Soil drainage issue?

My #1 concern now about the California Fan Palm is the soil toleration.  Here we have some of the thickest, heaviest clay soil there is, Houston Black Clay.  This soil can stay moist for days after a rain.  Sometimes it seems the moisture is a few inches beneath the surface, you can walk on the ground/lawn without getting feet wet, but it sinks in slightly as you walk.

Would that be considered poor drainage?  There's no trapped water on the top, it runs off and as I said the very top of the soil drains quickly, but below that water is trapped (forever?).  It seems to me that the water that gets into the clay isn't really going anywhere.  It can't get into the aquifer here because there is a stone layer beneath the clay.  Water simply stays a ways down and eventually dries out.

Most plants it seems prefer well drained soils.  It is said of the California Fan Palm that it prefers the lighter sandier soils but can adapt to clay but needs drainage.  So what does that mean for me

Palm exchanged for California Fan Palm

On Thursday afternoon I went to Rainbow Gardens on my way to work and exchanged the palm that was scheduled for planting on Saturday for another one.   Rainbow gardens was very nice about making the exchange, even though I couldn't find my receipt, and the new plant was much cheaper, so much cheaper I got $160 credited back to my credit card.

I took the cute little palm with me and will have someone else plant it next week.  For logistical reasons, I decided not to have rainbow gardens plant it (and it's a long trip for them anyway).

I decided to get a California Fan Palm for several reasons:

1) It grows much higher.  While the Windmill Palm often maxes out near 20 ft (only reaching 40 feet very rarely), the California Fan Palm famously grows 40-60 feet.  The Windmill Palm would top out just above Lyndhurst, which would not be good at all aesthetically or for maintenance.  The California will grow right past Lyndhurst without pause, and become a neighborhood icon eventually ("who is that guy with the palm tree").  Yes!  It's not certain that I will live long enough to see it get significantly above Lyndhurst, but the point is, I might, and it will be something to dream about and look forward to.

2) I was born in California and the California Fan Palm, not surprisingly, is native to California also.  (Note that many boulevard palm trees in California are actually Mexican Fan Palm trees.  The Mexican Fan Palms grow even faster, and even taller, and thinner, but only live to about 80 years.  The California Fan Palm can live to 150 years or more.)  The Windmill palm is native to China.  If you see a wild group of Palms in the California outback, they are likely California Fan Palms.  They were the ones at Palm Springs.

3) It is sufficiently cold tolerant for the San Antonio area (8b-9a 20-25 degrees), according to official ratings and other online sources, which say it is tolerant to 15 degrees.  It is equal, perhaps even slightly better, in cold tolerance than the native Texas Sabal (16 degrees).  It is not as cold tolerant as the Windmill (5 degrees!), but it is likely hardy enough for me.  It is tolerant in other ways also (heat, partial sun, full sun, drought, soil) better than most large palms.

4) The top leaves grow somewhat wider than the Windmill Palm, which means it would give more shade.  But it is still about half the width of the massive Canary Island Date Palm, which would probably get unwieldly wide before getting tall enough to clear Lyndhurst, becoming a big nuisance, or at least that was my worry and one reason I decided not to get the Canary despite how awesome the Canary is--after about 60 years!

5) It grows faster than the Windmill Palm.  Not as fast as the very fast Mexican Fan Palm, but moderate, which is better than slow. I fear the extra thinness of the Mexican Fan Palm, the curvature it always has, and it is not as tolerant of cold or heat..

6) The one I got is in a much smaller container, only 5 gallon, which will make it easier to plant amid the buried wires in my telecom easement.   Judging by the 811 markers, there is no good place to fit a 15 gallon tree.  But since it grows faster, it will make up the difference in a few years.

7) I like the more tropical look, with yellow-orange-brown trunk instead of pale green.  The unique threads are interesting and are part of the story about the tree I can tell to visitors.

8) It is becoming threatened in natural habitats (back in my birth state!) because many of its natural habitats are being destroyed by human encroachment.  If all that's left are human plantings, much diversity will be lost, but the more diverse the plantings the better.  (Of course, there is more to losing the Palm micro-ecosystems than just the Palms themselves.)

9) The California Fan Palm has many edible parts, and was used in many ways by native americans in the southwest.  You can eat the pea-sized fruits raw, cooked, or made into to jelly or porridge.  As with the Cabbage Palm of the American southeast, you can also harvest and eat the heart ("heart of palm") but it kills the tree when you do that; the 'heart' is active growing part of the tree.  The Windmill Palm is inedible.

One downside is that the stems have very sharp deadly looking spikes on the stems.  I've pruned a similar palm in the past, and learned you must wear something like welding gloves.  I was surprised to see that the Windmill palm actually had smooth and unthreatening stems.  But the spikes protect the California palm from predators, including dogs.  Many large palms have spiked stems, it seems, the Windmill is exceptional in not having them.

How Much Watering

If I had planned this correctly, I would have not started with the back yard transformation project until about mid-September.  Most tree planting guides suggest you plant in October, or is it November?

Anyway, things are rolling now, I've planted three 10-20 gallon trees this month, one more tree this Saturday (the palm) and then the a bunch of 2-5 gallon starter trees will be planted just before the sprinkler installation next week--because the sprinkler guy said he can only set up irrigation for plants that are already there, any future plants will require service calls.  I've already committed to that, so it's too late to turn back.  There are about a dozen explanations of how this got started, but anyway I did.  And better early than not-at-all, which had been the story since I returned to Texas in 1997.  If there are problems, and hopefully there won't be many, I can get replacements.  In some cases the nursery may replace plants free.  They would certainly like to have business year round, regardless of what the planting guides say.

After 3 weeks my Crepe Myrtles have suffered a bit from the 100 degree heat on the hottest days, but are still hanging in their with 95-99% of their leaves still green and intact.  I inspected some trees at a Home Depot store this week, and my trees looked better.

I've been very fastidious about watering, and if you do it correctly, you can indeed plant container trees in the summer, I've read.  But how do you do it correctly?

I've seen and heard about as many approaches as there are websites I've read and people I've talked to.  Here's one website which gives dire warnings about overwatering and suggests you water only once a week (!).  The guy who planted my Oak on Monday suggested every 4 days "but more if it's too hot."  Funny he seemed to be ignoring how hot it was when he said that.  Finally, I've seen a number of sources that suggest watering every day immediately after planting.

I was watering my Crepe Myrtles every day.  When I hadn't watered them the day after planting (there had been a rain storm the night of the planting) they were looking parched afterwards.  Then I got stern warnings from a lady at work about overwatering.  She suggested testing the soil by poking my finger into it.  But how wet is wet I asked?  I ended up buying a soil moisture meter last Saturday.

So this appears to be the way to do it.  Test every other day (at least) and if the meter is below 3, then water.  On Tuesday night the two Crepe Myrtles seemed to need watering so I watered them.  They had been skipped on Monday night.  I also tested the Oak, but it still had moisture, so I didn't water it.  That was 1 1/2 days after planting.

I think one of the issues is not merely how hot and/or dry it is (here it is hot, up to 100 during the day, but very humid at night).  Another issue is how well the soil drains.  Most soils have lots of silt and sand which makes them drain fairly quickly.  My soil is very high clay, and doesn't drain well at all.  If you water an area very well, it could stay muddy for days in 80 degree ambient temps, though less so in 100 degree temps.

