Designing The Outback

The southern area of The Tropical Paradise I originally called phase II, but it never really developed. I have planted many things, most of which have failed over the years. So I have decided to just treat the area as The Outback.

An Outback is an Australian term, and it should not be confused with a rubbish heap. An Outback is a wild area, not intended for close-up viewing, but it should have its visual interest, but only to be seen either from a distance, or by doing a bit of a walkabout.

An Outback should not have a paved road, so the first thing that I will need to do will be to remove the flagstone. A path like this invites people to walk, but over the years the roots of the olive tree have made this path unstable. It needs to be condemned. Of course, I will still need to be able to walk through The Outback, but it will be a more rugged terrain.

I will need to replace the large flagstone in the foreground with something of a barrier. I am thinking that pointy rocks will work well here. Large pointy rocks are a good way to define an edge. Like a mountain range, people know that you shouldn't just casually pass over them. Of course, once I do that, I will be unable to roll trash cans, lawnmowers, etc. through that area.

The path was originally created so that I could store my lawnmower over by the side of the house. I have not owned a lawnmower for seven years, so it's not really necessary. And I don't roll trash cans through that area, either.

Phase II is over, The Outback begins today!

Update: Here is what I have so far. As you can see, I moved some big pieces of flagstone out of the way. Will have to move them to the side yard as it is promised to a friend. Behind Macintosh's tail, you can see a pointy rock and it is surrounded by river rocks. The path itself has a narrow entrance which will allow safe access for me, but hopefully not look too inviting to visitors. In fact, I will let the leaf litter fall on it and, instead of being a maintenance issue, it will be helping with this little bit of concealment.

I have made the mistake of getting carried away on a project like this and working too many hours straight through. I'm strong, but I have a weak lower back and right ankle, so I have put up a caution cone and am going to leave it alone until tomorrow.

Update Thursday morning: The goal here was to keep access, but not make it look look like it's a place for visitors to walk, that is, to make it the background.

I decided to line the "entrance" (at left) with pointy rocks that I could step over as needed, but which gave a "end of the road" look to this edge. There is still some hardscaping over there, which I will need to get in and trim, etc., but I have gotten it down to a bare minimum. As the Mediterranean Fan palm there in the background grows, it will help add visual interest to that space. It did surprisingly well during "the big freeze" in that place, so it's a keeper. The fountain grass I just trimmed down to the nubs, and it will grow back strong and cover up that blank wall back there.