Rangeland is where deer and antelope play. It is also home for grazing livestock and many other animals. “Almost half of the land on Earth is rangeland and one-third of the United States is rangeland,” the latest issue of Jr. Animal Scientist tells its young readers. A UC Agriculture and Natural Resources (UC ANR) advisor is among the scientists who contributed to the rangeland issue of the children's magazine.
Jr. Animal Scientist is published by the American Society of Animal Science for children aged 5 to 12 who are interested in animals. For the September 2015 issue, members of the Society for Range Management...
Because high-nitrogen fertilizer prompts plants to grow a lot of leaves and use more water, director of the UC Agriculture and Natural Resources (UC ANR) Master Gardener Program suggests California gardeners put away the fertilizer spreader for a time.
"When plants are under drought stress, we don't want to promote a lot of leafy growth," says Missy Gable in the fifth installment of UC ANR's six-part video series on saving water in the landscape. "If using fertilizer, choose a fertilizer low in nitrogen, or don't fertilize this year."
The UC Master Gardener Program provides a detailed description of landscape fertilizer needs on its
As consumers, we put a lot of care into the food we buy. We tend to trust that the produce we purchase at the local grocery store is free of pesticides and safe to eat.
Traces of pesticide residue are normal and even expected after pesticides are applied to food crops, but by the time produce is ready to be sold, purchased, and consumed, residues are usually far below the legal limit.
In its latest report from 2013, the California Department of Pesticide Regulation (DPR) reported that there was little or no detectable pesticide residue in 97.8 percent of all California-grown produce. This demonstrates a strong pesticide regulation program and pesticide applicators that apply pesticides safely and legally....
Mulch adds a finished, woodland-like quality to the garden, but that's not the only reason to spread organic matter on the soil surface. A layer of mulch conserves soil moisture, moderates soil temperature, and inhibits weeds, says Missy Gable, director of the UC Master Gardener Program, in the latest episode of UC Agriculture and Natural Resources' six-part home landscape water conservation video series.
Gable recommends the soil in home landscapes be covered with two to four inches of a fine- to medium-shred bark mulch. The mulch should not be applied too close to the bases of the plants so they won't be susceptible to rot.
UC Master...
UC Master Gardener Mary Steele has a trusty top-loading Maytag washer that was built before newer, water-saving models were on the market. Not wanting to dispose of her perfectly good washing machine, and concerned about conserving water, she decided to have a system installed to recycle laundry graywater for use in her Laguna Niguel front yard.
Steele, a UC Master Gardener in Orange County since 2000, brought in a contractor to install a valve behind her washing machine and flexible tubing to channel graywater to mulch pits in the front yard. The pits ensure that there is no graywater runoff or pooling on the property, important factors for using the recycled water. Steele found that the pits also work well for distributing...