Cable re-buried

I love my Grande internet service.  Grande is a local company that in my experience provides better cable service than Time Warner.  When you call Time Warner for a service problem, you get put through punishing phone menus that insist that you run some tests on your cable, such as removing and restoring AC power to the modem.  Well I do those tests before I even call Time Warner.  Then, after you've done those tests, and finally talk to a human (when they get around to calling back), the human then insists that you perform the exact same tests.  For the 3rd time.  For me, it's very difficult because I have to push junk out of the way and crawl under things.  Then, finally, after you've proven that the problem is their 5 year old recycled modem, you go pick up a replacement, another 5 year old recycled modem.  And that new recycled modem may have a worse problem than the old one.  So then you go through the same process to get a second replacement.  That's exactly what happened to me in 2007 and I swore I would switch to Grande.  Grande gave me a brand new modem which has never had a problem.  The only problem I've ever had with Grande is breaking their cable by pulling weeds in my back yard.  They came and fixed that in less time that it would take to pick up a replacement modem from Time Warner.  And Grande's standard internet speed is far faster and more reliable than Time Warner also.

(As far as TV is concerned, I get broadcast TV and Dish Network because only Dish has Link TV and FSTV.  Until cable companies offer those Alternative channels, I won't listen to any offers they make, IMO they're part of the great plutocratic disinformation system, and it just reinforces my conspiranoia that they don't carry the anti-plutocratic channels.  But for internet, cable is the best.)

But Grande doesn't bury their cable very deep.  (Nor does Time Warner--they say they can't because the power utility CPS won't let them, and that is probably true.)  And for the last 3 years I've had a Grande coax emerging from the ground and running more than 2 feet before going back under.  It emerges right next to my service entrance in the SW corner of my house, which has become quite complex, and if you try to do something with the breakers you end up trampling on the Grande cable.

About 2 years ago, I re-buried the cable myself.  I dug a trench, pushed it down, and covered it up.  But quite likely my mistake was that I used sand to cover up the cable.  In just a few months the cable was poking out of the ground again, and the sand had just flowed into the ground.

Now I want to have that corner covered with sod before or during the sprinker installation next week.  So on Monday when the Grande cable guy came to mark the lines for the sprinkler company, I pointed out the emerging cable to him.  He said he would tell his supervisor.

I wouldn't have been surprised if nothing happened.  I was fully expecting to have to call Grande myself.  So I was very pleasantly surprised that the Grande cable guy came out today--just 2 days later--and buried the cable.  I thought he did a good job.  The only annoying part was his repeated insistance that I let him test my cable.  Right then, I did not want a cable guy strolling through my house.   If people want to come into my house, they should let me know way in advance, like a day or two.  Finally he left after I tested it myself and insisted that was the best we could do.

That small corner of my back yard has had serious erosion and settling problems, and I've had trouble growing grass there.  It was sodded in 2008 and looked great afterwards, but the next year all the grass died and the topsoil washed away.  I think part of the reason was the neighbor's tree left it in too much shade.  The other part was that I overwatered at first and then nothing afterwards.

After fixing the No-Gutter system to prevent more erosion a few months ago, I've already dumped two bags of topsoil to fill in the area.  It could easily handle 5 bags more, though I'm going to stop at about 2-3.

Anyway, after the Grande guy left, the filled area was very clumpy, with medium size chunks of clay dirt.  I first sprinkled the area with sand to help the de-clumping process.  The sand immediately filled in the gaps between the clumps.  Then, on top of that, I spread 1 bag of Scott's topsoil.  Then I watered it down.  I had to let out about 10 gallons of very hot water out of the hose first.  I avoided spraying my new Oak tree but couldn't help spray nearby, which worried me.

Today I picked up two more bags of Scott's (they are very light feeling thanks to compost like stuff) and two bags of Texas Friendly Topsoil at Home Depot.  The Texas Friendly is very much like pure sandy loam, and flows nicely into ground cracks.

Spreading just two bags last weekend gave me a backache.  I'm going to be careful this time.  I have many depressions and cracks to fill in my yard.

Adams Patio Chase Lounge Chairs

The patio chase lounge chairs that were so hard to find I looked in stores and online for a week and finally just bought the dirty ones I first saw at Lowes.  Here are the details from the UPC sticker (which I'd like to clean off soon):

Adams
Made in USA
250 lbs maximum
made with resin, 100% recyclable
252662
LBUE-8010WHT00
Bar code: 0 37063 10447

After just one sit, my feeling is I'm glad I didn't pay more than $49.95 for each chair.  The resin is flexible enough to make you worry a bit but not flexible enough to feel really comfortable.  The back is lacking in lumbar support, as with a lot of chairs it actually curves in the wrong direction.  It's very uncomfortable if you arch your back over the hinge point, much better if you slide as far back into the chair as you can.  Then it's marginally OK, but would be better with a lumbar pad.  I have many lumbar pads in my junk pile house to choose from.

Still, the chairs are tolerable and pretty and just having them in the back yard makes it feel like you are ready to have a party.

My family had Jelly Bean type metal framed plastic chase lounge chairs around our pool for awhile when I was growing up.  They looked nice the first year, then the jelly plastic starting looking scorched, ultimately became very black and ugly.  Of course that was 40 years ago, possibly the PVC plasticizers they use are better now.  Or considering that these are the lowest cost chairs now made in China, perhaps not.  The jelly plastic never inspired confidence, and now that I weigh over 200 pounds I'd be very worried.

The most expensive chairs require thick foam pads which have to be religiously put away after each use or will go bad quickly.  I think it's nice to have cheap chairs that can be just there, whenever you want them, without requiring preparation and putting away.

(Some foam pads do say they are weatherproof.  I haven't tried outdoor foam pads since the 1960's.)

The Adams Chase Lounge is available at Ace Hardware!  It gets good reviews, though some note the seeming flimsiness.  One person says they made it better, heavier and more solid feeling, about 15 years ago, and he'd gladly pay $20 more to get one like that.  Another person notes that these chairs are becoming nearly impossible to find in stores.

Another Yard Work Weekend

The weekend of July 21-22 was almost entirely oriented to yard work.  I needed to mow the overgrown grass in front (up to 18 inches high near the sidewalk), in back where the shed is going to be installed, and I needed to do edging.

It actually started while I was still in a quandry about what kind of palm tree to buy (after I had already bought a windmill palm and was thinking it wasn't the best).  But online research suggested I had already bought the most appropriate palm, because it is the smallest full size palm variety.

So then I took a trip to Schulz nursery to get the moisture meter I had seen there a few weeks before.  I am beginning to get very concerned about correct watering.  I also took a look at other plants.  They had several kinds of palms, including some not-very-large ones that nevertheless looked similar in leave design to Canaries.  Those were the most curious because none had a marked price or variety.  They had  a kind of bamboo that looked suspiciously like the running kind.  (They also did have clumping bamboo, in fact I bought mine there.)  The most interesting thing they had, I was thinking, were the ornamental grasses.

Then I had dinner at a Thai restaurant.  Then I went to Home Depot to get a non-B&D string trimmer.  I was hoping to get a Ryobi (never had one of those) but they were battery powered and $149.  The non-battery Ryobi was not in stock or I would have bought it.  Instead, I bought the better of the two store brand models for $49, and got the extended warranty for $8.  I need to find the extended warranty card and receipt for my $99 Black & Decker which died earlier this month.  I got essential groceries at the supermarket.

That evening, I mowed the incredibly overgrown front yard.  The next day, I started yard work before 12 noon.  Normally I don't get started until about 7 PM, but I wanted to get a lot done and I knew it was going to be hot.  I mowed the back, all around Lyndhurst, and everywhere except near the pesky weeds near the patio Crepe Myrtle tree, those need to be pulled out with special tool.



I pulled down the ivy from the back fence and filled a trash can with ivy and other weeds.  I weedwacked by the back of the house and around the back patio (the sprinkler guy had asked for that specifically) where it has not been clear for years.  I spread one bag of topsoil in the depression in the front lawn where the Spray Foam truck drove over my front lawn.  I spread the soil with a scoop and then brushed it into place with my hands.  When that was done, I hosed it with a garden hose.  It seems like that one bag has done much good already, though I thought that 10 bags might be needed.  I put up the two little white mini-fences at two spots in my lawn to deter future contractor trucks from pulling over my lawn.  I've had those mini fences in Lyndhurst for 5 months but finally got around to doing that job.

