Front Yard – Doesn't Fit In

July 19, 2013

Cows Cause Danger And Shit In North Hills Rio Rancho

The cows in the North Hills subdivision Rio Rancho, NM by gregjsmith, on Flickr

I’ve renamed the kob.com article titled “Free roaming cattle creating problems in Rio Rancho” to “Cows Cause Danger And Shit In North Hills” since that’s what it seems to be about.

Cow flops.

North Hills is plastered with them. They’re on the sidewalks. They’re in the parks. They’re even in your front yard! And that’s not the dangerous part about this herd of 8 or 9 cows.

“When you’re driving along the road and they just come popping out of the arroyo or something, it’s bad,” said North Hills homeowner Edward Kisner. “There’s cars going both ways. One will swerve into the other one’s lane. I’ve had close calls where I’ve almost made ground beef!”

We found the cattle shading themselves beneath a scrawny-looking juniper tree on the open range right next to the subdivision. Open range means the owner of the cattle doesn’t have to fence them in, It’s up to other property owners to fence them out – and North Hills is not exactly a walled fortress.

March 3, 2011

What Happens To Cactus In Severe Cold Weather

cactus affected by cold

We had some record or near record below zero temperatures in the Albuquerque area this winter. While native plants can handle the cold, this might have been too much for them. Good To Grow as several pictures of the effects of the cold on local cactus and Agaves.

I have a small prickly pair cactus in my front yard. Ever winter it “lays down” like the cactus in the pictures. Hopefully it survived.

March 19, 2009

Front Porch Landscaping Conitnues

I’ve made more progress on the front porch after not doing much for several weeks.

The previous owners had a white, chalk like rock around the perimeter of the raised bed. This rock was popular in the 1970’s and 1980’s and I hate it. The problem with this rock is that its light weight and it ends up all over the place. I also don’t think they are very attractive.

I removed the white rocks and replaced them with grey river rocks from the south side of my yard. I also put the same grey river rocks on the other side of the walkway. I’m making good progress at reducing the rocks on the south side of my yard by reusing them elsewhere in my landscape.

I put together a rough draft of how I would like my front yard to look in OmniGraffle. The plan shows red areas as walls and yellow areas are new pavement.

front layout.jpg

The plan shows a triangular jog of the wall, this wall layout is mean to mirror the roof pitch and angle. I’m also planning walkways out to the sidewalk that doesn’t exist (the city is talking about adding them) and around the north side of the house. I’m not yet sure if I want to put in concrete or pavers and I’m experimenting with some pavers I picked up from Home Depot. They are concrete with a variation in color and have a similar look to slate.