Archived Articles
Flowers & Shrubs
- A Colorful Mood Swing
- Basic Tips for Planting Bulbs
- Black and Boo! In the Garden
- Brighten Your Garden with Roses
- California Wild Lilac
- Christmas Cactus
- Color in the Winter Garden
- Continuing the Petunia Love Affair
- Daylilies: For the Generation
- Dogwoods
- Evergreen Shrubs for the Winter Weary
- Fiddleneck. Weeds or Wild Flowers. It Depends!
- For the Love of Salvias
- Fussy Roses - Who's the Culprit?
- Geraniums: Over Wintering for New Summer Blooms
- Got Weeds? Gardening Can Build Strong Bones
- Grandmother's Gift
- Grandpa Ott's Fabulous Flowers
- History in Color - Irises
- Hollyhocks: Far-Traveling Flowers
- How to Make Your Garden Hummm
- Hummingbirds are Jewels on the Wing
- In Love with Lavender-A Garden Stunner
- Lavender, A Drought Tolerant Beauty
- Manzanita, a Landscape Dynamo
- Peony: An Old-Fashioned, Easy-Care Beauty
- Perennial Alert - Trimming and Deadheading Pay Off
- Plant for a Lifetime of Memories
- Plant Heat-Loving Ornamentals in Fall
- Planting Spring-Blooming Flowers
- Poinsettias, After the Holidays
- Prolonging the Bloom
- Propagating Grapes
- Pruning Roses For Spring and Summer
- Red Hills Gold: Wildflowers
- Rose Pruning
- Some Like It Hot, Hot, Hot
Trees
- A Forest of (Christmas) Tree
- Acorn Harvest
- After the Drought: What about the Trees?
- An Arbor Day Tribute to the Sacred Trees of Our Lives
- Avoid Pruning Apricots and Cherries in Cool Season
- Backyard Orchards
- Caring for Fruit Trees in the Dormant Season
- Have You Seen This?
- Lilacs
- Nature's Autumn Palette
- Now is the Time to Prune Fruit Trees
- Oak Tree Galls
- Olive Trees in the Mother Lode!
- Plant a Tree
- Planting Trees
- Pruning Fruit Trees
- Pruning Overgrown Fruit Trees
- Prune Some Plants Now, Others Later
- Sugar Pine
- The Truth About Staking Trees
- Tree Health in a Time of Drought
- Trees That Belong Here and Trees That Don't
- Trees: The Lungs of the Earth
- What to Plant After the Trees Die
- Why California Oaks are Important
- Winter Fruit Tree Care
Soil & Compost
- Composting for the Lazy Gardener
- Got Worms?
- How to Improve Your Soil in Fall and Winter
- I Love Making Compost
- If a Little Is Good...
- Is Your Soil Ready for Your Garden Dreams?
- Leaf Litter Is an Environmental Windfall
- Nature's Fertilizers
- Organic Mulches: Better Soil, Better Plants
- Soil Health
- Soil Nitrogen
- Stop Tilling for Better Garden Soil
- To Amend, or Not to Amend
- What Where You Step
- Worm Composting
Propagation
- Build a Seed Starting Grow Light Stand
- Favorite Seeds for the New Year
- Grow Boxes for Seed Starting
- Plant Propagation: Seed Saving & Greenwood Cuttings
- Save Seeds from Your Favorite Ornamentals
- Seed Favorites
- Seeds in the Wind
- Starting Seeds for Spring
- Starts with a Seed
- Tiny Miracles: Plants Grown from Collected Seeds
- Why Did My Seeds Fail
Water & Irrigation
- California's Water Budget
- Catching the Rain
- Drought Tolerant Plants: A Master Gardener Experiment
- Emergency Water Resources of Tuolumne County
- Groundwater Awareness
- Improve Your Watering System with Drip Zones - New 7/7/2021
- Landscaping Can Protect Homes from Wildfire & Conserve Water During Droughts
- Low- and No- Water Wonders for Difficult Places
- Make Every Drop County with Efficient Irrigation
- Out of the Hose is fine for me, Wise Watering for Landscape Trees
- Rainwater Catchment Systems
- Save Water to Save Money
- Saving Water & Money in the Garden
- Smart Irrigation 2021 - New 6/24/2021
- Smart Irrigation: Complementing Your Smart Irrigation System with Sustainable Solutions
- Smart Irrigation: Don't Send Money Down the Drain: Water Smart & Save Money This Summer
- Smart Irrigation in the Hot Summer Garden
- Smart Irrigation: Plant Right, Water Wisely
- Smart Irrigation: Reduce Your Lawn to Cut Water Bills
- Smart Irrigation: Technologies that Use Water Efficiently
- Taming Mother Lode Watering Woes
- Water, Water, Water
- Water Conservation
- Water Saving Suggestions
- Water Use in Drought Conditions
- Water Wise Water Features
- Wear Blue for Smart Irrigation Month
- What is a Watershed?