While I was finally weedwacking by the north side fence, the weedwacker got stuck. I could unstick it as I have done hundreds of times before with other similar machines, but decided to stop there at take a look at the instructions first.  This $49 weedwacker has nothing like the power of my $99 Black and Decker when it had been working.

I moved the flags for the 2nd shed one foot more away from the power transformer so they are separated by 10 feet to allow more room for my palm tree.

Once I had mowed the central lawn area, I turned the plastic chase lounges over and hosed them off very thoroughly.  I hadn't wanted to buy these chairs at Lowes when I first saw them because they were very dirty.  But I couldn't find any other chairs of the same kind online or at any other Lowes or Home Depot store.  So I ended up buying two dirty chase lounges.  I had initially hosed off the top last week, and now finally hosed them off underneath so I could put them on top of the nice lawn in front of Lyndhurst.  Not knowing what kind of dirt (or lawn chemical) they were covered with, I did not want to hose them off in front of Lyndhurst.  I hosed them on top again too.  I found they were comfortable to sit on only if you sit far enough back.  The lumbar support isn't very good and a pillow might help.

I picked up a lot of rocks and put them in the trash.  A few rocks seemed like they could have come from my old Agate collection (which mother had spread around the yard not knowing better 18 years ago) so I saved them in the garage.  (I worried at that point that some of the agates I saved in the garage might have been thrown out as trash anyway.)  I dumped out one trash can full of water--and some rocks--near the power transformer.  I'll need to discard those rocks later, I had picked them up on a previous weekend.  There are still rocks from the two months that it took to build the foundation for Lyndhurst.  I noticed that one wood slab form has not been removed from the front of Lyndhurst.

After having dinner and listening to Pipe Dreams at 9pm, I went back into the yard and installed the 4 way manifold to the back faucet.  I installed the support brace after carefully drilling a hole in the back wall of the house and testing it with a nail to be sure it wouldn't go through the water pipe.  The manifold was doing fine and didn't leak at all in a full pressure test.  I attached one of the automatic controllers and programmed it to water the Lyndhurst crepe myrtle every two days.  But since I wanted to water right then, I ran it on manual (which was a pain because it only runs 30 minutes on manual, but I ran it at least 2 1/2 times).  I now could and did water the second crepe myrtle at the same time.

Thanks to being able to water both trees at the same time, I was able to take a shower and do some laundry and still get to bed by 2pm waiting for the tree installer to come at 9am on Monday Morning (see previous post for that story).

Oak Tree Planted

The Rainbow Gardens planter brought my 12 foot high Monterrey Oak and planted it on Monday July 23.   He started before 10 am and was finished by 10:30 am.

It is a beautiful young tree!  I have now planted my first 3 trees in less than a month!

After seeing his finished work, I was initially worried that he had planted the tree too low in the ground.  I didn't think I could see the flair at the bottom of the trunk, or roots coming out of the trunk.  I mentioned this to him, but he said he had done it correctly, with the top of the root ball exactly at ground level.  (It was hard to tell exactly where ground level was at that time because he had also piled an inch or two of mulch on top of the root ball.)  According to what I have read, the lowest part of the trunk, or top of the root ball, should be planted just about 1/2 to 3/4 inch above the grade.

Anyway, I let it pass, as I think it will work out anyway either (a) because I am making a mountain out of a molehill, (b) me who has never planted a single tree arguing with pro who plants several trees a day, (c) the ground isn't really flat enough to say exactly where the ground level is and there's some kind of weed mowed to 1 inch on top of it, (d) there is a guarantee from Rainbow Gardens who will give me another tree if this one dies, (e) the tree is on a slight grade so that by the time you are 2 feet away, it is down more than an inch, and for that reason water should not be trapped long at the root ball anyway, (f) there is some outward flare in the trunk visible toward the bottom--only the tree is so thin it's hard to see, (g) there is a horizontal root coming out from the trunk just about at soil level, at most 1/4 inch below.

The worst case for planting a tree too low is when it is at the bottom of a rainwater trapping basin.  That is nothing like what I have here.

The planter said I should run soaker hose like I have on my other trees for two hours, then rewater every 4 days, or more if it is especially hot.  I did run the soaker hose for  one hour and 45 minutes.  It was putting out a lot of water and I believe it must have drawn more than 30 gallons of water, and I wondered if the planter was counting on that much water from a soaker hose.  I plan to use my soil tester tomorrow night and judge then if it needs more water then.  4 days sounds like too long a wait for a newly planted tree, but the soil tested should give me a good indication.

I used popsicle sticks to keep the soaker hose itself away from the trunk (wish I had thought of that with the other trees).

The planter hauled away two large buckets of stones and clay soil he had dug out.  He offered me one bucket of the soil but I declined.  The hard clay soil from around here is very hard and sticky and hard to work with and sometimes stinks.  I like to work with freely flowing sandy-loam type topsoils and use them in my yard work (I'd like to get about 10 more bags for this weekend to fill in cracks and depressions).

A friend checked out the tree at 7pm and said it looked wonderful, and not too low as I had feared.  It has been windy with possibility of thunderstorms.

The planter had not brought the palm tree I bought on Friday (and almost changed on Saturday, see previous post) because he didn't find out about it until he was already driving to my house.  He agreed to plant the palm tree on Saturday.  He was also concerned about the cables running through the easement where I want the palm tree and would like to see all the cable markings that are now being done.

Just after the planter arrived, a guy from Grande Cable arrived to mark the underground cables.   This is proof that the sprinkler company has called 811.  I showed him where the Grande cables comes out of the ground near my house.  He said he would tell his supervisor and send someone out to fix it.  I do want to have that fixed before covering it with sod and having the sprinklers installed.

Which kind of Palm?

All Friday night and into mid Saturday I was thinking about changing my Palm purchase from the Windmill Palm I purchased on Friday to something that looks more awesome, in particular the Canary Island Date Palm.

I planned to call Rainbow Gardens first thing in the morning, and I did call them around 10am.  I was told (incorrectly) that the Canary Island was not suitable for our climate and might freeze.  I replied that I had read otherwise, and I had a warm location, fenced in and next to power transformer, so it should be OK.  The lady then told she would check to see what they had in stock.

I didn't get a call back until around 4pm, and in the meantime I continued the online research I had been doing since Friday night.  First thing, the Canary Island has slightly lower freeze temperature than even the Texas Sabal, a native particularly recommended for San Antonio.  The Canary is cold hardy to 15-18 degrees, whereas the Sabal is cold hard to 16-18 degrees.  OK, no full size palm is hardier than the Windmill, imported from the base of the Himalayas, which is hardy to 5 degrees, but we don't need that here.

Or you can go by the zones.  San Antonio is Zone 8b/9a (20/25 degrees).  The Canary Island Date Palm is rated for Zone 8a (15 degrees).

But as I read more, and looked at more pictures, it appeared there just might be a problem with the size.  The top of the Canary Island gets to 28 feet wide.  While it might not grow that large until it gets out of the fenced area, it's going to get as large as it can, and would most likely grow to cover the CPS transformer before it grows above the roofline.  CPS would not like that.  The leaves may look soft, but palm leaves are spikey like little sharp knives and can cut.  The spines are even worse, more like chainsaw.  So having a big palm in my lot corner might do something for my ego, but it would make it difficult to go back there and do required yard maintenance or utility maintenance.

I am positioning the palm about 6.5 feet from the transformer, and 3.5 feet from the shed.  (I moved the shed 1 foot away from the transformer to give it more space on Sunday, making the total distance from shed to transformer 10 feet instead of 9.  The Canary Island will fill that 6.5 space before too long and become a big nuisance.  Basically, the leaves of the Windmill don't grow much larger than 5 feet even when the tree is fully grown to 20+ feet.  The Windmill has the shortest leaves of any full size palm, making it a likely "best" for my application.  The short leaf length also goes a long way to explaining the cold hardiness.

