Our new sandbox

When we moved in, there wasn't one tree, bush or grassy yard. It was all sand-actually one big sandbox. In prepping the houses Aramco wants everyone to start out the SAME. So they remove all the grass, flowers and bushes. This allows the new owner to order the plants they want from "gardening." Interesting thought, but our yard was completely barren - not even a tree!
We were allowed three small trees (12 inches high) and a few starter plants and grass starts. I really had to bargain for that third tree. No concept of sod here and the starter plants are truly starter plants at 6 inches high. The secret is to find someone who is leaving and to transplant their plants, bushes and trees before Aramco comes in and cleans it out. It's the oddest thing but everyone does it before the hired gardeners get to it. The gardeners in turn sell it to the families they work for here in the community.
Basically, we started from scratch. One family leaving told us we could have anything in their yard. We transplanted 4 bushes in the dark cover of night - seemed very odd to be doing this! I joined the gardening club here and had to learn what grows in SAND. After a few trips to the nurseries around here, I was able to fill in around our 4 leafy plants and add flowers and filler.
We finally finished this afternoon. Louie was a big help with the flowers. He would bring me one at a time. I would point where I wanted it to go. He would smile at me and then put it where he thought it should go! Such a character. He loves to garden with me - because basically we are playing in a big sandbox!