Sins and camellias
I noticed the other day that my camellia had singed-looking new growth, and I know from my forays into the scarey gardening books that this means the root ball has probably dried out.
Is there any gardening sin greater than letting a camellia’s root ball dry out? I doubt it. It is a situation from which, the gardening books would have you believe, it is very difficult to recover. The gardening books tell you never to do it. Mulch, they say. But I have already done this. Deep water with a trickling hose, they say. But we are on water restrictions, and trickling hoses are not allowed. I have filled an old soft drink bottle with water and stuck it into the ground next to the roots, and I have to hope for the best.