I had been thinking of taking a grand nursery tour, checking out the main Milberger's location as well as Rainbow Gardens again.  But I knew that would likely cut into my time for doing essential yard maintenance in preparation for shed and sprinker installations.

When the lady did call back, she said that the Canary Island should be fine and they had several nice ones in stock.  I replied that I had decided to stick with the Windmill because if I got a larger palm it would quickly grow to cover the CPS transformer and CPS wouldn't like that one bit.  I had also been worried about the palm size relative to my two sheds.

I decided to skip the nursery tour and just go to Schulz nursery to get the moisture gauge I had seen there a few weeks ago.  That showed that my patio side Crepe Myrtle had almost no moisture, but the bigger Crepe Myrtle did have heavy moisture in the bottom of the pot.  So I only watered the patio side tree that night, and then watered both of them heavily on Sunday night.

Windmill Palm purchased

Finally made it through heavy traffic on Bandera Road, and looked at palms.  The Texas Sabal palms were very wide and not very high.  They actually looked multitrunked (though, according to online sources Texas Sabal are singled trunked).

What looked much better were the Windmill Palms.  They were said to be similar but narrower and more compact.  That's what I needed, so I got one in a large container (10 pounds?) for $119.  It will be planted along with my Monterrey Oak on Monday.

Windmill palm is native to China (they are found in the wild at the foothills of the Himalayas) but not considered invasive except in certain rainy counties of California.  Slow growing but extremely hardy plant.

They look similar to date palms.  It might be nice to get dates, but only female trees produce dates and they only produce dates if there is a male nearby.

*****

The Canary Island Date Palm is far more awesome than the Windmill.  I believe it also suitable for our climate, it was mentioned as being so by a palm expert who wrote to the San Antonio Express News, though technically it is listed as zone 9a (20-25 degrees minimum) when San Antonio is listed as a Zone 8b city (15-20 degrees minimum).  OK, that's just one zone off...and guess what, I'm locating mine in a fenced area which includes a utility power transformer to help keep it warm.

The Texas Sabal is said to be the best for our area, but it has a large trunk and slow growth.

I plan to call Rainbow Gardens tomorrow and see if I can switch.

Tuff Shed Flags Placed

The Tuff Shed salesman came out and marked the location I want for my 6x14 shed.  I had previously suggested the lot might need some leveling (!) and I even included a leveling charge when I placed the original order, because I figured that leveling would be needed.  Indeed, the salesman decided to charge me the minimum leveling charge.  One of his concerns was also that I cut the grass.  It has grown to between 6 and 12 inches (12 inch weeds) now.

I upgraded the windows from 2x3 to 3x3, the salesman said that would still work.  The 3x3 windows are much nicer looking because the 2x3 are very horizontal.  I think the dominant schools of architecture have declared all but vertical windows as being ugly because they don't follow the human form, and even if that's a bit extreme, I think they are on to something.  The 3x3 windows look like two 1.5x3 vertical windows joined together, that is how they get a vertical look despite actually being square.

I called the sprinkler installer, and a tentative installation date has now been set for August 3.

I called Rainbow Gardens, and they have Texas Sabal in 10 gallon containers that are about 5 feet high.  If I pick one out this weekend, they could install it Monday.

Inspecting the privacy gaps

I took a walk over to the next street on Wednesday night to see how well people on the street could see people in my back yard.  Of course the house in back of mine can see quite a bit, but what has concerned me more are gaps between that house and the houses to the north and south of it.  Through those gaps, I can (theoretically) see people on the sidewalk on the street behind, people in cars driving down that street, and people in the driveways of two houses on the other side of that street.  Plus, in the southern gap, I have a direct view to the front window (not sure what room, it may be a garage conversion) of the house on the other side of the street in back of my house.  That front window has cute shutters, so it's easy to recognize when I actually go over to that street.

I had been thinking that the southern gap in back was the more important one, and my new 16 foot shed would basically block that gap, so it would mostly solve the problem.  But from the sidewalk, a person of my height (5 ft 6 in) can see more readily into my back yard from the northern gap, which is wider, and because of the slope of the street, the person on the sidewalk has a better view from there because it is higher up than the southern gap.

So that got me wondering if it was correct to put the new garden tool shed in position to cover up the southern gap if the northern gap is actually worse.

But after lots of thinking about this, I still think the 2nd shed works better emerging from behind Lyndhurst and blocking the southwest gap than starting from the north west corner of my back yard.  Mainly this is because that area behind Lyndhurst is not all that nice.  Might as well put a shed there because it can only make it nicer.  (My original plan was for a small shed hidden behind Lyndhurst.  But that wouldn't block any views at all.)

On the other hand, the northwest corner is a prime location in the back yard, certainly it looks that way from my house (when you are actually down there in the corner, it seems a bit low, and the way everything rises above you is an interesting but not entirely wonderful effect).  I think it would be nice to have a Gazebo there, as an auxiliary patio, a place for some people to hang out during a backyard party, possibly a nicer place to have the BBQ than near the house.   I looked at some Gazebos online, nice cedar ones seem to start around $1900 in 10 foot diameter, I think 13 foot diameter would be much nicer and it would actually be larger than my existing patio.  Gazebos seem to require you to build a floor of some kind, concrete would be one obvious choice, though I think it would not be good for me to pour concrete over the easement (bad enough that I'm putting a large but moveable shed there).  I'm thinking a modular concrete floor, if there is such a thing, would be a nice choice.

The ceiling and roof of a gazebo would block most of the northern gap view.  With a circular gazebo, I could still plant trees along the fence line also.

Anyway, for now I think I'm going to draw the line at the shed, even that was pushing it.  After the shed goes in, the irrigation system can go in.  I'll tell the sprinker guy that I eventually plan to have a gazebo, but it's a huge additional cost (at least as much as the shed if not twice as much including the floor) with little immediate benefit--except blocking the view.  The shed, on the other hand, is immediately needed to give me a place to put garden tools, which I'm finding do not really belong in Lyndhurst because they stink it up.

Visual inspection also revealed I badly need another tree, possibly another Crepe Myrtle, along the southern fence right at the back wall of Lyndhurst.  If not, people from the other side of Glacier Sun (the cross street beyond the southern neighbor) can see right into my back yard also.

I still lust for a palm (Texas Sabal) tree rising out of the gap between the power transformer and the new shed, and about 7 feet behind Lyndhurst, 6 feet from the back fence.  7 feet should be enough, right?  I'm worried about how it might grow, however, it might still rub against Lyndhurst as it is growing.  Once the top grows above Lyndhurst, it would be free and clear, the the 2-4 foot diameter trunk would not be any problem at ground level.

Somehow, Palm tree gives me a feeling that nothing else does.  It would be the final touch saying that "I've made it."  Rich people in Beverly Hills have palm trees on their estates, and now I have a palm tree on mine.  My house has become "Hotel California" which does include a palm tree on the album cover.  I was born in California, so perhaps that is why this means so much to me.  Is it too selfish?  Is it too sentimental?  Is it irresponsible?

Some people very irresponsibly have planted palms a foot or two from their houses.  That always causes problems down the line, not limited to having rats enter into the attic.  But with 7 feet from the nearest permanent structure, even though it's a bit tight (15 feet would be better), and might not even work out, still does not seem to me to be entirely irresponsible, and worth trying if it is what I really want.

Another alternative for that area would be a medium tree of some kind (anything but Crepe Myrtle, I need those for too many other locations), or a raised vegetable or herb garden.  i would not want to do gardening directly in the soil, because it is near the power transformer, which may have leaked out stuff over time, at the low point of my lot which collects runoff, and over the easement.  But nothing wrong with a raised bed, and it might even be compatible with having a palm tree protect against noontime sun.

