By Barbara Dawson (on behalf of the UCCE San Bernardino County Master Gardener Drought Committee)
Landscape irrigation in California accounts for 1/3 to 1/2 of all residential water use. Due to the current drought and impacts of urban heat islands, planting drought and heat resistant, environmentally friendly landscape plants is important. Currently sixty-six percent of the state is now considered to be in a severe drought (drought.gov) with droughts expected to be more common and frequent over the coming decades.
Planning ahead is important! Let's reconsider the grassy cool-season lawn (tall fescue, bluegrass, ryegrass). While all living plants cools urban heat islands as they grow (through transpiration), cool season lawns require about 30% more water than warm season lawns (Bermudagrass, buffalograss) and many types of drought-resistant groundcovers. Also, since sprinkler irrigation is not as efficient as drip irrigation and much of the water applied never reaches the rootzone of the plants, even more water is often wasted. (Please remember that artificial grass, asphalt, and dark colored mulch super-heat our urban heat islands and should be avoided in inland and desert areas!)
If it makes sense in your specific situation to remove your lawn and replace it with lower maintenance plants that save time and money, what steps do you need to take to be successful? First and foremost, plan ahead. 
Once there is a plan it is time to get rid of the grass. This is no fun but keep the end goal in mind. There are several options: let the grass die (by not watering it), use a sod removal machine, or cover the grass with old carpeting or newspaper covered with mulch. Using a sod removal machine will gain the quickest results. The other options may take one to six months. Once the grass is gone check the remaining soil for sod netting although this doesn't necessarily need to be all gone before planting begins. When planting, group plants with like watering needs together (hydrozone). Check the plant tags for the height and width they'll reach when mature and make sure there's adequate space as well as their drought and heat tolerance. Consider this when planting. There will be some bald areas between the plantings at the start. Allow plenty of space if you're planning on adding trees! They should not be crowded out. Before adding new plants wait until the first ones fill out. It's ok to have a few plants that need moderate water but make sure they are in their own hydrozone.
Water regularly (once or more per week) until the plants are established (a season or two) and then go longer between waterings to let the roots dry down some and avoid root rot. Adding organic matter (such as compost) to planting sites that will not be used for trees may be useful since it helps retain water in sandy soils and enhances drainage in heavier clay soils. Check the soil to determine how often to water. Sandy soils require watering much more often than clay soils. Many natives and succulents require a fast draining soil. Continue to pull out weeds and grass clumps. After one year reassess the garden. Do you want to add more plants, take out those that are not working, add more rocks? Consider this a work in progress until you're satisfied.
One last comment. Like most gardens this will take work. But, in the end, your yard will attract pollinators and beneficial insects and you will save many gallons of water (which will result in a savings on the water bill). Southern California is an arid zone so let's create a more fitting space.
- Author: Margaret J O'Neill
Have you found yourself in the garden looking at a plant and wondering what is going on with those leaves? You think your plant is getting enough, but not too much, water but it just doesn't look right. Or have you been out checking your veggies and seen strange bugs and wondered what they are and if they and are they harmful to your plants? Do you have an old tree in the yard that is just not looking its best and wonder what to do?
Well, we have the resource for you!! Our Helpline is here for you! Our helpline is a free resource for the community where we answer questions on a wide variety of topics. Some examples include: what vegetables to plant this time of year; what is eating your plants; why are your plant's leaves twisting; what type of tree would be good for your area; why are your tomatoes not producing; how should I use compost or mulch in my garden; how do I fertilize my plants; what is the best way to manage ants and other pests in my yard; what type of tree is this in my new back yard……and much more…but you get the idea! We get questions about anything and everything gardening related and we love to help!
