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My Garden Diary

March and April 2019

Copyright © 2019 by David E. Ross

Many years ago, when I first started my Web site, I created an online diary of my gardening activities and observations. However, with work and the commute from Hell, I was often so tired I had to choose between maintaining my garden and maintaining my diary. Sometimes, I did neither. In 1998, I stopped my diary and removed the pages from my Web site. 7

Now I am retired. I am well-rested and have plenty of time to both garden and maintain a diary. This diary is primarily for my own benefit, so that I can look back upon what I did and when. But I thought others might also be interested, so here it is.

Also see What's Blooming in My Garden Now?


January-February 2013
March-April 2013
May-June 2013
July-August 2013
September-October 2013
November-December 2013
January-February 2014
March-April 2014
May-June 2014
July-August 2014
September-October 2014
November-December 2014
January-February 2015
March-April 2015
May-June 2015
July-August 2015
September-October 2015
November-December 2015
January-February 2016
March-April 2016
May-June 2016
July-August 2016
September-October 2016
November-December 2016
January-February 2017
March-April 2017
May-June 2017
July-August 2017
September-October 2017
November-December 2017
January-February 2018
March-April 2018
May-June 2018
July-August 2018
September-October 2018
November-December 2018
January-February 2019

Diary entries for 2004 through 2012

Entries below are in reverse order (latest at the top). Daily, I might stoop to pull a weed or use a hose to water some potted plants; however, I don't consider those significant gardening activities. Thus, you will not see daily entries. Also, I might accumulate a few entries before updating this page on the Web.

When plants have well-known common names, their scientific names are given only the first time they appear on this page (entry closest to the bottom). There, the common name is in bold or appears as a link to another Web page.

Dates without years refer to other entries in the same year as the entry in which they appear — including entries on prior pages for the same year — unless a different year is given.

Date and Weather Observations and Activities
26 April

Clear, sunny, and mild

Temp: 53-82
Winter chill: 310.4 hours
Humidity: 42%
Wind: 0-9

The holly cuttings (14 Apr) were all wilted and dying. Although on a counter against the north side of the house, they apparently received too much morning sun (24 Apr). I put up new cuttings and placed them inside the greenhouse window in our breakfast room. The shade cloth there should protect them from the sun.

Trimmed the pink clover lawn along part of the public sidewalk and along both sides of the brick path that goes to our front door. I also removed weeds growing between the bricks.


Rain —
This rain-year: 18.48
Days since last: 22

24 April

Clear, sunny, and warm

Temp: 58-86
Winter chill: 310.4 hours
Humidity: 40%
Wind: 2-11

Rain —
This rain-year: 18.48
Days since last: 20

My house is not square on the compass, so the north side — including the breakfast room greenhouse window — gets several hours of sun from the vernal equinox to the autumnal equinox. Today, I hung shade cloth over the greenhouse window to protect the plants in it from excess sunlight.

The peach tree (Prunus persica 'Santa Barbara') finished blooming, so I gave it a drench of a systemic insecticide to prevent flathead bark borers. Those small maggots severely damaged the prior peach trees in my garden. I had to wait until the flowers had faded in order to avoid impacting bees.

Fed the roses with a commercial fertilizer that contains the same systemic insecticide that I used on the peach tree. In the case of the roses, however, this is a dry, granular fertilizer. Having seen damage to the Japanese zelkova (Z. serrata) in front from a woodpecker feeding on bark grubs, I placed a generous amount of the same fertilizer in the vertical irrigation pipes that flank the tree.

Finished weeding the brick panel in the parkway (19 Apr).

21 April

Clear, sunny, and mild

Temp: 49-69
Winter chill: 310.4 hours
Humidity: 55%
Wind: 1-15

Rain —
This rain-year: 18.48
Days since last: 17

Weeded more of the brick panel in the parkway (19 Apr).

Trimmed the pink clover (Persicaria capitata) in the front lawn along the driveway. It grew so thick, I had to trim it severely away from one of the sprinkler heads.

Trimmed the dwarf coyote bush (Baccharis pilularis) along the walk that goes from the driveway, around the house, to the patio in back. The only place where it needed trimming was at the bend near the driveway, where it had grown more than a foot over the pavement.

19 April

A few scattered clouds, mostly sunny, and warm

Temp: 58-83
Winter chill: 310.4 hours
Humidity: 33%
Wind: 2-13

Rain —
This rain-year: 18.48
Days since last: 15

Yesterday, removed from the patio the last of the leaves that fell from The Tree last year. There are still leaves on the paths through the back yard to be removed.

