On this Memorial Day, many musings.

 The only member of my family to be in the military was my little brother and my grandfather on my dad's side. I don't remember my grandfather, he had passed away before I was around. I just remember seeing a photo of him on a side table in my grandmothers house when I was little. I know he must have served in WWII because there was a cuckoo clock that came from Germany and a little jewelry box that looked like a Swiss chalet that I had. That may just be coincidence but I'd like to think he brought them back for my grandmother.

I posted on fb about the 'Flanders Poppy' and it's origin. It is also called 'Common Poppy' but has many other names and according to the search it is an annual, as most poppies are. They drop seed prolifically which makes it seem like they are a perennial because they keep coming back. One of my favorite flowers is another poppy. It is one of the more unusually colored poppies but one that is not as well known is actually a wonderful blue.

I was lucky enough to visit the Rhododendron Species Botanical Garden in Tacoma, Washington a few years ago during the spring and they had some growing in the ground. I had only seen these flowers as pictures in books or as seed packets. It is the Blue Himalayan Poppy and was originally created back in the mid 1800's from a common Welsh poppy. (See names aren't exactly what they seem eh?). Also this one is more clumping and perennial being able to survive colder winters underground.

 

Over the years some people have come to ask if we had a certain plant or tree in stock (at either of my jobs) and sometimes we would have it but in the case we didn't and they were insistent I would ask why that. Most of the time they said it was a memorial either for a person or a pet. It is a wonderful testament to giving a lasting memory of someone in the form of a plant or a tree but some research is needed to make sure that it will survive with the level of care and the situation it may be getting. Planting a redwood because they are majestic and long lived doesn't have a chance if you are in a Southwest desert. 

 

As an example the three redwoods that were planted near Balboa Park by Kate Sessions ('the mother of Balboa Park') are no longer there, I seem to recall they were planted about 100 years ago and because of our climate and soil they were still babies (about 50'tall) when they likely gave out.

Kate Sessions made a deal with the city leaders in her time that 100 trees a year would be planted in Balboa Park and the surrounding area.

Can you imagine that many trees? 

So another idea people have is to plant a tree in a park. It is not free to do so and actually costs more money than people are willing to pay. Most parks won't allow just anyone to plant whatever tree they want, it has to be approved and the cost of the labor involved to have it planted correctly has to come out of the pocket of the 'donor'.

Consider instead of a tree that may get out of hand, flower seeds or perhaps a bush that is more manageable. Flower seeds that come back year after year in a garden would be a constant reminder of the cycle of life and if it is in the color of your loved one or pet's favorite toy then it should bring a smile to your face every year.

I grew up around Coast Live Oaks and Eucalyptus (which are not native to anywhere but Australia) and despite loving oak trees I would not want one planted in my memory. I would rather have a rose garden with a full rainbow of colors represented. I have an idea for a memorial garden that I hope someone will eventually grow. 

Several years ago a climbing rose was introduced called 'Stairway To Heaven' and it was a wonderful red color. Plant two of those on an arbor at the entrance of the garden and all the roses on the other side would be named for people who have died.

George Burns

Gracie Allen

Princess Diana

Mister Lincoln

John F Kennedy 

Julia Child 

and so on.

Enough color variation that you could get a full rainbow of colors blooming during the summer. That's my idea anyway and it's humorous but poignant as well. So there are many ways to remember those we loved and keep their memory bright if you chose to do so in a garden. 

On to choosing what to plant and when.

Customers sometimes come in and say, 'I want to plant a vegetable garden, what should I plant?' My direct answer is, 'What are you going to eat?'. If the answer is 'I don't know' then I advise them to think about it first. I know I will use tomatoes and jalapenos but beyond that I have to think really hard and not waste a plant or it's fruit just for the sake of growing something. I'd love to eat healthier but can't grow meat on a plant (shush up you vegans!). Other than that, leafy stuff is for cool weather only, potatoes are chancy, carrots need some time, radishes are fast but I was never a fan but might try them again. 

 

Growing plants from seed is always risky in the ground. Usually a 60/40 chance they will fail or not perform their best when mature. Sadly root crops are not good transplants (I still don't have any fertilizer and should really get some this week). If you damage the central root of a carrot you may never have any carrot to eat. Potatoes need sandy loamy soil not hard clay or rich composty soil.  Which is why I'm going to give it a shot with some old potatoes that have been hanging out on my counter. Oh and garlic...all you need is three or four cloves to plant and you're good, make sure to plant them flat butt side down and pointy side up. 

Some tips for growing potatoes: They do well in a container or sack, easier to dig them up and harvest them. I failed my experiment with a potato tower due to the wrong kind of soil and not enough sun, they rotted and never formed any tubers. I should have better luck if I want to try that over near my bed in the garden. I should also consider some pollinator plants. 

