The weather is great today, making it is a good day to get busy in the garden.
I got to bury the legs of the Garden Trellis that my husband build a few years back. This trellis will support the young vine (Common Jasmine), as well as provide proper training and maintenance.
This simple/primitive garden trellis was built using old pieces of some baseboard we removed from the house when we were doing the upgrades, a medium size screw to hold the top together as well as some twines.
Garden Trellis for Common Jasmine.
Materials/Tools Needed:
Old baseboard pieces
Jute Twine
Wood Screws, Power Drill, Drill Bits
Stain (for the Wood) or Paint/Spray Paint
Step by step:
Get your baseboard and cut them into three pieces of your desire height
Hold the three pieces and screw them together at the top
Paint/Stain the finish product (you could paint/stain the pieces of wood before or after screwing them)
Let dry
Wrap the twine around the tripod, keeping it nice and tight and it’s ready to be used.
Fall has settled in and here in the High Desert, we have tasted its mood swings. Some of us are happy to be getting back into our warm outfits (enjoying the peaceful and cheerful atmosphere of a cozy evening by the fireplace) and others not so much. Fall is a beautiful season and I love it for everything except the shortening daylight. The kids on the other hand are excited as they look forward to falling leaves and gathering around the table for Thanksgiving. Here in the High Desert, it’s the same old; though one can’t get accustomed to it.
What about Gardening?
There is quite a lot to deal with in Fall that we often forget about gardening. Between shopping and organizing Halloween parties, Thanksgiving gatherings, finding time to rake falling leaves (and everything in between) to putting up the Christmas Tree, decorating the house/yard and buying gifts, there is very little to no time allocated for gardening. No time to start something, yet Fall is the time to find that unique spot surrounded by trees with leaves starting to change colors for that perfect engagement, maternity, family or self-portrait. What about taking a moment to plan, execute and start enchantment in your backyard with beautiful plants of your choice?
Fall is the best time for planting, transplanting and propagating pretty much everything as the soil is ideal at this time for the plant to develop roots while dormant. Fall is also a good time to find deals on plants as nurseries deeply discount them to make room for new inventories.
What Can You Do Now?
Grow your favorite plants from seed
Prune Roses, Shrubs, Trees and trim Perennials, hedges to prevent Winter damage
If you had houseplants outdoors, now is the time to bring them back indoors
Plant a new Lawn or fertilize the one you have
Protect Cacti and Succulents from excessive rain and frost by wrapping them with plastic
Protect Roses and Perennial beds for Winter from drying and frost by heaving with cedar mulch, mulch of straw, pine needles, chopped leaves or wood chips
Visit garden centers for tools, seeds and plants at discounted prices
I ordered some seeds and plants last month and I planted them a few days ago. My Roses and Shrubs have been pruned for the last time until next Spring. My Pyracantha has began producing red berries (which are mildly poisonous, by the way) and the Tulbaghia ‘Silver Lace’ are still flowering. A few more from this morning:
Texas Sage ‘Green Cloud’ – Drought resistant and blooming from early Summer through Fall. I have another variety called ‘Heavenly Cloud’ with green to gray foliage and deep purple blooms.
Texas Sage (‘Green Cloud’).
Red Autumn Sage – Drought resistant with long periods of bloom.
Red Autumn Sage (‘Furman’s Red’).
Tulbaghia ‘Silver Lace’ – Drought resistant and garlic-scented semi-evergreen hardy plant blooming from early Summer through Fall with beautiful umbels of lilac flowers.
Tulbaghia Violacea (‘Silver Lace’).
One of my goals is to surround my garden with a lot more Native Plants as there are many benefits of growing them and going native (they are beautiful, low maintenance, save water, attract and provide habitat for birds, attract beneficial insects). Click here or here to learn about going Native.
Early this year I blogged about a ‘Little Pete’ Rose Sucker I discovered around the base of the mother plant. Unlike previous transplants, this one was unsuccessful. A few days later I discovered another sucker rapidly growing on the opposite side of the plant (as you can see on the picture below). It took the sucker less than a week to grow to that length. This time the sucker emerged from the rootstock.
We used a pruner to cut off the sucker, which we now realized that it wasn’t the most efficient method as it just encouraged and stimulated more sucker growth. This morning I found a new sucker growth and tomorrow I will implement the recommended method to getting rid of the sucker. Digging and removing the soil around the roots where the sucker is originating and then pulling, twisting and/or tearing it off.
‘Little Pete’ Rose Sucker (March 2013).
If you are still having issues dealing with Rose Suckers or identifying them, take a couple of minutes to view this educational video about Removing Sucker Growth from Roses.
Happy Columbus Day and have a great week Gardening!
The amazing Pride Of Barbados is one beautiful flowering evergreen shrub that compliment every garden and I am so lucky to have four growing in my backyard. The highly showy flowers are a mixture of bright red, orange and yellow petals with long red stamens. The plant is a favorite to hummingbirds and butterflies.
I spent part of my morning hard pruning more roses, cutting off the low hanging branches of Desert Willow trees growing along my fence and relocating some bricks for a future project. Everything was going well until I took a closer look at the last of my Crimson Glory Tea Tree. I knew I had lost it and I knew the cause: Curl Grubs, around fifteen to twenty of them! I pulled out the dried up shrub and made sure I removed every single larvae I could find from the hole and to my surprise, I found an adult. I read that as the Scarab Beetle emerges from the ground, it lays more eggs in the soil. It sounds to me that there is little to no hope to the plant since it’s a never ending cycle until the plant itself is destroyed and the main source of food is gone.
Crimson Glory Tea Tree (a couple of weeks ago).
Crimson Glory Tea Tree is a plant I really like. I lost the first two after four years and decided to give it another try. Now I know that the plant is also a favorite of Scarab Beetles; therefore, I will not purchase another plant. At least not until I find a way to protect it from Beetles and other insects. It’s just unfortunate.
Curl Grub and Scarab Beetle.
On a much happier note, my Pendula Yucca has been propagating like crazy from rhizomes. Just last month, I noticed three more sprouts and they are growing fast. I seems that for every plant I loose around the garden, I gain two from my Pendula Yucca. Like the saying goes, you lose some and you win some.
Pendula Yucca (and some new shoots).
We finally dug out the last Oleanders along one side of the backyard fence (Whoo-hoo!). It would be awesome to get rid of the ones on the other side by the end of the year; though it can wait.
By JM Perez
