Weed cloth always fails

http://chanceofrain.com/2017/03/weed-cloth-always-fails/

Check out Emily's article, linked above.  

I have to admit that I used a permeable cloth between a sand + gravel + paver walkway and the underlying soil. I don't remember where I got the idea to do so, but in that situation the idea was to keep the lower sand bed of the walkway from intermixing with soil.  The hope was that it would extend the life of the pathway.  There was little area to grow weeds and I don't know well it worked, since I moved from that house. However, I never had the expectation that it would be weed-free.

Emily responded in another forum and stated that she might be the source of that erroneous advice.  Currently, and based on studying paths over their life, she didn't recommend weed cloth for that use. 

I've pulled up enough failed weed cloth used in other more "standard" applications that I would never use it with its original intent in mind.   I can also imagine that any path repair involving a prior application of weed cloth would be many times worse than if weed cloth had not been used in the first place, so I'll let the expert lead here and agree that I [now] can't see any use for weed cloth.

My photos of failed weed cloth look strikingly similar to Emily's - rather crappy for a "garden".

Crappy Marquee Tree

This is a jacaranda tree. Puzzling that it's cut back to save the cable and phone lines. Usually one only sees this level of pruning for the power lines which are located much higher up. Obviously it's not the first time someone has been at this tree.

Grievous girdles galore

That looks like a girdle mark.

Bad pruning - I call it nope-iary

Things I hate. This:

And this:

Good luck with that

What you see is an approximate 8" gap between two cinder block walls with a Brazilian Pepper growing between them.

Wrong place wrong climate

Pay attention to the tall tree in the middle of this guy's lawn.


It looks like a redwood. This one Is just a youngster but it looks like it's in ill health. This tree is located in an Inland S. Ca. community. Probably not getting enough water.

If the owner is lucky it will die soon and be taken down at only modest expense. The alternative is that it gets bigger and more costly to take down (or falls down) in a decade when it finally succumbs to less than optimum growing conditions.


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Don't know or don't care

Hmmm. What's this?


Don't let your dog urinate....



Oh it's just a warning sign about their new sod and it's screwed to this poor Chinese elm. This is a warm summer inland community.

I guess they haven't heard about the drought.

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From a small seed a mighty trunk may grow....

...and grow, and grow, and grow.  I'm sure it was cute when it was smaller.  As a gangly pre-teen, it's not even reached close to its final height. At least it's not planted beneath power lines. 

Don't do this.

I'm sure there's a lot of local pride...

...to have such a wonderful landmark at the corner.


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Excellence in pruning

Suggestion: Next time plant something that grows to an appropriate size.


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Pride of ownership

I found a neighborhood in Goleta that seems to cultivate the lovely Oxalis pes-caprae (sourgrass).

It was such an inspiring sight that I thought I'd write a little tribute.
 
Oxalis my love, I wish you were in front of me
I'd pluck your sour stems to chomp
and hope they had no dog pee.
Then I'd cover you under with cardboard and mulch
in a garden recovery strategy









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Let's install sprinklers...

...and use them to water our trees.  Of course magnolia trees are shallow rooted by nature, but with our watering regimen we can get them all on the surface.  Then let's plant ivy to cover them up.

This is unaesthetic and not very environmentally friendly.  Folks, don't do this.

Useless on top of the ground...

He is useless on top of the ground; he ought to be under it, inspiring the cabbages. -Mark Twain

What's that new planting around the mailbox? It's a bit shaded by the out of place ficus tree and I can't see it clearly.

Heat island miniatures

It's about time for another in my irregular feature, Don't Do This.

Let's start with a close up of 2011's and 2012's trendy plant, a succulent.  This one looks like a Dudleya.  So far so good. 

Now pan to the full expanse of yard and to see the full glory...

And we wonder how they get there...

Sometimes I wonder how known bad actor plants get into our wild areas.  I guess I don't need to wonder that much.  Here's photo from Sunday's grocery shopping trip to Sprouts market.

Weed barrier disaster

One of my neighbors thinks that essential garden elements include weed barrier cloth. They have thought this for years, since there's been no status change to this street side parking strip for at least that long. Don't do this.







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Watch out when you open the front door!

This one is little brother to the one by the front door.




It gets better...

Crap shearing of plants that don't deserve it: Garden UFOs

I've thought highly of the Air Force for once upon a time installing natives plants at LA Air Force Base. Unfortunately, it seems like they contracted to install the plants, but not for their upkeep: I've watched as at least 50% of the plants failed due to improper followup after installation and were replaced by less interesting plants. Those that haven't failed have suffered from improper upkeep. Take these shrubs as an example:

They look like an invading armada of garden UFOs.  Can you guess what the very geometrically sheared inverted cone shaped shrubs are? I'll tell you that next to the sidewalk is what appears to be a 'Canyon' selection of Artemesia Californica. It is doing well. To the right at the corner is a scattered plot of native Iris (undoubtedly a hybrid, but I don't know which one). Unfortunately, in mid summer both the Iris and the Artemisia tend to look tired. The cone-shaped plant was clearly intended to counter-balance the others in summer with its dense green foliage.  What is it?

If you haven't guessed what it is, I'll tell you after the break.

A bad idea, poorly executed: Topiary, with Ficus

Here's some topiary that I came across while on an urban hike with buddy Dan G. I mostly dislike topiary, but these struck me as particularly poor execution of a bad idea. There's no uniformity of size or height as one would expect for a formal entryway and the shapes are each uniquely lumpy.

Bad, bad, form. Don't use Ficus and Don't do this.

Ugly ficus topiary

The landmark that shouldn't

I'm all in favor of removing palm trees. They tend to be cute at first, but then their negative qualities take over as they mature: invasive, no shade, few ecological services. So when I see someone cutting down a palm, I'm usually all in favor. But please finish the job!

Ah!  Home Sweet Home...with a 5' stump in the front yard.