Kelly, one of our Master Gardener helpline volunteers says:
“We at San Bernardino Master Gardener Helpline learn from our clients every time we pick up the phone or read email inquiry. It's a mutual sort of learning like a cross pollination of information that occurs when fielding the broad range of questions from our residents in surrounding communities (& Sunset Growing Zones). Whether it's about identifying a strange crop from client photos or how to deal with pests in productive ways, researching these subjects to provide practical real-time answers is always interesting and fun, because gardens and gardening are ultimately about sharing food, flowers, information, and experiences. The MG helpline is a strong hub of researched information and resource gathering which helps us to grow our program, because we communicate with so many clients from all the surrounding regions and Sunset Growing Zones consistently, Monday through Friday of every week. I really enjoy being a part of the MG Helpline Team and serving as a San Bernardino Master Gardener since 2017. I think my fellow Master Gardeners would agree that working the MG Helpline has made us strong, more informed representatives for the Master Gardener Program in the field at events and working on community projects, and I look forward to learning more.”
Master Gardener Helpline volunteer Loleta adds: “The Helpline is one of the world's best-kept secrets. It's a place where people can get answers they can trust. Our answers are based in science and research, and they're specific to our western climate zones.” So, if you know about the helpline or have been using it be sure to pass the information on to friends and family so that everyone knows we are a free gardening hotline here to help you out every step of the way!! ….and don't forget that the only silly question is the one that you don't ask, so don't be shy…send us an email or give us a call today! We are looking forward to hearing from you and taking the mysteries out of gardening!
So how do you use this resource? It's free and available to you 24/7! Just send us an email or give us a call (contact information at end of blog) and leave a message and we will get back to you within a day or two and get to solving your challenges! It's great when you can send us photos of your troubled plants as well, and that is a big help in having us figure out what's going on in the garden.
Typically, a phone call to the helpline will go like this: you will call and leave a message with your question and contact information and then we will research the topic and get back to you. We often will get back to you with some follow up questions to help focus in on specific details so we can give you the best answer possible and follow up with an email if possible. Email questions are great since you can send photos! We respond to your emails in a timely way that often includes follow-up questions to clarify your issue/problem. Besides finding an immediate solution, our goal is to provide resources for you to use in the future that help you find solutions as problems occur, and mostly, to prevent the problems from occurring in the first place! As another one of our Helpline volunteers, Cindy, (who is also the Helpline committee lead, helping to organize Master Gardener volunteers and manage the Helpline infrastructure) says “I can tell that many of the people who use the Helpline have really come to depend on it in a personal way and that (we) are dedicated to helping them no matter how hard or mysterious the questions are. It's like being the detectives of the gardening world.” So let us help you with your garden mysteries!!
Many members of the public use this resource regularly and we are so happy to see that they know we are here for them to help with their gardening journey's and adventures, but still there are people out there who don't know about it!
Helpline Contact information for all areas of San Bernardino County:
Phone number: 909-387-2182
Email: mgsanbern@ucanr.edu
- Author: Gretchen Heimlich-Villalta
Integrated Pest Management: Building on the Basics
This month, I'd like to continue building on the basics of integrated pest management. If you recall, there are five main components to a successful IPM program1:
- Pest identification
- Field monitoring and population assessment
- Control action guidelines
- Preventing pest problems
- Integrating biological, chemical, cultural, and physical/mechanical management tools
Preventing Pest Problems
A large percentage of pest problems can be traced back to issues with cultural practices—that is, meeting basic plant needs through good water management, healthy soil, proper nutrients, and appropriate site and plant selection. A pathogen (a microorganism that causes disease) can only cause disease when three elements are present: a susceptible host, the pathogen itself, and a favorable environment. This relationship can be visualized in the disease triangle, with each element represented by a side of the triangle.
Preventive practices eliminate one or more of the elements of the disease triangle. The care you take as the manager of your landscape can improve your plant's ability to protect itself, giving it the best chance of enduring the things we can't prevent—like pathogens, pests, drought, weather extremes, and other stressors. Preventive practices can also make it more difficult for pests and pathogens to thrive. This will reduce the need for pesticides and other management strategies.
Starting with Soil
Plants are autotrophs, which means they can produce their own energy through photosynthesis. However, they rely heavily on the soil for elements crucial to their survival, like water, stability, and nutrients. Because the soil is so vital to plant health, caring for the soil must be central to any IPM program.
