Native plants are only one element of a good native garden. Banish all leafblowers and machinary to make your garden hospitable to birds and other critters.
lazy gardening
Lawn-less sustainable garden
I got rid of the last bit of lawn in Wild Suburbia. We are lawn-less, lawn-free, turf-be-gone, but definitely not grassless! Deergrass, California fescue, melic grass, purple needlegrass, and even the non-grasses, blue-eyed grass (in the Lily Family), and rush (sometimes called rush-grass, in the Rush Family) have a place in my garden and in […]
Create your own garden paradise
Walking on a quiet street in a Los Angeles suburb, my eighty-year-old father and I approached a lovely adobe home. As we walked along, I noticed that he was slowly shaking his head as he simply stated, “It’s not for me.” I was showing him a garden in my neighborhood that I was especially fond […]
Driving east
Did you ever feel like getting in the car and just driving east? You know, leaving the errands behind and crossing the whole country? Maybe it is the extreme heat we have been experiencing. Maybe it is the pull of my family, my daughter, son, sister, brother, in-laws, nieces, nephews… they are all back east. […]
Home again
We have been home for eight days after six months in India, oh my, it feels good. I promised to give an update on how my wild suburban garden did during our absence and I am happy to report that it did just fine. We left for India on December 1, entrusting our house to […]
How much time does it take?
One of my biggest goals at Wild Suburbia is to hone my lazy-gardening skills. I know that my family laughs when I talk about how little time I spend in the garden. Yes, it is true that sometimes a quick fifteen minutes in the garden is two hours by the clock. After all, I am […]
Sorcerer’s Apprentice
The music has been going through my head all day. This morning I decided the irrigation system was due for a tune-up. Starting early, I worked and worked, moving, lifting and adjusting sprinkler heads. And then after hours of work, I got to conduct the irrigation system, using my iphone, no less. It was so […]
It’s alive!
So nice to be home. Traveling is wonderful, but it feels so good to sleep in one’s own bed. Maybe that is why going away is so great – to appreciate home that much more. I promised to report back on how everything did during our three-week absence. Well I am happy to say, everything […]
Quick-ties and duct tape can fix anything
One of the reasons that I decided to have a wild garden was that I wanted to be able to go on vacation and not worry that the irrigation system would fail, leaving my landscape scorched brown or emerald green (with a deservedly astronomical water bill). Although I do not water more often than about […]
Lazy Gardener – Success!
Since the Theodore Payne Garden Tour I have truly reached new heights in the realm of lazy gardening. (See below for links to other posts on lazy gardening). And, I can now honestly say that this has been possible without relying on stronger backs to do the work. I no longer employ a lawn crew […]