Gardens for retirees

Last weekend I toured a number of gardens in a Del Webb development just outside of Manteca with my friend Rosemary.   She and her husband sold the big house on the hill with the multi level gardens and multi level living spaces, in favor of downsizing to this development.    One of the first orders of business is getting the landscaping done, as it was a brand new home on bare ground.  The developers put in the front yards, but the back yards are left to the owners and a host of landscapers and nurseries.     They right away hired a designer whose work they had admired, and she set out to design pathways, a lanai, seating areas, patio, and a plan for plantings.      Down to the pouring of textured concretes, and ground covers, mulches, etc.    They did not opt for a water feature.     They are fortunate to have a view across their back fence, of Mt Diablo in the distance, so there will not be any back to back gardens on her side of the street.  It is greenbelt behind them.       Wide plantings and wider paths for dog walking.  It's all so nicely done.     

Her garden is not large.   I expected all the properties there to have similar size gardens, but we were both surprised to see some very large gardens on our tour.   Here are some pics and comments.

 First let me tell you what I expected to see.     Perfectly manicured lawns, lots of concrete patios, minimal upkeep.      I was in for some surprises.

Most of the gardens on the tours had very elaborate water features, running streams, cascades, waterfalls, rockery and alpine plantings.     The sounds were delightful and perfect on this very hot day.   Most of the gardens are freshly done.  Many have been there less than a year, so the plantings are still small.     When the trees mature it will block part of the fencing and make them feel more private.  The fencing is actually very beautiful, compared to my beat up old faded wood.     I loved it.    And I loved the choices of plantson this first garden in particular.  

 I was very surprised to find many of the yards had raised beds for vegetable gardens.     I really love this because it raises the level, looks so tidy and would be easy to maintain.       Look how wonderfully healthy and strong these veggies are looking.     

My little garden has gravel p aths, and they are very narrow as my garden is small and like to cram in all the plants I can.       Here in Woodbridge  most owners have chosen wider paths, great for entertaining outdoors or for wheel chairs is and when they are needed.    Also cuts back on maintenance.  

There were many different textures of paths.   And the use of stencils carving into the paths was evident in many of the gardens.      Here and there as an accent.  

 This one used a lot of alternate ground coverings to break up the space.   I liked this little seating area. And how open and spacious an area without clutter.  This was the side area, where we entered through a gate.   We had yet to turn the corner to see how really huge this space is.

Here it is.   You can see this is one of the larger yards, with several seating areas.    Lots of the people had chosen tree roses in their landscapes.  Seems like such a sensible choice as they are easier to take care of - no bending and stooping, and the roses are so happy there.     Most every garden had them in full bloom.  I don't know how they orchestrated that.    

 Here is another type of raised planting bed.      Isn't this the neatest thing?   I'd love to have these with the seat around it for kneeling or sitting.      Everything is within arms reach.   A bug or weed wouldn't stand a chance here.      I'd love to have a big planter of mint and every bearing strawberries.     Hmmmm......    

 This is another large garden with a huge water feature.   They don't have many trees started yet, or they are so small they dont' show up.   But the plantings are nice and again the water cascading down makes a delightful sound.      This garden had several water features, fountains positioned near the patio and against the house.     

 Here is something else that took me by surprise.     This garden boast a vineyard of their own.     Wow.   How cool is that?    This is in another very large yard along the side of the hosue, not right out back in patio living area.      I think this is amazing.   I wonder whether the  owner or the landscaper thought it up.    

We were given a little booklet with the owners names and  pictures, a description of their gardens, and the names of landscapers.      I left mine behind, but now wish I had it for reference.    

 Here is a quirky garden.       For quirky people.     This whole yard if sectioned off with all kind of quirky twists.      In a corner of this portion of their garden is an new/old outhose with a lit up picture ot elvis in the toilet seat.   And an old sears catalog alonside on the seat.     I told you it was quirky.    