Soil Composition
Oxford languages defines soil as “the upper layer of earth in which plants grow.” It is made up of inorganic minerals, organic matter, soil organisms and microorganisms, gases, and water. From a physical standpoint, there are a few key soil terms and concepts you should understand. Let's go through them quickly
Soil inorganic minerals come from the weathering of rock, and are grouped by size; soil texture refers to the percentage of these groups—sand, silt, and clay—in a soil and is represented in the soil textural triangle below. Loam refers to a mix of these three groups. Soil texture largely determines a soil's nutrient- and water-holding capacity. Plant roots need both water and air, so good soil should have a balance of drainage and water-holding capacity. Soil with ideal moisture content will have 25% air and 25% water. Because of its larger particles, sandy soil tends to drain well, but doesn't hold water or nutrients well. On the other hand, finer-textured soils (clay and silt) hold more water and nutrients, but often don't drain well. However, adding soil organic matter to sandy soil will help it hold water, and adding it to fine-textured soils will help it hold nutrients.
Soil organic matter (SOM) is any soil material produced originally by living organisms that is returned to the soil and decomposed. This includes the soil organisms themselves (bacteria, fungi, plants, insects, animals, etc.), plus their waste and other byproducts. SOM is vital to soil function in many ways, so I'll go into more detail about it later.
Soil Structure
Soil structure refers to how soil particles and organic matter are arranged into aggregates, or groups of bound particles. Aggregate stability is the ability of aggregates to withstand breakdown by outside forces, like water. It's important for preventing erosion. Pores are the spaces between and within aggregates that allow movement of water and air into the soil—and the growth of plant roots! Adding organic matter to both sandy and fine (silt and clay) soil will encourage soil aggregation.
Compaction happens when soil aggregates and pores are broken down through activities like heavy traffic and tillage. It impedes root growth and the movement of air and water in the soil. Bulk density is an indicator of soil compaction calculated as the dry weight of soil divided by its volume.
Soil Nutrients
The 15 essential soil nutrients are the more well-known elements of soil. The macronutrients are needed in larger amounts by plants, and consist of: 1) primary nutrients nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P), and potassium (K), which are most often deficient in soils, and 2) secondary nutrients calcium (Ca), magnesium (Mg), and sulfur (S), which tend to be deficient in soils less often. The nine remaining nutrients are micronutrients, which the plant requires in very small quantities. These are boron (B), chlorine (Cl), copper (Cu), iron (Fe), manganese (Mn), molybdenum (Mo), nickel (Ni), and zinc (Zn). In California, the most common deficiencies are nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium, zinc, and iron. Boron, chloride, and sodium, on the other hand, are more commonly present at toxic levels.
Soil pH
Another important physical component of soil is pH. pH is a measure of how acidic or basic soil is. It ranges from 0 to 14: 0 is most acidic, 14 is most basic, and 7 is neutral. Most crops prefer a slightly acidic to neutral pH of 5.5 to 7.5. Acidity is a measurement of how many hydrogen ions are in the soil, and pH can impact soil chemistry in numerous ways. pH extremes may increase the solubility of toxic mineral elements like aluminum and manganese, or increase the concentration of soluble salts, all of which are detrimental to the plant. pH also impacts which organisms can survive in the soil, which will also impact your plant. Of chief concern to the landscape manager is that plant nutrients become insoluble in water, and unavailable to plants, if the pH is too low or too high. The table below illustrates this fact.
Soil Quality vs. Soil Health
If the information I've presented here feels overwhelming, don't worry. Many have shared your experience, including me. If you've made it this far, though, you've shown admirable perseverance and curiosity. And this information isn't going anywhere. Bookmark this page and come back to it periodically; it will start to make more sense over time. Understanding the physical attributes of soil, or soil quality, is not only important in its own right, but it's also foundational to what I'd call the more exciting stuff—soil health.
Soil health moves beyond the physical attributes of soil to include the whole soil ecosystem—all the life in the soil, great and small—not just plants. It is “the capacity of soil to function as a vital living system, within ecosystem and land-use boundaries, to sustain plant and animal productivity, maintain or enhance water and air quality, and promote plant and animal health”[i]. Soil health is critical not only to integrated pest management, but also to human health and the health of our planet. So check out my next blog to hear more!
