The Garden of Delight 

     When we purchased our home, we knew that there was A LOT of work to do.  Although it was perfectly sound structurally, the back yard contained one dying orange tree and many, many square feet of concrete.  The front yard had a typical Point Loma Portuguese fisherman's lawn -- a mixture of rocks and glue spread over black plastic sheeting and spray painted green!  I know, it's hard to imagine, but you can still see Portuguese fishermen's lawns on a few streets in Point Loma.

     Over the years we broke-up and removed the 50 year-old concrete walkways and the green rock lawn.  We installed a "spray in place" concrete fence that was textured to match our home's hand plastered exterior.  We built and installed custom-made arched gates to accentuate the feeling of a private, Spanish courtyard garden. 

        We installed a Spanish-style fountain, pebbled walkways and typical Mediterranean (drought tolerant) plants.  We were inspired by and tried to echo the romantic vision of our Spanish Colonial Revival home with a garden styled after the same period.   

(In the garden you will see French "Grosso", Spanish, and Munstead lavenders; Tuscan, Spice Islands and trailing rosemaries; and Tahaitian Sunset bougainvillea, among other Mediterranean plants)  

(Notice the lovely date palm at the far left of the frame)

In the front yard we planted one area with tropicals and succulents, another with deep green and silver leafed Mediterranean shrubs, and another with culinary herbs, a sea of yellow St. Patrick roses, Pride of Madiera and (my favorites!) Matilija poppies.  Reblooming Iris are planted near the entryway, as a special welcome to all visitors.  Of course, we wouldn't go to all of this work without installing timer-based drip irrigation systems that support the water needs of the various species.  Because the plants are watered efficiently and they are generally drought tolerant to begin with, the water bill remains low and our garden pleasure quotient remains high!