Speaking of a Palm Tree being the ultimate "I've made it" statement, quite possibly a lot of the tallest Palm Trees you see were planted by people who are no longer around, the trees having outlived them.  So maybe that's what a palm tree really signifies: "I've made it into the ground too."

My friend's father (and may he rest in peace!) also planted palm trees on his lot in the Rio Grande Valley.  I guess that shows that palm trees are not only for rich Californians.   They might not have been Texas Sabal however, they had dates my friend says.  I wasn't even thinking about dates, I was thinking more about palm oil.

Since that area is behind Lyndhurst, it doesn't so much need a privacy screen, but it might not be so bad to plant a clumping bamboo along the fence anyway.  I sort of imagine this little spot between transformer and second shed as a place for a secret rendezvois.

Tuff Shed Construction Scheduled for July 30

I still really wanted to mow side lawn, at least, despite the backache I got yesterday from moving a mere 3 bags of topsoil (also, curling soaker hose around Catawba Crepe Myrtle, that may have actually done it as it's a tricky job that takes 20 minutes of bending down, you only think you're going to do it in 5).  So today I did get outside around noon, mowed south side yard meticulously, also took a few passes on main front lawn, notably behind tree where the better grass is but didn't get mowed two weeks ago.  Front lawn looks a bit like it got the Mohawk haircut, but at least the good grass is now cut.  I would have taken a few more passes, but there were dark clouds and thunder.  So I stopped around 1pm, by 1:30 there was a burst of rain (and more after I left home).

Note that despite wrapping the soaker hose yesterday, I didn't actually water the Catawba last night, as it felt damp, probably from the soaker hose testing.  But the Pink crepe myrtle base felt dry so got the usual soaking.  Soaked every day but still dry the next.  Funny how CPS says you may only need to water new trees once a week.

Anyway, today was an uncharacteristically early morning for me, but maybe I like this once and awhile.  I got up around 11am, with 7 hours sleep, I decided I would not go back to bed for the usual after-breakfast nap that takes 1-3 hours.  So after making some progress on lawn, there was also time to go down to Tuff Shed on the way to work and discuss with them the difficulties of my 2nd shed location, notably that it is right next to a fence, over an electric utility easement, and on a slope.

It seemed I had not recorded the Tuff Shed salesman's cell number on my phone, so I figured I'd just stop by on my way to work.  But as I was getting near to work, a huge burst of rain made me decide to go to work, call Tuff Shed from there, and then head out for Tuff Shed about 30 minutes later, which I did.  It was still raining heavily, though I saw even worse rain on the radar coming later, so I went.

Tuff Shed salesman not surprisingly was focused on the details of my shed rather than the location.  Finally I drew a picture and described the site problems.  He said as long as I could allow 18" from the fence, I was OK, and with 13 feet of clearance from building, that should be fine for a 6 foot building.   He also didn't think there would be any trouble with the easement or leveling, at worst I might be charged a leveling charge, the weight on the ground is evenly distributed and not a problem on top of easement, and the entire building can be rolled on PVC pipe if necessary.

He is coming out Friday for a site inspection, and construction has been scheduled for Monday July 30.  My plastic has been charged patriotically.

The new shed as now planned is 6x14, with door and two 2x3 windows on the long side facing toward the yard (not toward fence!).   Door in center and windows to either side like a doll house.  The windows will have windowboxes but no shutters (windows are already rather wide for the space available).  There will be two side vents near floor and 8 feet of ridge vent on top.  The shed itself has been upgraded to the top-of-the-line Premier Pro which comes with 7 foot sidewalls, 6 inch box eaves (very nice for appearance and rain deflection), lifetime shingles, radiant barrier, and 10 year warranty.  I had previously panned on Premier Tall, this is slightly shorter but tall enough, and only $80 or so extra, well worth it for the nicer eaves which will more closely match Lyndhurst.  The Shasta White is called Siesta Grey in the lifetime shingles, but same color, as light as it gets for asphalt shingles, if not as white as I would like.  (One reason I got actual white metal roof for Lyndhurst.)

The rear neighbor will mainly see 2.5 feet of roof over the fence and slightly behind. It will blend into Lyndhurst and maybe even look like a quirky interesting part of it: Lyndhurst towers 12 feet above higher ground, the new shed roof will be a break between fence and Lyndhurst in the back neighbor's view.  The siding will also rise about 1 foot from wall, but will be mostly hidden under the roof.  I think this does not detract from his view significantly, might even be considered an improvement.  The trees I am adding, as well as Lyndhurst itself, is a big improvement.  And did I mention I payed 8 thousand dollars for my fancy Wood Look concrete Fencecrete fence which continues to look perfect 5 years after construction?  I did not ask any of my neighbors to chip in on that, and they all like it, so I don't think any are going to complain about my other construction projects.

Quick backache?

Yesterday when shopping at Home Depot, I bought 3 bags of topsoil: two bags of Texas Friendly Organic and one bag of Scotts.  I have so many cracks and holes to fill I recently figured I could buy 3 bags a day for the next few weeks and still not have enough.

This afternoon, I put one 45 pounds bag at the SW corner of Lyndhurst, which seems to have gotten eroded by construction work, or perhaps scraped by cleanup.  I had previously put a bag there, and it just vanished because the area that needs to be filled is so huge, it could handle 10 bags easily.  Then I put a bag in the dip in the front lawn created by the Spray Foam truck tires in January.  I could possibly use another ten bags or so just for that dip.

I leveled the dirt at Lyndhurst best with just my hands.  I raked the topsoil into the grass (which badly needs mowing) in front.  It disappeared quickly, then I further watered it down.

The bag of Scotts I just moved from car to Garage.  I figured I'd apply that to the crack on the southern side of the house, later.  The garage can easily hold one spare bag of topsoil, like the one that sat there for 8 months until I used it earlier this month.

What I had really wanted to do this morning was mow the lawn.  It badly needs mowing all over.  I failed to get to the mowing last Sunday.  I had an excuse, from about 6pm on it looked as if it was going to rain at any moment.  It did finally rain at about 8pm.  Last minute person that I am, 8pm on Sunday is usually when I have just started mowing, for completion around 9pm.

But at least I did something.

I also installed the soaker hose around the Catawba crepe myrtle.  Until now, I have been having to move the hose twice for each day's soaking.

I did test soils last night, and both trees tested dry despite having been watered on Sunday night!  I'm thinking of getting a moisture gauge.

Then before going to work, I got a backache.  I'm thinking I need to get a back brace if I'm going to be doing this kind of thing.  Funny, I didn't feel bad at all when I was actually doing it.

I've gotten my email from Tough Shed and will be talking to the salesman on Wednesday afternoon.

Tree Guide by City Public Service and others

I was amazed to find this guide by CPS, the local electric utility.  Notably they say not to have trees or shrubs within 3 ft of power transformer, and not directly in front.  The picture, though, shows trees spaced outwards by their canopy. only shrubs are shown planted 3 ft from transformer.

The best part, though, is a list of trees used in San Antonio, with detailed information.

Here's a blog suggesting alternatives to Photinia for screening plants, includes many links.

Here's a blog discussing screening plants.  One poster uses and often sees a combination of pomegranate, texas sage, viburnum, and ornamental grasses.  Another has yaupon, wax myrtle, texas mountain laurel, american wisteria, rose of sharon and kidneywood.

Here is a page devoted to wild olive.  CPS shows this as a small tree, 5 ft spread.  That must be a misprint, because all the other sources I've seen say 5 meters, or 16 feet.

Here is a page devoted to Crepe Myrtles, there are so many!