Author info:
Gretchen Heimlich-Villalta is an ISA™ certified arborist who has been a San Bernardino County Master Gardener since 2014. She received her AS in Integrated Pest Management from Mt. San Antonio College, where she has helped teach IPM since 2020. She received BA degrees in Creative Writing and Photography, and is currently working on her Ph.D. in Plant Pathology at the University of California, Riverside, where she is researching citrus root and soil health; she also helps manage the Strub Avenue Community Garden in Whittier.
[i] Doran and Zeiss, 2000.
- Author: Deborah Schnur
I can't believe I've been working part-time as the UCCE San Bernardino Environmental Education Coordinator for six months already! As the saying goes, “time flies when you're having fun”. I was having so much fun that I started a second part-time position as the Farm to School Program Assistant for the Upland Unified School District (UUSD) at the end of January. Through these two positions, I hope to build stronger partnerships between UCCE and local schools.
In this month's blog, I want to introduce you to the UUSD Farm to School Program. The program is part of the Nutrition Services Department. Cassidy Furnari, the Program Manager, has been working with UUSD for over three years during which she's made tremendous progress building school gardens and providing hands-on learning opportunities. The district has 14 schools, 11 of which have gardens for the students. By the end of this school year, all schools will have gardens.
Cassidy started as an intern when she was completing her Master of Science degree in Regenerative Studies at Cal Poly Pomona. I first became acquainted with Cassidy when I served with FoodCorps at Phelan Elementary and two members of my cohort served at Upland schools. UUSD still supports two FoodCorps service members.
Rather than using a cookie-cutter approach, Cassidy aims to customize each school garden to match the school community and the school's goals and resources. Before doing anything else, she gets to know the entire school community—the administrators, staff, teachers, students, and parents—because she believes the most successful gardens come from community ideas. The more the community is included in the garden, the more sustainable it will be. Both community volunteers and the UUSD Maintenance and Operations Team are instrumental in building the gardens and bringing them to life.
Once the garden is up and running, the Farm to School Program grows organic seasonal produce for students and their families. All UUSD schools are registered as community food producers; so everything grown in the gardens can be served to students in the cafeterias. Cassidy is most excited about the cafeteria taste tests because they help students connect with the food being grown. One example was an eggplant dip taste test at Upland High School; the eggplant, garlic, onion, basil, and tomatoes used to make the dip were all grown on site. At Foothill Knolls STEM Academy, garden basil was turned into pesto for a taste test. Cassidy wants to show the students that their opinion matters and will be reflected in the cafeteria menu. Before the COVID pandemic, the cafeteria staff also added school-grown produce such as broccoli, radishes, carrots, and citrus to the salad bar. When schools shut down during COVID, produce bags containing lettuce, cabbage, herbs, citrus, and other fruits and vegetables were distributed to school families.
The Farm to School Program also provides a space for community and family education and engagement. Social media posts on YouTube and Instagram include cooking demonstrations and a recap of the week's activities. The program plans to make lessons and curriculum available to the school community through its website. In partnership with UUSD Support Services, the program will offer a stress management and eating course in the next month.
Planning for sustainability is critical to the continued success of Upland's Farm to School Program. This is accomplished by giving students and teachers agency over garden spaces and holding volunteer days to connect school communities with their gardens. The longer term plan is to train interested teachers to take care of the gardens and integrate them into their lessons. Garden sites are built for sustainability by completely removing the sod, laying down landscape fabric and substrate such as decomposed granite, and adding an extra layer of fabric underneath the garden beds.
Another aspect of sustainability is funding. Over the years, Cassidy has become a prolific grant writer. Thanks to her efforts, the UUSD Farm to School Program has received grants from the USDA (U.S. Department of Agriculture), CDFA (California Department of Food and Agriculture), Sprouts, Whole Foods, Lowe's, Action for Healthy Kids, Walmart, and California Fertilizer Foundation.
I'm proud to be associated with such a strong and vibrant Farm to School Program and believe it's the perfect complement to my work at UCCE. I look forward to spending sunny days in school gardens with curious and energetic students. This is what makes my heart sing. I hope you too find your happy place in the garden!
