Pittosporum tenuifolium (or nigricans) has been employed as a resilient shorn or unshorn hedge for decades. The more contemporary cultivar ‘Marjorie Channon’ though, is grown more for variegated foliage. The light green leaves have creamy white borders and undulate margins. Mature unshorn shrubs get only eight feet high and broad, and are not quite as dense as the straight species. They may not be so useful as large hedging, but can provide striking contrast and depth to deep green foliage.
Even the best tended gardens get weeds. Most weeds, particularly annual and perennial weeds, meet a quick demise by getting pulled out or sprayed with herbicide. A few shrub and tree weeds though, are sometimes allowed to mature into functional members of the landscape.
Many sneak into the garden by growing within overgrown or otherwise concealing shrubbery, where they can hide long enough to get established. Others are left to grow because they are recognized as desirable plants. The main problems is that many end up in situations where they eventually become problematic.
Mexican fan palms are distinctive trees. Unfortunately, many grow below utility cables, because that is where birds drop the seed as they eat the fruit. Unlike other trees, palms can not be pruned around utility cables, so must be removed when they get too tall.
Silk tree, black locust, tree of Heaven and various oaks, pines, acacias and eucalypti are some of the more common trees that can sneak into gardens. Sometimes, they happen to land in good situations. More often though, they get too close to foundations, eaves, pavement or other features that they damage as they grow. Like Mexican fan palms, they are easier to remove while young, before they become problematic.
Pittosporums, cotoneasters and privets are commonly seeded shrubbery with less potential for problems. The main problem with glossy privet is that it can be too prolific and aggressive, so that it can crowd out more desirable plants. Most pittosporums and cotoneasters that get seeded are from plants that are ‘straight species’ (not cloned cultivars or varieties). Those that happen to be from cultivar or variety plants will not be ‘true to type’, which means that they will be more like the straight species than like their parents.
The few fruit trees that can sometimes grow from seed have the same problem, since only some of the more genetically basic types may resemble their parents. Fancier types and (non-sterile) hybrids probably will not. Fruit trees that grow from root suckers of grafted trees instead of from seed will be nothing like the parents, and may produce useless fruit.
Pampas grass is a prolific and sometimes welcome perennial weed near untended parcels or forested areas where pampas grass has naturalized. Broom is a shrubby weed that is even more prolific, but never welcome.
Algerian and English ivy rarely grow from seed, but can be really nasty weeds if they get where they are not wanted. Bear’s breech (or breaches), Jupiter’s beard, calla, mint and various yuccas that were planted may be very difficult to eradicate if they are no longer desirable, or if they migrate into areas where they become problematic.
Somehow, bad maintenance of a good landscape is worse than bad maintenance of a bad landscape.
From a distance, this landscape does not look so bad. It seems to have been only recently installed, and features the sort of material that was likely intended to not necessarily obscure the sleek architecture of the building behind it, but to eventually soften the starkness of it.
Let’s analyze the landscape. A glossy privet hedge in back should grow up into an informal screen to provide some substantial green against the wall, but with a bit of proper pruning, should not become too obtrusive. A lower hedge of variegated tobira (Pittosporum tobira ‘Variegata’) in front can be pruned into a semi-formal hedge to obscure the bases of the trunks of the glossy privets, which will undoubtedly shed lower growth as they mature. The lightly colored variegated foliage of the tobira contrasts nicely against that of the dark green privets. The blue festuca in front of the variegated tobira…
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While other bloom might be lacking through late winter, camellia, Camellia japonica, can help compensate. Although generally not as profuse as spring and summer bloomers, its individual flowers display elegantly against luxuriantly glossy evergreen foliage. Lack of sturdy stems for cutting is no problem for a few flowers simply floating in a shallow bowl.
Centuries of breeding has produced more than two thousand cultivars of camellia. Floral form can be single, semi-double, double, formal double, paeony, anemone or rose, so is quite variable. Floral color ranges from pure white to deep red, with many hues of pink in between. Stripes, speckles, blotches or picotee margins are within the same color range.
