- Author: Tyler Ash
Download the free booklet at the bottom of the page!
1. Ants
Most people deal with ants around their home at some point. Because most ants live outdoors, focus efforts on keeping ants from entering buildings by caulking entryways. Follow good sanitation practices to make your home less attractive to ants. Spraying ants inside the home will not prevent more ants from entering. Use baits to control the ant colony. Pesticide baits work by attracting worker ants who then take the poison back to the nest where the entire...
/h3>/h2>- Editor: Melissa G. Womack
- Author: Aubrey Bray
Does a beautiful, low-maintenance, cost-saving landscape that actually improves the environment sound like a dream? If so, wake up, and welcome to the world of sustainable landscaping. Sustainable landscaping combines planning and maintenance practices for a low-waste, low-environmental impact garden space. Sustainable Landscaping in California: How to Conserve Resources and Beautify your Home Landscape, a new free publication by UC Agriculture and Natural Resources (ANR) demonstrates how creating a sustainable landscape is attainable.
Below are six easy steps, drawn from the recommendations in the 21-page publication, to illustrate the...
- Author: Melissa G. Womack
- Author: Nancy Grove, UCCE Master Gardener of San Mateo and San Francisco counties
Is it possible to grow a vegetable garden when water resources are scarce and water rationing could be imposed? Water responsibly, plant carefully, and select fruit and vegetable varieties that are drought tolerant. All of these sustainable gardening practices require less water – and help ensure your family has access to a variety of nutrient rich foods.
Ten simple drought tips to reduce water use in your backyard garden
- Planting time
Plant earlier in spring and later in fall. Planting earlier in the spring season takes advantage of the warm weather and reduces exposure to high mid-summer temperatures. Planting later in the fall minimizes the use of...
- Author: Kathy Keatley Garvey
Mary, Mary, quite contrary
How does your garden grow?
--English nursery rhyme
How will your garden grow during California’s drought emergency? Gov. Jerry Brown says the state is facing the worst drought in its recorded history.
We urban gardeners may turn quite contrary if our gardens don't grow.
Alternative: Consider installing a drip irrigation system.
Why a drip system? It’s target watering. It’s uniform watering. It’s non-wasteful watering. You don’t want to water the leaves, the space between the plants, or worse, water the sidewalk or let the water gush into the gutter.
Drip...
- Author: Aubrey White
Lately, I’ve seen the familiar signs of back-to-school. The school bus noisily pulls away from my neighbor’s house before the sun has fully risen. The neighborhood kids are inside a bit earlier in the evening (probably to finish that pesky homework), and I see throngs of students walk down the street with heavy backpacks slung low over their shoulders. But there are a few new signs in my neighborhood that school is back in session; kids with dirty jeans, mud stained at the knees from time spent in the school garden.
Interest in school gardens in California is high, and institutions are working to provide the resources to make school garden development a success. The