The path to nowhere gets an extension!

Originally I just planted a large triangle of bushy plants around the base of the lychee tree.   As I live in the tropics they grew, and grew.  I put in a small path to get some access for trimming back, but never really liked the look of it - my little path to nowhere.   My grandson loves to rush through the garden and hide in "the forest", but at the end of the path he didn't stop, and I wondered how many plants were getting trampled.
This ANZAC day was a holiday from work, and as we sat with our morning coffee looking out at the garden I just knew that I was going to have to forge a new pathway through the forest.  The entrance was to be to the left of this photo....  jungle busting stuff.
 This is the entrance to the path at the other side.  I took the franzipani out of there - it didn't like all the shade, and moved the beehive ginger there - giving it more room to spread.  This was originally the path to nowhere - it just ended....

One of the objectives was to have access to all the plants for trimming, cutting back overgrown branches and simply admiring pretty flowers close up.  I removed one big red ginger plant, and after that the path found its way, with me tying plants back or moving them over just a little bit to one side.   Then I discovered that there were still large areas that had that dreadful landscape fabric underneath them!  What a silly thing that was to do! Lots of tugging, digging, standing in knee deep mulch, but I think I now have most of the fabric removed from the entire garden.    Originally I had thought the plants would develop roots underneath the fabric if I planted them into a hole, but that didn't work.  The soil is lovely though - wormy and moist and the mulch is woodsy and full of mycellium.  The landscape fabric has now found a home in the veggie garden path -  it does a great job there.  I throw non flowering weeds onto it and they dry and shrivel up and then can be put into the compost.  This is the first part of the path....
 Once the basic path was completed I thought about what the edges would be.  I do have lots of mondo grass so the edge closest to the tree is mondo.  I hope I am not over-using it in the garden, but I do love the edge that it provides and it works so well in my shady garden.    I tried some of the variegated mondo, but it is really struggling.  In the photo below you can see the middle part of the path viewed from the back fence.  On the edge furthest from the tree - the outside edge of the curve - I have put a few bricks.   I love the solid edge this has brought into the garden, and the ground is built up a bit behind it, creating a sunken path effect.  I am not sure if I can get the same bricks to finish that edge.   I did a bit of a repeating pattern of some cordelines and bromeliads, and filled in some areas with ground orchids, ferns and coleus.
Here you see the path as it leads out to the big gates.  

I laid cardboard over the path and then a layer of gravel - voila! While I was working there I noticed so many butterflies flitting around as they traveled from the geisha girl out the back to the ixora in the front.  I think my new path might have to be called butterfly alley :)

Comments

  1. Lovin' your path, AA! And your jungle is fantastic. I'm with you on hatin' the landscape fabric. Had to remove oodles of that stuff in my last garden. Will NEVER use it anywhere again! Its corrugated boxes and newspaper for me now.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Floridagirl,
      thanks...I often mull over a project for a while and then wonder why it took me so long! that landscape fabric so easy to lay down and then so hard to pull up once everything is planted on top of it.

      Delete
  2. Your new pathway to somewhere is looking great. I love the Mondo Grass edging. That looks brilliant all year-round. You've done a great job.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. thanks Bernie,
      now I just need to find some bricks for the other side - shopping trip this weekend - yay!

      Delete
  3. Wow, wonderful pathway and your garden looks SO tropical and quite different from ours☆☆☆ Love to read that you might call your new path butterfly alley; they are beautifully flitting as if geisha girl♬♬♬

    Love you always, xoxo Miyako*

    PS> So sorry for my belated comment. It has been hectic several days for me. I haven't commented for my friends (^_^;)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Myako,
      oh I love the idea of butterflies looking like geisha girls :) Glad to see you back.

      Delete
  4. The pathway looks great and the mondo grass is a nice border touch, i love it also so i don't think its being overused...i have a jungle in my back yard and i'm really afraid to go to those untamed areas.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Noel,
      I like what you have been doing in your back garden - looking forward to more updates.

      Delete
  5. I love butterfly alley. Lots of work but well and truly worth it. ...and overuse of mondo grass? No such thing. It makes a great edging.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Missy,
      It has made it easier to get up close and personal with all my plants. I also like lariope as it flowers, but it isn't as common here as it was in the USA.

      Delete
  6. Beautiful... I can just see myself sitting out there, enjoying a cup of coffee in the morning. You did a great job.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. April,
      Often those cups of coffee lead to another project....

      Delete
  7. Wow, you worked wonders in there. It still has a jungle feel though ...I just love checking out your little tropical garden.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Kim,
      thanks, I am glad it still has that effect - even more so in fact.

      Delete
  8. I love the tropical look of your Garden. Butterfly Alley that's beautiful...

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Maureen,
      Every time butterflies flit about the garden it gives me a little thrill. I believe it is your wedding anniversary today - happy anniversary.

      Delete
  9. Replies
    1. Fiona, that is what I had hoped for, it must have been meant to be.

      Delete

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