 Some of the gardens used water features that were not the giant streams and cascades.    And I'm sure saved probably 15+ thousand dollars.     I didn't see solar fountains.    Surprised me a bit, as I love my own solar fountains.  Of course they are less permanent and power untis need to be replaced more often - but for ten dollars, I'd rather replace every year then have to have a crew of people out to repair or replace larger pumps.

This particular garen used a lot of stone and dry landscaping.     I'm from the high deset in Nevada, so I felt at home in it.     I didn't see any sage brush though.       

 Here is a conversation piece.  Edward Scissorhands must have roamed through here and did his magic.    The homeowner maintains it himself.    

 This is another vegetable garden with vines spilling over the edges.   It's melon season, and squash.     This is another side gaarden.      I expected to find narrow side yards, but the houses that are on the outside of a curve, benefit by much larger lots and wider side gardens.    It's almost like a separate space.  Charming.

 This is in another slightly quirky garden.      Succulents and shells.     I thought perhaps I had gone too far West and landed at the beach.       This is another side garden, against the house.

 Oh my.    This one has been her longer than the others, so the trees are more mature.    Some of the landscapers are planting redwoods.      In the hot valley.       Yes, they do grow here. The university has a redwood grove next to the student center/ dining room.   We often are in the redwood room or on the deck to smell the trees.  

But massing them into these gardens, I can't help but wonder what they think will happen in 25 years.    This seating area is on a raised area.     The garden is huge and making an intimate seating area in the corner, raised up like this is something I would not have thought to do, but I loved it.     I'd want to take my friends out there for a snack and cold drink.    Or sit and pet the dogs there.    

Here is another rose.   And a little staute.     I was expecting a lot more statuary in these gardens.  Some ohad quite a few decorative things like rusty plant stakes, and other ornamental things, but not as much as I expected.

We caught up with a crowd of touring guests in one of the smaller gardens.     Everyone was out getting ideas and names of plants, which some owners had labeled just for that purpose.     

 This garden has those wonderful planting beds and lots of rock ground cover.    This is a smaller garden but they have managed to break it up with plantings for minimum maintenance and yet, it is interesting and has a lot of variety.

 Here is on of the stencils carvings in the concrete.   Rosemary has a large compass on her patio, painted or stained so it stands out better.     I like the sun also, but would have done some colorizing.     

 The woman that owns this property has just barey moved in.   She does not even have her window covering installed yet.   She had the garden designed for absolute minimum maintenance.     Her house is huge so I guess she'll spend a lot of time cleaning.   LOL   Does not leave much time for yard work.        These planters are great with the seating..

 Here is her back garden which is wide but not deep.     Paths and rockery keep the maintenance down, and here is the only garden on the tour that used faux lawn.    Yes, it is not real grass.   No  mowing, no water, and it looks very real to me.      

Here is her brand spaking new water feature.  Cascading down a long narrow stream.      Miminum planting so far.    I'd want to plantt more along the fencline to make it seem more natural, but she seems very happy with it and was sitting on patio with a friend enjoying their lunch listening to the sound of the stream.

        This is a trick shot.  It's actually in my own garden.      Thought I'd just throw it in.   

 These last two are pics of Rosemary's place.     First is the now pic.      So charming and with interesting curves and plants, breaks up the boxiness of the space.      Compare it to the way it looked in December before they moved in.

 Yes, this is the clean slate the started with.    They are fortunate to have the large trees on the greenbelt behind their yard.     It makes it so much nicer with the iron on top of fencing to let in the light and still affords them plenty of privacy.  We walked the walkway around back. It is very vide and the path is probably 15-20 feet away from fence with lots of plantings in between.      

Here is the front of Rosemary's house.  I think that's my car in driveway.     LOL  



That's all for the tour folks.      Did anything surprise you?       It sure did me.     

December 2013

This has been a fun and active month despite a few days staying in with a cold.   The weather has been brisk and dry.    Too dry.    But the sunny days are wonderful and make the cold temperatures more pleasant.      A few of my really good friends went to see Pat and Char in Folsom.    We went to put together a necklace for Pat, she had seen one and fallen in love with it.   So, Rosemary is the one that dug in and did the hard work.     Here we are in Folsom.

