Yard notes

Deadheading the rose bush sure made a difference. It brought on a huge second wave of blooms. It's weird how when the flower fades, the twig below it dies back to the nearest fork, and sometimes a whole branch dies; but apparently, trimming away that yellow-brown dead matter is very stimulating.

It still tries to kill me every time I get near it.

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My peony bush has suffered for the last two years from what is probably Phytophthora blight. After flowering, the leaves and stems turn black, and then just die from the ground up. It's apparently caused by bad drainage.

So I cut down all the foliage and pulled out the brick ring, and raked away all the accumulated leaves, cut grass, etc. that had accumulated in and around the ring. There was a ton. I also made a cylinder out of wire mesh, and put it up inside the ring. I'm hoping that exposing the soil to sun and air for the rest of summer will knock the fingus down; that raking away the debris will improve drainage; and that keeping the leaves up off the ground will help evaporation. We'll see how it looks next summer. I may have to do this cleanup every year.

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While I was at it, I put a ring around the iris. Mind you, it's perfectly healthy and vigorous. It just made me sad that the flower spikes kept blooming, and then falling over and rotting on the ground. I'm hoping the ring can keep that from happening.

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Also I cleaned out most of the strip between the house and the concrete path that goes around two sides of the house. The south side tends to be dry and hot: I found some mint growing in the shady back corner, and transplanted it to the south side, and it seems happy. Come fall, I want to get some lavender seedlings and plant them on the south side as well. If I plant them after the fall rains start, I won't have to water until next summer.

The east side is more of a challenge. It doesn't get much sun. It also doesn't get much water-- the eaves block any direct rainfall, so the only moisture that goes there is whatever drains off the path. This is also sort of true on the south side, except that winter winds are usually from the south or west, and they drive direct rainfall into the strip and against the side of the house above the strip. We rarely get any wind from the east, and when we do, it's almost always with dry weather. (Apparently there's an ocean to the west of us, and a continent to the east!)

I tried some ferns, and I'm having to water to get them through the summer. Wonder if I should try xeriscaping? With very little sunlight? Hmm...

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