Thursday, November 18, 2010

(Day 322) A horticultural transformation

I like making before and after series of shots, something which I'd been doing before I became 'serious' (whatever that means) about photography. Typically that involves projects in which something is either built e.g. a cabin, or something is significantly modified e.g. the interior of my son's home. I find it interesting at a later date to look back at the 'before', and the steps undertaken to create or transform something.

In that vein, I followed the progress of creating a small garden to replace a section of (boring) lawn at our place in Florida. I can take no credit for the work - oh, I did help move a few bags of mulch (!) - I simply recorded progress along the way.

(note: all photos were made using an 18-55mm lens at f8 with shutter speeds and ISO settings varied according to the light available)


the 'virgin' piece of lawn
outlining the target area
fascinating how a curb is created
resting, hardening, awaiting the next steps the following day
the 'grass' is removed - I put 'grass' in quotes because the lawn seems to be made up of 'grassy' vines, all intertwined to make a mat
arrival of the 'Bismark' - the tree, not the ship. The contractor's heavy duty bobcat had broken down earlier and the smaller one could not lift the tree - with some ingenuity, the tree was eventually coaxed from the truck and into the waiting hole
 the Bismark is ready to be launched from the back of the truck which was positioned over the hole
next, the first of 2 foxtails is moved into position - it was within the bobcat's capabilities
releasing the protective covering from around the Bismark
with the palms in place, small bushes, which will add colour, are quickly planted
transformation complete. You might note the changes in light over the last 6 photos - the job was originally estimated to take about 2 hours, but equipment breakdown (heavy duty bobcat) resulted in delays and more manual work. We are very pleased with the results, however.

24 comments:

What Karen Sees said...

Well look how beautiful that turned out!! However, I'm not sure you can trust my observation because about this time of year anything green and growing looks good to me!!!

Chad said...

Wish I could go to Florida for the winter.The only place I can go is to the basement.Your front yard looks great,fire up some good warm pictures for us left in the cold.

Katherine said...

Rick I love it! The red garden mulch looks beautiful against the green vine-like matting, otherwise known as grass.
And you have your very own glorious palms now to marvel at. I love foxtail palms, they're so beautiful. Great progressive photos & lovely home.

Anonymous said...

Looks really great!!
I like the concrete border - it's different.

Dagmar said...

Okay buddy garden and house in Florida....hmmmm give me more inside information about your pretty life please....
;-))))

Well I do love the garden, and the colors that were used to perk it up.
But sorry about this one, I prefer less landscaped ones like you have in Canada...in the wildernes.

Have a great day my friend.
Ohh en nog bedankt voor de beeline ik dacht al zoiets. Ja nu ben ik klaar voor het leven...en weet ik er alles van.
Liefs Dagmar

Dawn said...

Wow. Amazing transformation.
Nothing better than seeing just how far we have come!
Think you could bring one of those trees back home to me?
:)

Ruth Hiebert said...

Beautiful addition to the yard.
Blessings,Ruth

chasity said...

so much prettier than a bunch of grass....
i'm a big fan of adding beds everywhere.
{i was a gardener for a living ya know}

this really added a lot to the curb appeal...
the house is beautiful.

have a great weekend.

chas

marty said...

this is a good idea to show this step by step !
it's beautiful at end !!! I hope you enjoy your days in Floride and I'm happy to have found the sun on your blog !
je t'envoie beaucoup de bisous pour le weekend !

Cicero Sings said...

What a lovely improvement. Like the idea of that concrete border to keep everything tidily contained.

Scott Law said...

Our yard has a couple of those islands and my wife makes them beautiful each spring, but I hate mowing around them. Nice "tutorial" series photos though.

Alexander DeLarge said...

Very interesting huh, I'm going to look around and see what could I make 'before and after' series of...

Alex.

Someone said...

pretty awesome transformation

Al B said...

Now I remember why I left landscaping. My back hurts looking at the pictures. Nice job though. Very exotic.
Al

Rick said...

Thanks for dropping by and taking time to leave me a comment - especially a couple of first-timers - Chris & Al !

Now for you folks moving into the grip of winter - I'll be joining you in a few weeks. but just for a few weeks. I didn't want to miss out on some nice snow scenes. But then we plan to drive back down and hopefully it'll still be warm here (I'll let you know ;-)

Teté M. Jorge said...

WOW! I loved the step by step from the garden! I had fun with all the photos. Hmm... I think I will venture into these... ahahaha

Good Sunday, my dear friend Rick!

Many beijos and a BIG hug. ^,^

Julia said...

¡¡Una autentica obra de arte!!

becky said...

What a transformation!!! Wow. Those guys are artists... truly!
I often find myself in envy when I come here, Rick! Not just Canada, but a place to winter as well! I have (ooops- had) a storage unit. My dream is to have a real home one day...
I love documenting things, too. Well, people who love photography just love to photograph, whether it is documenting, creating fine art, or capturing family moments. I have boxes & boxes of photo albums from the pre-digital era!

Rick said...

Teca, Julia, Becky - thank you for your visit and wonderful comments - much appreciated. We are truly fortunate to be able to spend time here out of the cold (although I do enjoy a good blizzard !). The folks who created this did a superb job. Besos and beijos to all of you - have a wonderful weekend !

SW:TOR Holocron said...

The landscaping looks great!

Rick said...

@SWTOR News - thanks for dropping by and your positive comment !

Anonymous said...

EXCELLENT! WoW, that's seriously gorgeous - They did a great job

Rick said...

@Tricia - we're quite happy with the results - it's all exotic to us!

Here I Am Carrie said...

What an amazing transformation that made on the house. Looks so much better. Guess you will be returning to the colds soon. I love seeing photos showing changes along the way.