My Garden Diary

Fed the roses — front and back — with ammonium sulfate. I then tied down some new canes on the climbing 'Peace' rose.

Rain —
This season: 5.87
Days since last: 60

The current drought is so severe that the amount of water still in storage in California's 12 largest reservoirs is only 46% of their capacity. Statewide, the unmelted snowpack — which often holds more water than the reservoirs — is only 3% of this date's average.

Raked the paths in back to collect the debris left when The Tree was trimmed (11 May). Since the green trash bin for garden waste was full, I left mounds on the paths and the main patio.

Trimmed the red fescue (Festuca rubra) along the main patio. From the appearance of damp spots where this ornamental grass had grown over the concrete, I increased the width of the patio by at least a foot. This completes the first trimming of the edges of the lawn and beds in back.

Finished trimming the "mother" lavender in front (18 May & 5 Jun).

After placing the fence, I gave the hollyhocks some fertilizer (27-0-6 lawn food) to help them recover from feeding Cleopatra. I also fed the Alstroemeria container since its fast-draining potting mix can lose nutrients.

Trimmed a 'Goodwin Creek Gray' lavender in the circular bed in back. I had trimmed this just a few weeks ago, but neglected some branches that were close to the ground and extending over the adjacent path.

Trimmed some small lower branches on the Japanese zelkova in front. I wanted to eliminate any cause for the county to prune the tree (4 Jun). Tomorrow — when the county crew is expected to return to our street — I will staple a sign to the tree that says: "Do NOT Prune or Trim This Tree".

Rain —
This season: 5.87
Days since last: 39

Since I want even more lemons — and other citrus fruit — I fed the dwarf citrus with a commercial citrus food plus a pinch of zinc sulfate. I also gave more of the citrus food and zinc to the gardenia and Australian tea tree.

In the almost 41 years I have lived in this house, the county sent a tree-trimming crew onto this street maybe 5-6 times. By coincidence, I have always been home to warn them not to trim the Japanese zelkova (Z. serrata) in the parkway in front of my house. The priority for the county crews is to prevent sidewalks from being blocked and to provide enough clearance over the street for trash trucks and street sweepers. When pruning street trees, however, the crews fail to consider how to improve the health of the trees. As a result, many street trees in Oak Park look butchered; they grow with weak V-crotches instead of strong U-crotches. On a totally still afternoon, my neighbor's zelkova suddenly split down to the ground, leaving the tree unsalvageable; this was because the county trimmed it to form a V-crotch.

Cleopatra is the culprit!! I was wondering what was eating my seedling hollyhocks (Alcea rosea) and knocking down the miniature fences around them. Cleo developed a fondness for hollyhocks, almost destroying one of my three seedlings and starting on a second. She flattened one of the fences I had put around them to protect her from getting at poisoned snails that she might otherwise eat. As she opened her mouth to chomp a hollyhock leaf, I thumped her on her head; but she returned to take another nibble. I thumped her again and stood in her way so she had to wander away. This week, I will put a more substantial fence around all three plants until they are much larger.

Put up four cuttings of Artemisia 'Powis Castle' (25 May).

Fed the camellias and azaleas.

Trimmed the Australian tea tree (Leptospermum laevigatum) where some branches were blocking the adjacent path on the east.

Pruned the loquat tree, thinning it out, reducing its height, and eliminating branches that were growing out over the adjacent paths. This time, I did not attempt to amputate any fingers (9 Jun 2013); there was no trip to the emergency room or urgent care center.

It appears that the lavender cuttings (9 Mar) are failing. Instead of taking new cuttings now, I plan to take cuttings of Artemisia 'Powis Castle' (A. arborescens × absinthium) to replace two dead plants.

Trimmed the edge of the teardrop bed along the path on the side towards the east bed.

Did some light pruning of a 'Goodwin Creek Grey' lavender (Lavandula lanata × dentata) that was crowding adjacent plants in the circular bed and was also growing out over the path that circles the bed. I also did some light pruning of the "mother" lavender in front, in the brick panel between the sidewalk and the street. I call this the "mother" lavender because it was the only one I bought; all the others descended from cuttings from that one.

The tree service came last Thursday (a week after they surveyed the windstorm damage) to remove the fallen limbs from The Tree (30 Apr) and to do some corrective pruning. Today, I spent much time and effort cleaning up the results. While I expect that some cleanup is necessary after having my trees trimmed, the damage to the rest of my garden was excessive. I am sending a letter about this to the owner of the tree service.

When I am in the back yard, I hear one of the broken limbs creaking. The base is caught up in a V-crotch created by two other limbs. From the sounds, I would not be surprised if it came crashing to the ground before the tree service can clean up the mess.

Trimmed the edges of the path in back between the lawn and teardrop bed.

I have been picking and eating a good number of loquats (Eriobotrya japonica 'MacBeth'). There were a few damaged by birds or insects. I salvaged them and gave them to Cleopatra.