Yes, plant some flowers for bees and butterflies in your veggie garden by all means! You can even plant sage and basil and let them flower for the bees and butterflies. 

 

 

Next topic: Planting for the pollinators!

Other topics while the veggies grow

 

This makes me immensely happy. The colors and fragrance of Tiffany rose are a wonderful thing to have in your garden. I'm happy there is one here for me to enjoy.

I remember years ago the father of a friends home had an oddly striped rose that had the same coloring but it was striped. The bush was at least twenty years old and failing but I thought it might be a Tiffany. Digging around the garden I found the original tag for that bush and I was correct! Sadly the gentleman that lived in the house passed away and they decided to completely re-landscape, removing the rose bushes and the wonderful orange tree in the front yard. Ah well.

To explain the striping. Variegations in flowers and leaves can usually be traced back to a virus or other variant attack. It is a non lethal virus and in many cases the bush itself retains that mutation so that cuttings taken from the original parent will keep the striping. That striped Tiffany rose bush could have been worth thousands of dollars had I the means to take cuttings and get them tested. There are other viruses that can cause issues and perhaps weaken a bush and it looked like there may have been such issues. A grower could have had the tools to isolate the mutation and a new rose would have been born.

Now then on to the goings on in the garden.

I watered this bed thoroughly after roughly leveling it. This is a good test of the drainage areas and just how unlevel the soil is. If I were to plant anything in that bed, you can see that the deeper pool end would have more water than the left side. That will be fixed should I decide to actually use that bed. One can only grow so many tomatoes and peppers.. I need to figure out what else I might want to grow. Later in the fall I can switch to leafy greens and fall veggies. 

Oh, it just occurred to me that in this sandy soil one veggie would do relatively well with the addition of more sand and a little compost: potatoes and maybe carrots! Those being root crops they don't want a lot of nitrogen in their soil or food. Nitrogen produces foliage, phosphorous and potassium are for root crops. I have yet to get a test kit, when I do I will talk about the type of test and the results.

Let's talk pests in the garden. That picture is not very good unfortunately but you can see some of the leaves on this poor rose bush (variety unknown) have been chewed. 

There is a wonderful insect encyclopedia that helped me learn a lot more about bugs called Garden Insects of North America by Whitney Cranshaw and David Sheltar. I came upon this book while working at the nursery and it was WELL used by everyone! 

The way it was organized was types of damage insects caused. Suckers, chewers, scrapers, miners and another category I can't remember. There was an entire twenty some page just on aphids!

Anyway, you can tell whether chewing damage is caused by a mollusk (snails/slugs) or caterpillars/worms/larvae or grasshoppers/katydids.  You see how I divided that up?

Snails and slugs are known scientifically as gastropods = gastro meaning stomach and pod meaning food, stomach foot feeding mollusk. They have no jaw or real teeth or mandible so they eat as they slide around on the ground or on leaves. They are part of the clean up crew of the garden (more on that later) and as such eat what they walk on. Snail and slug damage on leaves is usually in the middle of the leaf and if you look closely can sometimes see where their mouth foot scraped the leaf around the edges of the holes. This is not always the culprit but again I will get to that. Typically it's larger holes rather than small pinpricks. 

The damage on the rose above is caused by a larvae, not a caterpillar. It is the larvae of a particular tiny fly called a sawfly and the larvae are called 'rose slug' because that's what it looks like. The larva stage of that insect is a small green caterpillar type that is the exact same color as the leaf and is usually on the underside of the leaves. The damage from this one starts as small pinprick holes and eventually as they larvae gets bigger so do the holes.

 

So you can see that holes start as small windowpanes scraped into the back of the leaf then as the bug continues to grow creates bigger holes. Now how do you take care of the little marauders? There is luckily a very good organic spray out there from various companies called spinosad. The primary market name is Captain Jack's Deadbug Brew though it is likely marketed by other companies as well. Wonderful stuff! If your leaves have turned to lace, cut them off, they aren't doing the plant any good. If you think BT (bacillus thuringensis) will work, put it away or don't buy it for that purpose. That is only for true caterpillars of moths and butterflies.

Not every green caterpillar you see on a plant is bad. Whaat? That's right, there is actually a beneficial fly that lays it's eggs on plants that have a surplus of aphids called a syrphid fly.

 They are very small and can be confused with a bee but despite the pointy butt, the eyes have it and it is definitely a fly. The difference in the larva is syrphid are opaque and the sawfly are more translucent. Once I learned about these little guys whenever I would see them hovering around (another name for them is Hover Fly and they are minor pollinators as well) I would egg them on, 'go lay your eggs and get those aphids!'.  

So you see I always look for beneficials first before reaching for the bug spray. If the population of the pests gets too high I will step in if I don't see any beneficials around. Some damage is to be expected, we're dealing with open air gardens after all. 

