New plants

So we bought our first tree. Our backyard is fairly bare. Also, there are houses all around us and we want to start some landscaping that will block neighboring views into our pool, and that will eventually make our backyard feel like an oasis. Once we were finally able to get in our pool this season, I realized that the pool was almost completely private. There is only one window that can see into our pool, and that is the vacant house next door. We would like to block the view of any future neighbors we might have.

We went to the nursery to browse trees and prices, and we ended up loving both, so we purchased one. It's called a Ficus tree. It is an evergreen that thrives in the heat of Arizona. It is also a fast grower. We were told it could grow 4 to 5 feet per year. It is also supposed to be a very low "shedder," which was important since the point of this tree was to block neighbors from our pool view. We didn't want tree leaves constantly going into our pool. I originally wanted a palm tree, but those grow extremely slow. It could take us 5 years to get it to a point where its higher than the fence line. Don't get me wrong, I plan to add more palm trees to our yard for the tropical feel and ambiance.

We also bought 5 shrub type plants with flowers to add color.

Before Tree. There was a bush here that we transplanted to the front yard.

The only neighboring window that can see into our pool.

After the ficus. Its still a baby right now. It will start to grow out horizontally now that its not in a pot. Its currently about12-15 feet tall.

Picture of one of our existing date palms. I love these things! And a little fertilizer started new shoots!

The new ground cover, Ice Plants. They are a succulent, with beautiful flowers! The flowers open up every morning, but are hard to see in this pic.

And we got 3 Lantanas. These won't grow all summer, they said they will just survive. They will grow in the fall.