One of the unwanted visitors to the spring garden arrives just about now. That mass of tiny pests that cloak the new growth on your roses, elderberries, viburnums, or peach trees are at best an unsightly nuisance and at worst, creatures that can damage tender new growth on plants and spread disease. They’re aphids! Aphid […]
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It’s National Pet Day and time to think about our beloved animals as they roam around the garden. Are there possible hazards lurking? Pesticides that may harm them? Here are some things to consider: Weed and feed products for grasses are usually applied across the entire surface of the lawn. Those tiny particles contain fertilizer
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For many gardeners, a big challenge to growing healthy plants is keeping them free of disease, especially blackspot, rust and anthracnose. Caused by fungi, this trio of diseases are typical in wet spring and fall months but can infect gardens during our dry summers given the right conditions. Blackspot produces characteristic round black spots with
When homeowners spot a small animal scurrying across the kitchen floor or digging in the yard, they may wonder if they have a problem with voles or mice. Both of these rodents are five to eight inches long and have gray or brown fur; voles are stockier than mice with shorter tails, larger eyes, and
Is it a vole or a mouse? Read More »
Spring is here and so are the weeds! Are you seeing grasses, dandelions, bindweed, and even wild blackberry popping up in your lawn, flower beds, vegetable gardens, or other exposed spaces? Even in teeny spaces between bricks on your patio? What’s a gardener to do with such a bounty of weeds? The most effective method
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It’s National Spinach Day and that crop of delicious greens you’ve been nurturing might disappear overnight. The culprit? Likely snails and slugs; they love to eat plants with tender foliage and fruit. Favorites include seedlings and plants with succulent foliage; they seriously damage many vegetable and flowering plants. These mollusks (related to the octopus!) move
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It’s National Animal Poison Prevention Week. You may not think twice about it since you don’t use any poisons. Or do you? Spray ant killer in the kitchen when you see ants? Feed your roses with an All In One product that kills aphids while fertilizing the plant? Put out bait to knock out those
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Spring is nearly here, and flowers are blooming – bulbs, fruit trees, vines and more. National Plant a Flower Day, March 12, is a good time to get some plants in the ground, and especially those that can attract and support beneficial insects in the yard. Planting a Healthy Garden includes types of plants to
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Saturday, March 13, 2021, 10 – 11 a.m. Did you know that 90% of the bugs we see in our gardens are actually good bugs? Encouraging beneficials is one of the best ways to effectively reduce the number of pests in your garden. Want to learn about the most important beneficials, what they do in
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Hard to think sometimes, that the things we may do or use in our yards can end up harming nature, including our precious water supply. It’s National Groundwater Awareness week, highlighting the importance of preserving and protecting groundwater resources for drinking, bathing, recreation, agriculture, medical uses, and much more. While Marin doesn’t rely on groundwater
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