Camellia generally develops as nicely dense shrubbery that stays lower than the eaves. Some cultivars stay even lower. A few slowly mature as small and perhaps sparse trees. Individual flowers are about three inches wide. Some are smaller. A few are comparably bulky. Camellia sasanqua is a separate species with smaller but more abundant flowers.
Winter is generally the best season for pruning. Obviously, it is when a majority of plants are dormant, and therefore most complaisant to such potentially invasive procedures. Of course, there are exceptions to this generalization. A few plants are dormant during other seasons. Some simply prefer late pruning to accommodate their bloom or fruiting cycles.
Late pruning is important for some of the same reasons that dormant or winter pruning is important. It controls growth and directs resources. Removal of superfluous or unwanted growth reallocates resources that such growth would otherwise consume, to more useful or productive growth. The primary difference is that late pruning happens after dormancy.
Flowering cherry trees are very similar to fruiting cherry trees, but generate only copious bloom without fruit. Flowering crabapple trees likewise produce only their unique bloom, but without much fruit. Technically, both would prefer dormant pruning during winter. Yet, late pruning immediately after bloom allows them to first bloom as profusely as they can.
Fortunately, flowering but fruitless counterparts of fruitful trees require pruning that is less severe than what their fruitful relatives require. Comparably severe pruning would be too stressful for them after dormancy. However, flowering peach trees can endure harsh late pruning to stub their bloomed shoots. Stubs generate more shoots for bloom next spring.
Late pruning begins as early as spring blooming trees and shrubs finish bloom. Because of warm weather this winter, many are blooming early. Stems of some types work well as cut flowers, either while in bloom or immediately prior to bloom. Once the first few flower buds begin to show color, most buds on the same stem should continue to bloom inside.
Camellias supposedly prefer pruning during their bloom cycle, since they resume growth immediately afterwards. Because such pruning would ruin some of the bloom that is their primary asset, most camellias must tolerate late pruning after bloom. Dogwood, forsythia, redbud, and flowering quince, as well as flowering cherry and flowering crabapple, are likewise tolerant of these technically untimely techniques.
Redwoods really are very remarkable trees. We are so fortunate to be able to work with them here.
Coastal redwood, Sequoia sempervirens, are remarkable stable trees. They rarely fall, which is how they get to be thousands of years old. They prefer to live in groups, where they mesh their roots together, and shelter each other from wind. Those that live outside of a group stay shorter than forest trees, and typically develop multiple trunks that function as a group.
However, they are also remarkably weak in regard to their structural integrity. Limbs are easily broken away from their vertical trunks by wind. Snow, which is rare within their natural range, causes significantly more damage than wind, which is probably why their natural range does not extend into snowy climates. Trees with co-dominant leaders (double trunks that divide from single trunks above grade) have potential to split at the union of the double trunks. Such unions are typically at such acute angles, that the trunks press against…
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Three years later, these wild turkeys have not become a major problem as we were concerned they might. Their population seems to have reached an equilibrium.
This is a relatively new development. The first few arrived here only two years ago. By last year, a few more arrived to make a significant herd that split into two smaller herds. Now these two smaller herds are quite significant. If they continue to proliferate as they have been, they will become more of a problem. They are already shredding flowers and colorful berries that are within their reach, and digging up flexible irrigation hoses.
They are not really wild turkeys, since they are not native here. They are actually feral turkeys that escaped into the wild and naturalized. They may have moved in from surrounding areas, or they may have escaped locally. Turkeys have been roaming parts of Scott’s Valley and my neighborhood in the Los Gatos Hills for a few years. Much larger herds roam other regions, particularly the Diablo Ranges east of the San Francisco Bay…
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Only two or perhaps three of these six pictures were taken in Watts. Furthermore, those towers in the backgrounds of pictures #3 and #4, although only a few blocks west of the Watts Towers, and supporting massive volumes of wattage, are merely electricity pylons. It is unimportant. Actually, these five images and one video are assembled together here only so that I need not discard them unused. Brent will not stop sending them. Now that these are the last for the moment, I can post more interesting or at least relevant images next week. I must share pictures of the esperanza and poinciana seed getting sown. Also, we moved a Mediterranean fan palm.
