Garofalo Gardens in Red Bluff: Comparisons Between 1998, 2003, and 2007.

Looking West
North property line and driveway of our home at 23005 Kilkenny Lane in Red Bluff, California.
May 1998
The Yolly Bolly Mountains are about 40 miles to the west.
The driveway was full of weeds. A few roses had been planted along the fence line which we later moved.

Looking West
North property line and driveway of our home.
June 21, 2003
Karen Garofalo
We added bottlebrush, eucalyptus, cottonwood, willow, and cypress trees along the fence line.
Karen removed the weeds from the driveway and parking area.
Most of the bottlebrush are about 7 feet high.

Looking West
North property line and driveway of our home.
April 2007
Karen Garofalo
Most of the bottlebrush are now over 10 feet high.
We had added pea gravel to the driveway.

Looking Southwest
Northeast side of our home.
July 1999
Mike Garofalo working on fence.

Looking Southwest
Northeast side of our home.
June 2003
Karen Garofalo standing at the entrance to front yard.
We had added a fence, a grape trellis, holly, cypress, Rose of Sharon, rosemary, a flagpole and roses. We had cleared the weeds out of the driveway.

Looking Southwest
Northeast side of our home.
April 2007
Mike Garofalo standing at the entrance to front yard. All the shrubs and ground covers have grown; however, we keep them pruned so Karen can look out of the window in front of her office desk. The two bird feeders are often filled with birds.

	Looking Southeast Front yard of our home. May 1998
	Looking Southeast Front yard of our home. July 2000 Mike Garofalo We added oaks, liquid amber (sweet gums), bay laurels, and fences. The liquid amber trees and oaks near Mike are about 7 feet high.
	Looking Southeast Front yard of our home. June 2003 Karen Garofalo We had added water lines, firewood storage, and fences. The trees near Karen are from 10 to 14 feet high.
	Looking Southeast Front Yard of Our Home April 2007 Karen Garofalo The liquid amber trees, and many others, near Karen, are now 15 to 20 feet high. Our front lawn is greener than the back lawn because it gets more sunshine. A large Old World rose is to the left of Karen.

Looking East
Front yard of our home.
May 1998
You could look to the East and see Kilkenny Lane. Highway 99W is about .3 miles to the East. There were a few junipers and small pines in place.

Looking East
Front yard of our home.
June 2001
We added a chain link fence and gates, cypress trees, bay laurel trees, redwood trees, and firethorn bushes.

Looking East
Front yard of our home.
April 2007
Karen Garofalo
To the left of Karen is her flower bed with calendulas and Spanish lavenders in bloom.
Many of the cypress trees and pine trees behind Karen are over 25 feet high. The bay laurel trees are over 12 feet high.
We can no longer see any part of Kilkenny Lane from the front of our home.

	Looking Southeast West-Back side of our home. January 1998 Mike Garofalo in "muscle man" pose. The back porch was open. There were no trees planted in the back yard. The lawn was mostly weeds.
	Looking Southeast West-Back side of our home. July 2000 Mike Garofalo We added expanded fencing, grapes, pittsphorum, tulip tree, pecan trees, corkscrew willow, and cottonwoods. We had moved the fence line. The pecan trees in the back yard were about 8 feet high at this time.
	Looking Southeast West-Back Side of Our Home June 2003 Mike Garofalo The fig trees were around 9 feet high at this time. The pecan trees were around 12 feet high at this time.
	Looking Southeast West-Back side of our home. April 2007 Mike Garofalo can hardly be seen now. The back porch of our home was now screened in. The pecan trees, just leafing out in April, are over 25 feet high. The fig trees are nearly 15 feet high at this time. The back yard is quite shady now in the summertime. The shrub in white blossoms is a firethorn (Pyracantha).

Looking South
Back yard of our home.
May 1998
You could see C.B.'s house at this time.
There were only two trees planted along the fence line.
Most of the trees along the ditch line were under 10 feet high.

Looking South
Back Yard of Our Home
June 2003
Mike Garofalo
We had added roses, grapes, a redwood, pittsphorum, willows, cypress, and cottonwoods. We had moved the wood and chain link fences. The redwood and willow trees behind Mike were around 15 feet high at this time.

Looking South
Back Yard of Our Home
April 2007
Karen Garofalo with "Tut" the red-brown tabby cat.
The redwood, willow, fruitless pear, and cottonwood trees are now over 30 feet high. This year we moved all the roses out because it is too shady in the summer. Some cottonwood and willow trees along the ditch line, behind the wood fence, are over 40 feet high.

Looking South
Back porch of our home
July 1998
This porch faces South on the short side, and due West on the long side, directly into the hot afternoon sun.
The 5 foot redwood tree in the middle of the picture in the lawn was the first tree we planted in the back yard.

Looking South
Screened back porch of our home
August 2005
Karen Garofalo enjoys the shade on a hot summer day.
We used screens that block the sunlight and heat.
The pecan trees on the West side now also help shade this porch.
We brought electricity and fans onto the porch.

Looking East
West-Back side of our home.
May 1998

Looking East
West-Back side of our home.
June 21, 2003
Mike Garofalo

Looking East
West-Back side of our home.
April 2007

Looking West towards the back yard of our home.
May 1998
There was a small grape arbor and one Raywood ash tree at that time.

Looking West towards the back yard of our home.
June 2003
We added a large fenced vegetable garden, a large grape arbor and covered sitting area, cypress trees, butterfly bushes, fruit trees, bay trees, crape myrtle, figs, and more Raywood ash trees.

Looking West towards the back yard of our home.
April 2007.
Mike Garofalo
The Raywood ash tree is over 40 feet high and shades a large area.
We expanded the vegetable garden area, where Mike is standing, and will fence it in in June 2007.

Looking West into the back yard.
May 2000
Mike Garofalo
We set up our original vegetable garden, raised the soil levels, brought water from the ditch pond, and built a fence around the garden.

Looking West into the back yard.
Vegetable Garden
June 2003
Karen Garofalo
We added pathways, fencing, and more fruit trees.

Looking West towards the back yard of our home.
Entrance to the vegetable garden area.
April 2007
Karen Garofalo stands at the entrance to the original vegetable garden.
We expanded the vegetable gardening in the summer of 2006.
We added water lines to the front of the expanded vegetable garden area. We now use half this area for cuttings, transplanted roses, bare root stock awaiting transplanting, and other for potted plants.

Looking Northwest
Teahouse by the Pond
June 28, 2000
Mike Garofalo building teahouse and planting eucalyptus trees.
The bricks for the floor of the teahouse are in the left foreground.
Haze over the Sacramento Valley during the summer months prevents us from seeing the Yolly Bolly Mountains except for mornings and before sunset.

Looking Northwest
Teahouse by the Pond
June 21, 2003
Karen Garofalo
We mow around the teahouse in the late spring, and because we get no rain from May until October, the grasses all dry up.

Looking Northwest
Teahouse by the Pond
April 22, 2007
Karen Garofalo
From December through May the land is quite lush with wild grasses of all kinds. For example, the day before we took this picture it rained 1 inch. Most of the eucalyptus trees around the teahouse are now well over 35 feet high.

Looking South at the West edge of property line fence.
Teahouse by the Pond
July 6, 2000

Looking South at the West edge of property line fence.
Teahouse by the Pond
June 29, 2003

Looking South at the West edge of property line fence.
Teahouse by the Pond
The teahouse on the left is completely hidden by the golden willow.
This ditch pond has water all year.
April 2007

40� 05' 13.39" N and 122� 10' 30.53" W.
23005 Kilkenny Lane, Red Bluff, California, USA

This is a view of where we live from 23,083 feet above the earth provided by Google Earth.

The winding blue line on the right side is the Sacramento River. The brown areas in the upper right are the lava flows from the Mt. Lassen creating foothills covered with blue oaks (Quercus douglassi). The brighter green areas along the river are almond, prune, olive and walnut orchards. Darker fields have been recently disked for winter grain crops.

Our GPS coordinates are shown on the Google Earth photograph.
40� 05' 13.39" N and 122� 10' 30.53" W

This is a view of where we live in Red Bluff, California, taken from 51 miles above the earth. The brown rectangles are computer image glitches.

Basically, we live in the North Sacramento Valley, in an agricultural area of orchards and grazing lands, with forested mountains on three sides. The white capped peaks are Mt. Lassen to the east, Mt. Shasta to the north, and the Trinity Alps to the northwest. The Pacific Ocean is about 120 miles to the West, seen in the upper left.

The Red Bluff Notebooks - Our Home and Gardens
Yard and Gardens Development Project
24 April 2007

The Red Bluff Notebooks

Gardening and Nature Studies

Photographs of
Our Home and Gardens
Various Comparisons between 1998, 2003, and 2007

Karen and Michael Garofalo
Red Bluff, Tehama County, North Sacramento Valley, California
Photo Collections

The Red Bluff Notebooks

Gardening and Nature Studies Photographs of Our Home and Gardens Various Comparisons between 1998, 2003, and 2007

Karen and Michael Garofalo Red Bluff, Tehama County, North Sacramento Valley, California Photo Collections

Gardening and Nature Studies

Photographs of
Our Home and Gardens
Various Comparisons between 1998, 2003, and 2007

Karen and Michael Garofalo
Red Bluff, Tehama County, North Sacramento Valley, California
Photo Collections