My Garden Diary

Trimmed the Australian tea tree, which was growing at eye level and lower over the path on the east side of the teardrop bed. I guess that shade from The Tree west of the tea tree causes excess eastward growth. I left some branches that arch high enough over the path that they don't interfere with anyone walking there.

Some of the Camellia sasanqua and azaleas are a bit yellow. I gave them a small dose of sulfur to acidify the soil and a large dose of gypsum to make the clay more porous.

Stirred the compost pile and added the remaining leaves that I saved from last autumn. The compost was filled with many fine roots. I suspect they grew under the adjacent block wall from the mock orange (Pittosporum tobira) that grows just on the other side of the wall. Now that the rainy season has ended, I'll have to remember to water the pile.

Continued trimming along the edge of the back lawn, from where I left off (24 Apr) along the west bed to the dwarf lemon tree. The cinquefoil (Potentilla neumanniana) in the west bed only needed some light trimming.

I'm concerned about the potted sage (Salvia officinalis) among my herbs. Most shoots have wilted and appear to be dying. Only one shoot is growing vigorously. I've seen this before, where sage survived the winter only to collapse in the spring.

• I fed the roses with a commercial rose food that contains a systemic insecticide. The instructions say to use every six weeks, but I only use it once in two months (~9 weeks) because I alternate with ammonium sulfate.
• I fed the camellias and azaleas with a commercial camellia, azalea, and rhododendron food. These get fed only once a year. They actually prefer a "lean" soil.
• I climbed My Hill to broadcast a house-brand of lawn food. I gave extra attention to feeding the Rhaphiolepis 'Majestic Beauty' and the grape vines. I feed My Hill only once a year because (1) I don't want to climb it any more than necessary and (2) extra fertilizer will only encourage weeds.

While on My Hill, I discovered several Scotch thistles (Onopordum acanthium), which are real nasty weeds. The spines on the leaves can even penetrate leather gloves. I also found that a large plant at the top that I thought was an overgrown false rosemary (Westringia fruticosa) is actually a very large coyote bush (some variety of Baccharis), which I really do not want. Also, the east side of My Hill is overrun with sow thistle (Sonchus). I had planned on treating the weeds with an herbicide, but they are so numerous I may have to use a landscape service.

Some think I should just leave the squirrels alone and share the bounty of my fruit trees with them. However, squirrels are worse than mere fruit thieves. At Gardens of the World, they fill themselves with the new shoots from the white mulberry trees (Morus alba); they so delay the trees from leafing out each year that they might eventually kill the trees. Also, squirrels carry some nasty diseases; here in southern California, squirrels are sometimes found to carry plague.

Bought a small plastic pot of dill (Anethum graveolens) seedlings last week. Today, I repotted them in a larger clay pot, which I am leaving in the shade on the patio while the plants get established. In the meantime, I moved the basil (6 Apr) to join the other herbs out in the back yard.

Trimmed more of the edges of the back lawn and rose bed (21 Apr).

Climbed My Hill to tie lengthening shoots of the grape vines to their supporting wires. I also removed some side shoots along what I hope will become the trunks of the vines. The 'Flame' grape at the top of My Hill has flower buds. I removed some because a new grape vine should not be allowed to produce too large a crop in its first bearing year. If the birds, squirrels, and raccoons allow, I might even get to taste some 'Flame' grapes this summer.

Continued trimming the edge of the back lawn from where I left off (17 Apr) opposite the circular bed to the rose bed. Then, I trimmed the pink clover from the edge of the rose bed opposite the circular bed to the small brick patio. Finally, I trimmed grass away from the popup sprinkler heads in the lawn.

Today was a day of trimming. I trimmed the coyote bush (Baccharis pilularis) around the roses in front and away from adjacent paving. Then I started trimming the edges of the back lawn, working from the patio along the east edge. I also trimmed the edge of the teardrop bed and weeded the path adjacent to where I trimmed the lawn.

In back, all roses are now blooming. In front, only 'Paradise' has not bloomed. This one has been struggling for a few years now, possibly because of competition from the nearby oak (Quercus lobata).

Cleopatra is awake! She devoured some rose petals I gave her as I groomed faded blooms. Now I'll have to be careful to keep the side gate latched and also not to trip on her (which I already did today).

Weeded the brick panel in front where the various utility junction boxes are located.

Repotted the bay (Laurus nobilis) that sits on an intersection of paths in back. I cut away about 2 inches from the bottom of the root ball and about 1 inch from the sides. I then used fresh potting mix to replace what I removed.

Removed two daylilies from the rose bed in back. They were not in a good location relative to other plants, and I really do not like that variety (maroon flowers that appear only 2-3 times a year).

After more than a month indoors (6 Mar), I moved my Cymbidium orchid back outdoors. The flowers had wilted, possibly because I did not keep the plant watered enough. However, there are now one or two new flower shoots.

Trimmed the pink clover along my driveway and the public sidewalk. I also trimmed this ground cover from around the stepping stones between the driveway and the brick path that goes to the front door.

Tied the two lower grape vines on My Hill. The 'Perlette' grape is at the supporting wire, and I tied a shoot in each direction along the wire. The 'Black Monukka' grape is still only about 2 feet high, but it is now growing more vigorously than last year. I tied the primary shoot to the twine that stretches between the wire and the vine's base. For both vines, I removed all the side shoots from the primary shoot, which I want to become the trunk when the vines mature. (I was just too tired to climb to the top of My Hill to work on the 'Flame' grape there.)