Another uneducated question from customers, 'is there any kind of insect repellent for plants?' Short and only answer is NO. There were also the 'I don't want to kill them just want them to go away.' you can wish all you want but it ain't going to happen if you want perfectly pristine plants.  Nature is imperfect and has a balance when left to it's own devices. It's only the whim of man that has decided to impose perfection on an imperfect system.

Found the tree.

 This is where they decided to move it. Still not an ideal spot. That is a small patio area behind it and to the left a bit and back is another Liquidambar tree. I don't know if they intend to plant them there, but when I see one of the guys I will definitely advise against even keeping it on the ground. This is the Norfolk Island Pine, people are familiar with it around Christmas time. They can get 60+ tall and about 15-20' wide. I heard the popping of roots when they were digging it a few days ago which means it had likely grown through the wooden pot and into the ground. That is my cat Rocky on our morning walk, he had to check out the new thing in 'his' yard.

 

Whenever you want to plant something, think of a puppy. It isn't going to stay that size forever. Most plants have an information tag on them somewhere and if not, look it up! There is a wonderful free phone app called LeafSnap. You can take a picture of a leaf, flower or bark of a plant then hit search. It will come up with several suggestions but beware..the first hit isn't usually the right one. Me knowing plants can tell what it isn't, I was in Balboa Park yesterday and saw a pair of palm trees that I had forgotten the name of. Beautiful huge silvery blue green fronds and I had learned it decades ago when I took plant ID in college, one of my favorite palm trees and I have very few. Took a picture of it on the app and the first hit was definitely not it. Second choice was correct, Bismarckia nobilis:

The ones in the park were almost full grown, about 60 feet. 

So back on point, knowing how big your plant is going to get, height and width, any root problems (another topic entirely), are what you also want to consider along with sun and water requirements. Also when directions on something says 'plant 12 inches apart' that is technically what is called 'center to center' on the plant, on planting designs it's termed '12" on center' not the width from the edge of the leaves. So when you want to plant a boxwood hedge, and you have about ten feet to cover which sounds like a long distance, most are about the same growth habit width wise EVENTUALLY (another topic) get 4 feet wide. That is two feet either side of the center generally speaking. So if you want a solid hedge without too much crowding you would plant them....3 feet apart. Why not 4? Why not 2? 

Here's the deal:  If your plant has roughly 2 feet on either side and you want a solid wall, you plant a little less than the total width in order for it to grow together. If you plant too close it crowds the branches and creates dead zones, if you plant too far apart you'll get a bumpy uneven look. Back to your hedge length; given that math you would think you'd need four for a 10 foot hedge right? Nope, think about the ends. You want to give the branches room to fill out at the ends without encroaching on the sidewalk or whatever so you back it in about two feet. Start your count from there and you only need 3. Graphic for those visually keyed. 

'Please excuse my crude model'. But this is likely closer to what a planting would turn out to be. Plants aren't going to turn out cookie cutter perfect but they will be close to the size you need. My notes on the size it may get follows.

Now what happens when the size given is a range? That means in ideal untrimmed conditions it will usually grow to the larger size. Most people heat that and say, 'I don't want something that big!' Then don't let it! It's not a dog where you're stuck with a Great Dane! Plants can be trimmed and shaped good lord people! Also the conditions it is grown in will obviously have an effect on their growth and health. 

Decades ago I decided I wanted to grow some wildflowers in a planter bed next to a driveway. Threw the seeds out there and whatever came up was good. I got california poppies, cornflower, zinnias and cosmos among other things. They were all spindly, the cosmos only grew to about two or three feet and everything performed the way it was supposed to with the minimum care I was giving it. I saw a cosmos bed some years later and the flowers were five feet tall! The seemed to be the same colors and variety I had and wondered what the heck? I had barely amended the soil, wasn't feeding them and barely watered them which stunted their growth. Ideal conditions produce better plants, just like people and animals. 

So once again, care and feeding properly makes a huge difference on how well something grows and thrives. Too much of anything is also bad and possibly fatal. More on that another time.

 

A new border and... well meaning intent from a resident.

 I finally got a board for the front of my bed.

So one of the landscape guys (Daniel) found this board for me. Roughly a 2x4x7? You can see it is longer by a good bit than what I needed.. This picture was taken after I scraped a shallow line with the trowel. Luckily the trowel is just the right width for what I needed and the ground is not rock hard. Still a LOT of work.

 

Most of the trench is dug and roughly deeper than what I need but that's okay. This is where I thought I had dug long enough but it was still short by about four inches. No problem, keep on digging, keep on digging.

This is after I've filled the trench with the board in it, lots of gaps underneath but plenty of dirt to fill it in. Not too worried about packing the dirt on the bed side, used my foot and the hoe on the outside and just the hoe on the inside. (I really should invest in a tripod for my camera so I can take some video).

