My Garden Diary

But my calendar said that both the roses and dwarf citrus had to be fed. I fed the citrus and the gardenia with commercial citrus food plus a trace of zinc sulfate. I fed the roses with a commercial shrub food that contains a systemic insecticide.

Pulled seedling trees — babies of The Tree — from the pink clover in front.

Pruned the rosemary bush in front. I removed a large limb that kept sending side branches out over the public sidewalk. There are other limbs on that side of the bush that still give it a balanced appearance. However, there is also another limb too close to the sidewalk. I'll remove it when the adjacent limbs grow enough to preserve the appearance. I also removed many "hangers" (small branches that grow down instead of up) and crossing branches.

Sunday, I harvested dill (Anethum graveolens). Leaves, flower heads, and seeds are now drying on top of my refrigerator. Unlike last year (24 Jul 08), I left substantial stalks in the flower pot in the hope that I might get some new sprouts.

The hollyhock seeds have sprouted (26 Jul). Currently, they only have "seed leaves". When they have true leaves, I'll move the pot outside from the breakfast room greenhouse window.

Noticed that the dwarf lemon and dwarf kumquat have new infestations of leaf miner (1 Sep 08). I used a systemic insecticide drench on both of them. Yes, I know this is not officially approved for edible crops; but the research also indicates that this particular insecticide has negligible or no toxicity for mammals. UC Davis recommends not treating mature, full-size citrus since the insect's damage will not seriously harm the tree. That is not true with dwarf citrus; my tangelo was almost completely defoliated last year (18 Oct), which — if repeated — could kill the tree. I will be watching the dwarf orange and tangelo very carefully to see if the miners start there.

The roses in front have not been doing as well as those in back. Part of the problem might be competition with roots from the oak (Quercus lobata) and rosemary (Rosmarinus officinalis). But I think the roses in back are also getting more water. Therefore, I adjusted the drip irrigation system for the roses in front to run more frequently.

Fed the dwarf citrus and gardenia each with a handful of ammonium sulfate and smaller amounts of iron and zinc sulfates. I also gave very small pinches of ammonium sulfate to some of the potted plants on the patio.

Trimmed the dwarf English ivy (Hedera helix 'Hahn's') under the liquidambar tree (L. styraciflua) in front. It was climbing the tree and also growing into my neighbor's yard.

Weeded the walkway between the circular and east beds. This was mostly a solid mat of spotted spurge.

Fed some thin patches in the back lawn. One patch is recovering from a lack of water when a sprinkler head failed (7&13 May). Another was shaded by the artichoke that toppled in a wind storm (31 Mar). A third patch was the result of nibbling by Cleopatra.

Trimmed the pink clover in front along the driveway. Also trimmed the pink clover in back around the small circular patio.

Weeded part of the parkway and then fed the cinquefoil (Potentilla neumanniana) growing there.

Weeded the circular patio in back, where spotted spurge (Euphorbia maculata) had sprouted between the bricks. I also started to remove spurge from the walkway between the east and circular beds.

While the 'Flame' and 'Perlette' grapes on My Hill are thriving, the 'Black Monukka' vine has been sulking. I let the hose trickle at its base for about two hours. After the first hour, I fed it with a small amount of ammonium sulfate.

The peaches are done for the year. I will now have to call the tree service to remove the tree, which is well past its prime. First, however, I will call around to make sure that a replacement tree will be available this coming winter.

The dwarf kumquat is in its second bloom period. This year, it did not set any fruit during the first bloom.

Earlier this week, I saw a rabbit in the back yard. If it becomes a frequent visitor, I'll have to get a large cage trap. Today, I refreshed the bait in the smaller trap that I use for squirrels.

Early last week, I collected more hollyhock seeds at Gardens of the World (11 Jun). Today, I removed about 1.5 inches of potting mix from the top of the pot where the previous seeds sprouted and then failed (15 Jul) and replaced it with a fresh mix of coarse sand and peat moss. I seeded the pot. This time, I put the pot inside the greenhouse window in our breakfast room, where it won't be subjected to full summer heat.

Fed the roses — front and back — with ammonium sulfate.

Trimmed the pink clover along the brick walkway in front, making sure to remove shoots that were beginning to encroach upon the begonias that border part of the walkway.

It was so hot that sweat dripped from my forehead and formed pools inside my eyeglasses. I finally quit without accomplishing everything I wanted to do. We've now had 17 consecutive days with temperatures over 90°F, with 14 of those days reaching or exceeding 95° and 5 of those 14 exceeding 100°.

The recent heat wave — five consecutive days with temperatures at or above 95°F — knocked down my hollyhock seedlings (4 Jul). I think I'll try to collect more seeds (11 Jun) and start again.

Fed some of the perennials with generic lawn food to encourage them to bloom again. I also used the same fertilizer on parts of the pink clover "lawn" in front that were not growing well.

Fed the dwarf citrus and gardenia (G. jasminoides 'Veitchii') with commercial citrus food and a bit of zinc sulfate.

Picked a number of peaches. I gave several to my neighbors, ate one, and put the rest in the refrigerator. From peaches I picked a few days ago, my wife made a delicious peach crisp dessert.

The 'Flame' grape at the top of My Hill finally reached its supporting wire. I climbed My Hill, pulling some weeds as I went. I tied the vine to the wire and cut off the tip of the main shoot. It will develop side shoots, which I will train in both directions along the wire.

Trimmed the pink clover (Persicaria capitata) in the teardrop bed, which was smothering the Cuphea hyssopifolia and growing out over the walkway.

Today, hung some CDs from the peach tree and other trees in back. The peaches are starting to color, and I've found a few that have already been pecked. The CDs spin in the breezes and flash the sunlight, scaring away birds and maybe even squirrels.

One of the hollyhock (Acea rosea) seeds (11 Jun) has sprouted!

After dinner, I went in front to see if any of our neighbors were also out, possibly shooting fireworks for the 4th. I happened to look towards my liquidambar tree (L. styraciflua) and saw that a large limb was dead. In the fading twilight, I could tell the branch had broken off the tree and lodged in lower branches and was partially resting on the roof of our house. I used a pruning hook to pull it down before winds shifted it and damaged the roof. It sits on the front lawn, waiting until tomorrow when I will have to cut it up for the trash bin. This is the third large branch to fall from the tree in the past three years, each one larger and higher up than the previous one. I must have a tree service check the tree to see if it's dying.