All finished planting and mulching! So glad I got all those plants in before the ground got too hard.

This is beautiful, Mike, and I can't wait to see it next Spring and Summer. Great work!

Me too. It is fun to see it from conceptual design, to construction and initial planting, and then see it as it grows and matures over the next few years

I hope that you will continue to share pictures of your yard as the plants grow.

Wow Mike! Great work. Will look amazing once everything gets settled in. What color gravel are you going to use in the pathways? You could do some side work as a landscape design

Good plan, even better, reality therefrom.

Wow,
Thanks for sharing your process and all the pics
I'm also in a new home and will need to do some grading, pathways, and retaining walls B4 planting. I appreciate all the research and planning.
Would love to see how it looks now.

Wowee! I am late to the party again. But I'll bet the neighbors are sure glad YOU moved i!! GOOD JOB, Mike! I hope everything did well during the snowfall this week?

I agree, we would all love an update, Mike, when you have the time.

Been a while since I've updated...
Got the gravel path done today!
Now this side is totally done except for adding a few more plants!!!

Added some brick ramps to smooth the transition from concrete to gravel, and keep the gravel contained:


The base is coarse paver sand:


Then sharp decorative pea gravel:


After it was tamped and watered in:








View from inside:

Nice landscaping, Mike. You done a lot of work and it's looking great!

Looking good.

Very Impressive! Nice neat clean lines. Great attention to detail and planning! It looks spectacular from all angles including from the house. You should be very proud of the excellent job you did.



Many blessings for your continued success!

I've been excited about this project for some time and I get to see the project for real since you live down the street! I'm eagerly awaiting to see how it progresses in the future. Great job so far.

How is it doing now?

I'm back with lots of updates!
I condensed the thyme plants to a strip along the top of the hill and built stairs and a cat walk to access them.

I laid the bricks for the remaining two beds, which frame the patio/seating area.

Planted and graveled the 'Mediterranean Herb' beds. The hill is planted with a hedge of alternating Sage and Santolina, with a groundcover of Caraway thyme along the front edge. The lower bed has a knot garden in the longer bit and a diamond shaped planting of chrysanthemum 'Ju Hua'. Love this chrysanthemum. The whole thing is edible, and the leaves are fragrant; like melon/cucumber with a hint of lime Can't wait till they get bigger so I can make a tasty salad!
The design of the knot garden is more clear in this overhead pic: Lavender 'Jean Davis' makes up the diamond lattice hedge, with (will be) topiaries of Rosemary 'Arp' in the middle, and Roman chamomile covering the negative space underneath. Can't wait for this to fill in!

With all the stone I dug out to construct the beds, I built a rock wall garden! So happy with how this turned out. I'll be filling in behind it to make an access ramp from the top of the hill. It's planted with garden mace (achillea ageratum) and smells AMAZING! Like nutmeg with a hint of cinnamon, but sweeter.

I'll be adding the finishing touches in the next few weeks. I'll be sure to add more updates!

I drool whenever I come to your thread, Mike. You could have a very good job as a landscape designer. Your neighbors must be so happy you moved into the neighborhood!

Wow it looks fabulous. What a gorgeous yard you now have. This has been so fun to watch the progress.

Since the last time I posted, I've finished up the brick edging, laid the rest of the gravel, planted Plum Yew columns and Wintergreen, added Lacinato kale planters, and set up the patio furniture. Now that the season's just about over, I thought it would be a good time to see how far it's come in the past year.

Before:




After: