This is one of my favorite little gardening areas. I originally planted a “Waterfall” Japanese Maple here. I had originally designed a “Red Pygmy” Japanese Maple on one side of the front door and a “Waterfall” Japanese Maple on the other side. However, I learned that the sun hits the courtyard garden in unexpected ways. This corner of the yard gets more sun than I had realized, and the little Waterfall tree died.
I replaced the Waterfall with a “Blood Good” Japanese Maple because they are supposed to tolerate more sun—so far, so good. I should have planted an older tree though. The courtyard garden is way off balance.
This is my favorite garden fountain though. I placed it here because the electrical outlet is right there. I originally had a plastic bowl buried in the ground and had placed rocks and slate to form a pondless waterfall. However, my kids were way too attracted to the pond and constantly moved the rocks and slate around and exposed the plastic bowl underneath—not too attractive. They don’t bother this new fountain other than by throwing rocks into, which is okay. I found the round ball at the Antique Trove Garden Terrace in Roseville, and I love this little fountain ball! The fountain doesn’t make too much, but it’s perfect for the courtyard. The courtyard garden is a quiet place anyway, so the little trickling sound from the fountain is so soothing.
One thing I would do differently in this area is to have planted the Japanese Blood Grass in a container. It’s taking over this area, and I only wanted it to grow in between the Gardenias. It also dies back in the winter and doesn’t look very good.
What I think works well in this area is the color. I like the beautiful green foliage of the Gardenias behind the burgundy Blood Good Japanese Maple. And I like the contrasting Blue Fescue color next to the burgundy Japanese Maple and green Gardenias. I also like the almost army green of the fountain ball mixed in with the other colors.
When I first began gardening, I didn’t read about garden design concepts. I just went by what looked and felt right. This area of the courtyard garden is a perfect example of garden design mistakes. However, it doesn’t look too bad. But I do wish I would have done some things differently (the Japanese Maples are too happy for me to pull out now).
The first thing to change is to close any openings in the house. Why we ignored this gaping entrance to the attic, I can’t explain. It took me about five minutes to climb a ladder and tap this board shut with the end of a mallet. 
I was recently very proud of how I hung a trellis using a curtain tension rod and some S hooks. It turns out that I had made a nice little ladder for rats. Bummer! 
Our Clark Pest Control person also mentioned that we should eliminate or cut back any tree or bush that is four feet near the roof. I guess the little rats can attach their tails to branches and swing their way onto a roof. I love our Thuja in the courtyard, but these need to be moved before they get too tall. Luckily, they’re slow growers, so I can put off this task for a little while longer. 
I’ve been looking forward to watching this Japanese Maple grow taller than our roof. Not only would it provide much needed shade in the courtyard, but it would look really cool growing from the center of our house. 
