April 2000
A view looking toward the house a few months after purchase (December 1999).  I was excited to have a private little backyard with which to work. This is what had attracted me to this townhouse. The previous owner had two large Southern magnolia trees removed. You see a baby in the foreground growing from one of the stumps. (I haven't had any more "problems" with new magnolia recruits growing from the old stumps.) I was glad that these trees had been removed.  Magnolia leaves are so large that when they start falling, they would cover this little yard. The water oak and sweetgum are both mostly deciduous trees, so I have enough natural mulching material as it is. (I do not remove any of the leaves that fall in the yard. Even thought that is allot of leaves, I still need to supplement mulch with pine bark by summer.) 

March 2001
All planted and even some noticeable growth.  I wanted to create a natural-looking woodland- type backyard with mostly species native to North Florida (see my plant list).  What I did not plan for correctly is the amount of sunlight that this "I-thought-more-shady" backyard actually gets.  Some of the plants are getting more sun that they like, such as the hydrangeas on the left (in the shade in this photo) and Florida anise in the middle. I placed pine straw down for the path. It has made great path material for my woodland backyard, keeping the weeds to a minimum and being soft under the feet.

April 2002
Spring has sprung a year later and I just love my backyard!  In just one year some of my plants have really grown up. Eventually I hope to have this yard require little maintenance and watering.  However, with the hydrangeas getting hot afternoon sun, this will take some doing. Going to native species has been super fun and rewarding. One of the lessons learned (other than to map the sun patterns in all seasons, especially mid-summer!) is to plan for the plants' full-grown widths in addition to heights. As I look around my backyard I hope that I gave these plants enough space and that they don't end up blocking the path to the back fern-garden area. I will probably take the hydrangeas when I leave, so that will leave an open area for the future. I will leave the groundcover (Senicio) and vines behind the hydrangeas. I hope that when I leave this yard will be able to keep on growing on its own. Survival of the fittest! And that I will leave a nice garden sanctuary for the subsequent owners.

One issue that I've had to deal with back here is stormwater/erosion control. All of our townhouses are on a slight slope, so I get the accumulated runoff from the two units "above" me. My direct neighbors rain gutter discharges right at the fence (at my request actually, 'cuz it was better than before) causing potentially severe erosion. (Hey, one good thing about grass is reduced soil erosion.) Also, during a heavy rainfall event, the water will build up pretty deep against the fence (a low spot) on the down side of the yard, washing with it the mulch, pine straw and soil. I have since dug a "stormchannel" and filled it with rocks and placed rocks all along where the water flows. Its worked alright so far, but could be better. I need to fill this area with a good kind of groundcover (that likes to be wet) to reduce the soil erosion potential. I would like to hold the water in my yard somehow and get it to sink into the ground rather than becoming stormwater, but with such a small yard to work with I haven't figured out how yet.

Front Yard Before and After    Backyard Plant List   See More Garden Photos