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My Garden Diary

March and April 2020

Copyright © 2020 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 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
March-April 2019
May-June 2019
July-August 2019
September-October 2019
November-December 2019
January-February 2020

Diary entries for 2004 through 2014

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
30 Apr

Clear, sunny, and warm

Temp: 58-87
Winter chill: 294.0
Humidity: 50%
Wind: 1-10

Rain —
This rain-year: 15.02
Days since last: 18

Fed the dwarf citrus with a commercial citrus food plus a pinch of zinc sulfate. The lemon and kumquat both received a normal feeding since they now have new growth. While feding the kumquat, I also removed more deadwood.

Also fed the gardenia with the citrus food and zinc sulfate. A gardenia suffering a lack of zinc will often drop its unopened flower buds.

Continued trimming the edges of the paths in the back yard (28 Apr), this time continuing between the lawn and rose bed to just east of the potted dwarf kumquat. I also trimmed around that pot.

Fed those Artemisia 'Powis Castle' that I recently pruned (25 & 28 Apr) with 27-0-2 fertilizer. While I generally feed my garden only once each year, I feed again any shrubs that I prune. During their growing seasons, I also feed the dwarf citrus every three weeks and the roses once each month. Indoors, the orchids are fed every-other week.

28 Apr

Clear, sunny, and hot

Temp: 63-89
Winter chill: 294.0
Humidity: 33%
Wind: 1-12

Rain —
This rain-year: 15.02
Days since last: 16

Trimmed the rest of the path between the back lawn and the west bed. While doing that, I pruned more Artemisia 'Powis Castle'. Two more of those shrubs remain to be pruned, but they are not adjacent to the path. Thus, they will have to wait a while. Next, I will trim the edges of the path between the lawn and rose bed.

Tested the sprinkler system in back. I wanted to make sure the squirrels had not damaged any of the spinkler heads in a misguided attempt to reach water. (I was able to visually inspect the drip emitters in the large flower pots for my dwarf citrus.) So far, the squirrels have left the heads alone. I also wanted to see which heads in the lawn needed to have the red fescue grass (Festuca rubra) trammed away; there were three.

25 Apr

Clear, sunny, and hot

Temp: 75-93
Winter chill: 294.0
Humidity: 27%
Wind: 0-14

Rain —
This rain-year: 15.02
Days since last: 13

Two days ago, I went to one of my favorite nurseries to buy supplies and order some plants. While I was there, I bought a small pot of basil (Ocimum basilicum). Today, I moved it to a larger pot, which now sits in the shade on my patio until the plant gets established.

Started trimming the edges of the path that separates the back lawn from the west bed. I did it from the patio to the potted dwarf lemon and then trimmed all around the lemon's pot. As I passed one of the Artemisia 'Powis Castle' (A. arborescens ×' absinthium), I pruned it.

More branches on the dwarf lemon now have new shoots, and some branches on the dwarf kumquat have shoots. Contrary to advice from the Ventura County's master gardeners program, these do not have to be replaced.

22 Apr

Clear, sunny, and warm

Temp: 60-85
Winter chill: 294.0
Humidity: 24%
Wind: 2-11

Rain —
This rain-year: 15.02
Days since last: 10

Climbed My Hill to finish pruning the 'Flame' grape vine. I was so exhausted from the climb that I left the cut branches in place. I will have to remove them the next time I visit the vine.

While on My Hill, I observed that the bush anemone (Carpenteria callifornica) on the upper east side is still alive (16 Oct 2016). The one on the upper west side is gone, and I will no longer attempt to replace it.

Hung shade cloth over the outside of the greenhouse window. While that is on the north side of my house, the house is not square on the compass. Thus, from now until sometime in October, morning sun will shine on the window for several hours. This can damage the plants inside the window.

20 Apr

Overcast, gray with occasional hazy sun, and cool

Temp: 49-64
Winter chill: 294.0
Humidity: 66%
Wind: 0-14

Weeded the brick panel on the far (west) side of the driveway. Although some of the joints between the bricks are so tight that I cannot insert the blade of a paring knife, weeds can still find enough room to take root.

Fed the roses front and back — except for the new 'Violet's Pride' in front (21 Mar) — with ammonium sulfate (21-0-0).


Rain —
This rain-year: 15.02
Days since last: 8

18 Apr

Overcast, gray, and cold

Temp: 49-61
Winter chill: 294.0
Humidity: 72%
Wind: 1-16

Rain —
This rain-year: 15.02
The past week: 0.01

Finished trimming the ivy around the liquidambar tree. I will not be trimming the pink clover by the shrub bed (15 Apr) until I prune the Rhaphiolepis indica in that bed, and that will not happen until those shrubs have finished blooming.

