lawn and saw not one, but two Lantana's and dug them up and transplanted them to the bank as well. One is yellow and already has bloom. I dug one Lantana up last year and transplanted it and it's a pretty pink/yellow mix. I love the way they smell and the butterflies love them for nectar, but I am allergic to the stems. They make me break out in hives where I touch them so I am careful. When they get big they will be quite attractive and I'll have all kinds of butterflies out there.
Let me tell you about the bank where I transplanted these things to. When we bought this house it was all overgrown with choke cherry trees, some kind of grass, weeds, burrs, and blue rug juniper that was dead or dying. Believe me when I tell you that I knew it was going to be a challenge for me.
Last year pulled the major weeds and burrs, (at the time I didn't know they were burrs) and I let the grass grow to get the seed to sow in our lawn cuz it was so bare. Well, I finally ended up cutting the grass by hand last year. This year our neighbors told us they were afraid of the choke cherry trees hitting their house if we had a tornado. We obliged and cut the trees. I'm not a fan of those anyway and our neighbor even helped us cut the stumps. They were not that large but we don't own a chainsaw.
This year I planted vinca, yellow bells, some kind of succulent, cacti, sago palms and asparagus plant on the bank. I have been weeding steadily and I also planted some Compass Plant here and there. There is a row of ferns and some Virginia Creeper growing and I trimmed up the juniper and it's starting to look good. It already had some Purple Heart plant and that stuff has grown like crazy.
I have really put a lot of time into getting that bank in shape, but I'm not finished. My intention is to dig up all that good grass and transplant it into our lawn. This has to be gradual in order to give all my plants time to grow big enough root systems to hold the soil on the bank. That will be awhile. Now we have an irrigation system that has greatly benefited our lawn. It is looking very good and we have gotten compliments.
I looked further into the lawn and saw not one, but two Lantana's and dug them up and transplanted them to the bank as well. One is yellow and already has bloom. I dug one Lantana up last year and transplanted it and it's a pretty pink/yellow mix. I love the way they smell and the butterflies love them for nectar, but I am allergic to the stems. They make me break out in hives where I touch them so I am careful. When they get big they will be quite attractive and I'll have all kinds of butterflies out there.
Let me tell you about the bank where I transplanted these things to. When we bought this house it was all overgrown with choke cherry trees, some kind of grass, weeds, burrs, and blue rug juniper that was dead or dying. Believe me when I tell you that I knew it was going to be a challenge for me.
Last year pulled the major weeds and burrs, (at the time I didn't know they were burrs) and I let the grass grow to get the seed to sow in our lawn cuz it was so bare. Well, I finally ended up cutting the grass by hand last year. This year our neighbors told us they were afraid of the choke cherry trees hitting their house if we had a tornado. We obliged and cut the trees. I'm not a fan of those anyway and our neighbor even helped us cut the stumps. They were not that large but we don't own a chainsaw.
This year I planted vinca, yellow bells, some kind of succulent, cacti, sago palms and asparagus plant on the bank. I have been weeding steadily and I also planted some Compass Plant here and there. There is a row of ferns and some Virginia Creeper growing and I trimmed up the juniper and it's starting to look good. It already had some Purple Heart plant and that stuff has grown like crazy.
I have really put a lot of time into getting that bank in shape, but I'm not finished. My intention is to dig up all that good grass and transplant it into our lawn. This has to be gradual in order to give all my plants time to grow big enough root systems to hold the soil on the bank. That will be awhile. Now we have an irrigation system that has greatly benefited our lawn. It is looking very good and we have gotten compliments.