As you can see the soil is still very dark and relatively moist after two days. Plants are not showing any signs of stress at all which is the way it should be.

 

 

 

Now then... the well meaning resident.

This is the little 4x4 bed next to the mint bed across from mine. I didn't think anyone was using it so I pulled up the small mint sprig that was stuck in there and put it in mine, which it didn't survive sadly. That larger plant...that is a sucker from one of the liquidambar trees that the hose was laying on by the sidewalk. Initially I was hoping it was a grape sprig but I looked over at the sidewalk and was dismayed to have my suspicions and plant knowledge validated. Sigh.

How do I put a sign up politely telling them to please do not plant trees in the garden? Should I get some other veggies and put them on the free table on the patio? I am hoping that it doesn't survive being a sucker pulled out of the ground. Maybe I should start a garden advice paper to put on the patio? I have never wished for the death of a plant so whole heartedly than this time. I think I know who it is and am hoping to 'run into' her tomorrow. 

Now what next on the lesson agenda?

I am dealing mostly with full sun planting but let's talk a little about the difference between surviving and thriving.

This is an abandoned bot that holds an aloe plant of some sort. Long since neglected and not in an ideal place. On the right you can see a monstera leaf crashing the photo. The monstera technically should be thriving but due to the proximity of a large tree and other plants it's surviving. The aloe is thriving and surviving it's cramped quarters. That plant is big enough to put in a half barrel and not grow out of any time soon. So this is nature persisting despite the odds.

This is another instance of shade tolerant succulents but in a cramped situation. The best gardeners are not perfectionists. There is still a small crime against botany when you have a situation like this where the plants have way overgrown their container and would grow much better if divided and repotted. Daniel and one of the other guys recently divided and repotted a snake plant after asking me if they were worth saving. I told them get it out of the sun and put it in as much shade as possible. The only containers they had were 5 gallons but at least they've got more room. Sadly they are getting watered by the lawn sprinklers. Sigh.The cyclamen in the background is the one I talked about before, it should do just fine as I am facing roughly north east in this picture it will stay in the shade most of the day.

I am a 'fix it' kind of personality. I've been trained for over twenty years to fix people's plant problems so it's kind of ingrained in me to do things right. I am having to learn though that if it's not mine, don't fix it. I'm not sure if I mentioned before that I realized that if your garden and surroundings are thriving and looking healthy it will improve your mood as well. Sad, neglected plants and gardens makes me tired and a bit sad. It reflects the owners and in the complex I am in, just in a year due to the pandemic we have lost at least four residents to illness of some sort. 

The gardens are being tended to as best the management can do. Just recently they dug out a five foot tall Norfolk Island Pine that again, had been left by someone. This was in a very very bad place, next to an electrical box and sidewalk and under a sycamore tree. It was thriving of course due to getting plenty of water and moderate shade. It HAD to go and frankly I'm not sad about that one. Could only hope someone took it home and tried to rehabilitate it.

Older people tend to not think ahead too much. There's so much that is just put outside for 'decoration' or to 'add to the garden' that is not done with any thought.

I feel like I'm still in my thirties or forties and thinking about ten years down the road. I may not be here in ten years but I can hope so.

One of the roses growing in the same bed as the Norfolk Pine. It doesn't get a full on six hours of sun and yet, it persists. I think it's a Tiffany rose from the coloring and smell. Couldn't remember what it was until just now, and it is one of my favorite roses. Makes me happy to see it doing well enough to put on four or five flowers in partial shade. It isn't a very thriving bush but it is surviving just fine.

The other bed and new plants are in!

 I finally figured out the technical difficulty preventing me from uploading photos from my ipad to dropbox. Easy peasy from my android phone but just could not figure it out from my pad. Got it done though so now I have pictures! So it seems there's still an issue between getting the photos on dropbox and being able to load them here. Apparently blogger doesn't like to load from dropbox even though it's an option. Today is a technical difficulty day it seems. Even when they're on my desktop I get an error for it to load. No reason, just an error, try again.

Anmyway, I bought a small Better Boy tomato and a Jalapeno plant at the small nursery half a block up the road from me. Walking distance so I get some exercise too.They didn't have much of a selection for tomatoes and I almost bought a Sweet 100 tomato but I didn't feel like creating a huge structure just for it. Yes they get that big.

Here's the basics about tomatoes for those not initiated or experienced:

Always plan on using a cage bigger than you think you'll need. Tomatoes come in two (possibly three) categories now. Determinate, indeterminate and patio which fall into the determinate category but are dwarf. Determinate is just what it alludes to, it grows to a determined height, flowers, fruits then as that is happening it starts yellowing and dying from the bottom up and finally poops out entirely. This could take a matter of a few months depending on the variety and the time of year. Generally they average about five to six feet. Indeterminate means as it grow it flowers and fruits continuously and could very well reach seven to eight feet tall before it finally gives up the ghost or the weather works against it. This is a best case scenario of course. Worst case a determinate can get four feet and their done. Just as with people and pets, the better care they get the longer and healthier life they have. 