Applied a systemic insecticide as a drench to the peach tree. It is mostly finished blooming, and I expect all flowers will be gone before the poison reached the flowering branches. Thus bees should not be harmed. This is one of the very few preventative treatments I do. It is to prevent flat-headed bark borers from infesting the tree. So far, these once-a-year treatments seem to be working. My two previous peach trees — for which I did not do such treatments — were severely damaged by flat-headed bark borers.

Thinned the immature fruit on the peach tree. I might have removed as much as 2/3 of them. The theory (which seems to work) is that the remaining fruit will be larger than otherwise, but the pits will not be any larger. Thus, I might get more usable fruit this way &ellip; providing the squirrels allow.

Speaking of squirrels, an owl has been roosting in The Tree. I hope it is hungry.

15 Apr

Clear, sunny, and warm

Temp: 61-77
Winter chill: 294.0
Humidity: 24%
Wind: 1-19

Rain —
This rain-year: 15.02
The past week: 1.22

Trimmed more of the edges of the front lawn. I also trimmed some of the dwarf English ivy growing around the liquidambar tree (L. styraciflua). I still have to finish trimming the ivy in back of that tree and along the property line and trimming the pink clover away from the shrub bed that is against the house. I was just too tired to finish all that.

Weeded the parkway (also known as "parking strip" or "verge"). This was easy because there were only a few weeds, and also there is landscape cloth under the crushed rock to prevent weed roots from getting establish in the soil.

11 Apr

Mostly clear, sunny, and mild

Temp: 50-71
Winter chill: 294.0
Humidity: 42%
Wind: 1-14

Rain —
This rain-year: 15.01
The past week: 2.82

The rains finally stopped. Everything is still wet in my garden. I definitely will not be climbing My Hill for several more days to finish pruning the 'Flame' grape vine.

Lightly trimmed the potted weeping Chinese banyan (Ficus benjamina) that is on the front porch. I used some of the trimmings to put up cuttings. If I am successful in getting them to root, I will pot them in our living room.

Fed the dwarf citrus and gardenia with ammonium, iron, and zinc sulfates. I gave the lemon only a light feeding and the kumquat only a pinch.

While feeding the dwarf lemon, I removed all the dead wood and some green wood. It has several new shoots. I removed only some of the dead wood from the dwarf kumquat, which shows only one new shoot. Pruning and very lightly feeding these two should promote more new growth.

Trimmed the edges of the west portion of the front lawn. Trimming along the driveway was easy since I had trimmed there earlier this year (6 Mar). However, the pink clover had grown a foot or more over the brick path to the front door. I also weeded that brick path. I was too exhausted to start on the east side of the lawn, but I hope to do that within the coming week.

3 Apr

Clear, sunny, and mild

Temp: 48-69
Winter chill: 294.0
Humidity: 41%
Wind: 0-12

Climbed My Hill to prune the 'Flame' grape vine near the top. The effort required to reach the vine plus the effort just pruning the west half exhausted me. I will have to finish some other day.

Rain —
This rain-year: 12.19
The past week: 0.01

30 Mar

Clear, sunny, and mild

Temp: 46-73
Winter chill: 294.0
Humidity: 44%
Wind: 1-12

Rain —
This rain-year: 12.18
Days since last: 7

Pruned the 'Perlette' grape vine on the lower right side of My Hill. The soil below the vine is still quite wet. My schedule has me irrigating My Hill in two weeks, but I might need to delay that another week. I still have to prune the 'Flame' grape vine at the top of My Hill.

Fed the back lawn and the perennials growing as accents in it. I started with a 27-0-6 house-brand fertilizer from Orchard Supply Hardware that I stocked when that chain was being liquidated in 2018 by Lowe's, its parent owner. I only had enough to feed the fortnight lilies (Dietes iridiodes). I then switched to a more expensive name-brand 27-0-2 fertilizer for the rest. However, I did not feed the gardenia, which I fed earlier (21 Mar).

There is another small shoot on the dwarf lemon (21 Mar). Although the dwarf kumquat is green under the bark, I still do not see any new shoots on it (8 Feb).

28 Mar

Mostly cloudy, occasional hazy sun, and cool

Temp: 43-62
Winter chill: 294.0
Humidity: 50%
Wind: 2-12

Two days ago, a tree service trimmed the valley white oak (Quercus lobata) and Japanese zelkova in front and The Tree in back. They also trimmed the coyote bush (Baccharis pilularis) at the top of My Hill, removed the dead Australian tea tree (21 Mar) from the teardrop bed, and cleared the mounds of leaves from the patio. Today, I repaired the unavoidable damage to the rosemary bush (Rosmarinus officinalis) in front and the roses in back.

Cut away more deadwood from the dwarf lemon tree (19 Mar).


