My Garden Diary

Started pruning the peach tree in back. I finish one major limb. This goes slowly because I have to study each limb and its branches before cutting. Also, the prunings tend to fill the garden waste bin.

Pruned the 'Arizona' rose in back. 'Iceberg', 'Sunsprite', and climbing 'Peace' are all blooming; and 'Color Magic' is indeed dead. That leaves only climbing 'Dublin Bay' as an immediate candidate for pruning. After dealing with all the other pruning, 'Iceberg', 'Sunsprite', and climbing 'Peace' will be cut even if they are still blooming.

Started my winter pruning effort by cutting four rose bushes in front. Some of them show poor growth. In the spring, I will have to give them a generous amount of fertilizer and also extra Epsom salts (magnesium sulfate) to promote new canes.

Rain —
This season: 4.23
Week: 1.47

Besides some of the false heather, the 'Color Magic' rose in back appears to be dying. I did a search and cannot find a nursery that has this variety for a replacement.

Raked leaves in front. Most of the leaves went into the green trash bin for the county's composting program. However, I spread some as a mulch on the pink clover lawn (Persicaria capitata), stabilizing them with small branches that fell out of my trees. By tomorrow, I expect no one will be able to tell that I raked anything because the wind is bringing down more leaves.

Trimmed some of the eugenia (Syzygium paniculatum) growing in front along my east property line. Normally, I would wait until spring because trimming promotes new shoots that are quite tender to frost. However, the eugenia that I cut were interfering with the sprinklers that irrigate the pink clover lawn.

So far this rain year, we have had more than five times as much rain as we had at this time last year. On the other hand, we have had 62% less winter chill than last year; and last year was an exceptionally warm year, meaning this winter might be even warmer.

The 'Goodwin Creek Grey' lavender (Lavandula lanata × dentata) cuttings (14 Oct) do not have extensive (or any) roots yet. I will check them again in 3 weeks.

Tied down two large canes of the climbing 'Peace' rose.

Rain —
This season: 1.37
Week: 0.75

Applied a generous amount of gypsum to the rest of the front yard (18 Nov). This area had significant foot traffic when we had the exterior of our house painted earlier this year, which compacted the soil. Gypsum reacts chemically with clay soil to make it porous. Not only does this improve drainage; it also improves the effectivity of irrigation, increasing the penetration of water and reducing runoff.

The biennial task of applying gypsum to my garden is now finished. I used approximately 250 pounds to cover both the front and back.

Raked many leaves in front, mostly from the Liquidambar styraciflua. The other trees in front and The Tree in back still remain quite green.

Used an entire 50-bag of gypsum just to finish applying it to the back lawn (13 Nov). I then applied gypsum to the strip on the west side of my driveway in front, the area that contains roses and a valley white oak, rosemary, and coyote bush. I applied gypsum to the smaller part of the front lawn and adjacent shrubs, the part between the driveway and the brick path that leads to the front door of our house. I still had some gypsum in my bucket, so I put a small amount around the dwarf English ivy (Hedera helix 'Hahn's') growing on my mailbox and small amounts down the vertical irrigation pipes for the Zelkova serrata, emptying the pail around the Liquidambar. By then, my back hurt so much that I quit gardening for the day.

Finished spreading gypsum in the west bed (11 Nov) and started spreading it on the back lawn. I need to buy more gypsum.

The new magenta cyclamen (C. persicum, 14 Oct) in my greenhouse window died. I think it was too large for the flower pot. At the nursery that had the half-full bags of bone meal, I bought a replacement in a smaller pot. I also bought two 50-pound bags of gypsum. Today, I moved the cyclamen from its plastic nursery pot into a clay flower pot.

The cutting of striped Dracaena (10 Aug) actually has roots. I trashed the parent and potted the cutting with fresh potting mix.

The bromeliad cutting (16 Aug 15) is still alive more than a year after I started it, but it still shows no roots. That might be typical of this variety of bromeliad since it gets most of its water and nutrients in the cup formed by its leaves.

Put up a cutting of the nephthytis (Syngonium podophyllum) that is in my greenhouse window.

One of the Hippeastrum on the counter outside our kitchen is badly infested with mealy bugs. I gave it some fertilizer that contains a systemic insecticide.

Finished broadcasting gypsum in the east bed (6 Nov), completely covered the rose bed, and had enough left over from the first 50-pound bag to do the extreme southern end of the west bed. By then, my back hurt too much to start on the second bag.

On another day, I removed the shade cloth from the greenhouse window. The morning sun is lower in the sky and no longer shines on the window.

Today, I broadcast generous amounts of gypsum in the camellia and teardrop beds and had enough left over to do the north end of the east bed. Every other year, I thoroughly apply gypsum to my entire garden — front and back — to break up my heavy clay soil. This improves drainage and allows any winter rain to penetrate the soil instead of running off. In the other years, I apply gypsum only in the camellia bed and around the Camellia sasanqua and azalea plants that are scattered around my back yard; camellias and azaleas are especially sensitive to poor drainage.

Checked the bush anemone (Carpenteria californica) on the east side of My Hill (14 Oct). It is still alive, so I gave it about a gallon of water. The weather has been warm and quite dry, and I will not be running the sprinklers on My Hill for another week. I also discovered where I can buy another one to replace the dead one on the west side of My Hill.