My Garden Diary

At the backs of four of the terraces, they laid pierced drain pipes that connect to two (not one) collector pipes that run down the surface of the slope. They installed a concrete V-ditch across the top, feeding into a down-slope concrete V-ditch in the center. This latter feeds into a catch box and then into an underground drain pipe. That drain pipe plus the two collectors run in parallel diagonally across the back yard, around the east side of the house, and end with three hole in the curb in front so that they can empty into the street gutter.

Now it is time for my landscape contractor to do his work. I plan to restore the garden the way it used to look with only slight variations:

• Instead of two grape vines on My Hill, there will be a third: 'Flame' near the top next to the down-slope V-ditch.
• Since the African daisies (Osteospermum fruticosum) and English ivy (Hedera helix, not the dwarf 'Hahn's') eventually grew together on My Hill, they will not be planted in separate blocks.
• Aristea ecklonii proved too invasive. It will not be replanted in my rose and west beds.
• The yellow daylilies bloom all summer. The maroon daylilies seem to bloom only twice. Only the former will be replanted.
• Cinquefoil (Potentilla neumanniana) will be replanted only around the pineapple guava (Feijoa sellowiana) in the west bed and not elsewhere.

Today, the landscape contractor left for a two-week vacation. That's okay since I don't want any planting done until the end of September, when the weather begins to cool.

The loss in front —

• One mock orange (Pittosporum tobira) and half the dwarf English ivy (Hedera helix 'Hahn's') around the Liquidambar were dug out when the drain lines were laid to the curb. The other two mock orange were severely pruned so that workers could dig the trench. (I'll be able to replant the ivy from the cuttings I rooted (24 Mar).)
• The sprinklers in front had to be shut off during the trenching for the drain lines. A lack of watering plus excessive foot traffic killed most of the pink clover (Persicaria capitata), which had finally started spreading across the front lawn quite well.
• The 'Honor' and 'Mr. Lincoln' roses in front did not survive being run over many times by construction equipment. Whether other roses in front survive not being watered for over two hot summer months is unknown.
• The French lavender did not survive being buried under a mound of gravel.
• The parkway was used to store dirt excavated from My Hill while underground drain pipes and geogrid were installed. The cinquefoil underneath the dirt died.

The loss in back —

• Of course, My Hill is now bare dirt. Without any irrigation for two years, the oleanders (Nerium oleander) were in full bloom and the grape vines were setting fruit when the grading contractor started work. They're all gone.
• The sprinkler system has been totally disrupted. Near My Hill, construction equipment repeatedly drove over the heads. Elsewhere, the sprinkler lines were cut when the trench was dug for the drain lines.
• The rose bed is barren. I can see only two stumps, and I can't tell if they are from rose bushes or the dwarf Burford holly (Ilex cornuta 'Burfordii Nana'). Of course, I expected this devastation for the rose bed. I don't know what spring bulbs might still be alive underground, some of which are likely to be disturbed when the landscaper restores my garden.
• Everything in the east bed beyond the Shasta daisies (Chrysanthemum maximum) died because I could not reach that area to hand-water it. This includes the penstemon, coreopsis, and Camellia sasanqua 'Yuletide'. Also, I'm not sure the primroses (Primula polyantha) under the peach tree survived.
• In the circular bed, four of the azaleas are gone and a fifth is doubtful. One of the daylilies is also gone along with all of the thrift (sea pinks, Armeria meritima).
• The entire lawn of red fescue (Festuca rubra) is either dead or dying. In the lawn, two of the three Artemisia 'Powis Castle' are missing entirely as are all of the heavenly bamboo (Nandina domestica) and all but one society garlic (Tulbaghia violacea). I can't tell yet which daylilies survived. The only part of the lawn area that survived well were the plants just off the patio.
• The area in the west bed around the pineapple guava is bare. I don't know if any of the spring bulbs will return. Miraculously, the two bearded iris and the Crinum powellii 'Album' near the guava did survive. However, I can't find the 'Batik' iris near the raised bed for the dwarf tangelo. I don't know if any of the other bulbs near the tangelo will return. As reported earlier (5 Jul), I will have to build a new trellis for the star jasmine.

For the first time in well over a month, I was able to do some gardening without worrying whether the grading contractor would make my effort wasted. I restored the wire for the climbing 'Fourth of July' rose in front. I did some corrective pruning where tree and shrub branches had been broken. And I restored the blocks forming the raised bed for the tangelo back into a square. (The grading contractor did not remove these blocks; instead, he kept hitting them with his construction equipment.) I poured a lot of water into various parts of the back yard and groomed the Shasta daisies and the lilies of the Nile (Agapanthus orientalis).

It's not much better in front. The French lavender (Lavandula dentata) is buried under a pile of gravel. Dirt has been stacked on the parkway. So far, all the roses in front are intact (with a few broken canes); but I can't soak them with the Bobcat going back and forth.

All I can do in my garden now is pour water on the potted plants, all of which have been moved onto the patio. I can't even reach some of the pots. Instead, I turn the hose up high and water the pots from a distance. I also have to hand-water the tangelo.

Today, I picked four peaches. At least something is unchanged.

It's official. This was the driest rain-year in southern California since record-keeping began. (West of the Rocky Mountains, most rain falls in the winter. Thus, rain years are reckoned from July to June or (by some agencies) from October to September.) Los Angeles had 3.21 inches since July 2006. Fortunately, California's reservoirs still have adequate reserves, with several near or above their average amounts of water in storage.