Weeded the main part of the parkway in front. It was easy to pull the weeds since the parkway is covered with medium crushed rock over landscape cloth. Thus, weed roots cannot grow into actual soil. However, there were so many weeds that it was quite an effort.

I also started weeding the brick panel in the parkway on the far side of my driveway. This require much more effort because the weeds are growing in the joints between the bricks. I have to use a paring knife in the joints to disrupt the roots of the weeds and partially lift them out. No, I did not finish.

Gave the dwarf English ivy (Hedera helix 'Hahn's') growing on my mailbox a haircut, trimming it so that it no longer looks so shaggy.

Two days ago, I bought a small pot of basil (Ocimum basilicum). Today, I moved it into a larger pot. It is sitting on the patio to get establish before I move it to where I have other herbs.

When buying basil, I usually also buy dill (Anethum graveolens). These are the only annuals I have in my garden. This year, however, I was given a packet of dill seed a week ago, during the celebration of Volunteer Appreciation Week in a neighboring community. Today, I potted the seeds.

14 April

Clear, sunny, and mild

Temp: 56-74
Winter chill: 310.4 hours
Humidity: 35%
Wind: 2-13

Rain —
This rain-year: 18.48
Days since last: 10

I thought I might have killed the potted Cymbidium orchid on the small circular patio in back by being too aggressive when I divided it (30 Sep 2018). It sat for six months without any new growth. Now, however, there are two new shoots.

My hay fever has been so bad that I have avoided working in my garden. However, some tasks could not be put off any longer.

Today, I put up cuttings of the dwarf Burford holly (Ilex cornuta 'Burfordii Nana') growing in back to replace the dying holly that had to be removed in front. It seems that nurseries in this area no longer carry this variety of holly.

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

Trimmed the Australian tea tree (Leptospermum laevigatum), removing growth that was interfering with the paths around the teardrop bed — growth that hit my head as I walked past.

5 April

Cloudy, occasional hazy sun, cold

Temp: 48-62
Winter chill: 310.4 hours
Humidity: 22%
Wind: 0-6

Rain —
This rain-year: 18.48
Week: 0.01

Replaced the hanging pothos (Epipremnum pinnatum 'Aureum') in the blue bathroom with rooted cuttings of the same (25 Nov 18).

Repotted the Phalaenopsis 'Fuller's Sunset' orchid growing in the breakfast room greenhouse window. Since it was given to me (13 Nov 18), it has not yet developed a root system extensive enough to stabilize it in its flowerpot. Now it has a spray of flowers that are heavy enough to tip the plant over, so repotting became very necessary.

Severely pruned the four potted weeping Chinese banyans (Ficus benjamina) on the front porch. I already saw a humming bird scouting the plant. Every spring, a pair of humming birds nest on one of these plants. The nest is not a problem; but the birds fling their droppings onto the house, which is a health problem.

Finished pruning the eugenia growing between the garage and front door (24 & 29 Mar). I also removed some branches from the fern pine (Podocarpus) that were interfering with the adjacent eugenia.

Lightly trimmed the 'Pride of Dorking' azaleas growing next to the air conditioning unit in back. Meanwhile, the 'George Taber' azaleas are now blooming despite the severe damage they suffered during last July's extreme heat wave (13 Jul 2018).

29 March

Clear, sunny, and mild

Temp: 49-68
Winter chill: 310.4 hours
Humidity: 36%
Wind: 2-24 (gusts to 37)

Rain —
This rain-year: 18.47
Days since last: 8

Fed the west bed in back, again with 27-0-6 lawn food. I still have to feed the back lawn and My Hill.

Potted the rooted 'Simply Marvelous' rose cutting (24 Mar).

The 'Goodwin Creek Grey' lavender (Lavandula lanata × dentata) growing in the brick panel between the public sidewalk and the street curb on the far side of my driveway was being protected by four stakes and yellow "Caution" tape while it was getting established. Today, I removed the stakes and tape and installed a vertical irrigation pipe into which I can pour water to reach the roots.

Continued to prune the eugenia growing in front (24 Mar).

