Below, a before photo during a rain storm before the vines went in.
Last November we removed the lawn, in February we "planted" the trellis (posts and wires) in March we put in the vines, and in April we put down the cover crop.
I tried to stand in the same spot to get the similar photo for comparison. This was just the other day and as you can see the crimson clover and wildflower mix is getting pretty tall.
Above, the street view from the corner during that same rain storm before the plants went in.
And below, the similar shot from the other day. I had Jerry help me move dirt from the far right under the windows (can't see that in this picture) so that it's level and ready for a redwood deck. Around the pathway I planted a bunch of lavender, pineapple sage, and rosemary. I'm still thinking about putting in thyme and oregano, but I'll fill in with those after we build the deck (I don't want it to get trampled).
I crossed the street to get the scale for you. Like, really, what does a front yard with a mini-vineyard in the suburbs look like anyway, right? It looks like this! I checked on my water bills compared to last year and the usage is up, but not a lot. I stopped watering the lawn last July when I made the decision to have it taken out to do this project. Even though it seems like I'm watering a lot to get the vines and cover crop established, I'll still come in under compared to a lush green lawn.
In the street strip I planted sage, lavender and rosemary. Once those fill in it will look really nice.
The birds and the bees are loving my landscaping and I couldn't be happier with it. The time spent puttering around is peaceful and I'm certain these will be the very best cared for Mourvèdre grapes in California!
Just for giggles, if you google our address; 564 Canton Drive, San Jose, the streetview photo is when we were doing some interior work and there is a dumpster in this view. Super.
Kind of cool though to see the original vines and Pauls raised planter bed that we took out.
2 comments:
Just out of curiousity did you have to get your neighborhood's approval?
NOLA
We did not need neighborhood approval, and I searched online under code enforcement for the city to see if there were any restrictions.
I might get guff over the height of the metal posts, but since it's not a fence and I'm setback far enough from the sidewalk, I think we're ok with the city.
Once the cover crop fills in and the vines are trained properly it will look as manicured as a vineyard can...
I could certainly do a walk around and photograph worse looking yards. :-)
We do have one neighbor that patrols our street and his only request was for table grapes, which we planted in the street strip. Four Seedless Thompsons plants are there to share.
I will definitely update any challenges we encounter.
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