I'm starting a San Diego thread!

I'm new here, so I hope it's okay to start a local thread. If not, I'm sure someone will tell me.
You know ... it's easier to get forgiveness than permission.

If you live in San Diego, you know we have micro-climates around here. The zones really vary depending on where you live. I live in the Clairemont area, which means we have a nice breeze most of the time and it rarely gets above 80 or lower than 50. It also means we have terrible soil (more like clay) and we do have some wildlife visiting from neighboring canyons.

We recently remodeled and then landscaped our front yard. We are still in the process of doing that, as I tend to garden in a haphazard manner. I will attach a picture of how things look right now. We are also building a trellis next to our driveway and will be planting a fast growing vine (or two) to hide our neighbor's trailer that has become a permanent fixture. I welcome ideas on what to plant!

If you are from San Diego and want to talk gardens, swap seeds, share experiences, give advice, share pictures or whatever, please respond. It would be great to get an online community going here at Dave's place.

I thought I'd post a picture of the trellis we are building, too. We have jasmine growing in a couple of places already so I'd like to plant something else here. I plan to put whatever we decide on in pots so it has a chance to grow. The soil (hahahaha) is not good here. This area will get a lot of sun as it's pretty much fully exposed to the south and the west.

Any thoughts?

Hi Lauriegale,
Welcome! Your yard is coming along nicely. The weather in Clairemont is great for gardeners. Earlier this year, I saw a Poinsettia in Clariement that was the size of a small tree. Evidently, they cut it back every year and it springs back. You have a pretty unique growing opportunity when you can do that.

I lived in Clairement years ago, but unfortunately I was working too hard to do much gardening at the time. I remember the critters - mostly skunks, possums and a few coyotes. I'm about 10 miles east of you now in Scripps Ranch. It gets pretty 'toasty' here around this time of year.

Keep us posted on your yard. Great looking dog BTW.
TLeaves

And you're in the land of my other favorite place...Home Fabrics!

Hi Lauriegale. Welcome to Dave's. You'll have to attend the round-up next year - you'll really enjoy it.

Your place looks great. We have a bit too much for us to handle on our own, so it looks pretty rough in spots, but we keep working. We're using mostly natives for landscaping, but have some other types near the house. Recently I've tried clematis and passiflora vines - you might look into those for your trellis. Also roses - we have two Lady Banks roses growing on trellises and other than a little powdery mildew, they require very little care and give a great show in the spring. Pairing a rose with a clematis can give blooms well into the summer.

Is anybody else laughing at the temps they are giving for SD on the TV weather? 84 degrees? We've been in the 90s here (Bonsall) for days and days. Talk about micro-climates. lol

Kathleen

Hi TLeaves! Oh yes, the skunks and possums are still here. In fact, we have a possum who travels the top of our backyard fence on a regular basis at night. The dog, Maddie, thinks its a toy just for her! Thanks for the compliment on Maddie. She's a pound puppy and has given us 7 years of happiness so far. I think the cat (also a rescue) is in that picture somewhere. The animals do love to garden with us!

Scripps Ranch is a nice area. Sometimes you get that breeze thru the trees but I think it's usually hotter where you are.

Hi Gypsy! I love that fabric store! We should meet up sometime and get ice cream at ColdStone!

Hi Kaperc,
Clematis is one of the things I'm looking at. Also something called a black eyed susan vine. We have one similar but in orange and peach in our backyard that we grew from a slip from the school garden. I know it grows fast and is hardy. It did die back a bit in the freeze we had (remember that?) but recovered quickly.

I am laughing at the temps for SD. You know that's only right by the water. It's been in the 90's even in Clairemont so it has to be hotter inland. This must end soon, I'm wilting!

Pound pups are great. I think our next might be a pound puppy or at least a mix.

I'll never forget the time that our dog Sammy (Lab) found a skunk in the back yard in Clairemont. He was only a few months old and went tearing after it only to get sprayed up close right in the face. Then he ran into the house and proceeded to rub his face all over the carpet. Yeow what a smell. No skunks in Scripps Ranch. Good for Sammy. Good for us. lol

Sammy just made 14 years this month. That makes him around 98. We're going to celebrate his 100th around the end of the year. He is hanging in there - deaf and skinny, but happy. All is amazing since the vet said he would not walk past 3. Shows what they know...

It's been in the 90's here too, which feels 5 degrees hotter because of the humidity. We are usually within 1-2 degrees of Bonsal, nothing like Clairemont. I was always a little too cool in Clairemont except for summer. DH on the other hand HATES the heat and misses it greatly. Luckily, we are on the edge of a valley which draws a steady breeze in the back yard. We have a totally different situation in the front which has shade, but no breeze. Is there such a thing as a micro-microclimate?

