Our new front yard: history

...landscaping, we were stumped by the problem, but dutifully read our Sunset gardening guides and determined that we should plant the slope with Mediterranean plants. Through this process we began to learn the common names of plants, as as well as their exotic, hard to pronounce scientific names, and we began to pick up on basic vocabulary: terms like root ball and perennial and massing. We planted tough, shrubby plants like lavender and Mexican sag...

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Root Simple Reader Survey Results

...uch or too little. There’s a paradoxical problem with a DIY blog. If we’re gardening or in the garage making something we’re not writing and vice versa. It’s been difficult to find the right balance. Looks like you’re all good with where we are. When we first began this blog ten years ago the standard advice was along the lines of, “people are distracted so make your posts short.” Lately, the common wisdom is that blog posts should be long and foo...

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Homesteading Disasters: The Skunk Menace

...rturned seedlings and scattered seeds. And each year I swear off vegetable gardening entirely. Actual photo of absent-minded conquistadors. So what’s the science behind this? Why do skunks dig? Skunks dig for doubloons dropped by absent-minded conquistadors many generations ago here in California. Our gardens in Los Angeles are thick in doubloons. In fact, if it weren’t for my metal detector I’d never be able to pay our inflated mortgage. Remember...

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Saturday Tweets: Garden Shows, Floppy Discs and an Auto-Wicking Garden

Ten things we learned from #RHSChelsea, by gardening ed @janeperrone https://t.co/tKA9T61zQm pic.twitter.com/pi2tXCHIgX — Guardian gardening (@guardiangardens) May 27, 2016 Los Angeles braces for possible coyote wars in response to bid to change city policy https://t.co/OdRWbQnRxU via @DailyBreezeNews — Root Simple (@rootsimple) May 28, 2016 Shopping for Annuals and Perennials | Garden Rant https://t.co/rOsy9wwGF5 — Root Simple (@rootsimple) May...

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Saturday Tweets: Subterranean Heating Systems, Achocha, Tree Beekeeping and Valentine’s Day Cocktails

...@Botanygeek https://t.co/SLIHfM61BE pic.twitter.com/1j0ywHYznr — Guardian gardening (@guardiangardens) February 6, 2017 Fretting about the decline of hedgehogs? do something about it! Listen to our hogcast with @BillOddie @hedgehoghugh @janeperrone @AlysFowler pic.twitter.com/4f1DFF4g4x — Guardian gardening (@guardiangardens) February 6, 2017 Now: TONIGHT: Meet the man reviving the ancient craft of ‘tree-beekeeping’ #bees #honey BBC1 at 7:30pm pi...

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