My Garden Diary

Rain —
This rain-year: 15.21
Days since last: 102

Swept the driveway, public sidewalk, and brick path to the front door. Most of the debris consisted of leaves from the trees in front. I used some of the sweepings to mulch the pink clover lawn.

Fed the roses with ammonium sulfate (21-0-0).

Fed the dwarf citrus and gardenia with ammonium, iron, and zinc sulfates.

All three heavenly bamboo now have enough new growth to hide the fact that I severely pruned them (10 Jul and earlier).

I think I have solved the mystery of why potted sage — which is supposed to be perennial — always died in the summer. I had been concerned that it might have received too much water and rotted, but that was wrong. After I trimmed away about a third of the growth (2 Aug), it is now doing very well. It seems that the vigorous growth of foliage in the spring exceeded the ability of its roots to supply moisture during hot weather. Since we only use 1-2 sage leaves at a time when cooking, excessive top growth is not needed; so I will continue to control its growth.

Last Monday, I had someone repair the faulty sprinkler on My Hill (24 Jul). He also repaired a leaking feeder line in the sprinklers on the flat area of my back yard, which I tested a few days ago. Today, I tested the repaired sprinkler on My Hill. I need to tweak the sprinkler head just slightly counter-clockwise. I also have to adjust the angle of another head on the same line.

Cut back the potted bay (Laurus nobilis) and sage (Salvia officinalis). The latter keeps wilting, apparently because the top growth exceeds the ability of its constrained roots to supply moisture. I was also concerned that the same could happen to the bay.

Uncapped the vertical irrigation pipes for the Japanese zelkova (Z. serrata) in front and ran the hose to fill the pipes. I was concerned that the drip supply to the pipes might not be sufficient during the current extreme heat.

I then left the hose trickling near the valley white oak (Quercus lobata), which has received no direct irrigation since the rains ended. Watering a wild-growing western oak in the summer is a sure way to kill the tree. However, I grew this tree from an acorn and pruned away its taproot as I repotted it before it was finally planted in front of my house. With its taproot gone, a western oak will readily adapt to summer irrigation. Tomorrow, I will move the hose to water the other side of the tree and also the large rosemary bush (Rosmarinus officinalis) growing adjacent to the public sidewalk. (I suspect that both the oak and rosemary have roots growing near the roses and under my neighbor's front lawn, both of which get regular irrigation.)

The potted weeping Chinese banyan (Ficus benjamina) on the front porch has nice new growth but is also losing many leaves. It had a number of dead twigs. I cleaned it up. At first, I though its problem was either too much water or hot weather starting too quickly. On close examination of its leaves, however, I discovered that what looked like specks were actually scale insect. I lightly fed it with the same fertilizer with systemic insecticide that I use on my roses. Yet the potting mix was indeed quite moist alghouth it had been a week since it was last watered.

Trimmed the Podocarpus that grows adjacent to the west edge of the overhead garage door. Some branches were growing out over the walk and the driveway.

Some mature canes of the climbing 'Peace' rose in back have produced new, very long canes. Some were too stiff to bend and tie down, and I cut them short. Two of them were sufficiently flexible that I did tie them down to scew eyes that are in the slough wall behind the plant.

All three pruned heavenly bamboo (26 Jun and 3 & 10 Jul) now have new shoots.

While on My Hill, I checked the 'Black Monukka' grape vine. The grapes are just starting to color. They might be ripe in about two weeks. I hope the squirrels let me have at least one bunch.

Fed the dwarf citrus and gardenia with commercial citrus fertilizer plus zinc sulfate. Using a metal spike, I also poked two holes in the soil around each citrus and three around the gardenia and filled them with super-phosphate, which promotes flowers and fruit. Because phosphorus does not readily dissolve, I had to put it where roots will find it.

Finished pruning the loquat tree (20 Jul). I hope I have not over-pruned it to the extent that it does not bloom well this winter. Yes, strange as it seems, loquats bloom in the winter and ripen their fruit mid-spring. Unlike when I prune a shrub, I will not be giving the tree an extra feeding. I do not want to promote new growth that might be susceptable to fire blight.

Today, fed the roses with a commercial fertilizer than contains a systemic insecticide.

Started pruning the 'MacBeth' loquat tree (Eriobotrya japonica) in the circular bed in back. After doing about half the tree, the garden waste bin was full. After fighting fire blight in the tree several years ago, I was advised that pruning during the heat and low humidity of summer reduces the likelihood of infection. For this task, I have three goals:

• open up the tree to improve air circulation
• control the height so that I do not need a ladder to pick the fruit
• control the spread so that it does not interfere with the paths and small patio that surround the bed

Finished trimming the path between the rose bed and lawn and also continued along that path between the rose and circular bed. I then did the path between the lawn and circular bed.

Trimmed more of the edges of the path between the back lawn and rose bed (5 Jul), almost reaching the intersection of that path with the path that separates the lawn and circular bed.

Rain —
This rain-year: 15.21
Days since last: 58

The camellia bed in back should contain three Camellia japonica: 'Debutant', 'Carter's Sunburst', and 'Nuncio's Gem'. The 'Carter's Sunburst' — with single pale pink flowers that have darker pink streaks — is definitely dead, having failed to survive the extreme heat wave in July 2018. (The temperature reached 115°F on 7 July, after which my garden looked like someone used a flame thrower there.) I will replace it this coming autumn, when the weather begins to cool. I thought the 'Nuncio's Gem' — with formal double white flowers very much like 'Alba Plena' — had died over this past winter. However, it now has new shoots and even leaves.

Also, one of the Camellia sasanqua 'Yuletide' at the north end of the east bed has died. It too will be replaced in autumn.

The three pruned Rhaphiolepis indica in front (18 Jun and earlier) now all have new shoots.

Finished trimming the edges of the path in back between the lawn and west bed (30 Jun) and started between the lawn and rose bed. I also cleared the grass around three sprinkler heads in the lawn.

Rain —
This rain-year: 15.21
Days since last: 48

The bare spaces in the pink clover (Persicaria capitata) ground cover that is my front lawn are gradually closing, I applied some 27-0-2 fertilizer along the edges of those bare spaces to encourage more rapid closing.

Pruned another heavenly bamboo (Nandina domestica) growing within the eastern edge of the back lawn (26 Jun).

Fed the dwarf citrus and the gardenia (G. jasminoides 'Veitchii') today with ammonium, iron, and zinc sulfates. They all require an acid environment, so these are ideal for them. Three of citrus are planted in large pots with a potting mix that has perfect drainage. The fourth — a tangelo (Citrus reticulata × paradisi 'Minneola') — is in a raised bed with a soil mix that also drains well. Since nutrients quickly leach away, the citrus must be fed every third week from March to early October. As for the gardenia, it is simply a "heavy feeder", requiring abundant nutrients.

Used my pole pruner for the first time in years to remove two low-hanging branches from the valley white oak (Quercus lobata) in front. I was concerned that Ventura County might come and prune the tree because there was less than the required 14-foot clearance above the street and sidewalk. When the county prunes a tree, "pruning" generally means "butchering". Fortunately, I do not live in the nearby city of Thousand Oaks, where I would have had to get a permit and pay a fee to cut those branches. In Ventura County, a permit is only required for pruning wild-growing oaks, but mine is one I started from a acorn and planted as a sapling.