Walled Courtyard Garden

Temperatures in Temecula is extremely hot in summer and can get pretty cold in the winter. Frost damage to tender plants are a definite. Hot, I think will not be a problem as it will allow me to grow the tropical and sub-tropical plants I love and hankering to plant. Cold is another matter. My dream of course is to have a glass greenhouse that any self respecting gardener dreams of. Alas, it cost way,way,way too much. We priced both fabricated and build from scratch greenhouse of the size we wanted. We needed to spend at least $200,000!!! Not happening.

We compromised and decided to build a walled courtyard garden on one side of the house. It was the side of the house where we removed the roses bushes. It would provide protection from the  strong winds particularly in winter, that exaggerate the cold factor. We are going to see what we can grow under this condition before building a greenhouse. We increase the height of the garden wall from 6 ft to 8 ft for additional protection.

The garden wall meets up with the pool fencing to become a fully enclosed pool safe enclosure. The white fence will be backed with regulation wire fencing with 2 inch size holes. The walled courtyard garden is like an open air addition to the house.

White plaster was applied to the wall. Unfortunately we could see the outline of the brick rows under the plaster. The white white color of the plaster, height of the wall and the intense sun in Temecula showed every uneven surface. Our contractor scrapped off the plaster, reapplied a cement surface coat to provide a smooth surface and changed the color of the plaster to off white color. That took care of the problem.

We added garden lights to the top of the wall for illumination

Garden lights were also added to the inside walls

As you can see we decided to leave the existing walkway alone. That took away some planting space but at the same time "created" different zones. The area where the roses are in the picture can be used for plants requiring more protection. If we need the space, we can tear up the walkway later.