Now that I'm just about to irrigate my lawn, here's a webpage devoted to the Delawning movement.  Actually my plan was, and still is, to irrigate the lawn around the house because that soil needs irrigation anyway to preserve the house foundation.  The part of lawn just in back of house is also very nice for chase lounge and other recreational use.  Having sprinklers for the larger regions of lawn in way front and deep back is for convenience and I need not keep those parts green during drought, but having efficient speakers means I can do so, if I wish, conveniently and efficiently.  In contrast, watering with hose is unthinkable--many hours, and with temporary sprinkler a big hassle prone to waste with irregular coverage and runoff.    It may also be interesting to see how little water can be used to keep lawns going if done so efficiently.  Irrigating the lawn in front is also a way, and perhaps even the best way, to maintain the Mimosa, which has roots covering a good part of the front lawn.

I've decided that the 2nd shed should be tucked in by at least 3 feet, if not 4, so as to provide blockage when passing right next to Lyndhurst.  That means a 12 foot deep shed would reach out 8 feet from the nearest fence post from the end of Lyndhurst.  I wouldn't mind if it went 2 feet further, though it may also be unsightly being so big.  Another possibility that would work fine...12" overhang in front.

New Tree, more thinking

Monterey Oak.  That's what I have now chosen to be the central tree in my back yard.  I picked out a beautiful on a Rainbow Gardens on Saturday July 14.  They will be delivering and installing it on Monday July 21 at 9am.  A friend has one in her back yard and it is wonderful.

Meanwhile, more thinking about hedge plants, "concept line", and 2nd shed.

Ligustrum is out, that is on many invasive lists.  Photinias are downgraded, sometimes (but not much) said to be invasive, but also have common fungus problem, don't live long.

So why not, I thought to myself, have more trees like Crepe Myrtle?  Along the same lines, Wax Myrtle (but rather tallish), Wild Olive (tallish), and Pomogranite.

Professional lanscapers use a variety of plants, irregularly spaced, to look natural.  They draw a "concept line" around the grass area for perimeter plants and accessories such as a pergola.

So that's what I need to do: pick out a bunch of plants and trees.  Viburnum is still in for the shadier spots near the neighbor's house on the south side..

But then I decided to reopen the 2nd shed issue.  I had been planning on something either 7x7 or 4x7 and tucked behind Lyndhurst.  Big enough for a few garden tools and lawn mower.

But that is a very bad location, very sloped.  I fear that having shed there, since it would somewhat hide the power company transformer, could get complaints from the power company.

I initially decided on a new location at the NW corner of my lot.  That way I could have any size second shed I wanted.  The ground is level, grass doesn't grow well there.   I looked at 8x11 and 8x15 sheds by Lifetime made of polyethylene resin.

Problem with those sheds, however, is that they do not include a floor.  You are one your own to build a floor out of wood or concrete.  Also, you are on your own to build the shed in the first place.  And the Lifetime sheds are not cheap.

For just a little more, in fact, I could get a fully assembled wood shed from Tough Shed with a galvanized steel foundation.  Well, it depends on which ones you are comparing.  After a few minutes of looking at Tough Shed sheds, I started upgrading my expectations to the Tall Premier Garden Shed, which is just a bit more expensive still.

Then it further occurred to me that if I put the shed behind Lyndhurst at the fence line, but sticking past Lyndhurst, it could provide a privacy wall just as good as a hedge of trees, but without waiting for years for the trees to fill in.  And that is one of the key spots.  That section of the back fence has a view of two neighbors, particularly the one on the SW corner, and all the way out to the next street.

With a long narrow shed along the fence I could block 12 linear feet of that view, and that is what it requires, because as you walk across the yard the angle changes.

The already shaded spot at the NW corner I'd always thought would look nice with a pergola, small patio, fountain, statue, or something like that.  It would be a shame to waste that highly visible location with a shed.

So I've been thinking about having a 6x12 shed in the Tall Premier Garden Shed series.  That will have a reasonably tall roof (reaching 9'2" or 110") at the peak, and therefore do an excellent job of blocking the undesired view.  Plus the Tall Premier Garden Shed has very desireable upgrades, such as galvanized steel foundation (instead of wood) and radiant barrier in the ceiling, and it can have a full size door opening on the side facing into the central area of my back yard.

(I have now ordered the shed with all options I want at Tuff Shed.)

It might be nice to have wider than 6 feet, but it's tough to do that there.  There is a total of 13 feet between Lyndhurst and the wall at the boundary of my property.  If I get an 8 foot shed, that leaves a mere 5 feet, and since it might be necessary to have the shed 6 inches or so from the wall, we're down to 4 feet and change.  That makes for a narrow passage, the very kind that I worried the power company might not like.

I'm thinking I really need to decide on this before the plant and sprinkler installation. It might be best to have it actually installed.

I may be pushing some limit here with 2 sheds on my property.  The new one will be visible to backyard neighbors as well as barely visible to the street beyond.  I don't think it changes their view enough to worry about.  Also since I plan to have this shed over the easement, it cannot be a permanent structure.  With the standard steel foundation, I think I am OK on that, what I will have is a moveable structure.  Finally, I could be violating some kind of setback, but I don't think there is one on the back property line.  I often see houses with a shed (or sheds!) on the back property line.

It also might look a bit clunky.  It would be nice if I could get the shed also with a white metal roof, and identically colored paint to Lyndhurst.

Document on establishing trees

Here is a document from the University of Florida on planting and establishing trees.

For trees less than two inches in trunk thickness, they recommend daily watering after planting for 2 weeks.  For trees 2-4 inches, they recommend daily watering for one month.

I'm not sure how to classify my trees, they each have 3 trunks ranging from 1 inch to 1.5 inches.

Also, considering a hot Texas summer, I was thinking daily watering until it cools down.

Intense storm knocked over tree

Seeing a patch of heavy thunderstorms on radar headed for my home, I hurried home on Monday night a bit earlier than usual.  I struggled through heavy rain almost half of the way home.  Then by the time I got home, it had blown over.

I had left the door and window of Lyndhurst open.  I cleaned up the window sill area with a water soaked and partly dry cloth, then mopped up a bit of water near the door threshold with the same cloth.  I reoriented the black fan a bit, then closed the doors and window.  But I don't know if that did much good, rain had not resumed by 4am and there is no clear evidence it rained while I was asleep either.

I got out by 11 am to re-open the door and window, and noticed my Catawba Crepe Myrtle next to Lyndhurst had toppled over.

I'm not so worried about the toppling over because that tree is still in its 20 inch container pot, just with the bottom removed.  The nursery staff told me I could keep the tree in that pot for up to 3 years.  Most of the roots of the tree will be inside the pot for years to come.  So if it tips over, there's no damage to the main roots inside the pot, just the few thin roots that have grown down to the soil.  I did see 2 such roots, white in color, and about 1/4 inch in diameter.  They had just barely got past the bottom of the pot.

But before putting the pot back up, I scraped more of the soil underneath, so the pot would be sitting slightly deeper into the ground, and be more level.  While doing so I removed a few rocks.  Then it took a few tries to get it rotated back to nearly the same position.  But it is more level now, better in many ways.  The tree is very handsome, I think it may have already grown some in the week it's been on my lot, and it looks heathy despite a few aphid-crunched leaves.

Since I understood the rain to be no more than about 20 minutes, and less than 0.3 inch, I watered both trees as usual, using hose nozzle on the Catawba and hooking up the soaker hose for the other tree.  I figure that a gallon of water is about 1.5 inches of a square foot.  4 gallons of water is therefore about 1.5 inches of 4 square feet.  My usual watering is therefore about 1.5 inches on the tiny areas I water for the tree.  I'd say if it rains much less than that, I still need to water the tree at this early stage.  

