What gardening and landscaping products does the typical homeowner need? I surveyed my own yard in Pasadena and shared the outdoor products here.

Fencing

We are pleased with the vinyl fencing we purchased from Home Depot in our back yard. Its mostly under a shady Chinese elm tree and yet it brightens the yard and contrasts nicely with the green grass and leaves.

At first we thought the vinyl fence would look cheap and we contemplated a redwood fence. However, the white color brightens our yard so it’s both color and longevity that led us to purchase it. Rocks

Nearly all of our rocks are no charge except for the labor of carrying them from the streams and basins where we collected them – both large and small. Rocks can be placed neatly in front yards, used to line flower beds and create interesting borders.

Rocks purchased from a landscaping company or nursing can cost hundreds of dollars for an area that covers about 30 or 40 square feet. But we purchased our for zero dollars. In some places, local permits may be purchased to carry rocks from a canyon or stream bed.

In Los AngelesCounty, homeowners can check with the sheriff’s department.

Spray Heads and Drip Irrigation

Gardening in Southern California is necessary with irrigation whether drip heads or spray heads for flower beds. The spray heads are easier to maintain. Drip heads using hoses must be secured properly and re-checked.

I installed mostly drip heads in a new flower bed we developed but I may remove those and install spray heads. The hoses on drip heads need to be secured with the small plastic hooks that come with the kits. Compost Bin

We use a plastic compost bin, about 4 feet high and 3 feet wide to compost all kitchen scraps, shredded paper, leaves, old flowers and other green waste. Composting is easy to do and the material can be fed to fruit trees, vegetables and flowers throughout the year.

When composting, layer the materials up to 6” maximum. I alternate kitchen scraps, yard waste and shredded paper. Waste in the compost takes six weeks to eight weeks to decompose. Patio Stones

We built a patio using 1 foot square stones. They’re a variegated tone mixing both beige and off white streaks. The patio is under our Chinese elm tree so it’s in a shady area. Again, it adds some color and contrasts nicely with the ivy, surrounding trees and the nearby flowers. We built it 11 feet by 10 feet which is a nice size for our family. However, if there are more than 7 or 8 people the area’s a bit too small so we might extend it.

Wheelbarrow

The wheelbarrow has helped move compost from the bin to the fruit trees and blueberry bushes. We use a smaller, lightweight plastic wheelbarrow which serves us well.

Large Pots

We use large pots for our two blueberry bushes. The pots give us choices in landscaping and allows us to control the soil mixture for the blueberries since Southern California varieties may need a mixture that’s different than the ground.

The gardening products we’ve purchased are “lifetime” products. But budget carefully and add to your gardening supplies year by year or, if you’re tackling one large project, add the one time cost into the overall expense.

To prevent a crowded garage or storage shed, we store some of our tools on the outside wall of our garage. We drilled holders into our stucco wall and the items add some outdoor character to the garage wall.

Gardening and landscaping products are useful but they can also be part of the landscape design!