Hi KaperC, I like to think of it as providing more "planting opportunities". You probably do too I would imagine. :)

What choice do we have? lol
I will just be glad when a few of them are not in full sun!

Good morning TLeaves. I had to laugh at the Sammy and the Skunk story. We have a similar story about our previous dog, Sid. He did the same thing and it took forever to get rid of that smell. We haven't seen skunks around here lately but my friends in Hillcrest say they have a problem with them.

We ended up planting two passion flower vines and one potato vine on our trellis. They made the transition well, and we expect to see some good growth in the next few months. I took a picture when we finished planting so we can do a month by month comparison. Gosh, we must be real gardeners, eh? We used to take pictures of our kids on a monthly basis ... now it's our plants!

LG, I would maybe suggest you try under your pots of vines, start using the lasagna garden techniques throught the fall and winter and see if we get rain if you may not kill two birds with one stone. while your establishing the vines, you can get great soil and bring worms to the area, which will benefit you and your future plantings. sorry I am not from SD. I used to spend a lot of time in San Tee and El Cajon though.

Well so much for 'no skunks in Scripps Ranch'. After 13 years, we finally saw our first skunk. Sammy ran (well walked fast) out to see, but either he remembered the last encounter or he just couldn't muster up the energy to go after it. At 14 years old, it's most likely the latter, poor guy.

Yes, I take LOTS more pics of my garden than my son these days. lol You should post pictures of your trellis when you get a chance.

GLAD TO SEE A SAN DIEGO THREAD ON "DAVES GARDEN".

Good Morning! Welcome to Dave's. Drop me a d-mail. I work in Clairemont and would love to meet you. Perennial morning glory would hid that trailer quickly (actually, left unattended, it would eat the trailer lol.) Passion vines or trumpet vines are quick growers. There are lots of pretty bouginvillas too if you do not mind thorns.
Drop me a line
Janice

Hi Janice

Hi, I am new to Dave's Garden. I live in North Park over by the zoo. Just a note on the black eyed susan vine...I had it years ago and it was quite invasive. My neighbor was happy when I pulled it out. :-)

I love invasive vines where I live.

Good morning everyone. The vines are doing well. They are in their own pots, and we are working on the watering system. Well, we were working on them until it got too hot to even be out there. What the heck? This heat and humidity must stop soon!

Here's a picture of how they look this morning. The passion flower nearest the tires (ahem) has already bloomed twice and has a nice bud on it now.

TLeaves, you made me laugh again with the newest skunk story. Never say never, eh? So glad Sammy didn't experience the full encounter this time.
Here's a shot of our backyard vine that we grew from that slip at the school. Do you think it's a Black Eyed Susan? If so, it is very invasive so hardy. It did survive the freeze. We are extending it to another part of our fence as you can see. We are also going to let it grow up and cover the black plastic that my other neighbor is using as a shade cloth.
Hmmm... it seems I have issues with my neighbors, doesn't it?

Your potted vines look great, LG! I might be able to use that method of planting here, too.

Good morning Kperc. We thought that keeping some of our plants in semi-submerged pots would help conserve water and give our plants a good start in real soil (as opposed to the clay we have here). The picture of the vine shows a couple of plants that we tried this with two years ago and they were a big success. That side of the fence is north-facing so we planted camilias and gardenias there. We have Baby Tear at the base. Heck, why don't I just go take a picture!
I do love having a digital camera.
As I look at the picture, I am wishing I had one from June when the sweetpeas were on the other side of the fence. It was so pretty. Next year I will be sure to take that shot.

One more shot of the gardens this morning. I'm happy to say my tiny harlequin butterfly bush is enjoying her first summer and attracting butterflies and bees with her great color and scent. The transplanted lavendar came back from the shock of the move with a spectacular show. I cut back the lobelia a few weeks ago and it's trying to come back. The oppressive heat is not really helping them return!
This is the view I have when I sit under the shade of my tree and enjoy my book in the afternoons. This is why I garden!

Hi Lauriegayle, What a lovely place to sit and relax. I especially like the New Balance as a focal point! lol Thanks for sharing.

Aren't those funny? My husband planted those one day when I was gone. It was so whimsical that it made me laugh. We need to replant them, though. The dahlias are done.

Welcome CaGardener45! Nice to have another newbie around. You live in a nice area for gardening, don't you? I know the area around the park has so many pretty gardens. What kinds of things are you growing? Or, as they say in the children's song "How does your garden grow?"

Beautiful garden, Lauriegayle!

Thanks Kaperc. I'm enjoying gardening more than I ever thought possible and it's so nice to find a community of like-minded folks here at DG. Love it!