What Can I Say

Thanks to some people I've been called out on my recent lack of activity.  I wish I could say I won the lottery or was sold to some third division football team somewhere, but life is not that exciting.  The reasons being twofold:  first, I just haven't done anything gardening related.  Every weekend has been filled with non gardening stuff, like auto maintenance:

Dejection, yes.  Me realizing the previous owner smashed into something on the Beast Scout and that plate holding the u-bolts that hold the leaf springs isn't coming off without a torch.  I don't have a torch.  The reasons for which should be obvious.

Second, I was passed over for a promotion at work.  For some reason, that really pissed me off.  They gave me a raise, mind you, but I would have gladly forgone the raise for the promotion.  Now, that I'm finally done feeling sorry for myself, I can get back to very important things.  Like putting wood into the ground.

This is going to be the gate leading through the hedge of brush cherries, I previously posted about.  Now, would be a good place to put a link to that post, but I'm too damn tired.  Two eight foot pieces of redwood dug two feet into the ground and held with concrete.  The individual at the big box hardware store must be on commission, as I was pretty sure three fifty pound bags of concrete would have done the trick.  He was insistent the little sign said three per post, so I bought six.  I'll be returning three tomorrow.  Don't doubt yourself.  Screw the little sign.

Hopefully, this is a better picture to let you know what the finished product will look like.  These cherries have really bounced back from when they first went in.  Now, I just need to build the gate.

Brush Cherry Update

The Brush Cherries appear to be bouncing back.  This is one of the anemic one's in a previous post.  I have been hitting them (figuratively, not literally.  Hitting them would cause them to fall to pieces.  Really, try and keep up) with a combination of fish emulsion, the insanely stinky crap and Super Thrive.  Now, I'm not sure if Super Thrive is organic, but it's not filled with chemicals, so the definition I'm keeping means it's ok.  Plus, the Brush Cherries are growing.  Unfortunately, they're growing so quickly, I now need to get the gate up in order keep from digging through roots once I do get the gate up.  Christ, if it's not one thing, it's another.

On a separate note, I, unfortunately, must go on a business trip to Washington D.C., and won't be posting until Memorial Day.  The day, not the weekend.  I know both of my followers will miss me, but duty does call.

In the meantime, I'm going to send a link to a post on the Art of Manliness, which I found very poignant.  It talks in some respect about finding one's calling, which honestly, I am starting to think I have found.  Thank God for the blogging outlet to help release it.  If Brett over there would like to send me something for free for sending my reader, I won't argue.  Great site that one is.

Lastly, go plant something.  Preferably, prickly.  I'm in that kind of mood.  We do have a White House tour scheduled, so I shall ask the first lady for a tour of the garden.  Since that won't work, I might try the run like hell to it before you get caught approach.  Anyway, I hope to have some pictures.

I'm at a Loss...

Way back yonder in the days of old, also known as January, we planted five Brush Cherries (syzygium paniculatum).  The intent is for them to grow into a hedge which will act as a wall.  Between them, I am going to drop two posts into the ground and construct a gate.  Now, keep in mind, the well intentioned people at the nursery told me they get to about ten feet and would occasionally need to be clipped to maintain their hedge-like shape.

Upon returning home, we decided to look them up in the Sunset Western Garden book.  Something we probably should have done prior to going to the nursery.  They, apparently, grow like weeds to a height of thirty feet!!  The nursery's definition of occasionally pruning is Monday, Wednesday and Saturday.  Anyway, that is not the purpose of the post.  This is:

Notice the cherry on the left is full and healthy, such as Clive Owen.  The one on the right is the equivalent of Mr. Bean.  (Bean, if you are reading this, it's all out of love.)  Now, here are the other three:

They are similar to Bean, with the exception of the one in the middle which was broken in half by a storm shortly after planting.  Otherwise, it's similar to Owen.  Or, at least, his calves.

Now, these five cherries all receive the same fertilizer, water and sunlight, yet one (and a half) appear fine and the other three as if they really want to be somewhere else.  Here are some close ups of the foliage:

Owen

Bean

Now, they are growing, just not at the same velocity.  I did mention that they have all been treated the same.  Well, that's not exactly true.  The full sized Clive Owen has had one difference that the others have not.  Days after planting, we were hit by several days of storms.  Storms so severe, there were mudslides in burn areas and around the clock coverage of Storm Watch 2010!!!  (Cue ominous music.)  Those of you in Southern California know exactly what I'm talking about.

During these storms, stumpy was broken.  That's his problem.  The other three rolled in their holes.  All of them came with a stake (don't get me started on how much I hate staking), so I put them stake and all into the ground.  What I failed to do was drive the stake completely through the root ball into the solid ground.  The severity of the storm toppled the cherries and the rolled like a ball and socket joint inside the hole, except for Owen and his younger, shorter brother.  A few days later, I propped them all back up and drove 4 foot pieces of rebar through the root ball and into the solid earth.  This seems to have done the trick.

The three that rolled are the three that are not doing well.  I'm just hoping it's some type of shock (is there such a thing), and they'll spring back to life.  They weren't cheap.  And, I am.

P.S  Smashing victory this weekend by our (notice how I'm going from "my" to "our", as you have all now been assigned a favorite team) beloved Tottenham Hotspur completely outclassing the Evil Empire, known as Chelsea, 2-1.  It could have easily been five, but a win is a win.  Come on, you Spurs!