As our morning marine layer backs off and temperatures begin to climb, I thought I'd tick off one of the easier projects on my list this week. After all, I'd tackled the hard part a few months ago - or so I'd thought.
This is the area in question as photographed in January, a bed in the back garden badly congested with overgrown Aeoniums and a rambunctious Ceanothus |
This "after" shot was taken once I'd cleared the path by removing most of the Aeonium 'Kiwi' and a portion of the taller noID Aeonium arboreum planted in front of the large Ceanothus shrub |
My stage two project was to pull out all of the tall, bare-legged Aeonium arboreum, lightly prune the Ceanothus, and then replant. It appeared a quick and easy fix to me!
I don't know if it's apparent in the preceding photo but that noID Ceanothus is a behemoth. It's the only one left from the garden we inherited when we purchased the house. Like the mass of Ceanothus that originally occupied the front garden, it's backed by the Xylosma congestum hedge that runs the entire length of the main level of the backyard garden as well as most of the front of our property. I'd no reservations about pulling out the three massive Ceanothus in the front garden when the plants began dying because the narrow space between them and the Xylosma made me claustrophobic. The Ceanothus-Xylosma pairing in the back creates a similar feeling but I seldom pass through that section of the path, which is generally used only by the gardeners during their quarterly shearing of the hedge.
Pruning the Ceanothus proved harder than I expected. Not only does the bed slope downward there but there's another sharp drop of two to three feet between it and the maintenance path separating it from the Xylosma. I thought about asking the gardeners to prune the top of the shrub for me but I expected they'd shear it with an electric pruner, leaving the top looking butchered so I did what I could with manual pruning shears. Given the sloping ground, there was no way I was going to attempt the job atop a ladder, or ask my husband to do so.
So, this project isn't entirely done. I want to make another pass through the bed to make sure all (or at least the vast majority) of the asparagus ferns' bulbous roots are gone. Then I need to supplement the soil and replant. As yesterday's trip to the garden center didn't provide other ideas, I'll replant the bed with Aeonium cuttings once again, even though the Aeoniums are entering their dormant status. They do a good job of masking the underskirts of that Ceanothus. I just need to be more meticulous about keeping both the Aeoniums and the Ceanothus well-trimmed in the future.
I'll close my Friday post with some prettier photos of two succulent plants in flower at present.
I think this is a monkey tail cactus (Cleistocactus colademononis as that was how it was labeled but my phone thinks it's a rat tail cactus, C. winteri). In any case these are its first blooms |
The sweet bell-shaped flowers of Cotyledon pendens in this mixed succulent container was a nice surprise. I bought the plant for its foliage, having no idea what its flowers might look like. |
Enjoy your weekend!
All material © 2012-2025 by Kris Peterson for Late to the Garden Party
Ooh! That cactus is a beauty. Very attractive Cotyledon, too.
ReplyDeleteThat's my beef with Aeoniums--way too much green waste. I'm trying to reduce that as much as I can, even though CA is moving to mandate composting of all green waste. Senecio mandraliscae is bad, too. You have more patience with Aeoniums than I do.
Trimming shrubs on a slope, yes it's a tough situation. I hire that job out to a pro.
I do love my Aeoniums, effusive as they can be. I'm feeling more hesitant about my Senecio, especially as mine flop about way too much. I took a lot of cuttings when I cleaned up after the removal of the 'Blue Flame' Agave thugs but I'm not sure I want to plant them even with significant space to fill.
DeleteLove the Cleistocactus colademononis, so many flowers! My main takeaway from this post is sheer awe at the way aeoniums grow and multiply in your garden. Obviously you've shared this phenomenon with us many times in the past, but this post seemed even more extreme. Wowsa!
ReplyDeleteThe noID mostly green Aeonium arboreum which started out as cuttings from a friend's mother's garden over a decade ago are the most prolific by far. I wish more of the red-tinged ones like 'Jack Catlin' grew as well - they seem to want more shade. 'Merlot' is even pickier.
DeleteCotyledon blooms are the cutest! Ugh, just the sight of those asparagus fern bulbous roots makes me anxious. Good job getting in there, not fun especially with that drop-off on one side. Your Cleistocactus is perfection, I thought rat tail had shorter spines and thinner tails?
ReplyDeleteI've learned that I can't really trust the my phone app's plant IDs, Tracy. It appears to pull from mountains of photos but, as best as I can tell, there's no effort to check the labels for accuracy when passing them on.
DeleteIt sounds like a dangerous job and glad to hear you made it out safely. I do love ceanothus but they all get so large and so fast. We've made one into a tree. Beautiful blooms on the succulents.
ReplyDeleteI had a Ceaonthus arboreus ('Clifford Schmidt') I loved that just upped and died in late spring after 10 years on my back slope. I suspect this one I acquired with the garden in the back border is the same variety as the 3 that croaked in the front garden years ago but there's no sign of this one throwing in the towel. In point of fact, at least 2 of the "dead" ones in the front now seem to be mounting sneaky comebacks...
DeleteI love your pathways and your views, Kris. I wish I could simply hop on over, visit you, and tour your garden. Your blog posts are the next best thing. Have a great weekend!
ReplyDelete