Front Yard

The front yard was a tangled mess of weeds and gravel when I moved in.  The driveway sloped down and had an ugly retaining wall that.  We could not open both car doors at the same time.  I could not turn a motorcycle around in the driveway.  The carport was ugly but functional.  The city made me tear it down as the house violates many codes.

Most people now build retaining walls with engineered blocks.   This looks great on new houses but would not blend with the existing rock wall up front and throughout the neighborhood.  I picked through a rock pile at the horse stables and made my own rock walls and walkway that match the era.

Original MLS picture with front rock wall that just ends.  The city made me take down the carport.  It was ugly but functional.
The neighbor wall was falling down and eroding underneath. I built up the earth underneath and solidified the slope with concrete and rock. I tried saving the poor palm but sadly it did not survive the transplant.
We pushed the wall back 8 inches and added a row of bricks on this side.
Adding rocks and concrete to seal in the earth.
This side is completely sealed now. We then added mortar to the rocks below and above. 
Now the fun part begins. I had to use a pick and chip back the earth on the other side to lay another row of bricks and more rock.
All this digging generated a lot of dirt that needed to be returned to the desert.
Here are the first few layers of rock and concrete
The goal is to have the new rocks blend in with the existing rock wall
Another angle
Once that wall was in the front walkway needed to be made to match.  We also added some flower beds to the front of the patio.
Here it is with the mortar filled in.
Added some plants and accent lights.
How they look up close
Another angle
First flower bed
Rosemary, Hibiscus, Lantana and Gardenias
New Planter Project Started 🙂
New Flower Bed
Filled with flowers. Lets hope they survive.
A view of the new flower bed from the side of the house
Final product with 2 tons of california gold gravel. If you look carefully I added a 3rd leg to the bamboo shade as it was bending slightly.
Supervisor Lulu