Author Archives: Lee Miller

What is Integrated Pest Management? Integrated Pest Management (IPM) is an approach to prevent pests or manage pests in a less harmful manner than just reaching for a toxic chemical. It was developed by scientists in the 1970’s and the University of California program started in 1979. IPM helps homeowners, gardeners and farmers deal with [...]

I grew up on a farm and have enjoyed both the outdoors and seeing things grow. As a kid, I would get home from school and take my dog for a hike in the 40 acres woodlot that was part of our farm. This early exposure to nature shaped my later life as an ecologist [...]

The following is a description of common garden myths that gardeners can and should avoid. Drought tolerant plants don’t need water. Well, yes, they do need water in their first year until they become established which will encourage roots to go deep. Once established they become drought tolerant. When it comes to fertilizers and pesticides, [...]

Tomato season is here and I have heard this complaint several times from gardeners. “My tomato plants are tall and healthy looking, but I don’t have any tomatoes. What might the problem be?”  Well the problem might be that the gardener used too much nitrogen fertilizer and it stimulated lots of vegetative growth to the [...]

Last week I wrote about some of the weeds and invasive plants I have had to deal with. This week I will present some ways of dealing with weeds in your gardens. One of the most important ways to deal with weeds is to keep them from going to seed. Weeds produce lots of seeds [...]

It was a fairly wet winter here with 16 inches of rain so far. Consequently, weeds have done well and I am fighting hard to get things under control. Common Mallow (Malva neglecta), Redstem filaree (Erodium circutarium), barley foxtail (Hordeum jubatum) which also could be named the veterinarian’s mortgage lifter, field bindweed (Convolvulus arvensis), scarlet [...]

Back yards in today’s subdivisions tend to be on the small side, though I have lived in a couple of homes built in 1912 that had small back yards as well. Of course gardens don’t need to be limited to back yards as the trend is to make every part of the property bloom with [...]

Gardens are an important part of modern life as they have been throughout history. A peaceful beauty spot removed from some of the hustle and bustle of modern cities. Once upon a time the planet was a natural garden of complex ecosystems co-evolving with animal life. While there are still ecosystems left, most are modified [...]

Here are some citrus stories—the good, bad and the ugly. First, what is so good about citrus? Citrus is easy to grow and pretty pest free as plants go and we live in a wonderful climate where it can thrive. Citrus is a healthy food; oranges, lemons, grapefruit, pummelos, kumquats and limes are all good [...]

As we sit by the fire on cold, rainy, winter evenings, it is time to think about and plan for all those spring and summer vegetables to enjoy in 2016. Catalogues are coming in now or there are also lots of online, paper-saving catalogues to visit as well for suggested new and old varieties to [...]