Use rainwater harvesting and infiltration techniques to catch the rain in your garden.
water conservation
Front yard plans
As you may remember, we had to remove a diseased, old avocado tree in our front yard last year (RIP Avocado). Since the avocado was removed we have had some pretty hot, dry and wet (summer rains!?) weather. Needless to say, the loss of the tree has had a big impact on the front yard. […]
More drip irrigation
A bit over a month ago I set up drip for the tomato plants. They have been doing great on 15 minutes of drip, every other day. There are two emitters per plant, 1g per minute. So that’s about 1/2 gallon per plant per watering session. When I installed it, I set the timer for 2x per […]
Irritation – Irrigation
Only one letter off and not sure which word is best for this post. Nevertheless, I got it done. Today I finally set up a drip irrigation system for my tomatoes using an Orbit hose faucet timer. In this front yard veggie garden there are six tomato plants (Early Girl, Better Boy, San Diego, Sun Gold), one […]
From Lawn to Native Plant Garden
If you’ve been wanting to transition from a lawn to a sustainable native garden, horticulturist Barbara Eisenstein has tips to help you get started. Eisenstein will discuss topics ranging from lawn removal and garden preparation to plant selection.
Make every drop count
The big news continues to be the ongoing drought in California, which is interesting since we rarely get any rain from April through November. Once we got half way through January we started feeling uncomfortable and things did not improve in February and March. The snow pack is at about 1% of average for this […]
Drought and the garden
The news reports on California’s drought are dire. However, the drought did not happen overnight, we are now in our fourth year of drought. Nevertheless, for years my city, South Pasadena, like many others, did not take a proactive role on water conservation. The lushness of South Pasadena is apparent every time one crosses into the city. Designated […]
Neglect
The first method of lawn removal listed on the Lawn Removal Methods: Pros and Cons sheet is neglect. I have used this method more than any other in reducing the turf-covering in my yard. And yes it does work, but as noted in the con category, it takes time, requiring a good bit of patience. […]
Drought?
Summer was too short and way too busy. I spent most of it driving. Drove from LA to NYC, and back again. Then flew back east for another family gathering. This was followed by a backpacking trip in the Hoover Wilderness. Finally home, feeling exceedingly guilty about my carbon footprint. At home I ride my […]
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. […]