The main benefits a layer of mulch on your vegetable or flower beds include: Adding mulch is one easy way to keep soil cool, block light, and prevent weeds from growing. Not sure what to use? If possible, choose an organic material that adds nutrients to the soil as it breaks down. Check out this […]
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The emerald ash borer is a small (roughly half inch long) beetle with metallic green wing covers and a coppery red or purple abdomen. While there are other metallic wood-boring beetles, the emerald ash borer’s body is longer and more cylindrical than others. Adults feed on the edges of leaves and lay eggs under tree
These Emerald Green Beetles are BAD! Read More »
World Snake Day, held every year on July 16, aims to increase awareness about the more than 3,500 snake species that exist across the world. It’s a good time to recognize these natural pest controllers! Gardeners should be glad to see snakes glide through the garden. These much-maligned reptiles consume garden pests, including slugs, grubs,
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Many gardeners fertilize their yard based on the calendar rather than what is actually needed by the plant. Do you know if the nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium (main nutrients in fertilizer) levels are actually low? You can save yourself time and money by testing your soil with simple test kits. When you know what is
Before you fertilize ….. Read More »
National Pollinator Week, this year June 19 – 25, is an annual event celebrated internationally in support of pollinator health. It’s a time to celebrate pollinators and spread the word about what we can do to protect them. Pollinator Week was initiated and is managed by Pollinator Partnership, and fifteen years ago the U.S. Senate’s
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Those leaves with the striking green and yellow marbled pattern you spy on the branch of your neighbor’s apple tree dangling over your fence may look like a cool new designer cultivar, but don’t be fooled. More than likely, it’s the result of a mosaic virus. Viruses cause many important plant diseases and are responsible
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The saying goes that beauty is in the eye of the beholder. If you’ve seen a toad ambling around your garden, most likely, beauty isn’t the first thing that comes to your mind. Many think these bumpy, jumpy, lumpy-looking creatures are just plain ugly. Yet they’re incredibly beneficial creatures – a toad or two in
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Seeing leaves on your fruit trees rolled up like a sandwich wrap? Could be leafrollers, a family of insects that attack the leaves of fruit trees like apples, pears, and peaches. They also target some ornamental trees like ash, poplar, and oak. Leafroller larvae feed on tender, new leaves, giving them a ragged appearance; they
What’s bugging your fruit trees? Read More »
With more than 70 inches of rainfall recorded on Mt. Tamalpais this season, the deluge may be more than some yards can handle. Did you experience torrents of water pouring off your roof and pooling around your treasured shade trees? Puddles spotting your lawn or ponding in your veggie garden? Why is too much of
Too much of a good thing Read More »
The incredibly wet winter behind us, though you may now be dealing with some of its impacts. Time to get ahead of the curve with preventing pest problems:
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