More Neighbors

These neighbors have been very quiet.  They are only at home part of the year.  They were so quiet I didn't even know they were there until last week.  I went to pick some limes for a party and saw this home.

You may have to look closely.   It's a tiny little hummingbird nest.  I had no clue it was there!  I understand hummingbirds sometimes come back and use the same nests.  I need to avoid trimming this part of the tree.  Perhaps next spring we'll get to see these neighbors move back in.

I got to thinking that if there's one nest, maybe there are more.  I didn't see another hummingbird nest.  I know they can be territorial, so I wasn't surprised.  But I did find this nest in the orange tree that's next to the lime.  This nest is much larger and I have no clue what kind of bird build it.

I can't wait until next spring!

New Fence

I have now confirmed that I'm a lazy gardener.  Months have passed since my last update.  Let me catch you up.  When last I posted, we'd just had the tree trimmed.  It is finally filling out again.  I have definitely resolved to tend to the trees on our side of the fence and let our neighbors tend to the trees on their sides.

I mentioned needing to watch our pennies until we started getting Allen's retirement, as at least one of his former co-workers had suffered the worst-case scenario the government warned of.  They received around 1/2 the money for nearly a year.  We were extremely happy that the full checks started right away.

So that allowed us to tackle the next big project of the fence.  Our neighbors (with the tree trimming) wanted a block wall or perhaps a vinyl fence.  I convinced them that the ficus tree roots would rip apart a wall.  Then I started getting estimates for vinyl, wood, and even composite fencing.  Several of the salesmen said we should remove the vines from the fence, so I spent about a month clipping the ivy and climbing ficus.  Wow.  This side of the fence was worse than I thought!  Yes, you can see right through the fence.  In fact, the fence started falling down as we removed the ivy which really was all that was holding it up! 

We decided on this fence.  Even some of the vinyl fence installers suggested that a wood fence would be better for our yard.  So I convince the one neighbor to go with this fence.  The neighbor on the other side was willing to pay for half of the cost of the standard redwood fence.  The landlord of the house behind us declined to help with the costs at all.  Oh well.

Anyway, I do love this fence.  It's nice and sturdy with steel posts guaranteed for 25 years and treated wood on the bottom where it touches the ground.  It looks the same on both sides.  Now to get it (or side) painted with a clear protective coat.

Fences, Trees, and Neighbors

 Our huge ficus tree needed pruning.  We had it done a couple of years ago, but it was time again.  But frankly I was surprised when our neighbor told us she wanted it cut back so it didn't hang over her side at all.  She brought a tree trimmer with her and suggested we might want more of the tree trimmed.  It took me a while to realize she wanted us to pay for the tree to be cut back from her side.

That's not my understanding of the city rules regarding trees.  Perhaps I'm wrong, but I think we are responsible for trimming any trees over our yards no matter where the trunk is. If I'm right, she has a right to cut the tree as much as she wants on her side.  But I believe that is both her choice and her responsibility.



The timing was all wrong for us to pay anyone to do any major work since we were quite unsure about when Allen's annuity would begin and how much it would be.  But in order to keep peace in the neighborhood, we paid for the tree to be trimmed...  this time.

It looks so empty!  I hope it fills in before summer.  This tree will be as good about blocking the sun's glare on our bedroom window.

But it will grow back.

Good news for us.  Not so good for our neighbor.

Here's the way it looks from the front of the house.  It looks like half a tree.  I guess that's what it really is. 


Next, the fence.

Same neighbor wants to replace the fence.   The whole fence is in dire need of replacing.  We were not at all impressed with the way it was replaced before and we were not at all able to help pay for it at the time.  The termite infested fence was left in place and a new fence was attached on top of it.  We were able to remove  some of the old fence boards, but it's all supported by the old posts.   We need to be part of the planning and paying this time!

She wanted to put in a wall.  A wall might be nice, but that tree's roots would tear down a wall.  I think I've convinced her that a wall would not be a good idea.

I hope the fence negotiations go better all around. Can you tell I'm not a good negotiator?

It's Cheaper to Move the Plants

The title of today's blog post is a quote from Jose Calderone, a guy who came to fix our sprinkler system.  We had one water spout and one flooded area.  I also thought we needed to adjust the timing, but I didn't know how to go about it.  So I remembered a little flyer dropped in our yard a few months back.  This flyer was more than the usual business card or ad with a name and contact information.  This one had Sprinkler System Tips such as the best lawn watering time (3am-6am) and the  months to adjust watering time (Early March, Early June, and Late September).


So I called the number and Jose came out.  He was prompt, friendly, and really seemed to know what he was talking about.  As it turned out, both the water spout and the flooded area were easy fixes.  He adjusted several sprinkler heads.  (I didn't even know they could be turned down!)

