My Garden Diary

Hung unwanted compact discs on and near the loquat tree (Eriobotrya japonica 'MacBeth') to keep the birds away. Then I wrapped the trunk with aluminum flashing to keep squirrels from climbing the tree. I take such measures just a few weeks before the fruit is ripe to protect it from being eaten. When all the fruit has been harvested, I will move the CDs and flashing to my peach tree, whose fruit ripens later than the loquats.

Thinned the fruit on the peach tree, removing almost half of the immature peaches. The remaining peaches will then grow much larger, but the pits will not. Thus, I might actually get more usable fruit than if I did not thin them.

Started pruning a third dwarf myrtle (21 Apr).

Trimmed some more of the edge of the back lawn (16 Apr).

Pruned two more Artemisia. There are four others, but I might prune only two of them. The other two were small rooted cuttings last summer.

Unlike the other citrus, which are in large pots, the tangelo is in the ground in a raised bed. Its leaves are somewhat yellow, indicating the possibility of poor drainage. Thus, I also gave it a generous dose of gypsum (calcium sulfate) to improve drainage.

Rain —
This season: 19.15
Days since last: 16

Also finished pruning the myrtle that I started last weekend (16 Apr). Just a few hours after my garden waste was collected, the garden waste bin is full again. There are still three myrtles to prune.

Rain —
This season: 19.15
Days since last: 13

Since the baby humming birds learned to fly and left there nest their, I trimmed the potted weeping Chinese banyan (Ficus benjamina) on my front porch. This coming fall, I will trim it again to discourage the humming birds from nesting. They scattered their droppings over the porch and onto my front door. There are plenty of other places in my garden that are appropriate for their nests.

Started trimming a 'Goodwin Creek Grey' lavender (Lavandula lanata × dentata) that is in the circular bed in back. It is crowding the adjacent azaleas and partially blocking the path around the bed.

Potted the magenta Cyclamen that I bought two days ago.

Gave the peach tree a drench of a systemic insecticide to prevent flat-head borers, which severely damaged my previous peach trees. I was also going to treat the zelkova in front, but the instructions say to use 1 ounce of insecticide concentrate for every inch of circumfrence of the tree's trunk. The zelkova has a trunk 60 inches around, which would have required far more concentrate than I have.

Started pruning another myrtle (11 Mar). I did not finish because I also have to trim the edges of the back lawn and prune the Artemisia 'Powis Castle' (A. arborescens × absinthium?), both of which I started. The myrtle takes up much room in the garden waste bin, and I wanted to leave room for further gardening later this week.

Climbed My Hill twice, once to plant the bush anemone and once dragging a hose with me to water it.

Potted the new dill. I will pot the Cyclamen this Sunday.

Trimmed the coyote bush (Baccharis pilularis) around the roses in front and along the public sidewalk.

Finished weeding the brick in front, both the panel for utility boxes and the path to the front door. I also trimmed the pink clover (Persicaria capitata) along the brick path to the door.

Rain —
This season: 18.93
Days since last: 13

Stirred the compost pile. I have not done this in a long time because the pile remained dry during the drought. Without water being added, the leaves in the pile stopped composting. With the abundant rains this past winter, the pile is again active. I think I will be able to sift it soon.

Partially trimmed the Sprenger asparagus (A. densiflorus 'Sprengeri') at the south end of the east bed. This had become quite overgrown. I did not finish, however, because I wanted to leave room in the garden-waste trash bin for finishing the pruning of a myrtle (17 Mar), which I then did.

When I was preparing to feed the dwarf 'Robertson' navel orange, I noticed the soil was dry and there was extensive leaf-fall. I discovered that the head of the drip irrigation emitter in the orange's very large flower pot was missing. I hand-watered the pot, replaced the emitter with a spare I had, and went on to feed the gardenia. After some more puttering around my garden, I then fed the orange and tested the new emitter. It is now working okay. Tomorrow, I plan to test the rest of my drip irrigation systems.

Much of the "more puttering" consisted of moving leaves off the main patio in back and into the garden-waste trash bin for tomorrow's collection. This is something I do every Thursday, even when I have no other garden tasks. The Tree is in full leaf again, but I am still not rid of its leaves from last year.