Yes you feed them during the growing season. You want to know how many people didn't want to feed their fruiting and flowering plants because they were doing just that? Rediculous! 'Oh I didn't want to spoil the fruit with too much fertilizer'. I'm telling you.... also 'oh I didn't know my plants needed fertilizer (food)'. You going to take a puppy home and only give it water? 

So anyway, on some tomato plant tags or signs it will have a description of the fruit but also look for those words 'determinate' and 'indeterminate'. Now 'Patio' tomatoes are quite literally called that, they are one of a kind. They usually get about two feet maybe taller and produce medium to small fruit, not a cherry tomato but bigger than that. I'm no good at measuring according to weight but they'll fit in the palm of your hand neatly.

 

Now I figured out how to get pictures on here again so here goes: 

You see that divot? That's as far as my hoe could dent the soil. It hadn't been watered since it rained months ago. Native dirt with no additional amendments. Those twigs and leaves don't count.

This is after I watered thoroughly. You can see the puddle where I had previously tried to dig with the hoe.

 

This is the soil color difference the next day. The smaller darker pile is from my worked bed with amendments. The lighter crumbly one is moist native dirt. In vernacular as far as I go is 'dirt' is what is in the ground, 'soil' is what you get in a bag or after you've corrected the dirt with amendments.

This is after the soil dried two days. I was able to dig the hoe in and actually loosen the soil. Not as easy as my bed but easier than it was two days previous. I will keep it loosened but considering how much amendment I need, I won't be able to move it from the car to the garden by myself. It will have to lay fallow for a while yet. But also shows it has pretty good drainage on it's own.

 

This is the six inch trowel I found. I'm prepping the hole to put the tomato in. I hadn't watered it yesterday so I got the hose and watered that corner well since the veggie rootball was very wet I didn't want to drop it in dry soil. You can also see how the shadow of the building is starting to creep in. It was about 1:30 which is perfect timing for planting. It gets full shade by 3 so the plants won't be trying to adjust to blazing heat in the middle of the day.

 

 

 

 And there they are, all snug in their bed. About 18 inches apart, likely too close but I didn't water the whole bed and had turned the water off already. The soil was plenty moist so i wasn't worried.

Now, you know what's missing? Fertilizer. I looked at the selection at my tiny family operated nursery and they had bunches of organic stuff in quantities and price I didn't want so fertilizer will have to wait. I can get a small packet of organic veggie food at ::cringe:: the orange apron store and is the perfect size for what I need.

See what I mean about the tomato cage? People don't think they need one right away but by the time you need one, it's too big to put a cage around it. Do it right away! One thing I forgot to get was a sprayer for the end of the hose. I could get a watering can but honestly, for not much more I'm getting a pistol sprayer and all done.

So, there you have it. Another secret about tomatoes and other thin leaf plants. Something that is called '3 o'clock wilt'. Are they dying? Nope, they're tired and hot is all. If you go out to your garden and see that the tomatoes are wilting and you know you just watered that morning, PUT THE HOSE DOWN AND STEP BACK! 

Science: Plants have a vascular system that pulls nutrients and water up through their roots and to the leaves. That pressure system is temperature based as well as hydraulic driven. So if the plant is too hot their leaves have to shut down to prevent anymore moisture from evaporating than possible. So they wilt. (Leaves drooping, lack of water/too hot, leaves closing like a taco, too much water. TYPICALLY) There are other factors of course. It's a protective mechanism and just let them do their thing, check the soil with your fingers, if it's warm and moist, walk away. Check back when it's cooler or in the morning and they'll be right as rain. Aha... see what I did there? hehehehe.

So, Plants are in, I did talk to one of the landscape guys and asked about a piece of wood. He said there might be a couple of boards over in the storage area I could use. I didn't bother waiting but it'll all be good. Couple of sticks to mark the boundary and I'm good, in the future if I'm still here working on it, I can upgrade.

All done, all pretty. 

Plant trivia some backstory and more dirt talk.

 

As a side note about some plants. This is a cyclamen, typically they are a fall through winter shade perennial. The heat of summer can make them yellow and wither down then they rest over summer and come back in late fall. If you can see, this one has amazingly set seed capsules. The flower is at the top but the other balls on the ends of stems were former flowers. Seed capsules are typically sterile if they show up at all. Most people can't make them last but this one seems to be thriving on near neglect and I think it's been there since last summer. I will monitor it for any change in condition over the next few months.