I would recommend Jose if you need a help in your garden.  He does landscape maintenance as well as care for sprinklers.  He said I could share his number, but I didn't tell him I had a garden blog.  I hope Jose doesn't mind me sharing his phone  number here.
Jose Calderone
Evergreen Landscape
805 276-8630

And as we looked at the front area where I've planted the Coral Bells and replanted some ornamental strawberries, I pointed out the edge that doesn't get watered.  You can see the line where I've put in the arrows.

Two of the Coral Bells were on the wrong side of that line.  I said I should move the two plants, and Jose agreed, saying "It's cheaper to move the plants than to more the sprinklers."  Yep.

And when I was at B and B Hardware I saw the 4" Coral Bells displayed in the front of the store.  Two different varieties!  And since they were smaller, they were also about 1/2 the price.  Though I really had enough plants, I couldn't pass these up.

So the big picture shows the new configuration.  I moved the Lemon Chiffon to the back.  Since its yellow color shows up better, it can bring the eye to the back.  I moved the Ruby Veil up to the front, and planted the new plants, Amber Waves and Cinnabar Silver, on either side of it.

By the way, thanks to my friend, Marie,  I think we have the name of that mystery flower in the front.  She thinks it's Blue Salvia.  I've planted other salvias that do not stay neat and tidy like mine and hers look much larger.

What do you think?  Same plant?

Planting under the Birch

 Every year I replant this area under the birch tree in our front yard.  I have a swirling informal hedge of Indian Hawthorne in the back from this view and in the front I have a border of ornamental strawberries.  There is a tree in the center.  There was a huge Ash tree there when we first moved here.  We took it out and planted a smaller, more polite birch tree that was donated to us by a neighbor.  This year's planting doesn't look colorful yet, but I have high hopes.





This is the way it looked last year.  I planted pansies, johnny jump-ups, and snapdragons.  I also tried a few Ranunculus.  It looked great for a month or so, but then the flowers dropped.  I hoped they would come back this year, but it's been looking pretty empty except for the allysum.  Ogren rated the allysum as a 6, so I really shouldn't let it live here, but it's so pretty and it comes back every year.  I don't have the heart to kill it.  

I usually plant annuals here for their showy flowers, but they need to be replanted each year.  I've tried some perennials before and some have hung in. There is a dahlia my friend gave me.  It has appeared again this year, but it never seems to make it to the flowering stage.  A few snapdragons show up each year, but not enough to make much of a showing.


There are 3-4 of this mystery plant with the square stems and purple flowers.  I just tried to look it up and came up with Calamint.  I don't remember that name, so it may have been called something else when I bought it.  The search validated my thought that the square stems mean it's related to the mint family.  I really would like to find it again at a nursery.  I would happily buy more!


This year I decided to put in more perennials.  That's kind of the theme of my garden.  The perennials, as a rule, are not very showy with lots of big, bright flowers, but there is always something to look at all year.  I do want flowers here to greet my guests. 



This year I'm trying a border of Portulaca, Moss Rose.  I bought them at the suggestion of another shopper at the nursery.  She says you can't kill them.  They are a succulent, so I may kill them with too much water.  If they survive, they may try to take over.  I like their sweet showing flowers that come in many colors including this bright pink, as well as yellow, orange, and white.  It's got a 2 on Ogren's scale, so that works for me.  We'll see how they do.

I won this plant at the garden club meeting.  It's called Nemesia.  It's also a 2 on Ogren's scale and it has light lavender flowers.  Very pretty!  I'll buy more of these if I see them at a nursery.  They are an annual though, so if they don't reseed themselves I'll have to replace them again next year.


I also planted Delphiniums and Aquilegia, Columbine.  I really love both of these flowers.  The Delphiniums should grow nice and tall, about 36."  They're supposed to bloom in early summer and fall.  I bought 3 large ones that are all dark blue, called Magic Fountains.  I also bought 3 eight-packs of "Magic Fountains" that should have a mixture of pinks and light blue flowers.  I bought 3 eight-packs of Columbines called "McKana's Giant."  The tag says they should grow to 30" with flowers in white, yellow, red, and purple.  They should bloom April to May.  It's the middle of April now and there are no flowers yet.   Both Delphiniums and Columbine are poisonous, so I wouldn't put them in the back yard, but our dogs are never out in the front yard unsupervised.  They should be OK here.

If these new perennials do well in the conditions I'll give them, they may fill in this area with blooms through the summer.  I'm getting quite a variety.  Perhaps as I try various plants, a few of each will reappear.  After all, I have titled this blog Confessions of a Lazy Gardener.  Lazy gardeners do not replant every year!

Building a Mountain out of a Molehill, part 2

I think most of the heavy lifting is over for this project.  The parsley, sage, rosemary, and thyme are all in, as well as oregano, mint, basil, and lettuce.  I also sowed some cilantro seeds.

