The moon was almost half full last night, and I could walk the house by moonlight.
I spent two and a half hours in the yard this morning. The main task was clearing weeds from the western end of the back yard border garden. Every bit of two hour and a half hours I worked Preen into the soil and added a layer of Preen mulch.
The three roses disappeared overnight, leaving nubs and and signs of leaf munching. The back side of the lemon and lime trees were another snack. I cut back the bare stalks and sprinkled animal repellent liberally. Amazingly, the lemon crop survived even though most of them now hang from bare stems. I will need to see if they keep ripening. Mike asked about how long before harvest. I guessed three to four weeks because this is the first crop of retirement.
I found a roseate agave at Lowe’s yesterday, light green in color with thick palmate leaves. That agave will start another succulent garden by the crassula and the purple gray container agave. Eventually the lewisia in the Experimental Box will join them. I poured Vitamin B-1 enhanced water in the planting hole, and not surprisingly found good drainage in the soil. I will try a full circle stand sprinkler in that area.
I replaced the bubbler on the sedum with a half circle stand sprinkler, hoping to send less water down the hill. The ice plant below that section of the retaining wall appears to be well-established and withstanding the hottest days of the summer tolerably.
I cut back the spent sunflowers and scattered and buried them in every green patch I found on the back slope. I am hoping for a Van Gogh painting next season.
While at it I applied another dose of Vitamin B-1 to the new oenothera and * in the front yard.
A Year at the Snake 