I didn't need to water my bed but went out and turned it a little. The soil is really respectable compared to the base soil of the ground. I was able to talk to the apartment manager (Wanda) and told her I was working in the garden and asked if there was a shovel somewhere.  She said she would check it out.

I did find a small rusty trowel behind a tree and it's usable for digging small holes. Not so much for turning the bed. Found tools are good as long as they are still in a condition to be used. Less money I have to use.

A few more details about me and my experience, which I only touched on briefly in my first post. I went to a local community college for three and a half years to learn landscape design and plant ID. I was not able to finish to get my degree in that but earned a 'garden design certificate' from the courses I completed. I worked at a few  places while being a single mom, homeless a few times and finally found my dream job.

I worked for close to twenty years at an independent nursery here in San Diego called Walter Andersen Nursery. It has been family owned and operated since 1928 and has some of the highest quality and best selection of plants in the county maybe the state but I'm just biased. I was proud to work there for so long but my temperament as I got older (and going through breast cancer treatment) was not good retail material. I called it 'menopause mouth' and it cost me dearly in my mouth filter and temper. They finally had to let me go after I made some ill spoken words in various situations. After only four months out I was lucky enough to be hired by Home Depot (no sponsor here just blatant truth). It took only three years and a year long pandemic to get under my skin enough that I said something in front of others and they complained to management. So here I am, 'forcibly retired' but not actually retired and getting retirement money.

What does one do with so much time on their hands and no money to spend? Use my brains to educate other people about what I know best. Plants. Soil. Fertilizers and all the other stuff I was happy to work for 'Big Orange' in order to pass on my knowledge but soon realized that people for the most part weren't there for the plant knowledge though I did garner a few 'regulars' that always looked for me when they came in for plants. I also tried to pass on some of what I knew to my fellow garden people but again, gardening encompasses so much more than plants in a company like that, plant knowledge was the least of their priorities. Oh and it was there that I almost literally ran into the man I want to spend the rest of my life with and for that I am truly grateful.

So again, here I am in a place where I really can tell people like it is and not worry about getting called into the office or offending anyone. Or if you're offended, you can't do anything but not read what I have to say anymore. So there.

Now on to more about soils. As soon as I can upload the pictures I'll show you what I meant about the difference between amended soil and dirt. I decided to start watering the rest of the ground if I wanted to work it and renovate the area. This is going to hurt for sure. Remember when I said my bed drained really well and stayed moist? Yah, well the dirt, or base soil, is rock hard when it's dry as I knew it would be when I tried to chop into it with a hoe. The tool only got in maybe two inches and it was not going to do much else. I dug a small divot about six by six of that depth then went and got the hose to thoroughly wet the area. It immediately created a small pond after two minutes of watering with no sign of it draining. I suspect it will be drained by this evening but will still be rock hard. 

Now there are some things you can do to improve the working of that kind of thing, if you said gypsum you are right..to a point. Gypsum is the same thing that wall board is made out of and is a chalky nuetral to acid ph mineral that when mixed with clay soil attaches to the particles and makes them clump together. Very good for improving drainage, not so much if you just dust it on the surface and water it in. Quite literally like putting flower on a cutting board and throwing water on it. It can take a few years even if you worked it into the soil for it to make a noticeable change. So here comes more science, if you add in organic particles those are sufficiently large to physically drive clay clumps apart and make it even better faster. 

Now about fifteen (or more?) years ago a company discovered they could manufacture a liquid form of gypsum. Gypsum out of the ground is a form of calcium sulfate hence why it is on the acid side and it helps counteract alkalinity in soils as well as acting as an improver. This company figured out how to make a liquid form that works almost instantly when applied with water. Liquid Gypsum was marketed to the nursery industry and it has not gotten enough press as far as I can see. You don't really need it east of the Rockies but the Southwest here and central California it is a godsend! So if I wanted to put the money out and get some I would do that but I am not going to invest in something if no one else is going to want to work their gardens. I have a good bed on my own and that's fine. But that is something anyone may consider to use, oh and you can't find it in any of the 'big box' stores, as far as I know only independent or small scale nurseries carry it or, of course, online.

There you have it, science in the garden! I didn't even give all the details on that and just barely scratched the surface...ahem...pun intended. It has been hot today, might have gotten into the low 90's and right now at 5pm pdt, it is 85 degrees F. So that is another reason why I am in my room with fan and AC going and not outside doing something in the garden.

Check your drainage, composition, consult with local garden experts at a reputable nursery and dig some dirt!

 

Lesson 1: Soils

 As I mentioned previously when you water something exceedingly dry it tends to repel the water (hydrophobic). Depending on the composition of the soil, (ratio of organic, inorganic and other materials) it can either accept the water readily and take several waterings or maybe need additional chemical and organic help and a lot more work. Luckily I fell into the former category. Persistent thorough watering and working the soil got the moisture all the way through.