 Char is wearing an eye patch due to a detached retina.   Patch was removed a couple days afterward, thank goodness, and all will be well.    With us older ladies, it seems there is always one of us who has something wrong.

Pat is modeling the necklace which is almost done.   



















 

 Another day, Rosemary and I went to Modesto to see Pamela, who I had not seen for awhile.  It was the day after her birthday, so that was a good excuse.   

















 Before we went to lunch at IHOP, Rosemary and I spent some time in Manteca looking at her new house which is almost finished.     The front landscaping was in.   The interior shots are of the model home, which has the same floor plan as hers.     

It's a lovely home.    I am sort of greenish with envy.   Look at how spacious it is.   You could have a  hoe down in the open spaces.       I'm sure she and Jerry will have many happy years enjoying making it their own, and enjoying the community activities that are offered there.

The family celebrated Candis' birthday this nonth.     That's a lot of candles.    She has her first job now at the mall taking photos of the kids with Santa.     Today is the last day.   She's enjoyed the experience and the paychecks.

The gallery had a post luck dinner and white elephant gift exchange on one of the coldest afternoonw with no heat on.       Nice gathering, but cut short so we could warm up again.

I saved this picture til last.   Bobbi (on the right) has been quite ill for some time and this is the first outing with the "girls" she's been on for over a year.    It was good to have her back in our midst again.   

I'm so grateful for my wonderful family and friends.

May

Here it is May.  The lusty busty month of May.     Weather has been so warm this month that our Spring came and went in a blink.   We now are having weather in the 90 degree range, and it has taken a big toll on my spring flowers.    

I took a chance and invited some close friends to a little garden party.   We were so lucky that particular day was neither too hot, too, cold, or too windy.   The days prior to the party date had howling winds.   Good fortune calmed them for the time of the party - but within an hour after my friends left the winds returned, turning the umbrella upside down and scattering leaves and pollen everywhere.      Friends were able to see it at it's very best.     Fresh and blooming like mad.

 Since then the heat set in and things grew and bloomed so quickly, they needed to be cut back.  I've spent last couple evenings out there with my pruning shears and little stool, so I can cut close to the ground.    I had been unable to get around the side of the studio since the flowers were tumbling across the path.    Now, it's all cleaned up and I can circumnavigate again.      Our weather has been very dry this spring.  We hardly had any appreciable amounts of rain since early winter.     I have to water often, and  ( bad news) our water costs are rising.    The city is trying to pass another raise in water rates, following a big one last year.      Some people are talking about letting their lawns die as a protest, and to cut their expenses.     I'm not giving up my garden though.   Some plants may need to be repositioned to spots where there is more shade mid day 

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March 5th

Hello, long lost friends and family.      I have not given up the blog, FYI, just too busy to give it any thought.   I plan to pick it up again soon.     There is something about being in your 70s.  All your friends start falling apart, one by one, or someone in their family, so it seems like this precious life is even more precarious.     Very best friend for over 3o years had massive aneurysm in January.   She is recovering nicely, but is in the slow track for now.    Other friends have experienced broken feet, wrists, legs, etc.     Flu bugs and surgeries are the normal topic of conversations.     Now we are approaching tax season so that is on everyone's minds.    Don't think I'll burden you all with the details of all these things, just know that they are keeping me busy.... along with my  normal gardening and art activities.     And then there is family.   Thank goodness.   Job hunting for grandsons, chorus schedule for granddaugter, a variety of work schedules for DIL and son, keep things humming on the home front.   And then there are these crazy sweet little doggie companions!  

We have had a most unusual  year weatherwise.    We started with a super rainy winter season, switched to cold snaps and recently have had nothing more than dry and sunny with occasional high fog.   None of that deep dense wet fogs that we usually have this time of year.      I sure like the sunshine.       I guess this was the driest Feb since the 1920s.     And New England is having heavy snow storms, one after another.   I think of my family members there and wish I could send them some sunshine.    

