Green texture in my live oak-shaded garden

January 31, 2021

At the end of a dog walk a few days ago, I ran my eyes along the streetside edge of my island bed, automatically checking for fallen branches, weeds, armadillo holes — as one does. Suddenly my perspective shifted, and I saw the plantings anew, as if through a stranger’s eyes, which is always a gift. And I liked what I saw: varied textures and hues of greenery, all necessarily deer proof and shade tolerant, thriving beneath the live oaks.

Nah, it’s not perfect. There are gaps and less foliage color contrast than I’d like. But considering how hard these plants have had to work to thrive here — clawing a foothold amid masses of tree roots, herds of deer, dry soil, extreme heat, and, yes, dog marking (RIP, ‘Micron’ holly) — they’re looking good, providing privacy and obscuring views of parked cars, offering habitat for wildlife, and looking pretty year-round.

Consider, for contrast: this is how it looked when we moved in, back in 2008. A mass of star jasmine, Asian jasmine, spindly invasive nandina, and purple lantana provided greenery but lacked contrast, height, and interest. I ripped everything out and replanted in 2010.

A patient 11 years later (ha!), mature swaths of bamboo muhly (Muhlenbergia dumosa), Lindheimer nolina (Nolina lindheimeri), rosemary (Rosmarinus officinalis), and Jerusalem sage (Phlomis fruticosa, not pictured) wrap around a focal-point silver Mediterranean fan palm (Chamaerops humilis var. argentea) and sprawling prickly pear (Opuntia gomei ‘Old Mexico’, also not pictured).

With glaucous leaves that brighten dappled shade, silver Mediterranean fan palm is an absolute beauty. It grows MUCH slower than the standard Mediterranean fan palm, however. Just so you know.

Look at how tiny that fan palm was (upper-left corner) back in 2010! Also, I’d forgotten that our house was ever painted that ivory-beige color. At least we had gotten rid of the brown shutters by this point. Progress is slow, y’all, but steady.

Before you go, here’s a quick peek at our newest garden resident, a male screech owl (I think) who’s been wooing females from the owl box hole every night. I’m hoping a lovely lady owl decides to take up residence in the next month or so, laying eggs and raising a family of owlets in the box.

I’m once again a screech owl innkeeper, and I couldn’t be happier.

__________________________

Digging Deeper

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All material © 2024 by Pam Penick for Digging. Unauthorized reproduction prohibited.

33 responses to “Green texture in my live oak-shaded garden”

  1. KARIN PEREIRA says:

    As always, or rather, when we visited your home and garden, I was taken by your circular driveway and all the greenery. Let me send you some breeding vibes for your owl and hope we see a baby or so in the future.

  2. One forgets how things looked 10 years ago. It is good to look back to better appreciate the improvements. I like the diversity of plants you choose for this bed. It really has filled in nicely!

    • Pam/Digging says:

      Thanks, Karin. Yes, a photo library is one of the reasons blogging appeals to me so much. I love looking back to see how much plants have grown or to see how the design has evolved over time.

  3. I always love that lightbulb moment, when you realize that you achieved your garden goals. What fun to have owls in residence!

    • Pam/Digging says:

      Just feeling happy about how the garden is filling in is goal enough for me. This is the longest I’ve ever lived and gardened anywhere (12 years), and it’s giving me a new perspective on how a garden’s design plays out over time.

  4. Kris P says:

    Gardens are ever-changing but it’s always good to see them moving in a positive direction. I’m glad to see you’ve got another owl in residence!

    • Pam/Digging says:

      Absolutely, Kris. Things change, plants come and go, but overall I’m feeling pleased with the evolution of this space.

  5. Laura says:

    Very nice. The contrasting textures stand out, and boy, what a difference from 2008. Hope you get an owl mama in your box soon!

  6. Cody says:

    Just amazing! The shades of green are every gardener’s dream. I’ve been contemplating something similar under my oaks and I think you may have convinced me – I’ll check back in 10 years with an update!

    • Pam/Digging says:

      Haha, please do! But of course YOU won’t have to wait even a year to start enjoying your new garden space yourself. Baby gardens are good. Teenage gardens are good. And mature gardens are good!