Now, soil texture/composition.  Two terms that in essence mean the same thing but are different. Texture is how the soil looks and feels, is it gritty, dry, composty, rocky, sandy...what have you. Composition is what materials are giving it that texture. General materials in most soils, and I am speaking of in ground soils not potting soils (and thus another lesson borne from that) are sand, clay, rock and organic components.

Native raw soil has various compositions depending on where you live, whether it has been left fallow or cultivated and properly amended. There is a vast difference between areas and even between neighborhoods of soil composition and texture. I don't know how many times I have had customers say, 'my front yard looks great but my back yard has horrible soil' or some such complaint. There is a saying I learned at the nursery, 'five feet is as good as a mile'. Which means, you can have great soil in your front yard on one side, and crappy soil on the other side. This all goes back to not only what was done to the lot before you got to that house as to the geology of the area and rainfall and a WHOLE lot of other factors but back on point.

Let's work with what I have shall we? The basic soil for my area is red clay and sandy rock. The red clay in a soil usually means it has a little higher iron, good for greening up things and some growth. Now, given that the lemon bush and the mint are green and healthy for the most part, that speaks volumes about the condition of the raw soil. Which also means I do not want to add too much else in the way of high nitrogen organic material to my soil.The mint is doing what it does in full sun, if it was growing in more shade the leaves would be bigger and fuller. 

When you have low organic material in your soil it is generally low nitrogen and possibly low phosphorous as well. I will be getting a soil test kit soon to check the components just for education sake otherwise I wouldn't bother. Something else that I hear a lot is from transplanted Eastern/NorWestern people. 'I could grow anything in my other yard, the soil was fantastic!' Here's why: Rain and Trees. Do I have to get a map and a biology book? 

San Diego is a coastal semi arid alkali subtropical scrub wasteland (okay maybe not a wasteland). We get low rainfall, never had much in the way of large vegetation to break down and feed the soil. What we have is rocks, a lot of clay which varies from what I have to what is called 'caleche' or adobe clay that is pretty much not going to grow anything but bricks. So what we have to do is amend heavily with compost some manures, and other organic material. A lot of people don't have the room to do their own composting so bagged stuff it is and it is just fine....to a point. There are variations and I will get to that another time.

Compost in bags: look at the ingredients. Sometimes 'composted forest fines' or 'composted forest by product' as well as other things. Not all composted things are the same but again we will have to stretch that into another lesson. 

Definition of compost: Compost is decomposed organic material. So that can be manure (cow/steer/chicken/rabbit/horse) mixed with other products like straw, grass or whatever. Typically our San Diego soil is seriously lacking in that stuff so unless you're growing above ground in containers, your soil may well need it. Again, depends on where you live, you may be lucky.

So figure out what your soil is like, what's it got. Is it accepting water readily? Does the water puddle and then disappear or stick around for hours or days? Dig it through, see what it's got, if you can't get a shovel in there when it's damp, you've got work ahead of you.

So composition is what is in the soil, texture is what it looks and feels like. Sandy clay, not so good for foresty type plants, citrus actually love well drained soil. It's all a balance and I will talk about that next time. I tended to ramble here so if I missed a point that needed clarifying, just shoot a message!

More pics and a video (hopefully)

 So until I am satisfied with the way the bed texture is (more about that later) I am only going out there to cultivate/hoe the small bed and maybe hoe some weeds and rearrange things a little. Without permission to do anything more just a holding pattern. Due to excessive heat after about 9 am no work in the middle of the day.

My lessons included in my posts are starting at the basics of soil prep and amendment, then plant choice, correct planting then care and feeding of said plants.

 

This is what I have to work with at the moment. The hoe on the left has a broken handle but still usable. The cultivator in the middle is usable but the wood is so old I absolutely must wear gloves or risk splinters. The piece of wood on the right is part of a tree stake. I used that to help level the soil in my bed area.

This is pretty much twenty four hours after I had thoroughly soaked it. The compost material is holding the water really well as well as the more clay/sandy soil allowing it to drain. After working and watering it for three days, it's pretty well well moistened down about eight to ten inches. If I were growing small annuals or such, that would be fine. Not if I am going to be planting tomatoes or peppers. They need good deep soil, and I'm not too thrilled with what may have been in there. Much like a cook knowing just from an aroma what something will taste, I can tell from the texture and look of the soil, it may not be ideal.

I used the cultivator to did the corner to see how wet it was further down and a good four to six inches it is still good clumpy moist soil. I've never worked with soil like this before, haven't done anything in 'raw' ground in decades so who knows whether this is okay or not?

Another texture/color difference. I had to add those small branch pieces to give me a visual boundary and a small dam for the soil and water. Will have to see if the landscape guys have any scrap wood available.

