Gardening

Most gardening books, catalogs, and seed packets refer to plant hardiness zones, climate zones, or growing zones. Temperature hardiness climate zones are based on normally expected high and low temperatures and serve as guides to help you know which plants will grow where you live.

The Lawn Alternatives section of the Palo Alto Demo Garden demonstrates new or replacement plantings for conventional high-water-use sod lawns. It includes options such as turf for kids and pets to play on, groundcovers for low-foot-traffic areas, and grasses for creating meadows. The lawn alternatives have…

Chervil, Anthriscus cerefolium, is one of the classic fines herbes used in French cooking (parsley, chives, and tarragon are the others). It has lacy leaves similar to parsley, but smaller and more delicate. Use chervil in ways similar to parsley—in soups, salads, sauces, and egg dishes. The leaves are…

There are over three hundred varieties of thyme, but English thyme is the one most commonly grown for culinary use. French thyme has a similar, slightly milder taste. There are also thyme varieties with differently scented or colored leaves, such as lemon, golden lemon, and orange, as well as numerous…

These signs (or smaller versions of them), are featured in our demo gardens. Not all signs are in every garden. Click an image to see a larger version.               

This demonstration garden was moved from St. Louise Hospital in Gilroy to this location in San Martin in 2022, and is currently being developed. We’re in the process of preparing planting beds.

Garden Help Our Garden Help pages for vegetables, fruits, and nuts have growing tips as well as links to information on pests and diseases common in our area.

Soil testing isn’t always needed, but when you want to have one done, this page provides options about how to do it.

June gardening tips for Santa Clara County, categorized by To-Dos, What to Plant, or Pests and Diseases. Tips are available for each month, as well as tips that are applicable for every month.

We compared 12 varieties of long beans, Vigna unguiculata, to determine which ones have the best production and the best flavor for growing here in Santa Clara County. Chinese Green Noodle was the most productive variety by far and was the favorite in the first tasting for its very tender, mild pods. Chinese…