Gardening

Learn about garden thugs—ornamental plants that become invasive under the right conditions and spread aggressively, disrupting your garden and your neighbor's.

UC Central Sierra programming includes virtual and on-line training as well as in-person classes and workshops in Amador, Calaveras, El Dorado, and Tuolumne Counties.

Gardening tools and equipment Photo: Das Ant The right tool makes working in the garden more pleasurable. Always purchase the best quality tool since it is well worth the investment. Avoid tools that are too heavy or too light, which may not hold up under continuous use.

Bees are our most important pollinators. Most are solitary bees that live independently, not the bumble bees or honey bees we are more familiar with. Bees visit flowers for the pollen or nectar, which supply the nutrients they need.

Look closely at the problem plant to clearly identify whats wrong.

Tom Swinnen, Pexels Fruit trees need suitable climates, well-drained soil, proper planting, and maintenance throughout the season. It takes some planning and work to get them established, but once you do it's a joy to pick fruit fresh from the garden. Here's how to create your very own home orchard.

Prune hydrangeas after blooms fade. Annie Spratt, Unsplash Maintenance and prevention Monitor soil moisture. Established perennials, shrubs and trees need infrequent but deep watering. Container plants may need daily watering.

Tools from top left: trowel, bypass hand pruner, gloves, pruning saw, hori hori knife Photo: Fay Mark > Hand Pruners > Fruit Saw > Pruning Saw > Gardening Knife > Trowel > Shovel > Spade > Hand Rake > Rake > Gloves > Irrigation > Wheelbarrow, Cart, Bag/Tub HAND PRUNERS Bypass pruner Look for: Harde...

If you feel like you need a jackhammer to bust into your garden soil, you've got clay. This is a familiar garden complaint in Marin. If you want to make your clay soil more workable, you can amend it with organic material.

As temperatures cool and daylight hours decline, plant growth tends to slow. In addition to being an excellent planting season in our Mediterranean climate, fall is also a good time to clean up our gardens so that theyre healthy and fire-smart.