Loosened the screws in The Tree that hold the bracket for wind chimes. These are excellent tuned chimes, the baritone from a set that ranged from bass to soprano. (No, I do not have the entire set. I only have the baritone chimes.)

Trimmed the eugenia (Syzygium paniculatum) in front near the garage. Some branches were getting hit when the garage door opened and closed. This group of eugenia needs much more pruning, which I hope to do later this month.

Finally potted the pothos (Epipremnum pinnatum) cuttings that I've been trying to root forever (since 23 Sep 2010) and rehung the pot in the blue bathroom upstairs. Then I took cuttings of the nephthytis (Syngonium podophyllum) that had become overgrown in the breakfast room greenhouse window. At least three other plants in the greenhouse window are overgrown, so I'll be rooting cuttings for the rest of spring and well into summer.

Finished pruning the Artemesia (16 Mar).

Fed the dwarf citrus, gardenia, and Australian tea tree (Leptospermum laevigatum) with ammonium, iron, and zinc sulfates. I also did a little corrective pruning to the citrus.

Trimmed the pink clover in front away from the wax-leaf begonias along the brick path to the front door. All of the begonias in back around the dwarf tangelo survived the winter. Just a few of the begonias in front failed to survive; if they do not resprout from their roots, I will replace them next month.

Caught a squirrel in the cage trap! This was a surprise since whatever bait was left after torrential rains had to be quite stale. I took the trap out to the Paramount Ranch unit of the Santa Monica Mountains Recreation Area — several miles and across a 10-lane freeway from my house — and turned the squirrel loose. There are plenty of hungry hawks, owls, and coyotes there. When I returned home, I baited and reset the trap. Almost immediately, it caught another squirrel! I was too tired to drive back to Paramount Ranch, so I'll do that tomorrow. In the meantime, maybe the distressed captive will leave some kind of sign that will discourage other squirrels from entering my garden.

The forecast for rain was good. By 6:00pm local time, 0.22 inches fell. This was enough to dissolve the ammonium sulfate and start it leaching into the soil. (This rainfall occurred entirely after local noon and thus is not reflected in the weather data to the left.)

My garden shows no signs of damage from the storm, but I am concerned that some plants might rot in the saturated soil. It can take several days or even a few weeks for such damage to become visible.

Some after-storm cleanup was necessary. Dead branches and new shoots from various trees littered both in front and in back. Generally, I cut this debris into pieces small enough to lie flat and placed it where it would stabilize leaf mulch from blowing away. I also had to remove several buckets full of leaves and mud from the catch box at the bottom of My Hill and the lower end of the down-slope V-ditch that empties into the catch box. My Hill itself does not seem affected by the excessive rain.

Fed the back lawn and the west, rose, teardrop, and circular beds, using a house brand of lawn food. This feeding included the various perennials that are growing in the lawn. However, I avoided feeding the artichoke (Cynara scoymus), which got too much nitrogen last year and grew very tall with only a few edible buds, and the gardenia, which gets a special feeding every three weeks when I feed the dwarf citrus. In the rose bed, I avoided feeding the Camellia sasanqua; in the circular bed, I avoided feeding the azaleas. All the camellias (including the C. japonica) and azaleas will get a separate feeding with a very mild specialty fertilizer when they have all finished blooming.

Trimmed the potted spoon-flowered chrysanthemum (C. morifolium) and the potted sage (Salvia officinalis), both of which are starting to show new growth. I gave each potted plant in back a very small dose of the lawn food.

Trimmed the pink clover in front from the shrub bed under the living room windows, and trimmed the dwarf English ivy that surrounds the liquidambar tree from the pink clover. I like to have a bare strip a few inches wide between the ivy and the pink clover.

Gave the liquidambar (L. styraciflua) tree — whose buds are beginning to swell — a good dose of iron sulfate. I hope the iron sulfate and the earlier dose of soil sulfur (7 Nov 10) are sufficient to prevent the severe chlorosis that often afflicts the tree.

Cut down two of the Artemisia 'Powis Castle'0 (A. arborescens × absinthium?) in back. This is an annual spring renovation. I have five more of the Artemisia to cut.

Fed the dwarf citrus with a commercial citrus food plus two pinches of zinc sulfate for each plant. I wanted to delay feeding the citrus because we still had frost last week, but I notices new shoots already growing.

Fed the gardenia (G. jasminoides 'Veitchii') with the same nutrients as the citrus.

Started weeding the parkway in front. I thoroughly cleared weeds from near the mailbox, also giving the dwarf English ivy (Hedera helix 'Hahn's') a trim. Then I focused on removing any dandelions elsewhere in the parkway.

After removing the very few weeds from the main part of the front lawn, I broadcast a house-brand lawn food over the area, not merely on the pink clover (Persicaria capitata) but also for the Burford holly (Ilex cornuta 'Burfordii Nana'), eugenia (Syzygium paniculatum) along the east property line, and the raphiolepis (R. indica) at the sidewalk. The other shrubs in front will be pruned later this spring; I'll feed them after they are cut. We might have rain tonight; if not, I will have to water the front lawn in the morning to rinse the fertilizer into the soil.

Over four years ago, our son's mother-in-law gave us a Cymbidium orchid in bloom. When it finished blooming, I repotted it. It has finally bloomed again. Although it should be treated as an outdoor plant — taken into the house only when night-time temperatures might go below 30°F — I brought it into the house today to show off the flowers.