The Backyard Gardener

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A Gardening Blog for the East Side

The climate of the Eastern Sierra is very different from most of California and so gardening here is different, too! 

Preparing the contents of the pile.

In this blog we examine some of the quirks of gardening on the East Side, and cover horticultural issues that are important locally. Note that if you're visiting our site from the outside our little corner of California, you may find this information may not apply to your area.

Articles are written by local UC Master Gardener volunteers or UC Cooperative Extension experts. 

 

We also have a website!

The Inyo-Mono Master Gardeners also have a website with local gardening and soil information. Visit it to learn more about our program and gardening. 

We are part of UC Cooperative Extension in Inyo and Mono counties.

 

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A chart of numbers generated from the CIMIS website showing ET data

It's Been So Dry: Do I Need To Water?

January 14, 2025
By Dustin W Blakey
Owens Valley has had a dry winter so far. December brought no rain, and by mid-January, we've seen about 5 inches of evapotranspiration (ETo) since November but less than an inch of rain.
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A hand turning the adjuster on an operating flood bubbler

Let's Talk About Flood Bubblers

July 1, 2024
By Dustin W Blakey
I know you've seen them. Little caps on the end of vertical irrigation pipe that can be adjusted to control flow with a twist (or screwdriver). They are called flood bubblers and are used widely in the Eastern Sierra to deliver water to woody plants outside of a lawn sprinkler system.
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