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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.
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?
Entries 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 refer to other entries in the same year as the entry in which they appear unless a different year is given. However, they may refer to entries on prior pages.
| Date and Weather | Observations and Activities |
|---|---|
| 21 June
Clear, sunny, and mild Temp: 54-80
Rain —
|
Sprayed a grass-specific herbicide on My Hill. The last such treatment (5 Apr) was quite effective. However, I either missed some grass or else seeds produced new sprouts.
Fed the roses in back with ammonium sulfate. I also gave each of the potted herbs a pinch. Started pruning the loquat tree (Eriobotrya japonica 'MacBeth'). I want to reduce the height so that I won't need a ladder to pick the fruit next year. I also want to open the center to allow light and breezes through. On some sides, it was interfering with the path around the circular bed. I filled the bin for garden waste before I could finish. |
| 20 June
Clear, sunny, and mild Temp: 53-82
Rain —
|
Gave the mailbox a hair cut. That is, I trimmed the dwarf English ivy (Hedera helix 'Hahn's') growing on the mail box and its post.
Fed the roses in front with ammonium sulfate. While feeding them, I discovered a break in one of the water lines for their drip irrigation. This meant an unplanned trip to the hardware store for a short length of tubing and couplers. Tied canes of the climbing 'Peace' and climbing 'Dublin Bay' roses to the top of the slough wall in back. Fed the dwarf citrus with ammonium, iron, and zinc sulfates. I gave the same nutrients to the gardenia. |
| 13 June
Clear, sunny, and mild Temp: 55-84
Rain —
|
Stirred the compost pile. The pile is full of live roots, most likely from the mock orange (Pittosporum tobira) growing just on the other side of the block wall against which the compost is piled.
Raked that paths in back, collecting all the clippings that I failed to gather while trimming the edges of the paths (27 May and earlier). Pruned the 'George Taber' and 'Pride of Dorking' azaleas (Rhododendron indica) in back. The 'George Taber' hedge was growing taller than the camellias (C. japonica) behind it. The two 'Pride of Dorking' were growing out over the patio, up against the sliding window from the family room, and into the grill of the air conditioning unit. The 'Alaska' and 'Formosa' azaleas in the circular bed, don't need a full pruning; they just require a light trim now and then to keep them clear of the path and patio surrounding that bed. It appears that my 'Mineola' tangelo will never bear fruit. Unlike other citrus, tangelos are not self-pollinating, let alone apomictic (forming fruit and viable seeds without any pollination). I'm thinking of removing it, but that will wait until I decide on its replacement. |
| 6 June
Clear, sunny, and warm Temp: 57-87
Rain —
|
Last week, the trash company refused to empty the bins I set out on the curb. They claimed that my shrub was interfering. The only shrub near the bins was the 'Goodwin Creek Grey' lavender that was less that 2 feet tall and perhaps 2.5 feet across. They insisted I must place the bins at the opposite end of the front of my house. After going around and around with the trash company, I finally discovered that — when they said "shrub" — they meant my 30-year-old valley white oak (Quercus lobata), which is hardly a shrub. Some branches were growing low enough over the street that the trash trucks kept hitting them. That is the way this tree grows. I had a tree service come and "raise" the branches over the street.
The poor little lavender got somewhat battered by the tree service. I trimmed it today. One Shasta daisy cutting (18 Apr) survived and developed roots. I potted it. Passed the loquat tree (Eriobotrya japonica 'MacBeth') while grooming the back yard. I picked a ripe loquat and ate it. It was so sweet, I ate 4-5 more. Watered the compost pile. |
| 28 May
Clear, sunny, and warm Temp: 59-87
Rain —
|
Potted the miniature Phalaenopsis orchid that I received as a volunteer docent (18 Apr).
Fed the eugenia with ammonium sulfate. After pruning evergreen shrubs (27 May), I always give them a jolt of nitrogen. |
| 27 May
Clear, sunny, and mild Temp: 47-77
Rain —
|
Cut back another lavender in the circular bed (18 May). Not only was this one growing out over the path, but it was also crowding the adjacent azaleas, day lilies, and potted herbs.
Fed the dwarf citrus with a commercial citrus food to which I added a very small amount of zinc sulfate. I gave the same fertilizers to the gardenia but in a greater amount. Fed the azaleas and the Camellia japonicas with a commercial azalea and camellia food. The C. sasanquas bloom earlier than the Camellia japonicas and were already fed (10 Apr). I also put some of the azalea and camellia food in the planter for the Alstroemeria; since the planter mix drains so very well, nutrients are quickly leached away and required replacement. Trimmed the east side of the teardrop bed. That is the side away from the back lawn and was not trimmed last week (24 May). Finished pruning the eugenia in front (18 May). This also required trimming the Podocarpus adjacent to the eugenia hedge. |
| 24 May
Clear, sunny, and mild Temp: 52-76
Rain —
|
Trimmed the edges of the path between the east edge of the back lawn and the teardrop bed. This also involved trimming around the large pot for my dwarf navel orange and around the society garlic (Tulbaghia violacea), daylilies (various hybrids of Hemerocallis), and bearded iris (I. germanica) growing in the edge of the lawn. This completes trimming all around the lawn except for the main patio. I still have to trim the edge of the teardrop bed that faces away from the lawn.
