Grasses wave in the wind, lupines finish their blooming season, new plants adapt to their new home, hummingbirds gyre above native sage and honeysuckle. Aggressive weeds have been pulled, trees trimmed, the compost heap is full, hot and full of insects. The Gardens Gone Native tour is always a good excuse to work like crazyContinue reading “Getting ready for the Gardens Gone Native tour”
Category Archives: Maintenance
California’s central valley isn’t a safe place for purple hopseed bushes
In the battle of Jack Frost vs Purple Hopseed bushes, Jack wins. The plants may come back from their roots, but not until the weather warms – so goodbye purple winter screen plant. If you’re in a borderline area where this happens a lot, it’s time to consider a different plant, especially if these wereContinue reading “California’s central valley isn’t a safe place for purple hopseed bushes”
Time to trim the meadow
The asters are dry and non-ornamental, the sedges will soon start their growth cycle, and the other herbaceous perennials will join them – so this was the time to cut everything back. The clippings are left in place to break down, keeping nutrients in the meadow so we don’t need to add fertilizer. The perennialsContinue reading “Time to trim the meadow”
Bad irrigation
We see this a lot: all kinds of different heads stuck almost randomly on the same lateral line. I guess some people think that installing irrigation heads is just like plugging things into a socket. As long as the circuit breaker doesn’t blow, everything is good. Well, they’re not. Instead of something shutting everything off,Continue reading “Bad irrigation”
To Remove or not to Remove, that is the question
Sometimes a design hinges on one decision, in this case to remove a tree or keep it. The tree is healthy, but leaning ominously toward the house. It’s also a species that we know first hand can come crashing down without warning in a storm. Yet, it’s beautiful, provides a wonderful view from the secondContinue reading “To Remove or not to Remove, that is the question”
La Guerre aux mauvaises herbes!
L’ultimatum est lancé! Je suis en train de récupérer mes zones de transition entre plantes existantes et cheminement. Adieu veaux, vaches cochons… et mauvaises herbes! Au fur et à mesure de mes arrachages effrénés je tente de creuser afin de retirer le maximum de système racinaire. Ensuite, je recouvre le petit carré de terre soigneusementContinue reading “La Guerre aux mauvaises herbes!”
View Restored, lilac saved
Good maintenance can transform an unwanted blob into a thing of beauty.
Garden update, one year later
Quite a bit happens in a year. Some plants fail, either totally or partially. Others grow; some re-seed and fill in bare areas. Some decide to conquer their entire section of the garden and have to be dealt with.
Blue Eyes, Blue Again
When Blue Eyes arrived, he (or is it she?) lived up to his name. The “eyes” in the rusty metal were indeed blue, albeit a deeper and less florescent hue than today. Over time, rust creeped, blue fled and Blue Eyes became Rust Eyes. We don’t know if the piece’s artist, Vern Peasenell, would approve,Continue reading “Blue Eyes, Blue Again”
Jardin plaisir… Jardin cauchemar!!!
Non petit computer , tu ne vas pas m’attraper encore! Mais je vais te donner une petite histoire… quand même!!! Le jardin m’a donné du plaisir, avec Blue eyes qui a de nouveaux yeux et la sculpture de Mike pour la rose grimpante ‘Red Fountain’… La voici la fontaine de sang lorsqu’elle allait s’avachir surContinue reading “Jardin plaisir… Jardin cauchemar!!!”