I drove through the Groveland area near Yosemite a couple of days before the Rim Fire started on August 17th. The local talk over Tioga Pass was then about the recent Aspen fire in the Sierra National Forest. The Rim fire has now burned 400 square miles of forest and cost $122 million to fight … Continue reading Firescaping-Part I
The landscape is so green and lush in May. Shades of green are everywhere you look – apple green, grass green, forest green, spring green, pine, olive, lime, jade, chartreuse, kelp, sage. Did you know the the human eye can identify over 200,000 shade of green? It's hard to imagine that by summer the hills … Continue reading Firesafe Landscaping Tips for Santa Cruz Mtns
There have been two fires close to where I live in Felton, one of which was only 5 miles or so away on Martin Grade in Bonny Doon. This started me thinking: what is a landscape that is safer in a wildfire than another? Here is what I found out. Many people think they have … Continue reading Fire safe landscaping
Every spring when the dogwoods, lilac and wisteria bloom I get excited. Not having room myself for these beauties I visit friend’s gardens often. Seems everything is flowering now- lavender, salvia, protea, ceanothus, lily-of-the-valley shrub, bleeding hearts, coral bells, grevillea, camellia, abutilon and more. Here are some of my favorites from the past week. A … Continue reading Spring is Busting Out All Over
“The soil is made of butterfly wings, dinosaur teeth, pumpkin seeds, lizard skins and fallen leaves. Put your hands in the soil and touch yesterday and all that will be left of tomorrow shall return so that new life can celebrate this day.” Betty Peck We are all familiar with the saying, “feed the soil, … Continue reading How the Health of Your Soil Affects You
Always on the look out for potential problems in my garden, I can use all the help I can get. Solutions are out there. One of my go-to websites that I use to diagnose those problems is UC Integrated Pest Management or http://ipm.ucanr.edu. You can look up just about anything that may ail you in … Continue reading Phenology in the Garden