Trimmed the Australian tea tree in the teardrop bed, removing branches that interfered with the adjacent paths. |
| 20 May
Clear, sunny, and hot Temp: 57-92
Rain —
|
Finished trimming along the path between the back lawn and the rose bed. I continued along the edge of the rose bed and along the circular patio to the start of the east bed. Then, I trimmed along the lawn opposite the circular bed. |
| 18 May
Clear, sunny, and mild Temp: 49-79
Rain —
|
Adjusted the coverage area of the new shrub head (17 May) in the rose bed. I also want to adjust the distance, but I don't seem to be able to turn the set screw. I'll work on this some other day.
Cut back a 'Goodwin Creek Grey' lavender (Lavandula lanata × dentata) and some Penstemon along the path on the east side of the circular bed in back. Both had grown to where they completely blocked the path. Trimmed the dwarf English ivy (Hedera helix 'Hahn's') around the liquidambar tree (L. styraciflua) in front. Started pruning the eugenia (Syzygium paniculatum) that grows against the house between the garage and the brick walk in front. |
| 17 May
Clear, sunny, and warm Temp: 59-83
Rain —
|
The climbing 'Peace' rose in back was interfering with an adjacent shrub head in the sprinkler system. I used two pipe elbows and two pipe nipples to create a dogleg that extends the shrub head 10 inches forward. I'll have to adjust it tomorrow morning.
Fed the pineapple guava with a house-brand 27-0-6 lawn food. Normally, I would feed it only once a year, early in the spring. However, I feed evergreen shrubs again after I prune them (16 May). Fed the roses in front and back with a commercial rose food that contains a systemic insecticide. Although the instructions say to use it every 6 weeks, I use it every two months. (In the intervening months, I feed the roses with ammonium sulfate (19 Apr).) This feeding schedule is quite sufficient since I never have to spray my roses. |
| 16 May
Clear, sunny, and warm Temp: 58-91
Rain —
|
Finished pruning the pineapple guava (8 Apr).
Climbed My Hill and removed the wild artichoke that died (29 Apr). Tied down two new canes on the climbing 'Peace' rose in back. The long canes are tied to screw eyes inserted into the top of the 2-foot high slough wall just behind the rose. Climbed My Hill again to groom the grape vines. Grooming a vine involves tying some shoots to the supporting wire, removing the tips of other shoots, and completely removing shoots from the vine's trunk. I noticed several bunches of immature grapes on the 'Black Monukka' vine; two years ago, I thought the vine might be dying. There are abundant bunches on the 'Flame' vine, but I didn't see any on the 'Perlette' vine. |
| 10 May
Clear, sunny, and mild Temp: 53-82
Rain —
|
The wild artichoke on My Hill is definitely dying. Hooray!! I will remove the dead debris after I see no more green. I want to wait to make sure all the herbicide has moved from the remaining leaves into the roots. In the meantime, the non-wild artichoke in my back lawn (Cynara scoymus) had three small but nice buds. I wrote "had" because we will eat them tonight.
Fed the dwarf citrus with ammonium sulfate plus very small amounts of iron and zinc sulfates. I gave the gardenia (G. jasminoides 'Veitchii') the same plus some gypsum and soil sulfur because it seems somewhat chlorotic. I gave the Australian tea tree (Leptospermum laevigatum) gypsum and iron sulfate to prevent chlorosis, which it had in the past but does not have now. Also, I gave gypsum, iron sulfate, and soil sulfur to one of the Camellia sasanqua in the rose bed, which has not been doing well. Pruned another major limb on the guava bush. Now there is only one limb left to trim. Trimmed some more along the path between the back lawn and the rose bed. I've almost reached the point where the path forks around the circular bed. |
| 6 May
Clear, sunny, and mild Temp: 52-83
Rain —
|
The wild artichoke on My Hill (29 Apr) finally shows herbicide damage. Other weeds that were slow to be damaged are also dying.
Pruned the guava bush in back some more (8 Apr). There are only two more major limbs to trim. My goal is to reduce both the height and spread. Trimmed more along the path that separates the back lawn from the rose bed. I better hurry and complete this task. The edge of the lawn where I started trimming (14 Mar) looks like it needs trimming again, but I am only half way around so far. |
| 2 May
Cloudy, gray, and cold Temp: 51-64
Rain —
|
While smaller weeds are visibly dying from the Roundup I sprayed (29 Apr), the wild artichoke on My Hill does not yet show any significant damage.
Trimmed the edges of the pink clover (Persicaria capitata) in front along the driveway, sidewalk, and brick path to the front door. |
Weather data are from the Cheeseboro (CHE) weather station, about 2 miles ENE of my house (reported in prior diary pages as 1.2 miles).
The high temperature (°F) is daytime for the indicated date; the low temperature (°F) is for the night ending on that date.
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).
Rain is in inches. Rain amounts are omitted after 60 consecutive days elapse without any measurable amount. Season is the cumulative amount of rainfall since the start of the current rainy season, which began on 5 Oct 2011 with the first measurable rain in 120 days, until noon on the indicated date. Week is the cumulative amount of rainfall from noon seven days ago until noon of the indicated date. If no 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.
The signature line I use when writing messages about my garden includes the following:
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