Worked on the stream today. It will be a long time before there'll be water in the stream but wanted the edge done so I can plant the bamboo and remaining pines.
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nice new tool. I like the wench.

Where did you get your roofing tiles? I used corner tiles for spill ways. They can be pricey.

I got the tiles via Craig's List for free. They're concrete. Not as nice generally as the clay, but for in ground application they're great. I have 1700 sq ft to use. They might get used on a patio roof in the backyard someday, but I think I'll probably use them to create the patio and/or walk ways. They feel very nice under foot as long as you're wearing shoes.

I just saw these exact same tiles on CL for $3 each by Garden City spamming the "by owner" category. Guess I'm boycotting them now which is a shame because I liked that place. Oh well.

They come up pretty often for free...even these which look to be clay (never trust posters to know). When sold the going price for clay seems to be about $1 each...but lots of people do charge crazy prices. That's Craig's List for ya.

I probably said this before but I've been using these tiles for about 5 years in different projects like this and just learned a few months ago that the Japanese and Chinese have been doing the exact same thing for hundreds of years. It showed me that gardeners are gardeners. That more a thousand years ago there was some poor grunt gardener like me looking at a pile of old tiles that he had to get rid of because the builder dumped them in his garden. The uses just becomes obvious once faced with the dilemma. Doesn't matter if your Japanese or Western, gardeners are gardeners. This little story is what got me into this project. Felt a kinship to these gardeners from old.

Spent the morning researching at the library and starting to nail down some first tries.

I'm getting push back from people who know J gardens about using bougainvillea as a substitute for azaleas, maybe even for camellia too. I'm convinced they'll be perfect when pruned right. I think people won't be able to tell the difference at least in pictures. Pictures of azaleas sure look like bougainvillea to me. So bougainvillea is in the plan.

Ground cover has really been bugging me. Lush, green, small leaf to get as close to moss as possible is tough here. But I found dichondra in Japanese Gardening in Small Spaces listed as a traditional ground cover. Score.

I grew dichondra intentionally in San Jose in a tight spot with Irish and Scottish moss and a small Japanese Maple. I liked it fine. It'll be good to use it again. Going to start transplanting today. The weed I've pulling out will now be my treasured, nurtured, well watered and fed new best friend. That's how fast a pest becomes valued. Was under my nose this whole time.

I'm still going to use Cat's Claw as a ground cover too and see how both do.

Dwarf pittosporum and rosemary for shrubs.

Sprenger's Asparagus in place of ferns.

I think that should do it for the terrestrial plants.

I've never used plants in mass before. Looking forward to it.

Woke up last night with a feeling of dread...planting Cat's Claw and Dichondra together would be a nightmare. Cat's Claw is going to win that race every time I think. So today I'm going to pull the Cat's Claw I just planted and concentrate on the Dichondra. That's really the plant I want and I should focus on it.

I have other spots for the Cat's Claw, more traditional. Don't need to over use it.

I really had to search the yard for some Dichondra but found a little I put into pots to baby.

Using Dichondra means I'm going to have to change my watering plans. I had been planning bubblers but now I'll need spray heads.

Are you going to attempt a Japanese Maple? I had one for several years next to my pond that was mostly shaded by a huge Mesquite. Until the drip line clogged in the Summer and it was too late by the time I realized :(
Interesting about the roof tiles being used so long ago.
Keep the updates coming~~~~

I would like to hear more about your J maple. They've been trying to grow them for years at the Friendship garden with no success. Just slowly dies over a few years. It's the same old story, enough shade to stop it from cooking but not so much that it can't grow. I haven't been considering a J maple because of that, plus I had some in San Jose CA and they were even difficult there. So I would be all ears to get any more details you might have, old pics, anything.

For example, how many hours of sun did it get, direction from the mesquite? And also how well did it do? Full? Lots of growth, or kind of good type thing? Thanks.

I've been considering using Hacienda Creeper, a vine, as a substitute for J maple. I'd need to create a "trunk" from rebar and then prune the creeper to get the look. The young leaves on the creeper and red stem is as close as I've seen to J maple, just need the tree form.

The same time I bought my J MAPLE I bought one for a friend. Its been about 8 years ago. She still has hers. Its protected by a wall to the south and her neighbors to the west have thick shade trees. So it really only gets bright shade. It was the same with mine, bright shade. I have a Hacienda creeper also. It never really turns very red in the winter though :( I'll have my friend send a pic that I can share.

Thanks. 8 years is impressive and to me means it hasn't just been limping along. The J maples at the Friendship garden were in shade and we assumed was at least part of the problem, but of course that was a total guess.

Hope you can get a pic, that would be really great. I've not seen a J maple anywhere in Phoenix that wasn't a few days away from death.

Here it is. You can see it gets early sun. The rest of the day is bright shade. I cannot remember where I got them Zone9tropicals possibly.

Leaves

Love the new update/thread and the fun discussions, keep them coming. Your project is amazing!

That's pretty spectacular. And so close to a block wall even if the tree is on the east side (if I have that right). Lots of new leaves tells me this is doing well. Here in Phoenix people's concept of doing well varies a lot so I like to see the plant to know what they mean. The surrounding plants give me a good concept of how this is working.

Do you remember how large it was when you bought it?

Based on this I think I will try some J maples.

I'm still a bit skeptical they could be used as a focal point or as a main element. For an 8 year old tree it's still very small which I assume is due to our climate. Don't get me wrong you two growing these here is an amazing feat, and the tree looks great. But to be in a Japanese garden means lots of pruning to shape and a lot of growth is needed for that. It doesn't look like they could do that here.

I'm trying to avoid the trap of putting anything in the garden just to check a box, that announces to everyone . Lantern, basin, bridge, wall, bamboo structures, etc. Even having Koi I'm resisting (but probably will). If I could have a focal point J maple, pruned in a Japanese style, I would. But I don't want a J maple just to check a box. Hope that makes sense.

So maybe in the background. If I get several and try different spots, see how they do.

Thank you very much runs_with_scissors_2. You've taught me a lot today. And hopefully I'll learn more by trying some. Who knows maybe they do grow enough for pruning.

They were about 10 inches when I bought them.
Trust me don't do the Koi, they're beautiful but the upkeep is killer :(
Here is probably one of my favorite pics of 2 of my ponds. Unfortunately the garden is pretty bare now. This pic was taken several years ago when I wasn't working and practically lived in the garden. I'm working this year on getting my Canna population back. I don't think I will ever have it back to this level of crazy ;)
Your post/pics give me inspiration to get back out there and work on the garden.

That's pretty darn good growth from 10" and I was wondering if small starts would be an issue. Guess not.

I have experience with Koi so I understand the issues. I've spent more time experimenting with ponds than a person should. Certainly my wife would agree.

Your pond pic is beautiful. Surprisingly lush for what I'd expect for Phoenix. More lush than my ponds in San Jose which were in a similar style to yours and growing stuff in San Jose was butt simple. Doing that in this climate is impressive.

Thanks, I call this pic zonal denial. Like I said I practically lived in the garden and I have a HUGE mesquite that covers most of the yard that protected everything from the Summer sun.