The Real Dirt

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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!

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Blue Oak leaves and acorn shells. Photo by Eugene Zelenko.
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The Blue Oak

February 22nd, 2019
Finding an Ecological Niche: Selected Foothill Woodland and Chaparral Species, Part 1 of 3: The Blue Oak By Laura Lukes, UC Master Gardener of Butte County, February 22, 2019 [Note: Blue oak (Quercus douglasii), gray pine (Pinus sabiniana), and buckeye (Aesculus californica) are three species that t...
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Fireweed is one of the first species to colonize the soil after a forest fire, Wikimedia
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There’s Green in the Burn

February 8th, 2019
By Laura Lukes, UC Master Gardener of Butte County, February 8, 2019 It didn't take long. Soon after the first post-Camp Fire rains, there was green in the burned area. Along lower Skyway, a blanket of soft verdure overlay the harsh scars of incineration.
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Defensible Space, Zone 1-Home defense zone, Zone 2-Reduced fuel zone from Cal Fire
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Firewise – Fire Resistant Landscaping

January 11th, 2019
By Brent McGhie, UC Master Gardener of Butte County, January 11, 2019 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.
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Sedges and yarrow in CSUC bioswale by C. Weiner
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Plant Suggestions for your Rain Garden

November 30th, 2018
By Alicia Springer, UC Master Gardener of Butte County, November 30, 2018 Four weeks ago, in this column we ran an article on rain swales (Slow it, Spread it, Sink it-- Creating a Rain Garden, Nov. 2, 2018).
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