I was up early, Spots having his breakfast at 6.00. More potato shrub disappears.
I soaked all the plants in anticipation of a four day stay in Oakland. The royal blue salvia is looking a little thin. I buried a fertilizer spike near the rhaphiolepis in the triangle garden. I need to investigate when the camellia is best fed.
I raked dead grass off the hillside, away from the back lawn and down the slope. Not quite weed whacking but substantial clearing. The slope will not take my gas-powered weed whacker.
The sprinkler line to the terra cotta planter was out – the main irrigation line pulled down the hill taking the sprinkler line with it. I reposted the sprinkler in the planter and added a bubbler to hold it in place.
The program for the next two months will be monitoring the irrigation system I added Preen mulch add around the euphorbia and Japanese euonymus below the summer house, hoping for water retention. Still, a far cry from the days when I hacked through the overgrowth below the summer house to find the spigot.
The carpet roses are coming back handsomely, although they have yet to bloom. I supplemented the water to them and to the matilija poppies. Prayers for Leah who may not make it.
I mowed the lawn, edged the sides without decapitating any lawn sprinkler and was out the door for Oakland at 11.30.
A Year at the Snake 