- Where Do We Get Our Water?
- Wise Water Use in the Garden
- WUCOLS
Gardening Techniques
- Are You Really Ready? (for frost)
- Beneficial Insects for a Healthy Garden
- Bib Overalls
- Bringing Birds to Your Garden
- Elevation-Specific Gardening
- Fire Resistant Ground Cover
- Fire-Safe Landscaping
- Friends in the Garden
- Garden Art
- Garden Experiment
- Garden Journal - Purpose and Benefit
- A Gardener's Year of Habitat Heroes
- Gardening Above 4000 Feet
- Gardening in Pots
- Gardening in Winter? You bet
- Gardening with a Sense of Purpose
- Gardening within a Garden
- Groundcovers Workhorses Save Time, Money & Water
- Growing a Green Thumb
- Habitat Gardening
- Habitat Gardening Basics
- Hand Pollinating Squash Plants
- Highest Evapotranspiration Rates in July Trigger Conservation Efforts
- Landscape Transformers
- Living Walls
- Low-Maintenance Plants for Slopes
- Low Tunnels for Winter Gardening
- March Gardening in the Central Sierra Nevada
- Mind Your Microclimates
- My Greenhouse Story
- Native Plants of the Habitat Garden
- Organic Gardening: Pros and Cons
- Plan a More Fire-Safe Landscape
- Reducing Your Yard's Carbon Footprint - New 8/9/2021
- Shady Characters
- Simple Steps to a Habitat Garden
- Smart Gardening Decisions for Water Quality
- Stop Tilling for Better Garden Soil
- Sustainable Landscaping
- Sustainability Strategies for Gardeners
- The Second Best Time
- To Leave or Not to Leave
- To Prune Or Not To Prune
- Use Winter Months to Prepare for Spring Gardening
- What is a true Mountain Garden?
- When Gardening Gets Tough, the Tough Get Smart
- Wildscaping - New 8/9/2021
- Workhorse Groundcovers Save Time, Money, and Water
Pests & Diseases
- Aphids
- Along for the Ride
- Ants and Earwigs
- Bark Beetles
- Cedar Scales
- Control Spider Mites Naturally
- Controlling Garden Pests and Diseases of Spring
- Control Garden Pests with Inexpensive, Safe Methods
- Create a Moon Garden for Night-time Magic
- Daniel Boone Cap and Wooly Caterpillars
- Dormant Sprays Can Help Reduce Pests
- Dormant Sprays in Winter Can Curb Spring Infestations
- Earthworms Are Movers and Shakers
- Earwigs
- Grape Pests
- Gophers
- Gophers by the Yard
- Hollyhock Rust
- Horticulture Oils
- How to Eradicate Yellow Starthistle Without Using Nuclear Weapons
- IPM: Pesticides
- Oh, Those Beautiful, Treacherous Brooms
- Pesky Pocket Gophers
- Safe Weed Management
- Scotch Broom Gall Mite: A New Partner in Broom Management for California
- A Snake in the Grass: Rattlesnakes in the Garden
- St. John's Wort, Friend or Foe?
- Things That Go Bump in the Night
- Trees Not to Plant
- Use Horticultural Oil Sprays in Winter to Curb Spring Pests
- Vampires in the Garden
- Weed Control
- What Are Those Bugs?
