My Garden Diary

Climbed My Hill to train the grape vine at the top (21 Apr). I saw many bunches of tiny, immature grapes.

Bought and potted basil (Ocimum basilicum) and dill (Anethum graveolens). I'll keep them in the shade on the patio until they are well established. These are the only annuals that I plant. I make more use of these than I do of some of my perennial herbs.

Trimmed another myrtle (5 Apr) and another artemisia (29 Mar). One myrtle and two artemisia remain to be cut.

Cut down the all-green pothos (Epipremnum pinnatum) that was draped across the breakfast room. I used two shoot ends to put up cuttings.

Morning sun now shines for more than an hour into the greenhouse window in our breakfast room, so I hung shade cloth over the outside of the window.

Fed the dwarf citrus, gardenia, and Australian tea tree (Leptospermum laevigatum) with commercial citrus food plus a small amount of zinc sulfate.

Sprayed the bottom of My Hill with a grass-specific herbicide. I also sprayed the brick panel in front where the utility boxes are. I am very allergic to grass, and my hayfever has been especially bad recently.

Trimmed a 'Goodwin Creek Grey' lavender bush (Lavandula lanata × dentata) in the circular bed in back. It was crowding adjacent azaleas and interfering with the path around the bed. Two other lavenders will also have to be trimmed.

Weeded around the stepping stones that separate the camellia and east beds in back.

Of the white Cuphea hyssopifolia in the back rose bed, only one has not recovered from this winter's frosts (20 Jan).

Our "not-so-dry season" has ended with the second-least rainfall — 5.0 inches — in the past ten years. Only the rain year 2006-2007 was drier with 4.4 inches. Fortunately, four of California's six largest reservoirs appear to contain more than the average amounts of water.

Finished pruning the second dwarf myrtle (29 Mar) and then completely pruned a third. There are two left to cut.

Trimmed the pink clover in front along the public sidewalk. I then gave the mailbox a haircut, trimming the dwarf English ivy (Hedera helix 'Hahn's') growing on it.

Rain —
This season: 5.00
Week: 0.01

All petals have fallen from the flowers on the peach tree, which means bees will no longer be visiting it. I gave the tree an imidacloprid drench, hoping that this systemic insecticide will protect the tree from the bark borers that severely damaged its two predecessors. Normally, I would not use a systemic on a fruit tree or other edible plant, but research reports indicate that imidacloprid is harmless to mammals (including humans).

Started pruning another myrtle (10 Mar).

I also started to prune another artemisia (17 Mar). However, it was so puny that I cut it to the ground. If it recovers with new growth, okay. Otherwise, I will replace it with one of the cuttings I am rooting.

Trimmed the pink clover (Persicaria capitata) in front along the edges of the brick path from the public sidewalk to the front porch.

Moved the potted English thyme into the garden adjacent to the other herbs. When I first potted it (15 Mar), I placed it on the main patio in the shade.

Climbed My Hill with a bucket full of the same house-brand lawn food (21-0-6) that I used in the rest of my garden (3 Mar). I broadcast the fertilizer across My Hill, with emphasis on feeding the grape vines and 'Majestic Beauty' Rhaphiolepis. I plan to run the hill sprinklers tomorrow and Sunday.

I had to climb My Hill a second time to fix a sprinkler that was askew. While climbing off My Hill, I caught one foot on the slough wall and fell into the rose bed, fortunately missing a rose bush. I scraped an elbow and bruised a knee and hand.

Started pruning the artemisia 'Powis Castle' (A. arborescens × absinthium). Normally, I would have finished pruning the myrtle; but I wanted to take some cuttings of the artemisia to replace one plant that died last year. While I often buy new plants to replace dead ones, artemisia cuttings root so readily that I don't feel like spending the money. Indeed, I have found branches that touched the soil and rooted. Unlike the myrtle, which is pruned every 3-4 years, the artemisia must be pruned every spring. Otherwise, it gets quite scraggly. Right now, the two that I cut are only slightly more than stumps; in 3 months or less, they will be attractive gray mounds of feathery foliage.

One of the nephthytis (Syngonium podophyllum) cuttings (27 Dec 12) has rooted, but the other one died. When renewing house plants, I prefer to have at least two rooted cuttings to replace their parent; so today, I put up two more nephthytis cuttings.

Fed the back lawn with the same house-brand lawn food (21-0-6) that I used in the rest of my garden (3 Mar). This completes my annual general feeding except for My Hill, which I hope to feed towards the end of next week. Of course, there remain specialized feedings: the camellias and azaleas once after they are finished blooming, the dwarf citrus and gardenia every three weeks until early October, and the roses every month until late October.

Applied a second dormant spray to the 'Santa Barbara' peach tree. This is supposed to be done just as the flower buds begin to show color, but some buds had already opened. However, today was the first day since I saw any color that both the weather and my availability were opportune. Even the wind stopped for a few minutes to allow me to spray without spraying myself.

Started pruning the myrtle bushes (Myrtus communis 'Compacta') in the west bed in back. It has been three years since they were trimmed. Although they are supposedly "dwarf" myrtles, they are taller than I am and have begun to spread out over the adjacent path. While they can be sheared into formal shapes and even topiary, I prefer an informal appearance.

Fed the front yard and west, circular, rose, and teardrop beds in back with a house-brand lawn food (21-0-6). In front, I avoided feeding the mock orange shrubs (Pittosporum tobira); they will be fed after I cut them back later in the spring. In back, I avoided feeding the roses and dwarf citrus, which received different feedings, and the Camellia sasanqua, which will be fed after all camellias and azaleas are finished blooming.

I fed the roses in front and back with ammonium sulfate (27-0-0), iron sulfate, and small pinches of Epsom salts (magnesium sulfate). I fed the dwarf citrus and gardenia (G. jasminoides 'Veitchii') with commercial citrus food plus small pinches of Epsom salts and zinc sulfate.