The Real Dirt blog covers regional gardening issues from soil health to planting for pollinators; from fire resistant landscaping to attracting wildlife. Read all about it!
Even when homeowners have created a defensible space, the job of protecting their home from fire is never done. There will always be ongoing and annual jobs to do. Additionally, there are special tasks that will need to be completed every few years or on an as needed basis.
The devastating Camp Fire of 2018, along with the numerous fires North State residents have experienced since then, have led many of us to focus on creating a defensible fire-resistant landscape around our homes.
Fire is a normal part of the natural environment in California, so if you live in the wildland-urban interface (WUI), it's not so much a question of if, but of when your home will be exposed to wildfire.
Spring is here, and many native plants are coming into bloom. Orange California poppies color the roadside and hills. Redbuds burst with magenta flowers. Butterflies flutter among the blue dicks in grassy areas in upper Bidwell Park and along foothill roadsides.
It is time to start thinking about thinning the fruit on peach, nectarine, plum, pluot, apricot, apple, and pear trees. To produce fruit that is large and healthy, fruit trees need plenty of leaves to feed the developing fruit.
