The rainy season is here and it is a good time to think about conserving and saving whatever befalls us this season. NOAA’s Climate Prediction Center gives a 70 percent chance of La nina conditions to develop this fall and a 55 percent chance that it will persist through the winter. La nina conditions are [...]
Several years ago, after I had retired, I read a notice in the Linden newspaper that there would be a presentation on ‘Pruning Camellias’ at the local garden club meeting in Linden. I went because I wanted to learn how to prune Camellias. I learned much from expert, Harry Dedini, on pruning Camellias and he [...]
It is time for fall plantings of all kinds of vegetables. In August, I started lettuce, fennel and onion seeds in flats and I also direct seeded beets, collard greens, lettuce, fennel, turnips, kale, carrots and Kohlrabi. Bok choy and Chinese cabbage are other good fall vegetables. The broccoli, cauliflower and cabbages I had planted [...]
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 [...]