Better look at the 'wild' corner. To give you an idea that back wall (and the width of the entire garden area) is only about eight feet.

Hmmm, maybe someone thought the mint would grow up the cages? (Spoiler: They won't!)

This is a whole other situation that I am not going to tackle but will talk about how it got that way in general.

So, not much else to do there so I will be giving mini lessons on different situations. I will be coloring key words and provide definitions at the end until I can figure out how to hyperlink definitions in the text. My watering video is too big so I may have to upload it to youtube and give a link here after I voice over a description.

I'm going to break off here and do another post of just text lesson on soils. Much too much to add in here and is way more involved.

I will leave you with a lovely picture though of an epiphyllum in the community area gazebo.

Welcome to my Garden Blog and stuff!

 

 It has taken a lot of years to get to a point where I have even a small space to be able to garden again. I have over twenty years experience in telling random people how to keep their plants alive, how to design a garden, why they are killing their plants and what to do.

Now is the time when I can dispense that knowledge from the safety and security of my home and not have to risk life, limb and sanity in a retail setting (mostly sanity and blood pressure). I will be making comments open on this so there can be a question and answer for my weekly topics on gardening. 

I will be focusing on gardening in Southern California as that is where I have lived for the past twenty five plus years. There are many many more people out there with published books, radio shows and such that have similar experience but they dance around the edges and skirt topics that people should really know about or have questions on.

Right off the bat is going to be a renovation project where I live. No help from contractors, no support from local home stores, just me, a couple of broken down tools and working with what is there and maybe some additional products and why I use them. I get no kickback from vendors or products (unless they want to sponsor me by chance). Oh and permission from the apartment manager and maybe a little help from the landscaping guys to move those logs.

My situation: I live in a senior complex in South East San Diego, CA (El Cajon) in a tiny one bedroom appartment with my fiancee Jon and my three year old cat Rocky (who I take for walks most mornings on a leash and harness). Due to cramped living spaces (and a cat who likes to chew on anything green) I don't own any houseplants. Our location is one of the hotter areas in the county which last summer got up to 102 outside and inside was a toasty 85. This makes gardening outside in full sun not so good but depending on what happens in the next few months, I will be attempting it. Right now it is comfy and breezy outside and I am prepping a bed. Attend to my photos:

This is facing south (ish) from the entrance of the area around 4 pm. Lemon bush is in front of me, at the far back is a jade bush.

This is a Jade bush at the very back with some old tomato cages laying on it. The corner on the right is, from the smell, a stray cat litter box. That will definitely be getting taken care of.

Looking from the back wall to the front of the area. No one has really worked this area at all in I don't know how long. The standing tomato cage on the right... is in the middle of a small mint patch. No amendments have been made to the soil at all. Reddish colored sandy clay soil typical of the area.

Wood from a Liquidambar tree (Liquidambar styraciflua aka Sweet gum tree) that was cut down somewhere. Can we say rat, mouse, termite home anyone? Against a building? The small window sticking out is the kitchen of one of the apartments. Most of the units have one and it is unfortunate this is right near where my bed is.

My bed after cultivating and hoeing then giving it a water. Nice loose composty stuff but dry as a popcorn fart (thanks Dale!). Stinky and not in a good way from cats also using this as a litter box. I had watered it for about a minute or so and the water only went down about a quarter inch. More on that later.

Oh and that aloe in a five gallon pot as well as the dilapidated planter behind it will have to go. I suspect the bed at one time went to the wall with a small board for a spacer but that is long gone so I'm only working with about a 2 x 5' bed right now.      

So that is what I am dealing with at the moment. Working about fifteen or twenty minutes maybe half hour a day at this point just working that bed and keeping it moist to keep the kitties out. In the summer that area gets a full on six raging hours of essentially desert sun. I haven't plotted the exact direction but from the sun position it's roughly south south east. Goodly amount of sun for growing just about anything and if that little lemon bush is surviving with only occasional water, it's a good spot to grow stuff. 

So there is your intro to me and my garden project. Not your typical garden work up, but not everyone has lots of space and a good size garden to play in (nor the budget!). In closing I will now answer any readers with my previous comment about the water.

When organic soil gets to extremely dry  conditions and is not treated with anything, due to the chemical and electrostatic conditions of water, the soil will actually become hydrophobic. It will repel the water laterally instead of going down. I watered for a good minute or three then put the hose down knowing this and when I got the cultivator in there, sure enough the water had only gone in about a quarter inch despite creating a few puddles and feeling like I thoroughly soaked it. Luckily the base soil drains very well being mostly sandy clay so I worked the wet into the dry, leveled what I could and left it.

More pictures about what I did the next day and what the bed looked like around 9 am.

Questions? Comments? Ideas? Shout at me like I owe ya money!