24 March

Clear, sunny, and mild

Temp: 48-69
Winter chill: 310.4 hours
Humidity: 54%
Wind: 0-11

Rain —
This rain-year: 18.47
Week: 0.36

Applied more fertilizer in my garden (mostly in back):
  • Fed the camellias and azaleas in the camellia, east, circular, and rose beds with a commercial 10-6-8 camellia and azalea food.
  • Fed the dwarf citrus and gardenia (G. jasminoides) with a commercial 10-4-10 citrus food plus a trace of zinc sulfate.
  • Fed the rose bed — except for the roses themselves and the Camellia sasanquas — with the same 27-0-6 lawn food that I used earlier in the east bed (17 Mar).
  • Fed the roses — front and back — with ammonium sulfate (21-0-0) plus iron and magnesium sulfate.

Lightly pruned the camellias and azaleas in the camellia bed, primarily targeting shoots that were damaged or killed in last July's extreme heat wave. The 'Carter's Sunburst' was so severely damaged that I plan to replace it.

Started pruning the eugenia (Syzygium paniculatum) that grows in front against the brick panel between the overhead garage door and the brick path to the front door. This became necessary so that I could change a burned-out light bulb in the light fixture adjacent to the overhead garage door. I could not get a ladder close enough to open the fixture until the eugenia under it was cut.

While one 'Simply Marvelous' rose cutting (8 Jan) failed, the other one seems to have roots. I will soon move it to a larger pot with some nutrients in the potting mix.

17 March

Clear, sunny, and warm

Temp: 61-79
Winter chill: 300.9 hours
Humidity: 29%
Wind: 1-15

Climbed My Hill to prune the 'Flame' grape vine. While I was up there — never wanting to endure the significant exertion of climbing it — I also sprayed a grass-specific herbicide on (of course) the grasses growing there.

Fed the east, teardrop, and circular beds in back with 27-0-6 lawn food (15 Mar), avoiding the azaleas in the circular bed and the Camellia sasanqua 'Yuletide' in the east bed. Those will be fed with a commercial camellia and azalea fertilizer when the azaleas and camellias have finished blooming.


Rain —
This rain-year: 18.11
Days since last: 10

15 March

Clear, sunny, and cool

Temp: 53-64
Winter chill: 300.9 hours
Humidity: 22%
Wind: 12-27 (gusts to 44)

Fed the front yard with house-brand 27-0-6 lawn food from the now-defunct Orchard Supply and Hardware.

Rain —
This rain-year: 18.11
Days since last: 8

Weather data are from the Cheeseboro (CHE) weather station, about 2 miles ENE of my house.

The high temperature (°F) is daytime for the indicated date; the low temperature (°F) is for the previous night.

Winter chill is the cumulative hours of temperatures at or below 45°F from 1 November through 31 March. It is reported during that period and through April.

The relative humidity is at noon. (In my garden, it is likely higher than reported, a result of regular irrigation.)

Wind speeds (mph) are average (not peak) low and high, midnight to midnight (subject to later correction for diary entries posted before the end of the day). I also indicate peak wind gusts parenthetically when they are significantly high.

Rain is in inches. Rain-year is the cumulative amount of rainfall from 1 October until 30 September of the following year (our "rain-year"). Week is the cumulative amount of measurable rainfall from noon seven days ago until noon of the indicated date. If no measurable rain fell in that period, Days since last is reported.

Characterization of the weather (e.g., Clear, sunny, and warm) is purely subjective; for example, "warm" might occur with higher temperatures than "hot" if the former occurs with lower humidity and more breezes than the latter. Also, a day that would normally be characterized as "mild" might instead be "warm" if the immediately previous days were quite cold. Finally, such characterization reflects when I was actually outside and gardening and ignores changes that occur while I am inside.

The signature line I use when writing messages about my garden includes the following:

Climate: California Mediterranean
Sunset Zone: 21 -- interior Santa Monica Mountains with some ocean influence (USDA 10a, very close to Sunset Zone 19)
See also My Climate.
January-February 2019
November-December 2018
September-October 2018
July-August 2018
May-June 2018
March-April 2018
January-February 2018
November-December 2017
September-October 2017
July-August 2017
May-June 2017
March-April 2017
January-February 2017
November-December 2016
September-October 2016
July-August 2016
May-June 2016
March-April 2016
January-February 2016
November-December 2015
September-October 2015
July-August 2015
May-June 2015
March-April 2015
January-February 2015
November-December 2014
September-October 2014
July-August 2014
May-June 2014
March-April 2014
January-February 2014
November-December 2013
September-October 2013
July-August 2013
May-June 2013
March-April 2013
January-February 2013

Diary entries for 2004 through 2012


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