Succulents and More™

After a long, hot, destructive, and depressing summer, all I want is to put the misery behind me and move forward. I’ve pulled out all the aloes and agaves that rotted as a result of the heat domes we had in July and August ( some mentioned here , but there have been others as well) and I’ve done some replanting, as you’ll see later in this post. In addition, I’ve removed a few other plants that simply didn’t do it for me anymore. One of them is Agave ‘Ripple Express’, a variegated form of ‘Mr Ripple’ . I had high hopes for ‘Ripple Express’, but I was never quite satisfied with how it looked. Two years ago, maybe even a year ago, I would have simply accepted it for what it was and moved on. Not so now. When a plant doesn’t play its part, it gets replaced. Agave ‘Mr Ripple’ Agave ‘Mr Ripple’ You can guess what happened: I took advantage of our first curbside yard waste pickup of the season I replaced ‘Ripple Express’ with a Jeremy Spath hybrid, Agave bovicornuta × parrasana . It’s jus...

On Saturday, I finally got around to a project I'd been postponing for quite a while: trimming the Yucca queretaroensis  in the smaller of the two succulent mounds in the front garden. Look how little it was when I got it from Greg Starr in December 2013! Fast-forward almost seven years: That cute little plant has grown into a strapping adolescent! Unfortunately, it's leaves are rigid and end in sharp points—perfect for poking an eye out when working near them. To reduce the risk of injury at least somewhat, I cut off a good ⅓ of the bottom leaves. I was shocked by the difference this made:

Last week we found this dreaded door hanger on our front door: Has somebody complained to the powers that be? Are there people in our neighborhood who harbor ill will against us? And if so, why? I guess we'll never know. Here are some snapshots of the crime scene: Oh what thugs we are for letting our unruly vegetation intrude into the sacrosanct space of the city sidewalk!

The three clumping bamboos in the front yard (all of them Bambusa species) are happy and healthy even on a much less generous watering regime than in the old days before the drought. That, in turn, makes me happy because I love the lushness they contribute to our garden. For most of the year, I just let the 'boos do their thing. In the winter, however, when the sun is low in the sky, it becomes obvious how much the Asian lemon bamboo ( Bambusa eutuldoides 'Viridi-vittata') shades the smaller succulent mound. Take a look at the photo below to see what I mean. The Asian lemon bamboo is a fairly dense clump of culms and leaves: It looks great, but it creates more shade than the other plants need or want.

A few weeks ago I gave the Asian lemon bamboo ( Bambusa eutuldoides ‘Viridivittata’) in the front yard a radical trim. I was so happy with the result that yesterday I decided to tackle two more bamboos: the Baby Blue ( Bambusa chungii 'Barbellata') and Alphonse Karr ( Bambusa multiplex 'Alphonse Karr').  I didn't thin these clumps as much as I did the Asian lemon but the difference is still noticeable--and very pleasing, I think. Take a look at the before and after: BEFORE: Baby Blue ( Bambusa chungii 'Barbellata') on the right (ignore the Bambusa oldhamii on the left; I didn't touch it) AFTER: Baby Blue ( Bambusa chungii 'Barbellata')

California is in year 4 of the drought. and the state is subject to mandatory water conservation. This summer I switched to a once-a-week watering regime. I knew the succulents and perennials would be able to handle it, but I wasn’t sure about the bamboos. While the running bamboos in the stock tanks in the backyard did suffer, the clumpers in the ground didn’t miss a beat. In fact, they produced more new culms this year than in previous years! As a result, the clumps have gotten quite congested—to the point where they need a good thinning out. I tackled the most urgent case today: the Asian lemon bamboo ( Bambusa eutuldoides ‘Viridivittata’—say that three times fast!) next to the front porch. As you can see, it’s gotten huge and has been casting too much shade on everything around it. This is not the look and feel I want. Can you see the large sago palm ( Cycas revoluta ) at the base of the bamboo? Look closely, it’s there.

Out of the three palo verde trees ( Parkinsonia ) we planted in the last couple of years, the hybrid called ‘Sonoran Emerald’ in the desert bed along the street has grown the fastest and the largest. In fact, too fast and too wide too soon. While we had been trying to shape it since day 1, it became clear in recent weeks that we simply hadn’t been aggressive enough. Look at the first three photos and you’ll see what I mean. Yes, the branches in the front were forming the canopy over the sidewalk that I had envisioned. However, they were far too low too the ground—about 5 ft. above the sidewalk. This forced pedestrians to either duck and walk in the street.

