RE: Adelaide

I totally agree with this assessment, and never have watered mine at all
after their first year of establishment, but as it is still technically
winter here, and still cools rapidly at sundown, I have thought I might need
to simulate our typical rainy season!
Karrie

-----Original Message-----
From: owner-medit-plants@ucdavis.edu [o*@ucdavis.edu]
On Behalf Of david feix
Sent: Tuesday, February 03, 2009 10:15 AM
To: medit-plants@ucdavis.edu
Subject: RE: Adelaide

I don't want to be unnecessarily contradictory, but in fact, warm water or
warm wet soil can be very dangerous for the roots of Ceanothus species.
Most all can quickly succomb to phythopthera infection under warm wet
conditions.  The best advice would be to only water in the cool of the
night, and mulch the soil heavily to try and reduce high soil temperatures.
Once or twice a month irrigation will be safer than more frequent watering
under warm conditions.  You want to avoid at all costs longer frequency of
warm, wet soils.  The vast majority of the most popular Ceanothus cultivars
in California are more coastal species along the west coast, and can be
problematic even here in inland southern or northern California conditions
when it gets too hot in summer.  When growing them outside their preferred
coastal environment, they tend to do best in dappled shade as opposed to
full sun, and even better in more shaded, north(northern hemisphere)
exposures,
 or with morning sun only.  I can well imagine that trying to compete with
most Eucalyptus tree roots under hot, dry Australian conditions is a losing
battle...  It is not a whole lot easier trying to garden under/nearby Coast
Redwood trees, they are just as surface rooting and water hungry.


--- On Mon, 2/2/09, Margaret Nottle <margn@internode.on.net> wrote:

> From: Margaret Nottle <margn@internode.on.net>
> Subject: RE: Adelaide
> To: Margaret.A.Healey@bigpond.com, medit-plants@ucdavis.edu
> Date: Monday, February 2, 2009, 8:15 PM
> The warm water shouldn't be a problem but even Ceanothus
> don't like
> prolonged periods of drought, semi-drought and more
> drought. They never get
> a chance to recover fully. Nearby trees will take every
> last drop of soil
> moisture from shrubs, even toughies like California lilacs.
> I mulch deeply
> with rough, coarse mulch - mostly big slabs of pea straw
> taken straight off
> the bale when the baling twine is cut. I do not plant near
> established trees
> but try to make the Ceanothus the highest layer of growth
> under scented leaf
> geraniums, cistus, rosemaries, yuccas, agapanthus etc.
> 
>  
> 
> Not much can be done now but watch and see the full extent
> of damage as it
> develops over the next few weeks. Hope we get a summer
> thunderstorm soon.
> Water deeply if you are able to.
> 
>  
> 
> Good Luck
> 
>  
> 
> Trevor N.
> 
>  
> 
>   _____  
> 
> From: owner-medit-plants@ucdavis.edu
> [o*@ucdavis.edu]
> On Behalf Of Margaret A Healey
> Sent: Tuesday, 3 February 2009 1:34 PM
> To: medit-plants@ucdavis.edu
> Subject: Adelaide
> 
>  
> 
> Sorry if this is of local rather than global importance but
> having spent the
> morning trying to save my California lilacs- my last tough
> hedge- and
> discovering that even the water in my underground tank was
> warm, I was
> wondering if anything was surviving in Adelaide and if so
> how did you do it?
> 
>  
> 
> Margaret Healey
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