1. Brent can not stop taking selfies. Carly Simon sang about this sort of behavior in 1972; ‘You’re so vain.’ Here, he wants to be seen in a hard hat like my arborist colleagues wear.
2. Old sycamores that Brent saved from certain doom are a much more important topic. Developers who want them out of their way said that the bare deciduous trees had died.
3. Tristania laurina is an exemplary small street tree for many of the narrow streets that Brent installs street trees on. This matured crop are exemplary #5 (5 gallon) specimens.
4. Minor lower growth that got pruned away promoted caliper growth. Those are not the Watts Towers, although they are only a few blocks to the west, and support many watts.
5. Brent wants to show off a new publication that features his home garden, or his work, or some such nonsense. I did not write the particular article, so it must not be very good.
6. Brent’s home garden is SO crowded with SO much vegetation and other ‘stuff’. What a mess! It could be a hazardous situation during an earthquake. This one was very minor.
This is the link for Six on Saturday, for anyone else who would like to participate: https://thepropagatorblog.wordpress.com/2017/09/18/six-on-saturday-a-participant-guide/
If their dormant bulbs were planted back in October or November, ranunculus will soon be blooming. Those of us who missed the bulbs last autumn can already find blooming plants in nurseries. The bright yellow, orange, red, pink or white flowers are about three inches wide and seem to be outfitted with too many petals. They stand about a foot to a foot and a half tall, a few inches above the basal foliage that can get half a foot to a foot deep. The light green leaves resemble parsley, but are not as finely textured. Although perennial, ranunculus are most popularly grown as annuals because they tend to rot soon after bloom. They perform best with no more than a bit of shade, and rich but very well drained soil. They are more likely to survive as perennials if allowed to get rather dry as their foliage deteriorates after bloom.
Last autumn, it was unpleasant to remove warm season vegetable plants to relinquish space for cool season vegetables, particularly since some still seemed to be productive. Now the cool weather that the cool season vegetables crave will soon be getting warmer. It is still too early for warm season vegetables, but it is time to get ready for them.
If space allows, seed for a quick last phase of certain fast growing cool season vegetables can be sown. Radishes, carrots and beets still have time to mature before the weather gets too warm, although the beets will be the small tender sort. There probably is not enough time to grow big beets for canning. Leafy lettuces can still be sown to replace what might be running out early. Large vegetable plants like broccoli, cauliflower and cabbage grow too slowly to mature before spring weather gets too warm, so will need to wait until next autumn.
Peas are odd vegetables that like to grow in autumn and spring, in between warm and cool (or cool and warm) season vegetables. The first phase of peas can be sown now, and followed by subsequent phases every two weeks or so until the weather gets too warm for them.
Even though it will soon be getting too warm for cool season vegetables, it is not yet warm enough to sow seed for warm season vegetables directly into the garden. Fast growing vegetable plants that get sown directly, such as beans, corn and most squash, will need to wait until the weather is warm enough for them to grow efficiently, and the cool season vegetables finish and get out of their way. However, seed for vegetable plants that can get planted as seedlings, such as tomatoes, peppers and eggplants, can be sown into flats or cell packs in greenhouses or cold frames.
Tomato, pepper and eggplant seed sown directly into the garden when the weather gets warmer will be more likely to get eaten by snails or succumb to rot as they germinate than seedlings that got an early start in a greenhouse or cold frame (although snails and rot are not problems in every garden). For those who do not want to start growing seedlings at home now, seedlings will certainly be available in nurseries when it is time to put them out into the garden. However, the advantage to growing them at home is that there are many more varieties of seed available from catalogs and online than any nursery could stock with seedlings.
