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Busy time in the garden. I’ve been piddling along out there lately, doing little jobs and thinking strategy for the fall. This past week I had some time, the weather cooled down, and I was on a roll.
I have lots of potted plants, mostly succulents, that are tired and need to be repotted or pitched out. I consolidated some of them into bigger pots and I think I might have a little plant sale with the plants I’m not in love with anymore.
I’m trying to make a space so I can get a couple of chickens, but I’ve got a lot of work ahead of me before that’s going to happen. The big cedar tree in the front will provide one perimeter of the chicken enclosure, but right now the tree is surrounded by bicycles so I have to move some things around out there. I bought a bamboo fence and Mi Esposo helped me get it placed today. I filled in a big space with more gravel which cleaned up the area tremendously. I love crushed gravel! Instant fix.
Last weekend I got a lot of flowerbed cleanup and fertilizing done. The climbing rose beds got raked out and I applied Ada Perry’s Rose Fertilizer. I think Ada Perry’s fertilizer has been the secret to the big difference I see in the health of the rose bushes since I’ve started applying it. Walter Andersen’s Nursery is the exclusive nursery to buy Ada Perry’s if you are in the market for it. Anyway, I finished off the beds with worm castings from my own compost bins! Nice!
I still have things to move around out there but it was a good start. I’m loving the cool weather because I know it’s not going to last. It stayed cool like this last year until mid-August, then the heat hit with a vengeance for a few months. Threw my whole gardening calendar out of whack. Keeps things interesting, that’s for sure!
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Lest you think I’m taking the blog in a racier direction, I should tell you I’m just quoting gardener-extraordinaire, Pat Welsh. Pat is an icon in the gardening world, and I have had the privilege to hear her speak a few times. I always learn a ton because she is full of practical, no-nonsense information. This YouTube video of her creation of a children’s dinosaur garden probably sounds like something that won’t interest a lot of readers, but if you take a pass at watching, you’re going to miss some good ‘dirt’ because she interjects a lot of interesting tidbits, she’s very entertaining, and she’s also cute as a button! Plus you’ll be able to put the blog post title into context. 
Pat Welsh’s books are great, too. Her latest book, ‘Southern California Organic Gardening,’ was immediately added to my collection of her books this past spring. ‘Southern California Gardening’ has been one of my go-to books for years. The ‘Smart Garden Regional Guide’ came out a few years ago and I use it for reference constantly, as well. ‘All My Edens’, a memoir by Ms Welsh, is harder to find, but I love reading her observations and stories of her gardening life. It’s a little treasure on my book shelf.
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