Privacy, please

In my last post I talked of making changes to the front, and I did do some clean-up.  Somehow I found myself in the back again.  Our palms back there have grown so high they don't provide any relief from seeing the neighbor's roof of a ? I don't know what that is.  Luckily the slope provides some privacy.

It drives me bonkers, thankfully they don't peer over the fence, haha.  In an effort to erase that roofline from my sight, I will plant some nice tall things on top of the palm roots.  The palms don't mind, so far anyway. I've added a few things up top this way, a Banksia and uh oh I think the Azara is dead.  It's really blending in nicely with the black fence.

First I scouted the slope for rocks to build up a "planting nest".  Here is one hidden, serving no purpose!  

Heavier than I imagined, and it is a slope so good footing is imperative.  I rolled it up, feeling like a crafty cavewoman.  

I popped in a pretty Podocarpus elongatus, blue fern pine.  Take that ugly roofline!

And this gorgeous Adenanthos sericeus, the form is so different than the fluffier versions I have.  I really like the upright tighter growth, does anyone have any ideas about the differences? Ivan found this at Flowerland a few months back.  Grows 8' tall, mostly shade, low summer water - Get over here!!! 

For comparison, I have 4 other Adenanthos sericeus and they are all soft & fluffy like this one below.

Did the same, drag/roll a small boulder up to the top to create a planting area. I had extra soil from the deck being built, so I filled with that.  I've had good luck with the Australian plants working in the slope soil.  Not so much if I use any type of bagged product, even bagged cactus stuff. I have had luck with the Ruth Bancroft Protea mix, but $$$$. 

After, I'll need to get a couple bags of rocks to cover the bare soil.  Hope springs anew (for privacy).

In other news, the neighbor's olives are dropping and the squirrels are going to town on the pomegranates I couldn't reach.  Each little aril will sprout a new tree, how fun!

Also, this Hakea petiolaris will not stand up.  It is a bit of a windy spot.  If you're keeping track, this will be the 3rd try for me and petiolaris. I've had much better luck with other Hakeas.  

So I moved it over to the left of the shade house. The root ball was tiny, which contributed to the constant fainting. I don't have high hopes.

Then, I just started making messes everywhere!  It was 70° and I think the weather went to my head.  Pulling out the metal edging to replace with more of a rocky border to match the other beds.

All of the activity caused Dr. Feelgood to lose his mind, my favorite shot of the day. As Sophia said, it looks like a Tom & Jerry action shot!  *There was nothing in the tree, he was absolutely crackers.

It is really windy here today, and I can't stop thinking about the fires in Southern California.  I so hope the hardworking firefighters gain more control today.  Incredibly scary, and my heart goes out to all the people dealing with the losses.