Category: Landscaping

Spring and Summer Garden

It’s a sunny February. We’ve been talking about a vegetable and cut flower garden. Starting with seeds and peat starter trays, Daphney and I plant for our spring and vegetable garden. Soon, we watch our work pay off: Asian greens, cilantro, chives, basil, beets, dill, sage, poppies, nasturtiums, marigolds, and…

Landscape through the Zoom Lens

This morning, after my run, I took out my zoom lens and explored the yard. Summer season just started, and a whole new set of foliage and flowers are on display.

Springtime 2013

Once again, it’s springtime. With the increased rainfall this season, the plants appear happy. Over the last month, I’ve been photographing the coming-to-life of the garden, starting with bursts of pink from the flowering peaches, then sparkle of yellow forsythia blossoms, and now the elegance of purple wisteria and red-fringed…

Bridge Railing Construction

It has been months since putting the gazebo together. Last year, I also started the zig-zag bridge over the pond. I finally got some lumber and began the railing construction this weekend. After that’s done, the next goal is to make seats and backrests.

Japanese Garden’s Centennial Toast

Today, the Huntington Library held its exclusive preliminary viewing commemorating the Japanese Garden’s centennial year. The curator said that they don’t know the exact date of the anniversary, but it might as well be today. On the upper level of the garden, a new tea house and water feature adds…

Gazebo Framing

Since starting the framing process in late December, the gazebo is finally taking shape. The fanning rafters were a little tricky to design and calculate, but everything is coming along well.

Starting the Gazebo

It’s been more than two years since the deck has been sitting empty. The pond was filled in late 2009, and having procrastinated, I finally took the time to design the gazebo. Today, the preliminary framing was done.

Moonrise Viewing from the Pond

It has been several weeks since I last crawled underground into the plumbing system of the pond to clean out the leaves. Autumn and the strong winds blew a lot of debris into the pond, and it seemed like a good time to empty the leaf traps and flush out…

Fall Colors

Although fall started nearly two months ago, yesterday felt like the first day. The sun hid from view and caused a drop in the thermometer. I was indoors most of the day performing surgeries. Today, I have the chance to take the stroll outside. Patchy clouds meld together to form…

Spring Landscaping

There was a lot of work this year. First, we decided to extend the bridge to the other side, and that involved draining the pond somewhat. Also, for the platform above the vault, I finally got around to drafting the plans and getting the framing underway. Constructing the gazebo took…

Landscaping

The pathways project is becoming more rewarding as many of its parts are taking shape. The project is going slowly though, since it’s mostly done piecemeal, an hour here and an hour there, mainly after work. The first part was the path along the hillside along the south bank of…

Pathway

I’ve started working on a different type of project. This time, it’s making gravel and flagstone paths around the pond. Working on this is quite strenuous, especially when trying to wrestle boulders into place and making stair steps out of them. I set the flagstones in mortar, and then the…

Buds and Blooms

So many plants are blooming or budding at this time. Our garden has come to life, after some dormancy during the winter months. Spring is in full swing now, and there is so much color all around.

Pond Construction

After several months of work, the pond is finally done and filled to the right level. Everything seems to be working well. The only thing left to do is to perfect the level mechanism to autofill and to finish some of the edging detail where there is exposed liner.

Pond Construction Progress

Today, the high was 106 degrees F. Anyhow, it was a day for outdoor work, wrestling boulders into place around the pond. The depression had been excavated already, and months ago, I helped my dad with a homemade water level to figure out the elevation of the entire perimeter. After…

Epiphyllum Bloom

This plant, given to me by Dr. Wright Zheng, blooms just about once a year, and the bloom happens only at night for several hours. There is sort of a craze in Chinese culture, where the blooming symbolizes how transient everything in life can be—曇花一現, as they say. Anyhow, on…