I have talked about surface pruning and hedging plants that shouldn't be hedged. I saw an extreme example of this style of pruning.

Yes! This is a Japanese Maple. Actually there are three Japanese maple in this picture.

This is an extreme picture of either incorrect plant selection or butchering the pruning job. In this case I don't see any reason why the maple couldn't have been allowed to grow up and be a real Japanese Maple.

I think this demonstrates the importance of knowing what plants should look like and prune to match. In this landscape there is also a cubed Mugho Pine and a Heavenly Bamboo sheared into a box.

There are numerous examples of this everywhere. In some cases it is because during the plant selection process someone chose the wrong plant. In other cases as shown here it is just lazy pruning!

I am collecting Pictures and will discuss what should be done in a later post.

When you dry out something the first thing to do is get moisture back in the entire soil area. Usually it takes a slow soaking. This is where a moisture meter can come in handy. Dry soil, especially dry soil with a lot of organic material, repels water. This can mean lots of dry pockets even if you do a slow soak. A moisture meter can help you detect dry pockets.

Several years ago we had a super dry ficus in a large pot. After soaking three times it still seemed too light in weight so we checked with a moisture meter. About half of the root ball was still dry. It took a couple of days to get the entire soil mass moist.

After you get the soil moist the next problem is over watering.

Yes, over watering!

If you ever get lost in Death Valley I hope the rescuers don't take you to the closest hotel, tie an anchor to your waist, and put you in the pool.

This is what a lot of people do. "If I just give it some more water the burned leaves will turn green."

This is again where a moisture meter comes in handy. It gives you some real feed back on the moisture levels. You can tell if it is dry on the surface and still wet in the center.

Generally, the ideal is to keep the entire soil mass moist (not wet). Too much water drives out the oxygen out of the soil and causes anaerobic bacteria to grow that attacks the roots. In addition roots NEED oxygen to grow.

You have to be careful until the plant has enough time to heal the root damage. In some cases it can take several months to a couple of years.

In most cases careful care can allow the plants to recover. Obviously not letting plants dry out is better and again a moisture meter can help you tell what is happening before the damage happens.

Obviously the purple ones are eggplant. The white ones are eggplant, the striped orange ones are eggplant, the long greenish white ones are eggplant and the lavender ones (both the round lavender and the long ones) are eggplant.

I guess you can tell the squash at the top of the pan. You probably also can id the purplish red tomato at the upper right against the edge. I would guess that you might miss the white cherry tomatoes over the round purple eggplant. Another you might miss is the tomato nestled against the squash at the bottom left of the Pan. The most unusual looking ones are the brownish purple ones just above the orange tomato against the squash. Even in person I had to look closely to be sure.

You can use most any veggies you have on hand. In this instance I used:

Garlic
Onion
Zucchini
Green & Yellow Bell Peppers
Tomatoes

Chop up your veggies in nice chunks, add to a non stick skillet and stir fry with a dash of olive oil until tender-crisp. When the vegetables are nearly cooked add your herbs, don’t add them before as that will blacken them and they will lose flavor as well.

Use your favorite herbs. My favorite mix is Herbs de Provence or I will sometimes just go with some rosemary, thyme, oregano, and a bit of pepper and salt. Dill is also great.

Dish up and sprinkle with some of your favorite cheese. I prefer feta, parmesan, or a good strong cheddar.

If you like you can serve with pasta or rice. Also good with naan bread on the side.

Enjoy!