- Author: Margaret J O'Neill
This month's Master Gardener spotlight is on Julie Dillon, Master Gardener, Class of 2019. Julie has been with us for
Another way that our Master Gardner volunteers support the community is by supporting behind the scenes logistics that are key to making all our public outreach a success. Julie is a vital part of our behind-the-scenes support by making sure our volunteers know where to go, when to be there, what to bring, and more through our VMS or Volunteer Management System. It is not an understatement to say that Julie's support of our main system calendar impacts everyone of our over 200 volunteers. Making sure the details of our many partner events is shared with our volunteers is a job that requires attention to detail, patience, and persistence and Julie does it with ease…or at least she makes it look easy! If you are a Master Gardener reading this, or a partner who we work with, send a little thanks to Julie through the universe because she is a central part of how we make the magic happen!! Read on to learn a little more about Julie, in her own words!
-Maggie O'Neill, Master Gardener Program Coordinator
Tell us a little about yourself Julie:
I have worn many hats in my life. But the one I'm most proud of is being a Mom and now Grandmother ( Nana) to our grandkids Hudson, Sabrina and Ophelia (twins). I have always been interested in growing flowers and vegetables. We always had a garden in Central Pa. where we raised our boys. They helped can applesauce, peaches and pears. I made my own grape jelly with the grapes we grew in the yard. We moved to California in 2007 and lived in Idyllwild until 2017. I was a member of the Idyllwild Garden Club where I first heard about the Master Gardener Class. When we moved to Redlands, I decided to take the class.
Why did you decide to be a MG?
I decided to take the Master Gardner Class so that I could learn how to be a better gardener. How to figure out why my vegetables weren't surviving the heat and what I needed to do to make my soil beneficial for my plants and the environment they are growing in. If you don't take care of the soil your plants will surely suffer. I'm fascinated with the connection our soil has with the mycorrhizae and mycelium and even the tree roots. They communicate with each other and it is so important that we find a way to keep the carbon out of the air and more in our soil, as that is where it is needed.
What are your gardening passions?
I grow so many plants and vines that I can't say that I favor one over the other. I just like growing Plants!! My passion is to go out in the morning and early evening and see “what awaits me?” Sometimes it's an epiphyllum blossom on a plant that hasn't flowered for years or my African Blue Basil plant that has so many bees on the purple flowers you can hear a low buzz. Monarch Butterfly's laying eggs on my Milkweed plants and Butterfly bushes and, the quick flying Hummingbirds who are always looking for nectar from my White Bird of Paradise or my Million Bells. I love to dead head all the plants and flowers in my yard and find it most rewarding and beneficial to my health and the plant!! I have some plants in my yard I have had for years. I have a Japanese Maple that I have had in a pot since 2008. It changes color in the winter from green to yellow and then red tips. My son was growing a Red Flame grape vine in a pot for 7 years and it is in the ground in my yard going on 2 years now and I'm determined to get it to produce fruit. You see, I have a little habitat in my yard for the birds, spiders, bees and butterflies. I share this with my grandkids as I want them to know all about nature and why it is so important to take care of it.
What is a tidbit or two you've learned as a MG that the public reading our newsletter could gain from?
We all have that pesky bug/insect that likes to eat our leaves on our garden plants and flowers. But that's the beauty you get to enjoy. The good with the bad……That's what being a Master Gardner is all about. When you take the Master Gardener Class you have all these resources on how to find out how to control what is going on in your Garden and your Soil. You meet so many people who have different ways to solve these problems and you learn from each other. The presentations are learning experiences and you gain so much information and resources.
What advice would you give someone considering becoming a UCCE MG?
I would highly recommend the Master Gardener Class to anyone who has a passion of learning more about growing plants, vegetables, fruit trees, ornamentals and taking care of the soil in your yard. It will give you so many opportunities to find out how to figure out what you might need to do to get the pesty bug off your tomato plants?? And so much more!!! Knowledge is a wonderful thing in the Garden and to share it with others is even Better!! I know I have learned a lot…
“The Earth Laughs in Flowers” Ralph Waldo Emerson.
