The Real Dirt

Flowers blooming

The Real Dirt blog covers regional gardening issues from soil health to planting for pollinators; from fire resistant landscaping to attracting wildlife. Read all about it!

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Phacelia and poppies, Cindy Weiner
The Real Dirt: Article

Naturescaping

August 20, 2021
Imagine a garden designed to focus on creating natural wildlife habitat. Why not eliminate turf grass from your own garden and replace it with trees, shrubs, perennials, and annuals that benefit wildlife? Welcome to Naturescaping, a method of landscaping that allows people and nature to coexist.
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Zephyranthes candida - rain lilies by J.C. Lawrence
The Real Dirt: Article

Consider Late-Summer-Blooming Lilies

August 13, 2021
Lilies are monocotyledons, plants which have flower parts in multiples of three, parallel leaf veins and fibrous, branching roots. They often have strap-like leaves in a clump at the base of the plant, and flowers on long stalks which tower over the leaves and wave in the breeze.
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Vole, Jack Kelly Clark, UC IPM
The Real Dirt: Article

Serious Garden Pests: Voles, Moles, and Gophers

July 30, 2021
It's an exasperating experience. You go to the nursery, pick out a flowering plant, shrub, or tree and bring it home only to have some critter damage or destroy it within the first week. Pests cause damage and waste time and money.
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Atmospheric river, NASA 12-11-2014
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Gardening Within Our Means

July 23, 2021
What does a careful analysis of our Mediterranean climate, historic climate patterns, and water supply reveal about our future here in Butte County? Specifically, what does the historical climate record tell us about for precipitation and temperature? How have groundwater levels changed over time?
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