My Garden Diary

Trimmed the dwarf coyote bush (Baccharis pilularis) in front, around the roses and along the landscape curb that marks the property line. I also gave a voluteer seedling coyote bush a good soaking since it's not in the range of any of the drip irrigation emitters.

Gave the mailbox a haircut. That is, I trimmed the dwarf English ivy (Hedera helix 'Hahn's') growing on the mailbox.

Next to the liquidambar tree (L. styraciflua) in front, trimmed the dwarf English ivy and pink clover to separate the two. I also trimmed the pink clover from the wax-leaf begonias along the brick walkway and the ivy from my neighbor's ivy geraniums (Pelargonium peltatum).

Climbed My Hill. I never do this unless I have at least two tasks. This time, I continued training the grape vines. I removed side shoots and the tip of the main shoot of the 'Perlette', which had finally reached its supporting wire. Then, I straightened the 'Flame', which was growing at an extreme angle. While on My Hill, I also sprayed grass killer on both annual and perennial grasses.

Used the left-over grass killer on all the decomposed granite walkways in back.

Also dug up and trashed a daylily from the rose bed. It was another survivor from the repair of My Hill and was crowding other plants. Also, I really didn't like the color in that bed; it was maroon with a yellow center. It bloomed infrequently through the summer. I'm definitely keeping the golden yellow daylilies in the rose bed; they seem to bloom almost continuously and are smaller plants. I'm also keeping both the maroon and golden yellow daylilies in the circular bed, where there is more room for the former and where the maroon doesn't clash with my roses.

Finally finished trimming the red fescue lawn. This including trimming around the gardenia and the 'Wenatchie Skies' iris.

Removed two branches from the tea tree (16 Jun) and then trimmed it some more to remove weeping growth and open up the interior.

Used grass shears to remove a mass of flower buds from the potted oregano (Origanum vulgare). The last thing I need is having oregano seedlings appearing in the lawn and beds. Oregano is as invasive as its mint relatives, which is why I have both oregano and peppermint (Mentha piperita) in flower pots.

Finished trimming the back lawn along the patio and the bed of fortnight lilies and lilies of the Nile (10 Jun). I continued trimming part way along the rest of the patio.

Fed the dwarf citrus, gardenia, and Australian tea tree with ammonium, iron, and zinc sulfates. Then I trimmed the citrus and tea tree. On the lemon tree, I removed a few crossing branches that no longer held fruit; there are some branches loaded with fruit that still need to be removed. On the kumquat bush, I opened up the center and removed some crossing branches; there too, some branches loaded with fruit still need to be removed. (I also ate several kumquats just to be able to cut a few branches.) On the orange, I removed a few fruitless branches. On the tea tree, I removed some crossing branches and some weeping branches. There are two very low limbs I think I want to remove, but I didn't want to bother getting my pruning saw just then.

Lightly trimmed the 'Goodwin Creek Gray' lavender in the circular bed. It was growing out over the adjacent walkway and also crowding other plants in the bed.

When the new TV cable line was run underground (7 Jun), the contractor piled some excess dirt around the rose bushes in front, burying the bud union. I live in a mild-winter climate where the bud union can be exposed. I moved the dirt away from the plants. Exposing the bud unions allows me to see whether a new shoot is desired or merely a root sucker.

Finished pruning the Rhaphiolepis indica along the public sidewalk (30 May). I'll feed them late on Monday so that sprinklers can rinse the fertilizer into the soil early on Tuesday.

The riser for the sprinkler shrub head in the teardrop bed was at an angle. I pounded a piece of steel rebar next to it — making sure that I wasn't driving it into an underground feeder line for the sprinkler system — and then fastened the two together with a hose clamp.

Started trimming the back lawn along the patio and the bed of fortnight lilies (Dietes iridiodes) and lilies of the Nile (Agapanthus orientalis).

Trimmed the pink clover in front from the shrub bed against the house.

Thinned the hollyhock (Acea rosea) seedlings (8 Oct 09). About five plants now remain. I may have to remove two or three more next year when they grow large.

For quite a while, haven't seen any cinquefoil (Potentilla neumanniana) in the teardrop bed in back. I suspect the pink clover and Cuphea hyssopifolia (false heather), which grow much taller, have shaded and crowded out the cinquefoil. That's okay since there is a lot of cinquefoil in the west bed.

Pruned another Rhaphiolepis indica along the public sidewalk (30 May). There is now only one more to do.

Trimmed the edge of the teardrop bed in back.

