Ongoing research

Are petroleum residues in your yard harmful to plants or animals? This is a difficult question. So I will start my answer with a quote: All things are poisons, for there is nothing without poisonous properties. It is only the dose which makes a thing a poison. Paracelsus, 1493-1541.

There are numerous cultivars of daylily. Many of them are hybrids. Within these cultivars and hybrids there is a great variation in the degree of deciduousness. Some cultivars need a cold period in order to initiate flowering.

The following list of deer resistant/tolerant plants and comments was provided by Las Pilitas Nursery and Bert Wilson: Acacia greggii. A well-armed shrub-tree. Deer will only eat new growth. Amorpha california. Deciduous shrub. Deer have never touched. Difficult to grow and hard to find.

Manual Control Manual control involves physically removing the duckweeds or watermeal from the pond. Because of the explosive growth pattern of these small plants, few pond owners succeed in having manual removal solve their problem entirely.

Fruit trees should be fertilized at least twice a year spring and fall. A mature fruit tree should receive one to two pounds of actual nitrogen per year plus equivalent amounts of phosphorus and potassium.

Most of the soils in and around Santa Maria are composed of fine sand (old sanddunes). In their native state they contain very few nutrients and are especially deficient in nitrogen.

Many areas of Santa Maria/Orcutt are built on sandy terrace soils. Over eons of time the minerals in the soil and water have combined to cement the soil particles together into a poor grade of sandstone.

This is the term commonly used for iron deficiency. Iron is one of the essential elements for plant growth. Iron is necessary to produce chlorophyll, which is the substance which makes plants green.

Jacaranda trees are native to Brazil. As such they should be considered a subtropical species. Here on the Central Coast, although they survive and some even flourish, they should be considered as being on the edge of their range.

Do children often come into the house itching and sometimes develop small red welts on their legs and arms? The itching is probably due to the drying of dust and sweat on the skin, but the welts may have several causes. Your child(ren) may be allergic to the grass.