I was so happy when I was planning this herb garden that there is a watering system available!  When my friend Daniel installed the sprinklers I was surprised to see a drip line back there.  It didn't make much sense to me.  But the drip line head is just to the left of the mini-mountain.  That made it very easy to run three lines up there.  Hopefully that will be enough to get everything watered properly.  There are still a few lines available to add later.  Perhaps I should run the cycle when I can watch it and maybe even put something out there to serve as a rain gauge.  Remember, I define myself as a lazy gardener.  I know I'm not likely to stay on top of things if I have to water by hand regularly.

I plan to post another photo when I've filled in more of the crevices with soil, the friendly weeds that are serving as the ground cover fill back in, and the lettuce and herbs are larger.  For now, it's filling its purpose. . . to give me something to look at out the living room windows.

Building a Mountain out of a Molehill

Way back on April 21, 2012 I wrote about some of my favorite views and one not-so-favorite one.  This is the not-so-favorite one.  It was a tiny bit better when viewed in real life, since you can focus on the view instead of the door frames.  But still, there a rather large area with not much to see.  I had run out of ideas when I originally re-landscaped the yard, leaving the three citrus trees and a few weedy Salvias.  Then a couple of years ago I took out the lemon tree that I'd grown to hate.  So behind the door frame, there really was nothing to see at all!  And this is the view from our living room. Since then, I've tried to focus on the bird feeder just to the left of this view and when my thoughts drifted to the right, I tried to figure out what I wanted to put in there. 

I've looked at plants that might be interesting enough to be a statement.  I've wondered about adding on to the water feature.   I searched Pinterest, and I started noticing some rather beautiful raised beds.  Then a few weeks ago I did a rather foolish thing.  I volunteered to have the local garden club add my garden to a tour of 5-6 of our members' homes.  Yikes!  Now I feel I need to get in there and really make my garden look its best...  and finally do something about that area that has felt like a gaping hole.

So here's my idea.  I plan to build a raised herb garden that echoes the waterfall.  And of course, I want to do it for next to nothing.  So I froze my gym membership to give me both more time and money and I'm doing my weight lifting at home.

 I started off with retaining wall blocks from Home Depot.  I've found that my car and my back can move six 60 pound blocks in a day.  I want to keep the hill from actually contacting the fence.  Like the waterfall, with tall plants in the back blending in with the ivy on the fence, it really shouldn't look too strange.  I've got I made 4 runs there.  That's 24 blocks...   1,440 pounds, if you care to know!  Plus 8 cubic yards of store-bought soil.




I went out to Peach Hill Soils to get some rocks.  Peach Hill would deliver to my house, but they would dump them onto my driveway and couldn't promise they wouldn't damage it.  The owner thought he might be able to find someone with a truck and time they wanted to fill with a small job, but I guess it sounded like too much work for not enough pay.

So my Camry is now the rock hauling "truck" and I am the manual laborer.  It is a lot of work, but the money is right!  Plus, I did say I would be doing my weight lifting in my garden.

 This picture represents two "Camry/truck" loads of rocks.  It's getting there!  maybe one more load of big rocks and I can start filling in with smaller rocks.  It's not a mountain yet, or even a molehill, but at least it hints at something to look at.

Tools for Cleaning Up

Cleaning Up

I've got to use this before I do much in the yard!  We have dogs.  A Pooper Scooper comes in handy.  But usually I just use 2 plastic bags... one over my pick-up hand and one as a container.  If I've procrastinated I may use this.  More often than not, I use the rake in the garden.  (Don't tell anyone!)

With this small telescoping rake and the poop picking rake I can pick up a big bunch of leaves using them like giant salad tongs.  It was wonderful when I hurt my back! 

I generally don't like noisy tools, especially when the neighbor's gardeners blow stuff around, but I love my Black and Decker Leaf Hog! I use it in vacuum-mode to suck up leaves.  It chops them up and deposits them in a bag which I can empty out into the compost.  We even have an attachment that replaces the bag and directs the leaves right into a barrel. 

With the small rakes and Leaf Hog, I don't even own a standard size leaf rake.  These do me just fine, thank you!

 My usual weed bucket.

I usually wheel the big city yard waste barrel into the garden, but this Fiskar’s Kangaroo barrel is nice.  I had a small one, but when it wore out I just started using my Home Depot bucket.  I just bought one like this that is kind of an in-between size.  It's nice because it folds flat for storage, but it holds a lot.  My last one wore out because I would drag it full all over the yard.  I'll probably do the same with this one.  Sometimes I would keep one side folded and one side out so that I could easily toss weeds in.

I do not endorse any of the stores for the products.  I just wanted you to have somewhere to go to find what I'm talking about.I do use these products though, and they work well for me.  You may be able to find better or cheaper sources.