I am following recommendations that suggest 4 gallons daily for one month.  A friend of mine at work is telling me to ignore that, and just test the soil.  My counterargument is how do you know what level of dampness is correct?  She us very vocal about her concern that I may kill my plants by overwatering.  She's so vocal about this,  not wanting to let up on the issue, I tend to think she's overreacting, and much of her concern stems from fear about water waste.  Her stridency tempts me to water more, just to see where the limits actually are, but I'm not going to do that, I don't want to harm the tree, I just plan to do what I think is right and ignore all these people who can't seem to keep their friendly advice from turning into a scold.  If I do kill the tree by following my own intuitions about it, I can always get another one.  Note that I really don't want to do that, it's a big hassle to start over, but it's better than ruining every single day with anxiety.

She says she has killed a plant (I am not sure if it was a tree) by overwatering, it got some kind of fungus.

Another of my thoughts is that I only water ONCE a day.  Then, during a hot day, the top of the soil does dry out in 100 degree heat.  It does in fact feel mostly wet and dry at the same time by finger.  But it is not saturated until after I water.

Last night I got two more soaker hoses (one spare and one reserved for the Catawba), a second water timer, and a 4 outlet brass manifold.  If it had not rained I might have hooked them up.

Now I have to water both trees separately, a process that takes about 2 hours a day, even though I'm not holding the hose all the time, I need to wait and move the hose and ultimately shut off the water.  Once I get the manifold connected, even without the timers, I could run both at once.  With the timers working, I could just let them do their work.  However daily checkup is still a good idea.

The tree people came out today after I had left for work, so I have not yet seen how the new trimming looks.

July 7-8 mowing back yard

Not one to resist hyperbole, especially when I deserve it, I say last weekend I transformed my yard.  Specifically the south side yard and the back yard.  Now it looks good enough that I wouldn't feel too embarassed showing it to a sprinkler contractor who mainly works in gaited communities--which is what I plan to do this Thursday.

Too bad I can't show before and after photos.  I always forget to take the before photos.  Now for the first time this year, actually the first time since about May 2011, my back yard is completely mowed.  Earlier this year when I string trimmed the 8 foot weeds and mowed the back and bragged about it, I had not actually mowed the difficult part right next to the house because it was filled with junk.  Now that is cleared and mowed also.  As well as the northwest region of the back yard, and the narrow strips to the south and west of Lyndhurst.

The back yard work was primarily done on Sunday.  But it had been Saturday that I started out with the hope of whacking all the 6 foot weeds on the west side of Lyndhurst.   I got out my GH1000 string trimmer and the string I purchased a couple of weeks before (after I had discovered on some previous weekend last month that I had no more string).  I had a very hard time getting the new spool of string into the machine.  Just as I would have it nearly in place, all the string would loosen up and shoot outside the spool.  Finally I got the spool on.  But no sooner had I tried to use it and the string shot out again and jammed the head.  I had to struggle, ultimately using a small metal tool to pry out the spool.  When I had removed the spool, I tested the trimmer.  The motor would run, but the spool and the spindle inside it would not.  Dead Weedwacker.  At least this one worked well on the small number of occasions when I actually got to use it.  I bought it less than a year ago, and I have a 2 year replacement contract.  Now the problem is I can't find the receipt or the replacement contract.  Paperwork is in complete disarray in my house right now.  I might have to search through a dozen bags filled with papers to find it.  On Saturday night I searched drawers in the bedroom, in the kitchen, and on the living room table without success.

But not wanting to waste any time, I set to work instead on the south side yard.  It had rained the previous Sunday, but the south side yard probably needs to be watered twice a week in summer.  If the grass dies out, the ground gets hard brittle and filled with cracks, and ultimately my foundation settles a tiny bit opening a 1/8 crack in the corner of the bedroom ceiling (which I call my "drought gauge").  That crack seems to be harmless, but also usefully indicates when the soil is too dry.  I wouldn't want it to get larger than it usually does.

But now that south side lawn now needed mowing badly.  So I mowed it, but what may have been more important was cleaning up the three old trash cans (I moved them to the back yard near the gate) and an old recycling bin.  Then I moved the city trash and recycling cans back so they no longer stand in front of the little tree at the front of this side yard.  Instead they are further back, right next to my neighbor's cans but on my side.  Even if I removed my cans from the front yard entirely, her cans would still be there, so the visual effect would be identical.  So now it's a lot neater and cleaner looking, as well as mowed and consistently green (thanks to late spring and early summer rains and strategic watering).

After the mowing, I watered the south side yard, then on into the grass near the west side front of the house.  Watering that area is good for the appearance of the house as well as the foundation.

Then I put a bag of Miracle Grow soil for trees and shrubs around the smaller Crepe Myrtle near the backyard gate.  The soil originally put around the root ball had compacted and run off, so the root ball from the original pot was standing 3 inches above the rest of the soil.  Using a bag of new soil I was able to fill in that gap.  I may need to use some edging here to keep the soil for the tree elevated.  Remember the original planting technique was to merely place the plant on the stripped ground and then pile dirt around it.

Then before getting this all wet, I wrapped a flat soaker hose (the kind made of cloth) around the tree trunks.  The soaker hose was a bit longer than I would have liked.  This was harder to do than I thought, I tried several ways to do it, finally I stretched out the hose back into the yard and reeled it in as I wrapped it around the trunks.  When it was all done, I loosened it up a bit, but not enought that I had a hard time centering the hose without touching any tree trunks.  I plan to loosen it up some more some time in the future, perhaps next weekend.

But for now, it works great.  Last week I was finding that I had to move the hose opening about 5 times to get all the dirt around the tree wet.  That was taking up to an hour of patient waiting per day, just for that one tree, waiting to move the hose from one position to the next.  Now I could just turn on the hose and let it run.  I am currently adjusting the flow rate by ear, since I have some idea what 0.2gal/minute sounds like.  I ran the soaker for about an hour on Saturday night, since all the new soil was dry, then soaked it with a hand nozzle for another 5 minutes.  On Sunday, and in the future, I merely had to run the hose for about 30 minutes, the soaker doing the work of spreading the water around.

I have this new Tree2 soaker hose connected with a set of small heavy duty hoses that now runs in the crack between patio and house.  I seriously wanted to connect my 4 outlet mainfold to the outdoor faucet, then I could run the water to my other tree (Tree1) simultaneously.  But I looked long and hard and could not find the other manifold.  I might have thrown it away if it had gotten damaged or dirty.  So on Monday evening I bought a new 4 outlet manifold, a second hose timer, and some more soaker hoses.  The plan is to have both trees on dedicated timers.  I can set the flow rate for each one with the controls on the manifold.  Then I will have an additional outlet for the hose, and another outlet for something else TBD.

On Sunday afternoon I was thinking of driving out to Home Depot to replace the string edger, but I couldn't find the receipt and warranty card.  Finally, I just decided to do what I could using only the mower.  I started at about 2pm and worked about 20 minutes at a time in the 100 degree heat.  Then I'd take a break for 40 minutes.  Finally I did indeed get everything mowed.  If I had gone to Home Depot, I probably would not have had the energy to mow everything when I got back.

I also had bought two new bags of cheap topsoil for crack filling on Saturday afternoon when I was at Home Depot looking (unsuccessfully) for a plastic reclining chase lounge (they seem to be sold out now in all stores and I may have to wait until next spring, they can't even be found online).  I used those bags of soil to fill in cracks on the south side of my house, and the west side.  On Monday afternoon I filled in gaps in the west side of Lyndhurst with a 3rd bag of topsoil that had been sitting in my garage for a year.  I also cleared a large number of medium and smallish rocks from the west, south, and east sides of Lyndhurst on both Sunday and Monday.  These were remnants of construction and other work in the back yard.  Now it's possible to mow without worry about rocks.

