I won't miss July. I'm glad it's gone. One more horrible month and things will start getting better. I got here Friday morning and worked from here. Bert was already here. It was just the two of us.
- Friday. Worked.
- Did a little watering.
- We have lost 2 post oaks in the yard area. It will be a hard job getting one of them cut down without hurting things surrounding it.
- We are bringing home 2 red rockers to throw in the trash. They don't have any life left in them. They lasted a long time - a decade - considering they only cost $25 each. Sometimes you don't get what you paid for, you get better!
- Saturday. I spent the whole morning and into early afternoon in the Star Garden. I dug out some cedar edging in a couple of places and reset them. They tend to sink into the ground over time. I pull them up and push dirt underneath them so that they make create a higher edge around the beds.
- I pulled up lots of purslane growing in one of the paths.
- Spot watered here and there. Hand watered some plants.
- Staked some blue mist flower and Texas Vervain (This is not the native Vervain, but some sort of cultivar. Very pretty and cottage garden-like. I got the seeds from my neighbor Connie.).
- I saw a copperhead, but I let it wander off without killing it.
- Bert fixed several of my hoses that had popped off from where they were clamped. Most of the original metal hose ends on my hoses have gotten so corroded that they have all been cut off. Bert clamps new hose ends onto them, and sometimes they pop off. Not often, but it happens. I watered in a dry part of the Star Garden.
- Deadheaded for a while on my pink Vitex.
- I took my little electric hand saw down to the Orchard and cut away a bunch of branches off the dead apple tree. I'm not sad about losing that apple tree. I planted that before I really understood about chill hours. This was a Fuji, and it was never going to do right in this climate. It died, and I'm glad to be rid of it. Bert will have to come down to the Orchard and cut the trunk down. The sprinklers are not working right down there, and many plants are dried up and crispy from the drought. This fall and next spring will be a big do-over as far as planting goes. So much death in the garden!
- Sunday. I went straight down to the Orchard. I dragged a hose down there and watered while I worked.
- I cut dead blackberry canes in 2 beds. I got them all pulled out and piled up outside the fence. Blackberries grow on new wood, so last year's canes have to be removed. It's a horrible job. In one of the beds peppervine has gotten hold. I cut it down to ground level and poisoned the tip with Remedy and diesel.
- Pulled up dead black eyes.
- Did some raking.
- Weeded in the paths.
- Dumped debris in an erosion spot. The blackberry canes have to be put someplace else. I don't want them in the roads.
- Dumped the blackberry canes and the apple branches I cut on Saturday next to a trail out of the way.
- Sprayed herbicide in the Orchard paths.
- I worked for about 4 and a half hours. I'd say cleaning out the dead canes, cutting back dead vegetation, and raking to get the Orchard in pretty shape again is 3 solid days of work. Six half-days in this heat. I made some good progress.
- Sprayed herbicide in the Star Garden here and there.
- Watered all my roses in pots in the Rose Garden.
- Reset all my sprinklers.
- Headed home to Houston about 3:00.
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