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Here I was, trying to be positive, Cwillie, about my secret thoughts that this little tree was going to "gasp it's last", since there are 50% dead branches. Upon further investigation, there is actually a gopher-type hole nearer the dead branches. There were scratches on the bark of the tree (bunnies, cats, gopher, possum, racoon?) This one tree has always received it's fair share of water,
and just before this bloom, my husband left the hose dripping overnight.
Maybe I should feed it and patch up the bark damage. Or, just let nature take it's course? I see that some neighbors have put their decorative rocks right up to the base of their little trees-I know that won't work in this heat. But we have about a two foot patch of St. Augustine grass and bark surrounding the tree. Gotta go out and talk to the tree now-it just has to survive-how else will it be able to clap it's hands when the time comes?
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I use gardening as therapy. We had both front and backyards re-landscaped last year so my "gardening" consists of weed pulling...which I've always enjoyed, a little bit of pruning and my latest toy.....a leaf blower!! I love using it! I have lots of sitting/reading areas and I love being in the yard. When I come home from caregiving duties....I make a beeline for my yard. 😍
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Any purchased container or bare root tree, unless incredibly small, has already sacrificed it's tap root. I hope I am wrong, but sometimes a fruit tree will put out blossoms out of season as a last hope to propagate before gasping their last.... any chance you can sneak it some water??
GA, it was always my ambition to try to espalier some fruit trees. My brother had planted large apple trees that mostly went to waste as it was impossible to keep them insect and disease free, ultra dwarfs and espaliers are the only sensible option for the home grower.
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I'm not that knowledgeable about fruit trees; the ones in my yard when I moved were already challenged because of diseases that developed during the prior owner's time, and eventually I just cut them down.

But I'm wondering about a few other things besides a damaged tap root: soil, drought in California, and pollinators. Any one of these could affect setting blossoms and developing fruit.

AKDaughter is an expert on growing fruit trees; she probably would know more than I. I've been thinking more and more about getting some dwarf trees to grow, though, so at least I could have some pesticide free fruit. But I'm not sure the raccoons or the nosy neighbors would even leave the fruit for ME to harvest!
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There is hope.
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Watching my little apple tree out the kitchen window, about 1/2 has dead branches. A neighbor left years ago and gave me this tree that never bloomed or had any fruit. The gardener at that time said it won't live because it had a damaged tap root. It stays green, barely grows at all, but I like it.

Yesterday, I saw this little flower bloom on one branch. It is one little flower! It looks like my avatar photo, but smaller-only one magical bloomin white flower.
My garden grows itself, no matter what I do. I am so over-joyed over this one little flower.
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This makes sense Sendme, it would be the same thing as when you replace indoor carpets with hard flooring and remove curtains so you get a noisier home.

Sad to say there are some who would kill a bunny on purpose, once I was out with a group and a bunny didn't know enough to get off the road, the driver (a young man of course) stepped on the gas to see how fast the bunny could go. Fortunately for the bunny there were women in the car!
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So many bunnies in the yards! Saturday night someone ran over and killed a bunny. These bunnies have dementia from the heat and seem to run straight down the road in front of the car! Maybe some drunk did not have the patience to wait for the road to clear. With much less grass in the neighborhood, the poor things don't know where to sit.
Has anyone experienced, after removing the grass and replacing with decorative rocks, the sound comes inside the house more? Every loud voice, every car door slam-is this my imagination?
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i have little tiny tomatoes popping out on the vines . i think my rainwater supply is secure enough that im going to get myself a toilet , probably hook my clothes washing machine back up and maybe over the winter ill gutter one more portion of the roof and store water for garden irrigation . tomatoes need a lot of water when the fruit is big . otherwise you can have some large beautiful " dry " tomatoes . gravity is in my favor from the roof to the water tanks to the garden / fruit trees . wont have to run a pump .
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Could not get dH to come back in the house as the temps hit 106° @ 10:00 a.m. This is frustrating because it was after he hurt his back, not yet having breakfast or coffee. The yard is looking nice though. Once inside, he did eat after finally taking my advice to shower immediately for back pain. This requires me to go outside, stand by him, repeat, follow him around like a crazy woman etc. Then, I am the vulnerable elder outside in the heat. Ode to Joy!
It would not work at all to let him stay outside-maybe I would get called out for neglect of a vulnerable adult!
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You have heard of once in a blue moon?
The strawberry moon (time to pick remaining fruits) is even more rare than blue!

The strawberry moon has other names, too. As do all of the full moons. The Farmers Almanac will tell you.
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I don't have enough sun to grow veggies, which is what I'd really like to do. So, I have some hydroponics in my basement. I grow lettuce (really good at that), can't grow strawberries worth a hoot. I got a tomato plant in a tent with lots of toms.. yayayyaya!!! I have a pepper plant started. I want to try and get some red celery started to join the green one... but did I say I grow great lettuce??? :)
and yayy for the solstice, strawberry moon. wonder what the others are called..
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An arbor covered in vines would be so very nice.
113° is not normal! Very heat sensitive here, 75° indoors is too warm for me.
Enjoy the Summer Solstice (first day of summer) coinciding with the rare strawberry full moon (last one was 1948!-also the year In-N-Out was started; that year Israel became a Nation, and-not so important, I was born.

Hope everyone can stay cool!
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Nineties here, but not uncomfortable today because of the winds. The leaves on the trees aren't happy though and are already dropping. One of the late spring blooming shrubs bloomed a few days but has already stopped because of the heat.

Guess I'm glad I didn't get a Spring garden in because the plants would either now be drying out or bolting.