On Monday afternoon the tree guy came out to estimate the tree trimming of the neighbor's tree on the south which is currently blocking some of the light for my new tree to the south of Lyndhurst (Tree1) and also nearing the house to my roof.  While I was waiting, I pulled out the lawnmower and mowed the first 7 feet of lawn in my front yard.  Another thing I had done on Saturday night was reorganize the junk in the garage so I could pull out the mower more easily.  Now I was able to mow a significant amount of grass and get the mower back into the garage in less time, 20 minutes, than it used to take just to get the mower out of the garage.

The tree guy gave me his minimum charge estimate for trimming the neighbors tree, as usual. I showed him my two new trees, and he said they were doing fine and did not need to be changed.  I told him there was some evidence of aphids, but he said his company did not do any kind of spraying.  He said if I was interested, I could possibly use Lemon Oil for bugs pretty much everywhere in the yard and house.

Nothing significant was done inside Lyndhurst itself.  I moved the auxiliary fan around a few times and checked the smell level, which seems to track humidity more than anything still.

Links

Here is a list of Crepe Myrtle varieties.  The larger one I have, now planted on the south side of Lyndhurst, is a Catawba, with full size height 12-15 feet, which would be nice for that location.  The smaller one, now planted near the patio, is a Pink Velour, with full size height 10+ feet.   Both trees are sized appropriately, not too big, for their location.  20-30 foot trees would not work in either location.

The Daily Watering

Since it rained very intensely on Sunday evening, I did not water my new trees on Monday.  But on Tuesday, I had to decide, do I water today, for a daily watering schedule, or something else.

According to an authoritative looking website, new trees can be watered 2-3 times a week, under some circumstances, and that is ok, but truly vigorous establishment requires daily watering.  Daily!  The recommended amount is 2-3 gallons for 1" trees and 3-4" gallons for 2" trees.

Both of my new crepe myrtles have 3 one inch main branches.  Therefore, 4 gallons would be about right.

I watered the tree next to Lyndhurst with 5 gallons, to allow for water seeping directly through ground, then I watered the area underneath the pot with hose on shower.  I watered the other tree with 3 gallons, and then watered the area, which includes the root ball itself because that tree was removed from its container pot.

I just ordered 6 Tree IV root watering systems.  They are spoken very highly of in this blog.

I am planning on having arborist out to trim the neighbors tree and also determine if my tree installations are OK.

I am also still planning to have sprinkler people out, and I could be persuaded to install a full or half yard automatic system with additional drip line for trees and other special plants.

I saw a small number of black ants on the crepe myrtle next to my patio.

And now, trees !!

New Crepe Myrtle at NE backyard corner near patio

Sadly, my back yard had no trees  (though several neighbors do).  That changed on Sunday July 1 2011 when a friend and I planted two beautiful Crepe Myrtle trees.  The trees were selected at Rainbow Gardens nursury on Saturday, driven home over surface streets rather than freeway to minimize damage (the the tips extended past the back of my Prius hatchback and the drive took about 70 minutes), and I spent some time on Saturday night figuring out where it would be best to put them.  The unseasonably mild (cool) weather on Saturday and Sunday was a blessing.  And then, on Sunday evening, just after the trees had been planted and lightly watered, an intense two hour thunderstorm made sure everything was very well watered.  The weather was very helpful for this project.  Normally you wouldn't expect weather like this on July 1.

SE backyard corner, still thinking about this

I had been debating for a week what to do about what seems the most immediate privacy issue in my back yard, the south east corner nearest the neighbor, where the neighbors window has view of Lyndhurst doorway and if the neighbor is standing in front of her window she has a commanding view of my back yard.  My 6 foot privacy fences provide very little privacy because they run in depressions 2-5 feet beneath the elevation of the house.

Well I have had several plans now what to do with that corner.  Just before going to the nursury, I had decided I would not use trees but instead build an elevated garden for small plants in planter boxes elevated to just below the top of the fence.  Now, several days later, I'm not sure that plan will work and am thinking about using cloth sunscreen panels instead.  More about that later.  Anyway the story about the trees is that I decided to go to Rainbow Gardens without any clear plan of what to do, just to see what they had, because it's a top rated nursery my friends talk about and I'd never been there.  When I was at Rainbow Gardens, I fell in love with these two trees and decided I would buy them, probably to use in the corner but also possibly something else.  Rainbow Gardens was an incredible place, I bought a windsock, pot hanger, and some other things also.

After setting the trees in that corner, it was clear that they didn't really provide any significant privacy there after all.  What's needed is very dense foliage continuing for 15 feet or so.  Also I was worried that trees in that corner wouldn't get enough sunlight for big trees because of the neighbor's tree.

On the other hand, it was clear my windsock would do nothing to block the view from neighbors at my southwest corner.  I was disappointed when I discovered last year that Lyndhurst would not block that view because of the 5-6 foot setback from the south fence mandated by community standards and the fact that all my utility wires run through there.  From my master bedroom window, I can sometimes see into the  kitchen of the SE neighbor's house; I can always see the light from their kitchen through their sliding glass door.  I had spent much time thinking of some strategy to block the view with a sign or something, but it was seeming that would do little also.  It's a difficult visual corridor because nothing permanent can be built there and because the view that must be obscured ranges from 6 to 9 feet from the ground at that level.

New Catawba Crepe Myrtle along south fence

But putting the larger of the two trees, an 8 foot Catawba Crepe Myrtle (which cost $99) into that spot immediately blocked, or at least mostly obscured the view.  Furthermore, it could block the view not just from my bedroom window, but from the entire plateau to the immediate west of my house, an area that might serve as a nice sunbathing patio in the future.

I could not dig into the ground at that point because of telecom cables running as little as 3 inches deep, not to mention the electrical service which is supposed to run 3 feet deep in heavy PVC pipe.  Nor could I remove the tree from its container pot and pile dirt around it because that 6 foot wide strip provides drainage from my yard down to the lowest point, which is at the transformer in the SW corner.  Water blocked at that point could do serious damage to Lyndhurst and/or my expensive Fencecrete fence, so the water drainage must not be obstructed.

My plan was to transfer the Crepe Myrtle from the container pot to a 22" pot I had bought, and to remove the bottom from that pot so the roots could grow into the ground.  Or just leave in the larger pot, which would probably be enough for a few years.  Well it would have been very hard to cut the 1/4 inch thick plastic on the resin pot I had bought, and my friend suggested we just cut the bottom on the container pot and use that instead.  As the roots need to grow, they can grow right into the actual ground below rather than the extra space in a slightly larger pot.  Sometime after placing the now bottomless tree we went back again and I stripped the thin grass beneath it using a scraper hoe, then I chopped the earth a bit using a two pointed hoe.

The smaller $59 seven foot crepe myrtle (shown at the top of this blog entry) was placed at the northwest corner, where it blocks the views from the neighbor to the north and potentially many other neighbors further north as the street inclines uphill. Potentially, those neighbors could see me and/or friends on my little backyard patio, and that privacy issue has long been a concern of mine.  The tree is already tall enough that it obscures the undesired views, and should get much better over time.  It also adds some very needed color to the most visible part of my yard.

The smaller crepe myrtle was removed from its container, but the root ball was simply placed on top of scraped and chopped earth.  Then two bags of topsoil were piled on top.  At this spot, we could have dug a small hole, but my friend didn't want to, thinking of the very hard clay soil.  I believe the root ball of a tree should never be planted below grade level anyway, the top of the root structure of a tree actually needs to breath.  On healthy trees, you always see the top of the root structure above ground.

These trees will need to be watered daily or semi-daily for the remainder of the summer.  It might be a good idea to stake them down, but I was pleased they stayed upright during a very intense but brief thunderstorm on Sunday evening.

I've been thinking about getting a full automatic sprinkler and soaker system installed soon.  Since I came up with that idea, I haven't had a good time to call the sprinkler installer that is most recommended.