Roses: To Cut or Not?

I just finished this round of deadheading my roses. I have several roses blooming, all beautiful. But for me, it’s a bit painful (and I don’t mean the thorns this time!) to cut my roses in order to have cut flowers in my home. I have some roses that would look great in a vase, [...]

Fruit Tree Propagation: Update

After nearly two weeks, I’m sorry to report that my attempt to propagate a Nagami kumquat tree from a sapling’s sucker was unsuccessful. I’ve read how difficult it is to attempt this, but felt I had to try.
Undaunted, when either of my two kumquat trees is more mature and freely fruiting, I’ll try to propagate [...]

Tomato Container Garden: Seedling Update

I’m happy to report on the progress of my tomato container garden started last month.  Although it took a little bit longer than expected, a healthy 10 out of 21 containers show seedlings! Just another 11 to go!
HOW TO: What I’ve been doing is watering the containers 3 times per week, on the “flat” setting [...]

Garden Design: Installing In-Ground Outline

Literally, from remnant lumber boards! As mentioned in previous posts, I like to think of my garden as rectangular sections that I create by installing lumber boards directly into the ground to create a can’t-miss outline. As shown in the photo, I dug a shallow trench measuring the approximate width of the board.
You don’t have to [...]

Nagami Kumquat Tree: Propagation

Opportunities abound! Each initial seeming gardening “disaster” is an opportunity for me to learn and potentially expand my gardening universe! I recently planted my 2 Nagami kumquat tree into the ground. Today was unexpectedly very windy, and a sucker or shoot growing from the side of one of these trees snapped off.
Normally, suckers are removed since they can [...]

House Sparrows,Taking a Dirt Bath!

It’s true! Three lovely adult female house sparrows were taking dirt baths in my backyard! It seems that their process is to make rounded indentations in the ground first, in essence creating a “tub.” Once the tub is created, each bird then moves around and shakes its body and feathers to dust up the dirt and [...]

When Gophers Attack (Your Garden)!

This is an update on my efforts towards gopher abatement. My backyard has been a favorite place of gophers. I’ve been asked, “Where do these gophers come from?” One pest control company told me that home construction projects can disturb the ground enough to prompt these critters to relocate to more peaceful surroundings. On my [...]

My Backyard Spring Garden

Oh, this is the reason I enjoy gardening so much! This section of my backyard consists primarily of roses, but also features alstromeria (Peruvian lily), lantana, and French lavender. A bit of maintenance and patience pays off during these days!
CONSUMER ALERT UPDATE: There have been reports that alstromeria or Peruvian lily plant is poisonous if it is [...]

Weeds: Update After Roundup Super Concentrate

I am happy to report that weeks after treating my weeds with Roundup Super Concentrate, the weeds are dead or dying.  As you can see in the photo below, this is the “field of gold” that I want to see after weed treatment! Click on the photo to see the detailed result.
My backyard is large, [...]

Nagami Kumquat Trees

It was a beautiful spring day today, a good day to plant trees, Nagami kumquat trees! I purchased two trees today; they are true dwarf trees that will grow to 6 to 10 feet tall when mature, per their labels.  Growing up, my family had a kumquat tree, which is still productive. It wasn’t until years (!) [...]