I've redone a lot of things in the garden.  Partly to route out a pack of mice or rats that moved into space under the studio.    lulu soon found she could scoot in on her belly to give them a piece of her mind but never got close enough to catch them.     She now has a permanently stained belly from lying in the dirt so much.   LOL    I loved her soft pink tummy and hope it comes back.      Lots of baths and scrubbing may help.  LOL    Nikki has long legs even though she's a small dog, her legs just do not fold up in a way that she can maneuver the way a little short legged terrier can.   So she runs around the perimeter of the studio to make sure they don't get away if they come out.       The last week or so, the dogs are much less interested, so perhaps the little critters have moved to another yard without pets. That's what I'm hoping.

I'll be posting again soon.       Hope you are all well and having a good winter.     It feels like Spring is right around the corner in this part of the world.        Trees are all  in blossom around town.   Looks like a blizzard under some of the flowering trees.    Pink blossoms, white blossoms, they abound.      

December and all that goes with it

December is a great month.    Busy things going on, the fun of shopping and seeing the decorations in the stores.  Then the food and the family and friends.   This is Christmas Eve and here I am at the computer.    We celebrated our Christmas yesterday as we had a sudden change in plans with the work schedule change for my DIL, so we had two hours to prepare.   Not time to fuss or worry, just boil up some eggs for deviled eggs, plate up some fresh baked cookies, and order a couple pizzas.     It was so much fun, I think we should make it a new family tradition.   Impromptu and fun for everyone with no big mess or time spent cooking and setting up.    So today I'm playing with art supplies, cooking the turkey and relaxing.   Thought I'd bring this blog up to date by including pics from last week's trip to Fair Oaks.   Friends meeting  for some shopping/browsing and lunch.     Fair Oaks is such an interesting little town.  Very informal.  Cold as ice the day we were there, felt more like the high Sierras or Colorado!  But the sun was out and we were dressed warmly.      Here are a few pics.    BTW chickens roam the street there and seem to like to hang out in front of the bakery.  Perhaps they get tidbits from patrons.      We didn't know the guy sharing breakfast with his dog, but could not resist taking his pic.

White Pines Flea Market 2012

What I love about traditions, is they help mark the passage of time. Another year has passed since the last flea market at White Pines. And here we are at this year's event. If anything it was bigger and better than earlier years. I bought much less than usual, having set my goal to divest myself of "stuff" rather than accumulate more. But, I had just as much fun. Spent a lot of time chatting with friends and pointing out things they m ight use. Frances was there, Patti was there for the first time - and loved it, Rosemary came without her husband this year. He stayed home to mind the pets. Cat and Gene were there, and Mary and a new friend. The day before the flea market we spent time making prints with our new Gelatin pads. I really liked using them and think I'll be doing more with them again. Here's a pic of us in the kitchen during the flea market.

Wildflower Train ride

The Western Railroad Museum on Hwy 12 between Rio Vista and Fairfield has a Springtime special train that runs only in the month of April. It's a special car with comfy chairs and tables, serving the patrons lemonade and cookies and a docent to tell a bit about the history of the car, the museum, and the wildflowers. The trip takes about and hour and a half through the open meadows/valley floor. While the ride was a bit rough and lurchy, I thouroughly enjoyed every little lurch and rumble. Railroad noises like the bell and the whistle were fun too. The scenery, with the grasses and trees, the wind farm, the sheep in the fields with babies, the cows and farmyards - it was Spring at it's finest. We had 13 in our party. We took our own lunches along and could eat on the train. Two of my grandkids joined us at the last minute as we had two cancellations. There was a crisp breeze blowing and most of us had warm jackets along, thankfully. The Valley breezes are usually quite brisk in the spring, in fact now through May. Here are a few pics. The two on the tracks taking my picture are my grandkids Candis and Nathan. It's Easter break. We lucked out.