- Author: Tyler Ash
![Ant](https://ucanr.edu/blogs/Green/blogfiles/36760small.jpg)
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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: Cheryl Reynolds
![Sample of pages from publication 3359](https://ucanr.edu/blogs/Green/blogfiles/34862small.jpg)
What do Asian citrus psyllids, Bagrada bugs, brown marmorated stink bugs, palm weevils, and polyphagous shothole borers have in common? Not only are they invasive pests relatively new to California, but they have also been added to the newly revised ANR publication, Pests of Landscape Trees and Shrubs.
Now in its third edition, this integrated pest management (IPM) how-to guide is a comprehensive resource for arborists, home gardeners, landscapers, parks and ground managers, and retail nurseries. It contains solutions for hundreds of insects, mites, nematodes, plant disorders and diseases, and weeds that can damage California...
![Spray heads can get knocked out of alignment. Check all spray heads to ensure they are hitting the target.](https://ucanr.edu/blogs/Green/blogfiles/29049small.jpg)
To conserve water and meet California's new water-use restrictions, one place to start is literally in one's own backyard. More than half of all household water use is typically used outdoors on landscape, according to University of California Agriculture and Natural Resources experts.
For homeowners, there are six key things to do to conserve landscape water, says Karrie Reid, UC ANR Cooperative Extension advisor, in San Joaquin County. Reid gives the following six tips:
- Tune up your irrigation system right away. When water is efficiently and accurately applied, less water is needed to keep plants healthy. Spray heads can get knocked out...
- Author: Pamela Kan-Rice
![The photo shows green squares of groundcover test plots.](https://ucanr.edu/blogs/Green/blogfiles/12651small.jpg)
As competition for water increases, the green, green grass of home has become a guilty pleasure. Over half of the water used by residents flows outside the house for gardens and landscape plants. To curb water use, an ordinance that took effect in 2010 mandates water conservation on urban landscapes. UC scientists are studying ways to make it easier to be green – conserving water but still enjoying green plants around the yard.
Turfgrass and landscape professionals will gather tomorrow, Sept. 13, at UC Riverside to learn about the latest innovations in turfgrass research and management. The 2012 Turfgrass and Landscape Research Field Day will start at 7 a.m.
One of the...
- Author: Pamela Kan-Rice
![The scientists tested 8 types of landscape mulches, shown in this test plot.](https://ucanr.edu/blogs/Green/blogfiles/7876small.jpg)
The Las Conchas fire that recently consumed nearly 137,000 acres in Los Alamos, N.M., serves as a reminder of how quickly fire can move if given fuel. I can’t light a barbecue with matches and lighter fluid, but a small ember drifting on the wind can find so many ways to burn down people’s homes if given the right conditions.
Removal of vegetation near Los Alamos National Laboratory, which is part of the UC system, created a buffer and helped spare the lab from the Las Conchas fire, which came within 50 feet. Creating a buffer is one of many preventive measures that can be taken to protect property from wildfires.
In a wildfire-prone area, even if you have a house with a concrete tile roof and noncombustible siding, an...