Napa Master Gardener Column

by Penny Pawl, UC Master Gardener of Napa County One of my favorite drought-tolerant plants is the smoke bush (Cotinus coggygria). This wonderful bush is sometimes called smoketree. It is native to southern Europe and temperate parts of Asia.

By Susanne von Rosenberg, UC Master Gardener of Napa County If you live in an older home, you likely inherited some amount of old landscaping.

By Susanne von Rosenberg, UC Master Gardener of Napa County Rainfall totals over the past 30 days range from a low of 8-1/2 inches in downtown Napa to more than 15 inches in parts of St. Helena and Angwin. You can check the rainfall totals near you on the One Rain Napa website.

By Susanne von Rosenberg, UC Master Gardener of Napa County One thing that Master Gardeners talk about a lot is putting the right plant in the right place. That means choosing plants adapted to the climate, to the soil in your garden and to the amount of sunlight and water they will receive.

By Penny Pawl, UC Master Gardener of Napa County Fall and winter are great times to do sheet composting in your garden. So just what is sheet composting and what are the benefits? Some people call it smothering, sheet mulching or lasagna composting.