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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2 parallel drip irrigation lines running top to bottom on both sides of a vegetable seedling

Flow Focus: Irrigation Friction Loss

May 20, 2024
I recently helped one of our local student gardens install a drip irrigation system in some raised beds. During the installation, I had to explain why we were using tubing for most of our system instead of .
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Garden Rotation Rules of Thumb

May 18, 2024
By Dustin W Blakey
Vegetable gardening is both an art and a science, and an important technique for success is crop rotation. By rotating crops, you can improve soil health, reduce pests, and increase yields. Continuous planting of the same kind of plant in the same place every year is a recipe for creating problems.
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A fun, Easter decorated landscape with a lawn in front of a house.

A History of the American Lawn

May 14, 2024
Most of us grew up with a lawn. For many of us, mowing the lawn was a part of our weekly chores growing up; yellow spots were treated like a black mark, and a dandelion popping up was like a declaration of war.
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