I'm thinking next year I might plan to create more pea an bean tents and plant bolting crops under the tent to help protect them from the sun.
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Celsius.
38.33° CELSIUS.
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The garden cozy temperate climate is 101° tonight-too hot to go outside. But don't worry-convert that to celcius and it is much lower!
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When the wind rustles through the bamboo across the back block wall, it makes enough noise, so no chimes in my design, please.
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Cwillie, That sounds so great, and almost doable. We just passed up a nice green rug for $20 at lows, we have shade cloth (gray) for the shade, and there is so much wind and so strong it has blown over and ripped to shreds any canopy or umbrella we have ever tried outside. I am going to keep thinking, because we need the shade to protect the rug-when we buy it-from bird (crow) poo. So we have two chairs, and a planter box. I like those yard decor that light up at night shaped like butterflies, there is cement, rocks are on the side yard. Soon.....
Nice visual, thanks.
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You have my creative juices flowing, to a gardener a pile of rocks and a drought just represent a new challenge. Your post had me contemplating the essential elements of a comforting backyard retreat. Shade, either natural or created, comfortable seating, privacy, clement temperatures and gentle breezes would be nice if it can be arranged. The gentle tinkle of wind chimes or trickling water from one of those little tabletop or patio fountains. Rearrange those rocks into a pleasing architectural feature, think of the patterns raked into the gravel in Japanese gardens. A few well placed potted plants, drought tolerant natives scattered about....
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Oh, there is a garden out there? Must have mistaken my new landscaping for a pile of rocks. (said sarcastically) But grateful for the bouganvillia, the cape honeysuckle, the green of succulents, etc. The one rose bush appears to have blight (brown/orange burnt looking leaves). Trimming it again?
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My dry stream started with a trench I had dug this spring because I was POed that it is always soggy by my shed door. The land naturally slopes to the back yard so I started digging to see if I could get the wet area to drain (and I like playing in the mud lol). So what to do with a trench in the yard? Why, fill it with rocks and make it into a garden feature of course! It is a work in progress, but it is looking pretty good I think.
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CWillie, I love dry stream beds. Did you excavate to lower the area, then fill it with rocks? Are there plantings in it as well? Too bad we can't post photos here. I'd love to see your new bed.

If we didn't live so far away, you could have some of my ostrich ferns. They grow easily, multiply easily and are beautiful. Some volunteered next to the garage, where they're in sun, which isn't the best location as they're shade lovers.

Despite periodic location, more still sprout. I suspect they grew wild in that area before this house was built.

They are stunning in August though as they begin turning color earlier than their friends in the shade. As they lose vigor, their fractal balance and shapes are more apparent. They'll turn a golden to rusty brown but some fronds will remain green. Just lovely - I peek out the window several times a day because they're just so pretty at that time of the year.



One limitation is that they don't do well with cut bouquets. I used to add them to flowers to create a green contrast, but they just never held up even if cut, put in water and kept in water until mixed with flowers.

I also tried drying them once, to use with violets in hand made cards. I don't recall if it was the violets or the ferns, but that effort wasn't very successful.
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i need to stake my tomato plants today but ill put it off as long as i can . i have a week old ear infection that the va gave me antibiotics for just this morning . im working on some rather complicated radial steps for a hot tub out at the farm and id rather rest today than halfass them . masonry lasts a long time -- halfassed masonry unfortunately does too .
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I've been busily decreasing the lawn here ever since I first moved in. First a ramp to the back deck, then a sidewalk to the ramp and a paved are for the trash cans. Next a flower bed alongside the ramp and below the two trees at the back of the property. Then a couple of shrubs, and my Japanese maple in the corner on the other side of the deck. This year it is my dry stream bed garden stretching form the deck and around the garden shed and also expanding the woodland area under the trees at the back.
Yesterday I was out scouting for freebies and came across some ferns (ostrich?) growing in the ditch. People clean out their gardens and just dump the extras by the woods, so I figured since they are not native and growing in the ditch and not private land they were mine... always carry a shovel in the car!
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Not too many lawns left in our neighborhood due to the drought. For greenery, some people bought huge wooden planter boxes and put in trees for green and privacy. That seems to be working well.
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I reported it, lol!!!
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Oh great TROLL ALERT!!
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Ashlynne I am absolutely certain that no inference to you was meant there. I know I go stir crazy when I am cooped up for too long and I am sure that it was meant to show empathy was with your chickens not an attempt at name calling to caregivers. Anyone who has been on the rough end of it re caregiving as most of us have KNOWS without a shadow of a doubt that caregivers are not stupid, far from it, but also knows that we can go a little wild when given freedom. Let me give you an example. My daughter gave me a couple of hours to my self for the first time in years when she took mum out for a morning and lunch. Now I coould have used that time to catch up on sleep, I could have gone for a walk alone (daft as that may sound its not something I ever do nowadays) but what did I do? I stayed in and cleaned the flat, the windows, polished the shower walls etc.....now if that aint stupid I don't know what is but it doesn't mean I am stupid it means that after being cooped up I didn't know how to behave either
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Ash, I too love reading your posts. In fact, I am envious. It is hard work but sounds so peaceful. Sometimes people here write things and do not think about how they might sound. That, unfortunately often happens in forums like this.
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Ashlynne, I've always enjoyed your posts, especially about your life in the country, your garden, your animals, and the way that they help soothe your soul as you recover from the trauma of your mother's attitude.

I wish I could understand what happened here that made you decide to leave, and I wish you would reconsider. I hope I haven't unwittingly made you feel uncomfortable or contributed to your decision to leave.

You've made valuable contributions to this thread. Your experience is very helpful and valuable, as well as diversified.

You've demonstrated how to put trauma behind you and move ahead. And, honestly, I've admired your life - you seem to have so much freedom now, and I thought it was a healing freedom.

Please, please, reconsider leaving.
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