My Garden Diary

The trellis for the star jasmine (Trachelospermum jasminoides) that separates the back and side yards had to be removed. The rose bed in back is buried. (But the roses in front seemed to have survived.) Dirt is piled high on the lawn. All the potted plants — including the dwarf citrus — are now on the patio, surrounded by grading supplies. I can't even use the barbecue. I want to cry.

Trimmed along the walkway in back where it separates the lawn from the circular bed. I also had to remove some red fescue (Festuca rubra) that was starting to smother some society garlic (Tulbaghia violacea) and heavenly bamboo (Nandina domestica) that grow in that edge of the lawn.

Divided and repotted the peppermint (Mentha piperita) the same way I did the oregano (28 May).

Finished cleaning out the dead foliage from the eugenia (28 May). I still have to feed them.

Made a big batch of potting mix for two projects for today.

At the monthly meeting of the Oak Park Gardeners last Thursday evening, one of the members announced he had rooted cuttings of various grapes. The landscape plans for My Hill include three grape vines, including the same varieties he was giving away. Today, I picked up two each of 'Perlette', 'Black Monukka', and 'Red Flame' and potted each pair together in the same gallon nursery can. After The Hill is repaired, I'll have the landscape contractor plant each pair together. If both vines in a pair survive, I'll train them twisted around each other.

Forgot to put away my grass shears after trimming along one of the walkways in back (28 May). Instead, I left them on the lawn, where the sprinklers soaked them several times, leaving them rusted. Today, I took the shears apart and scrubbed the parts with oiled steel wool. Then I used a whetstone to sharpen them. Although I remembered the general way to put them back together, it took me over an hour to get it right.

Also last Thursday, I bought the final four wax-leaf begonias for planting around the tangelo. Today, I planted them. I preserved the pattern of alternating leaf color. However, following the overall pattern clockwise, there is a pink flower where red should go. Following the pattern counter-clockwise, that same pink flower is where a white should go. This is the result of having a pattern that repeats after six plants but having 20 holes (not divisible by six) for plants.

On a recommendation from someone who is more successful with fighting squirrels, I changed the bait in the squirrel trap to plain pecans. Apparently the squirrels have been taking the tiny, hard, green peaches from my tree.

Cleaned up the dead growth that I missed yesterday on the two eugenia in front.

Trimmed the lawn along the walkway between the lawn and the teardrop bed. Also weeded the walkway on that side and started weeding the walkway on the other side of the bed.

Tended the potted herbs. First, I repotted the oregano (Origanum vulgare). After removing the root ball from the pot, I cut the ball vertically in half, discarding half. I then removed about two inches from the bottom of the ball and a little from the sides. This allowed me to put the remainder back into its old pot with some fresh potting mix. I then removed the mass of roots that had grown through the drain holes for the sage (Salvia officinalis) and golden thyme (Thymus vulgaris 'Aureus'). The sage is almost done blooming, so I cut back many of the branches to new shoots. When I was done, I gave the sage a pinch of ammonium sulfate.

Planted the three remaining wax-leaf begonias around the tangelo (11 May). There are four holes remaining in the blocks forming the raised bed for the tangelo, but I've been planting the begonias in groups of six, alternating two leaf colors with three different flower colors for each leaf color. I keep changing my mind on what combination to use for the four remaining plants.

At first, I thought the Great Freeze of '07 had killed all the eugenia (Syzygium paniculatum) along the east edge of my front lawn; but they're all coming back. Today, I trimmed away the dead growth on three of them. I still have four more to go. Also, while sitting on the bench near the front porch, I noticed that I missed some dead growth on two of the three that I trimmed today.

Trimmed the heather (Erica canaliculata 'Boscaweniana'). It extended too far over the sidewalk, and there were some dead branches. But there are many new shoots. I then fed it; because Erica wants an acidic soil with only light feeding, I used azalea food.

Trimmed the ivy around the mailbox and some wayward shoots that were growing into my neighbor's yard near the liquidambar tree (L. styraciflua).

The ivy cuttings (24 Mar) are now well rooted. However, I now see increasing coverage of the parkway in front by cinquefoil (Potentilla neumanniana). I don't know whether to continue with my plan to plant ivy in the parkway or to increase my effort to get the cinquefoil to grow.

Cut some of the low-hanging branches on the Zelkova serrata that were over the sidewalk and street. While I didn't raise all the branch ends to 12 feet as the County requires, I probably did enough to keep the County away from the tree for a while. I sure don't want the County pruning this tree; I believe it was the way the County pruned my neighbor's Zelkova that caused it to split and fall two years ago.

Pruned and fed the azalea 'Pride of Dorking' between the patio and the air conditioner. Instead of growing upright, both plants were sprawling out over the patio and too close to the air conditioner. These two azaleas were not affected by the Great Freeze. I won't be pruning the others this year because they are all recovering from freeze damage.

Fruit on the loquat tree (Eriobotrya japonica 'Macbeth') is starting to color. I thought these ripened in the summer, but a quick check of Sunset's Western Garden Book indicates they ripen in the spring. I hope the birds and squirrels leave some for me.

Bought a replacement weeping Chinese banyan (Ficus benjamina, 8 Apr) for the front porch and some more wax-leaf begonias for around the tangelo in back. The banyan was in a small plastic pot, with several shoots showing. When I went to plant it in the large pot on the porch, I swished the root ball in a bucket of water. There were five separate plants! I potted up four and returned the fifth to the small plastic pot. The latter will serve as a replacement if any of the others fail to survive.

Finished feeding the azaleas and camellias in back, an effort that was interrupted when I used up all the azalea food (29 Apr).

Fed the dwarf citrus (except for the lemon), gardenia (G. jasminoides 'Veitchii), and Australian tea tree (Leptospermum laevigatum) with a light dose of ammonium sulfate and a generous pinch of zinc sulfate. The lemon was just potted (6 May) in a mix that already contained blood meal, bone meal, and traces of other nutrients. It's too soon to subject its disturbed roots to anything stronger.

Some critter has been digging in the potted 'Inga' azalea on the brick walkway in front. I topped up the pot with fresh potting mix, covered the soil with 1/4-inch wire mesh, and then used more potting mix to partially bury the mesh.

Planted half the wax-leaf begonias that I bought. Then, I ran out of steam and came into the house.

Mowed the weeds in the parkway in front. When the ivy cuttings (Hedera helix 'Hahn's', 24 Mar) are ready to be planted, I think I'll use Roundup to clean out the parkway (at least the part where I put the ivy).

Trimmed some of the top branches of the Podocarpus by the front door to force more growth from branches that are candidates for a new leader (5 Mar).

Trashed the old 'Eureka' dwarf lemon that died. Then, I potted the new lemon that I bought to replace it (13 Mar). This required making about a cubic foot of potting mix. The pot is now sitting on the patio since permanent location would be in the way when My Hill is repaired.