Yesterday was the big day: The guys at Alliance Tree Service took out at the hedge along the street . The result is both startling and exciting: This is what it had looked like just hours before: All of this is part of a major overhaul of this side of our property. Instead of the hedge—too large for this spot, too difficult and time-consuming to maintain, and plain ugly—there will be a palo verde tree, succulents and flowering companion plants . All of them will be low maintenance and, above all, use little water. I cannot emphasize enough how important this is, considering that even with the recent rains we’re still only at 30% of normal for the current water year.

While clumping bamboos generally don’t require a great deal of maintenance, they do begin to look disheveled after a while. Many people like the overgrown look, but I prefer something a bit more manicured. Take a look at the giant clumping timber bamboo ( Bambusa oldhamii ) in front of our house. Planted in February 2010 , it has gone from a spindly 5-gallon plant to a 35 ft. behemoth. Bambusa oldhamii forms a tight clump with dense foliage as you can see in this photo taken in May 2013: Its branches reach almost to the ground, often obscuring the beautiful culms. Creating a more open look isn’t difficult. All you need to do is remove the branches to a height of 5-6 ft. Called “legging up,” this is exactly what we did this past weekend.

The weather this past weekend was a preview of what summer will be like: 70°F by 10am and low 90s mid-afternoon. Luckily our humidity is low, but I still don’t enjoy working in the heat so I got up early to get some work done around the yard. A week and a half ago I’d bought a tray full of 4-inch plants at Morningsun Herb Farm in Vacaville, 20 minutes west of here. Plants from Morningsun Herb Farm I planted most of these last weekend and the remainder went in the ground on Saturday. Plants from Morningsun Herb Farm

Last week we hired a yard service professional to dig up two large clumps of miscanthus in front of our house. Over the weekend, I did a lot of additional trimming and pruning. By Sunday evening, we had several yard waste piles waiting for Monday morning pickup.

In the backyard we have a small shaded garden bed that is dominated by a chocolate bamboo ( Borinda fungosa ), a clumping mountain bamboo with culms that turn dark brown in the sun and leaves that are the very definition of elegance. In front of this bamboo is a 3-foot tall granite lantern that adds to the Asian feel of this space. Like most bamboos, Borinda fungosa is a vigorous grower when happy—and ours clearly is happy. The culms grew so heavy with new leaves this summer that they were drooping forward, almost completely obscuring the lantern. That was my cue to do some trimming. Chocolate bamboo ( Borinda fungosa ) before its haircut Chocolate bamboo ( Borinda fungosa ) after its haircut  

It’s amazing how long we (okay, I ) sometimes put up with a misbehaved plant until we do something about it. This flowering maple ( Abutilon x ‘Souvenir de Bonn’) had been getting leggier and leggier all summer and fall. I guess it was trying to grow tall instead of wide in an effort to reach for the sun. As a result, its branches were getting top heavy and started to lean over the path that goes around to the side yard. Since that’s where our garbage and recycling cans are, not to mention our vegetable beds, we go that way several time a day. Abutilon x ‘Souvenir de Bonn’ blocking the way— particularly unpleasant after a rain when the leaves are wet My wife had been threatening for several weeks to cut down the abutilon if I didn’t do anything about it. Not wanting to lose what is one of my favorite foliage plants—in spite of its lanky habit—I finally got out a sturdy metal stake and a hammer. Within five minutes I’d tied back the rogue branches and restored peace to our garden...

Our small backyard is dominated by four sweet bay trees ( Laurus nobilis ), which over the course of 20 years have grown to 35+ ft. Luckily, their horizontal spread is rather limited compared to what would have been the case with, say, a sycamore or an oak. Still, the time had come to do some major trimming to keep the trees away not only from our house but also our neighbor’s. While we do light trimming throughout the year, this was a job for the pros so we called in a licensed arborist. A half a day and hundreds of dollars later the bay trees are once again held at bay (couldn’t resist the pun). Hopefully we’re good for at least 5 years before we have to do this exercise all over again. Bay trees in our backyard prior to trimming Bay trees in our backyard after trimming Stitched panorama of bay trees after trimming—before, they had touched the house This post is actually not so much about the tree trimming as it is about the sudden change in sun exposure that has ...