Gaining Ground: Expanding the Neighbor's Garden Around the Corner

There's something especially inspiring about bare ground. The minute the sod comes up, the possibilities start percolating in my head.

This video follows the latest expansion of my neighbor's garden to the south—we've stripped sod around the corner and the planting area now wraps all the way around, connecting to my garden down the block. It's a section I've been wanting to get to for a while, and now I've got bare ground to work with.

I walk you through the existing structure that's already anchoring the space—Arctostaphylos × 'Austin Griffiths', a pair of Yucca rostrata with developed trunks, a Hollywood juniper, a Hinoki cypress at the corner—and talk through what I'm planning next. The overarching idea is that as you round the corner, the garden gets quieter. Simpler. More structural. A counterpoint to the plant-forward beds on the other side of the house.

The big decision in this video is the corner plant. I've had a Picea pungens 'Procumbens' in my own garden in a spot that was never quite right for it—and the moment I saw that sunny, sloping corner, I knew. I transplant it here, walk through why it belongs in this spot, and show the other divisions and transplants I've already put in the ground: Caryopteris, Amsonia, a grass, a little salvia. Everything so far has come from my garden or as divisions, which has been good for both continuity and the budget.

This garden has its own playlist if you want to follow it from the beginning—watch it here.