The Real Dirt Blog
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Master Gardener 2025 Spring Workshop Series
A new season of Master Gardener Workshops is about to start! The series begins Saturday, February 1 with a timely session on starting summer vegetable plants from seed and concludes in early June...
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Edible Flowers: Fragrant and Tasty Treats
Will you be adding some new flowering plants to your garden this spring? If you like to cook with what you grow, consider planting some that do double duty by providing attractive flowers that are...
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Plant Cyclamen and Hellebores for Winter Color in the Garden
It's not uncommon for a garden to seem a bit bare from late fall through early spring, when very little is in bloom. Luckily, hardy cyclamen and hellebores can help fill this gap by providing color...
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Bee-Friendly Winter Gardening
Just because it is wintertime doesn't mean that bees, which are important pollinators for our flowers, fruits and vegetables, don't need food. Plants and shrubs can provide pollen, nectar, or...
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Viburnums Can Provide Plenty of Interest in the Garden
Winter is a great time to take stock of the garden. Are there aging plants that need replacing? Do you have an open area for a large, attractive shrub? Are you thinking about...
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In the Neighborhood: The Chapman Park Community Garden
Tucked into one corner of the beautifully renovated Chapman Park is a small space destined to have a large impact: the Chapman Park Community Garden. Chapman Park sits on three acres adjacent to the...
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Cacti as Landscape Plants
One of the pleasures of the colder months is the opportunity to plan next year's garden while staying inside where it's warm. If you are thinking about adding something new to your landscape,...
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Planting Natives from Pots
While it's certainly possible to start California native perennials, shrubs and trees from seed, most people buy plants that are growing in pots to transplant to the yard. By far the best time for...
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Gardening with California Native Plants
The summer of 2024 was California's hottest on record. Did you struggle to keep your plants adequately watered? Did your water bills skyrocket? Did some plants die even with increased irrigation? Are...
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Cactus from the Rainforest: Christmas Cactus
Imagine a mountainous and remote rainforest along the ocean coast. Whisps of fog drift through the trees as cascades of colorful flowers sweep down from plants perched high on the tree limbs. This is...
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Collecting Seeds to Create Native Plant Spaces for Wildlife
The Nature Conservancy (TNC) excels at native plant restoration and ecosystem stewardship on a landscape-wide scale. By creating, extending, and conserving native habitat, they provide permanent and...
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Permission to Leave the Leaves: Promote native bee habitat by leaving some leaves and stems on the ground
The arrival of fall brings shorter days, cooler nights and a gradual winding down of garden activity. Flowers start to fade, while leaves turn glorious colors and begin to fall from the trees. For...
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Fire vs. Plants: Some Plants Win!
“The fundamental chemistry of combustion lies at the core of the living world. When it happens within a cell it's called respiration. When it happens outside organisms, it's called fire.”...
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Home Gardens in Japanese Cities
The past two columns in this space have focused on the formal gardens of Kyoto, and some ideas that can be borrowed from them for use in our own home gardens. But what about the average urban...
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Ideas to Borrow from Japanese Gardens
There is a lot to learn from the long, venerable tradition of gardening in Japan, a point made in last week's Real Dirt, which focused on the history and meaning of Japanese gardens. Indeed, in Kyoto...
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Japanese Gardens
Looking for some garden inspiration? Let's do some “armchair travelling” across the Pacific to one of the world's loveliest places for garden viewing: Kyoto, Japan. ...
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Garden Jobs for Fall and Winter
It's not too soon to start thinking about fall garden clean-up. As days begin to shorten and temperatures begin to cool (fingers crossed!), the pace of gardening slows along with plant growth. ...
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Cooling the Garden Landscape
It's Autumn! As we shift to cooler weather, take time to evaluate your garden's damage and stress caused by this summer's extreme heat. This is the perfect time to devise long-term cooling and...
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Owls Contribute to an Integrated Pest Management Program
Integrated Pest Management (IPM) is a science-based pest management process which focuses on managing the ecosystem for the long-term prevention of pests and the damage they cause. The...
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Serious Garden Pests: Voles, Moles, and Gophers
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...
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