While up there, I saw a wild artichoke (Cynara scoymus) or cardoon (C. cardunculus) growing in the upper-left corner, just above the end of the cross-hill V-ditch. Because of spines along the edges of its leaves, this is something I would not touch without leather gloves, and I would really need a pruning saw to cut it down. I plan to remove it the next time I climb My Hill to train the 'Flame' grape vine at the top.

The wire ropes used to support the grape vines on My Hill end in steel rebar pounded into the ground. To protect anyone climbing on My Hill and to warn them where the rebar is located, each rod is topped with a bright orange cap. Some of those caps have deteriorated from exposure to the sun. While spraying My Hill, I replaced three of the caps.

Planted a blue fescue (Festuca glauca) in the rose bed where a clump of this blue-gray ornamental grass died.

Potted summer annual herbs: basil (Ocimum basilicum) and dill (Anethum graveolens). I bought these in small 4-inch plastic pots, and moved them to 12-inch clay pots.

Fed the rose bed in back — but not the roses themselves or the Camellia sasanquas — with 27-0-6 lawn food.

Gave the roses in front some Epsom salts. Some of them did not produce any significant canes last year, so I gave those an extra dose.

Trashed my attempt to root 'Goodwin Creek Grey' lavender (Lavandula lanata × dentata) cuttings (14 Oct). Usually, lavender roots quite readily; but these failed, possibly because I took the cuttings at the wrong time of year. Today, I put up fresh cuttings.

Climbed My Hill to feed it with the 27-0-6 lawn food. Now all my general garden feeding is done for the year. While I was on My Hill, I also fixed one of the sprinklers there. During my previous climb, I accidentally sat against that sprinkler and knocked it askew.

Started pruning the dwarf myrtle (Myrtus communis 'Compacta') in the west bed in back. Apparently "dwarf" is a relative term since these are taller than I am (until they are pruned). I last pruned them two years ago (April & May 2015), noting in this diary then that I cut them less severely than usual. That was a mistake. Normally I would prune them every three to four years, but now I am doing it after only two years. This time, I will prune severely.

I also gave the roses in back small doses of Epsom salts (magnesium sulfate), which should promote the growth of new canes. Towards the end of this week, I plan to give the roses in front Epsom salts. I give a little extra to those roses that did not produce new canes last year.

Fed the back lawn and the east, west, teardrop, and circular beds in back with the same 27-0-6 lawn food that I used two days ago in front. I have to buy some more so that I can feed the rose bed — the ground cover, shrubs, and bulbs there — and My Hill.

Finally potted the rooted nephthytis (Syngonium podophyllum) cutting after discarding its parent plant.

Gave each of the small pots in back a pinch of ammonium sulfate. I gave several pinches to the potted Ficus benjamina on my front porch. The humming bird that made a mess on the porch last spring returned and built a new nest on a Ficus leaf. The nest already has some chicks in it.

After more than two months of depending on rain, I restarted my irrigation system. I ran it a little today to wet the fertilizers I used. Tomorrow, it should resume its once-in-three days cycle.

The dwarf tangelo tree (Citrus reticulata × paradisi 'Mineloa') has four small, green tangelos. I am amazed because his is a tree that has no fruit at all in many years. I did not even notice it blooming, and I expect it will bloom again soon. The dwarf navel orange (Citrus sinensis 'Robertson') already has many flower buds.

Fed the entire front yard with a house-brand of 27-0-6 lawn food, which is great also for shrubs and ground covers. I even dropped a handful of this fertilizer down the vertical irrigation pipes for my street tree, a Japanese zelkova (Z. serrata).

Partially weeded the brick panel around the boxes for the underground utilities.

Fed some of the roses in front with a commercial fertilizer that also contains a systemic insecticide. I would have done all the roses in front, but I used up what fertilizer I had on hand.

Climbed My Hill to prune the 'Flame' grape vine at the top. I also lightly trimmed the vine that has invaded My Hill from the neighbors on the street above me and the coyote bush (Baccharis pilularis) that has volunteered just above the cross-slope V-ditch.