Rain —
This rain-year: 12.18
The past week: 1.32

21 Mar

Scattered storm clouds, mostly sunny, and cool

Temp: 47-64
Winter chill: 262.4
Humidity: 55%
Wind: 0-8

Rain —
This rain-year: 10.86
The past week: 1.15

This morning's forecast from the National Weather Service indicates rain is definite for tomorrow night. I thus fed much of my garden:
  • With one exception, I used a 6-9-6 commercial rose food that contains systemic insecticide on all the roses, front and back. I did not feed the new 'Violet's Pride' (19 Mar) in front. I never feed a rose the first year it is in the ground because fertilizer might promote flowers and too much foliage for traumatized roots to support. However, I do dig bone meal into the soil before planting a new rose because the phosphorus in the bone meal does not readily dissolve; instead, it must be placed where new roots will find it. The phosphorus does promote flowers, but it also promotes root growth.
  • I used a 10-4-10 commercial citrus food plus added zinc sulfate on my dwarf tangelo and navel orange. The dwarf lemon has a tiny new shoot (19 Mar)!! Heeding warnings not to feed damaged plants but wanting to promote growth of that shoot, I gave the lemon a very small amount of fertilizer.
  • I also fed the gardenia (G. jasminoides 'Veitchii') with the citrus fertilizer and zinc sulfate. Since it is a long-establish plant in the ground, I gave it more fertilizer than the citrus.
  • I fed the west, rose, and east beds with a generic 27-0-6 lawn food, avoiding the roses (which I already fed) and the Camellia sasanqua (which will be fed when they finish blooming).
I will feed the circular and camellia beds when the azaleas (Rhododendron indica) there finish blooming. I will feed the teardrop bed after the dead Australian tea tree (Leptospermum laevigatum, 15 Feb) is removed. Of course, I must feed the back lawn and the perennials growing in it, perhaps next week.

While feeding the potted navel orange, I lightly pruned it to keep the top growth from exceeding the ability of its constrained roots to provide moisture and nutrients.

23 Mar: Yes, rain fell. Between 4:00pm yesterday and 7:00am this morning, 1.32 inches fell.

19 Mar

Cloudy, gray, and cold

Temp: 43-58
Winter chill: 259.4
Humidity: 67%
Wind: 0-14

Rain —
This rain-year: 10.85
The past week: 3.60

Yesterday, pruned just a few branches on the dwarf lemon to see if that would prompt new growth. The dwarf orange and tangelo already have new shoots, but they were not affected by the frost and lack of moisture. (See my Dwarf Citrus in Containers.)

Over a week ago, a bare root 'Violet's Pride' floribunda rose bush was delivered. I really wanted 'Simply Marvelous', but that floribunda variety is not available. 'Violet's Pride' is about the same color and growth habit, so I will see how well it does. Ongoing rain prevented me from planting it in front until today. The soil was still quite wet, but I added some very dry potting mix to improve the workability. I also added a generous amount of bone meal. Just as I finished, it started to drizzle (not enogh to measure).

While winter chill is still accumulating, it might be too late. A relatively warm February resulting in my peach tree (Prunus persica 'Santa Barbara') now in full bloom. I fear the ongoing rain might discourage bees from pollinating the flowers, giving me a very small crop of peaches.

Finally finished clearing the paths in back of leaves from The Tree. There are still mounds of leaves on the patio.

6 Mar

Clear, sunny, and mild

Temp: 58-78
Winter chill: 220.3
Humidity: 29%
Wind: 3-10

Rain —
This rain-year: 6.82
Days since last: 13

The dwarf ivy (Hedera helix 'Hahn's') cuttings (21 Feb) already developed roots. Strangely, the roots were along the stems above the potting mix; and none were in the mix. Nevertheless, I planted them under the mailbox (17 Feb).

Trimmed the pink clover "lawn" (Persicaria capitata) along the driveway. Much more trimming is needed along the public sidewalk, the brick path to the front door, and away from the shrubs.

Pruned the 'Black Monukka' grape vine on My Hill. The 'Perlette' vine already has some leaves. I will have to prune that one very soon. Because of some orthopedic problems, I was unable to climb My Hill any earlier.

1 Mar

A few scattered clouds, mostly sunny, and cold

Temp: 46-59
Winter chill: 212.8
Humidity: 49%
Wind: 1-13

Fed the front yard with a 27-0-6 lawn food. I droped two handsful of this fertilizer down both vertical irrigation pipes for the Japanese zelkova (Zelkova serrata) in the parkway.

Cleared the leaves from the path between the back lawn and the rose bed.

The loquat tree appears to be setting a bumper crop of fruit. I will have to get some new aluminum flashing to wrap around the trunk for discouranging squirrels from stealing the fruit.


Rain —
This rain-year: 6.82
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 2020
November-December 2019
September-October 2019
July-August 2019
May-June 2019
March-April 2019
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

Diary entries for 2004 through 2014


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