Gardening

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[PODCAST] Home Grown Tomatoes

June 24, 2025
By Loren Nelson
Home grown tomatoes! No doubt, most home gardeners’ tomato patches are well on their way. Today, on In the Garden with UCCE Master Gardeners, we go back many years and a few months for our only show on the topic of Tomatoes. Back in 2015, one of our OG In The Garden radio hosts, Mark Fierle, talked to…
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Tomato leaves with signs of Tobacco Mosaic Virus. Jack Kelly Clark, UC IPM Program
The Real Dirt: Article

A Virus in the Garden

June 24, 2025
Most gardeners are aware of plant diseases that can wreak havoc in their gardens. If you grow fruit trees, you may be confronted with curled, reddened peach leaves (peach leaf curl fungus). If you grow apples or pears, your trees may sometimes look like they were scorched with a blow torch (fire blight…
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Ladybug larva hunting on borage leaf
UC Master Gardener Program Statewide Blog: Article

Good Bugs, Big Impact: The Secret World of Biological Control (Part 1)

June 24, 2025
By Lindsey Hack
You have probably heard about the “good bugs” that eat pest insects around your home and garden, like ladybugs, lacewings, and spiders. You may have even purchased some beneficial insects or nematodes at a garden store. Good bugs can also help us manage invasive species, but the process is a bit more…
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Vegetable garden with pots watered by drip system
Over the Fence (Alameda County): Article

Watering Vegetables - the Basics

June 23, 2025
By Linda Carloni
Learn how and when to water vegetables in Alameda County. Get tips on soil, plant needs, and irrigation methods to keep your garden healthy and water-wise.
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AB-1572
Smart Water Living: Urban Water Use Efficiency in SoCal: Article

Proyecto de ley de la Asamblea (AB) 1572 (2023-2024): Comprensión de la Nueva Ley sobre el Uso del Agua y el Césped no Funcional

June 23, 2025
By Esther N Lofton
AB 1572 es una ley de California que tiene como objetivo conservar el agua potable al prohibir su uso para regar césped no funcional en ciertas áreas. El césped no funcional se refiere al césped que no tiene un propósito real; no se usa para deportes, juegos o recreación, como el césped a lo largo de las…
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Tumbleweeds piled up against the front of a home.
Pests in the Urban Landscape: Article

Tumbleweeds Invading?

June 23, 2025
By Belinda Messenger-Sikes
Tumbleweeds rolling across the landscape may make you think of classic old Western movies, but tumbleweeds, or Russian thistle, is more common today than you might think. This invasive plant can grow anywhere the soil is disturbed and once it matures, it breaks off its stem and the dried plant blows across…
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AB
Smart Water Living: Urban Water Use Efficiency in SoCal: Article

Assembly Bill (AB) 1572 (2023–2024): Understanding the New Law on Water Use and Nonfunctional Turf

June 20, 2025
By Esther N Lofton
AB 1572 is a California law that aims to conserve drinking water (potable water) by prohibiting its use for watering non-functional grass (turf) in certain areas. Nonfunctional turf refers to grass that serves no real purpose; it’s not used for sports, play, or recreation, such as grass along roads, in…
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Morrison’s Bumble bee in a Chico garden. Michelle Graydon
The Real Dirt: Article

National Pollinator Week

June 17, 2025
In 2007, the United States Senate unanimously approved a resolution designating a week in June as "National Pollinator Week" (this year it is June 23-29, 2025). In response to the alarm raised by an annual increase in commercial honey bee deaths in the US, the government and researchers began addressing the…
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[PODCAST] Palm Trees

June 17, 2025
By Loren Nelson
How can you determine that a movie is set in Southern California? Just look at all the signature Southern California trees – the (mostly) NON-CALIFORNIA NATIVE Palms! This week on In the Garden with UC Master Gardeners, UC Master Gardener Kris Bonner talks to Don Hodel, environmental horticulturist …
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