I was shocked when I learned that 60-90% of the houses that burn in wildfires are ignited when tiny embers from a fire hit the house. Not from flames. Not from heat. In order for that to happen there has …
When leaves turn color and drop to the ground in fall, they’re going dormant. We think of them as going to sleep. But unless the soil is frozen solid—something that doesn’t happen here in western Nevada County—trees and shrubs stay …
You may think that using or keeping native plants in your landscape automatically poses a fire hazard. They don’t. They are not “made to burn” as some have said. Many are drought tolerant and better at holding moisture in their …
Drought means less water for our landscapes and less water in the soil. And with the high heat events we’ve been having, any moisture in the soil or that’s applied to plants gets sucked out quickly. We’re in a “megadrought” …
Dappled shade is what most of us have here in Nevada County. And dry shade at that. Since we’re in one of the driest years in decades, and we’re in what’s being labelled a “megadrought”, we need to plant the …
In my two previous articles I described natural meadows and meadows you can make in your own landscape. Comprised of grasses and flowers, or even just flowers growing and reseeding with wild abandon, you can create a space that helps …
Grow Your Own Meadow Garden at Home When we think of meadows we think of grassy, open spaces, often with wildflowers. They play an important role in the environment. Creating meadows in home landscapes is becoming quite a trend, as …
This Still May be a Dry Year for Us—or a Megadrought I’m so happy to see rain again. Ever since the drought of 2011-2015, I worry about the next one. And while we’ve had a few good rain years, we …
Of the many pretty ferns we can grow in our gardens here, one of the nicest ones we can plant is a native one that grows here already. The western sword fern (Polystichum munitum) grows throughout the western states from …
I first learned about incense cedar (Calocedrus decurrens) long ago while working with Tree People, a tree planting environmental organization in southern California. One of our missions was to plant smog tolerant trees in the surrounding mountains. Among the list …