Time Warner Cable was here today to replace the TV cable from the street to our house. (Actually, it was a contractor retained by Time Warner Cable.) The existing 38-year-old cable just did not have the necessary capacity. Since the old cable was merely laid in a trench when our house was built, there was no conduit through which they could pull a new cable. Instead, they drilled below the soil. When they hit the block wall with our gate to the back, they could not penetrate its deep footing without trenching, which resulted in them cutting half the roots of my '4th of July' climbing rose. If the rose dies, the contractor said they would replace it; but it took at least five years for this rose to finally reach its supporting wire. I'm going to be 69 in less than two months. Will I live to see a replacement rose mature? Will I have the energy to train it? At least the contractor placed a conduit; so if the cable ever needs replacing again, it will not be difficult.

Raked the walkway surrounding the back lawn, collecting all the cut grass that I failed to pickup by hand while trimming the edges (9 Apr through 3 Jun).

For the past week, picked a few loquats. Today, my lunch was four loquats and four kumquats. Although both end with quat, they are not related. Loquats are related to apples and roses; kumquats are related to oranges and lemons.

Finished pruning the Rhaphiolepis indica that I started yesterday. Two more to go.

Lightly trimmed the rosemary bush (Rosmarinus officinalis). One of the main branches extends out over the public sidewalk. I keep cutting it back to encourage more growth on the other branches. When I get that result, I will then remove the intruding branch.

Trimmed the edge of the rose bed in back opposite the circular bed and along the small brick patio. The circular bed itself has no ground cover so it generally doesn't need trimming. However, some of the 'Goodwin Creek Grey' lavender (Lavandula lanata × dentata) is growing out over the surrounding walkways. I'll cut them back when I groom away their dead flowers.

Started trimming the edge of the lawn opposite the circular bed. This meant I also had to trim the red fescue away from the heavenly bamboo (Nandina domestica) and society garlic (Tulbaghia violacea) that grow within the lawn along that edge.

Hadn't closely looked at the squirrel trap recently. However, I heard them running and jumping on the roof this morning. While crossing the back lawn today, I found the wire mesh bait packet (5 May) on the grass. The packet was still closed, but the bait was missing. Today, I created a small cubical wire mesh box with a hinged lid, a catch to hold the lid closed, and a hook to fasten the box into the trap. I put a generous amount of bait — peanut butter, chopped pecans, raisins, and dried berries — into the box and reset the trap.

The loquats will soon be ripe. One that was damaged by an insect, bird, or squirrel was already ripe. I picked it, cut it up, and fed it to Cleopatra. She really enjoyed it. Then she returned to munching on the red fescue lawn.

Enriched some compost with generic lawn food and placed handsful of it on clumps of cinquefoil (Potentilla neumanniana) in the parkway in front. While the cinquefoil seems to be well established (planted over two years ago), it has not really spread.

Began severe pruning of the large Rhaphiolepis indica along the public sidewalk. These have not been cut in four years and are quite overgrown.

Fed the dwarf citrus and gardenia with commercial citrus food plus a large pinch of zinc sulfate.

Trimmed more of the edges of the walkway in back between the lawn and the rose bed, almost reaching where the walkway branches to surround the circular bed.

Climbed My Hill to tie up the grape vines and pull some more weeds. I also cleared some leaves and mud from the bottom of the downhill V-ditch so that the drain in the catchbox doesn't get clogged. Eventually, the ground covers on My Hill will grow into the V-ditch enough to trap most leaves. I really want to spray grass killer on My Hill, but the wind has not been cooperating.

Trimmed some more along the edge of the back lawn (17 May). At the same time, I also trimmed the pink clover (Persicaria capitata) growing out of the rose bed and over the walkway.

Fed the eugenia along the east edge of the front lawn with ammonium sulfate, which should promote vigorous new shoots from the severely pruned stumps.

Fed the camellia bed in back with commercial camellia and azalea food.

Fed the Alstroemeria in back. First, I used a thin piece of steel rebar to poke holes around the edge of the container and filled the holes with bone meal to promote flowering. Then I scattered a half-handful of ammonium sulfate on the surface of the soil to promote new shoots.

Moved the potted basil (Ocimum basilicum) and dill (Anethum graveolens) (15 Apr) from the patio to among the other potted herbs near the circular bed in back.

Trimmed some more along the edge of the back lawn. (I know this is the third session since I started on 9 Apr, but I failed to note the second session in this diary.)

Severely pruned two more eugenia (Syzygium paniculatum) along my east property line in front (29 Apr). Only one more requires pruning. Two didn't even require pruning, only now recovering from the "Great Freeze of '07" (15 Jan 07).

Baited the squirrel trap again. The last time I baited the trap (14 Apr), something was able to remove the bait from the small wire mesh box in which it was placed. This time, I completely closed the wire mesh packet containing the bait. The loquats (Eriobotrya japonica 'MacBeth') should start ripening this month. Last year, squirrels got about half the crop.