  7. leslie says:

    Such a positive post- I love it! All too often I find myself wandering around my yard with an eye on everything that needs to be fixed. A good reminder to appreciate how far we’ve come. Thanks Pam.

    • Pam/Digging says:

      I do that too, Leslie. More often than not, I see what’s wrong, although I find it’s also easy to glaze over and not see it clearly at all after living with a space for a while. So it was a nice surprise to look and see this space anew and be pleased with how it’s all coming along!

  8. This is one of the huge benefits to blogging, being able to look back at what was and appreciate how far you’ve come. Nice work!!!

    • Pam/Digging says:

      Thanks, Loree. It really is. Without photos, it’s just too easy to forget how far you’ve come in a redesign or how small the plants were when you planted them.

  9. Lisa at Greenbow says:

    That front garden bed is wonderful. So much better than the previous iteration.
    Lucky you that your bachelor owl is in wooing stage. It is always fun to see the updates on the family.

  10. Linda says:

    Thanks for the encouragement. We had a gigantic agave on our corner that was just starting to bloom when a car missed the corner and knocked it off near the base, then high-centered on the ball that was left. (The good part of that is it was so much easier to get the agave out that way, but I don’t recommend the method.) Our replacement plants are not filling in quickly, and it makes me sad every time I think of that agave that worked so hard to push up that bloom stalk, only to be shot down in its breeding prime!

    • Pam/Digging says:

      Noooo! That is indeed sad, and kind of an amazing story, actually. Maybe the agave performed a lifesaving service in stopping the car, sacrificing its progeny in the process. Give that agave a medal!

  11. Paula Stone says:

    There’s a movie where Harvey Kietel steps out of his shop everyday at a precise time and take a photo in a precise direction. In the movie he has done that for 20 years or so and saves the photos to remember how things were. I think gardeners should do that from certain vantage points, one photo every month, to track their progress. I think that, and yet I don’t do that. Hhmmmm….. maybe I’ll start today!

    • Diana Studer says:

      Frustrating thing about that, is over time you can no longer stand just there. Or you can stand there, but you can’t see the view you want to. Tantalising!

    • Pam/Digging says:

      It’s a good idea, Paula, although every day strikes me as ambitious. Say the first of every month and make it more doable! 😉

  12. Diana Kirby says:

    Love this post! Your garden vision is a reality. It’s fun to see how far it’s come from a baby.

    • Pam/Digging says:

      It’s brought me a lot of joy along the way, from baby garden to maturing garden. Every stage has its delights.

  13. hb says:

    Owls again–so exciting. Best wishes they have success.

    Your front berm looks great, so much more interesting than what it was before, and undoubtedly hides the street better too. I have the same palm in a pot on the balcony–a beautiful species. Supposedly they can get 30′ tall here, but it must take many decades.

    • Pam/Digging says:

      I think so, HB. The silver Med. fan palm is such a slow grower. I’m would be happy if mine didn’t grow any taller, actually, but for a while I sure did want to hurry it along.

  14. Ellie Gilbert says:

    You had a vision and you followed through. That’s a huge step for any gardener….and look how much improvement you made with the plants you chose. It looks wonderful!

  15. Sue H says:

    The fact that your rosemary and the Jerusalem sage look happy, does that corner get a lot of afternoon sun? Do you have any irrigation in this area? If not, does this area only get water from rainfall? I tried rosemary once in full sun, didn’t water very often, and it up and died. Maybe in full sun they need regular water?

    Thanks for sharing your successes and honesty about things that don’t make it (from previous posts). Helps me a lot.

    Sue

    • Pam/Digging says:

      They get a little late-afternoon sun, Sue, but mostly bright shade. And they grow fine with that. There’s no built-in irrigation in this bed, but I do use a hose-end sprinkler on it once a week in summer. In my experience, rosemary needs regular irrigation in full sun, less in shadier locations. Same with Jerusalem sage. Hope that helps!

  16. Skottie says:

    It looks amazing! The best things in life are worth the wait! Look what you created! ❤️