This past year has been pretty tough as a number of issues have prevented me from doing any meaningful work in the yard. For the most part it's been maintenance (keeping the lawn mowed, cutting down bamboo that's beginning to invade the lawn, etc).
Around a year and a half ago I planted 5 double blossom Sakura (Japanese cherry trees) on the slope where the vegetable garden used to be. Because I was away for 1/2 year and never set up any irrigation, they all died. A dwarf apple tree (I'm not sure if it really is an apple because it fruits in the summer) managed to survive, though, and it has two small fruits on it. I set up the drip a couple of weeks ago on it and will hose water once every other week to give it an extra 'shot'.
Lessons learned regarding the yard. The gopher (and all of his/her cronies) are just impossible to get rid of. Even the invasive ice plant from the neighbor has fallen prey to them. I don't even consider growing any food any more unless it's in some sort of container.
I thought the sage, since it's so woody, would survive but the gophers finally decimated it. Only the rosemary remains and it actually looks pretty nice.
In the front yard I planted lavender a couple of years ago and they've (about 25 plants) have grown and filled in nicely. They're drought tolerant so I don't even bother to water them but the color on them varies from medium green to light green (like they're sick or something). My feeling is that they can be over watered and some plants boarder the lawn so this is possible. At least the gopher hasn't eaten them. I think they're safe.
I heard that gophers don't like geraniums so I planted some on the side. Sure enough, they are gopher proof. Unfortunately, they are not idiot proof. The drop irrigation was broken due to weeding during my time away and those plants have suffered a great deal. With the summer heat on now, even with a lot of watering they seem to have a tough time.
The hibiscus on the side of the house has done best during the winter when it rained a lot. As soon as the weather warmed up (and dried up as well), it started flowering less and dropping leaves. At least now I know the problem before was not over watering or over/under fertilizing but just under watering. It's to the point where I may actually put a sprinkler head next to it and skip the drip just for that plant.
There are three avocado trees. The one on the side of the house, which is next to the under watered hibiscus, is thin and dropped a number of leaves during the last heat wave. I have mixed feelings about those plants because they are so sensitive to watering and although we have no water rationing yet, I'm trying to make the yard drought friendly. Maybe every yard has a couple of water hogs.
The second avocado tree is just in a bad spot. It's next to the lawn so it gets plenty of water but still has a 'burn' on it's leaves. Neither of the aforementioned avocado trees have generated any fruit.
The third tree (on the hill) is thriving. It seems to have a root system strong enough to pull water out pretty deep. It put out a lot of fruit last year but none matured. It could be because it didn't get watered. This year I set up drip for it and will water it heavily once every week or so on the same schedule as the dwarf apple tree. It would be nice to at least get a few avocados.
The dwarf fruit trees are doing better now that the backyard canopy has been removed. After three years the fabric tore and all that is left now is the tubular frame. This is allowing more light to hit the plants. The main issue now is the pest infestation which curls the new leaves up. I took a sample to Home Depot and they recommended a spray which I have to put on. Based on my greenhouse experience, I may wait until the weather cools down a bit. Spraying on hot plants can cause leaf burning in some cases.
I have one of those crazy upside down tomato planters. I don't think the plant is particularly happy about it. It was doing perfectly fine in the kitchen (relatively low light) until I jammed it into the planter and stuck it outside. It took about a week for it to harden up enough to the point where it wouldn't wilt every time the sun came out. What's nice about the design is that there's enough soil in the planter to hold a lot of water so you don't have to micro manage the watering. Once a week right now is enough water for it. Once it starts producing fruit, it may shorten down to every four or five days.
There's more to write but not tonight.
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