- What's Bugging You? Cutworms
Foothill-Friendly Gardening
- Autumn in the Garden
- My Seasonal Lawn
- Sense of Place
- Fire & Water
- Right Plant - Right Place
- Recycling: Feeding the Soil
- Spring Challenges of a Mountain Area
- Wildlife in the Garden
Native Plants
- Attracting Wildlife to Your Garden
- Creating a New Native Garden: The Final Update
- Drought Tolerant Native Wildflowers
- Fall - The Correct Time for Planting Native Plants
- Gardening with Native Plants
- Gardening with Natives Symposium: Creating Native Landscapes 2017
- Hints on Growing Native Plants
- How Native Plants Preserve Our Food Web
- It's Easy to Go Native
- Knee Deep in Ordinary
- Native California Plants
- Native Horticulture Practices
- Natives for Spring Planting
- Native Oaks, California's Other Mother Lode
- Native Plant Myths and Facts
- Native Plant Sale Heralds Fall Planting
- Oops! The Windy Delta Native Garden
- Plant All Stars in Your Garden
- Download the Red Hills Area is Home to Rare and Hardy Native Plants
- Subtle & Sustainable: A Native Garden in Hawaii - 2012
- The Beauty and Benefits of Native Shrubs
- The Life Cycle of Foothill Native Plants
- What Makes a Plant "Native"?
Gardening for Food
- Are Old-Fashioned Heirloom Tomatoes Really Better
- Blossom End Rot in Tomato Plants
- Central Sierra Victory Gardens 2020
- Cranberry Bogs
- Gardening for Food: Perennials
- Gardening for Food: Seasonal Veggies
- Gardening to Keep Your Money
- Grow More Vegetables with Better Pollination
- Growing Grapes in the Home Garden
- Growing Greens
- Growing Potatoes in Bags
- Herb Gardening for the Winter Chef
- How to Plan a Vegetable Garden in the Sierra Foothills
- Ins & Outs of Heirloom Tomatoes
- Is Now the Time to Start My Summer Garden?
- Kitchen Herb Gardens
- Let Us Do Lettuce
- Microgreens
- Oregano, By Reputation Only
- Planning Your Fall Garden
- Planting Garlic
- Planting Your Vegetable Starts from Seeds
- Potatoes for St. Patrick's Day
- Pruning Your Grapes
- Starting Your Winter Garden
- Summer Vegetable Garden Maintenance
- Tomato Time
- Ugly Tomatoes
- Vegetable Gardening 4-6 Francie McGowan, Spring Challenges of a Mountain Aerie. MML 4-13, Julie Silva, Oregano, By Reputation Only(1)
Edible Landscaping
- A Cook's Garden of Herbs
- Grow a Rainbow of Spring Greens
- Landscaping Good Enough to Eat
- Night Delivery
Miscellaneous
- 22nd Annual Garden Tour Highlights Local Gardens
- 23rd Annual Garden Tour: Maximizing Small Spaces
- A Few Gardening Myths Dispelled
- A Sierra Nevada First Thanks Giving
- All Star Plants
- Annual Garden Tour Returns
- Arboretum All-Stars
- Backyard Bones
- Bats - Gardeners' Friends
- Beneficial Bats
- Benefits of Being a Lazy Gardener
- Benefits of Forest Fires
- Berries for the Home Garden
- Biodiversity's Critical Role
- Birds and Water
- Bring on the Berries - For Birds
- Buffalo Grass a Better Lawn Alternative
- Build a DIY Walkway
- Building a Rock Garden
- Bumblebees are Peaceful Pollinators
- Bumblebees Are Primo Pollinators
- California Invasive Species Action Week
- California Naturalist Training Program Coming to Big Trees
- Carnivorous Plants
- Celebrate Earth Day: Another Way of Acting Together to Achieve Mutual Benefit
- Celebrate Earth Day: Dispose of Problem Trash
- Champion Biodiversity in Your Yard
- Christmas is for Gardening
- Christmas Tree Recycling
- Cobwebs and Decorations for Halloween
- Living with Coyotes - New 7/22/2021
- Create a Habitat for Monarch Butterflies
- Decorating for the Holidays
- Don't Move Firewood and Pests
- Fall Colors
- Fertilizer: The Scoop on Poop
- Fire-Safe Landscaping
- Flight of the Monarch Butterfly
- Forest Bathing for All Seasons
- Forest Fire Benefits
- From Grocery Store to Garden
- Garden Reflections on 2011
- Garden Reflections on 2012
- Gardeners Can Give Birds a Helping Hand
- Gardening Books for Holiday Giving
- Gardening during COVID-19
- Gardening for Wildlife
- Garden Tour 2015
- Garden Tour: Demonstration Garden Features Plant Sale
- Garden Tour Features Public Education Sites
- Garden Tour Features Roses and Sustainable Practices
- Garden Tour Focuses on "You Can Do It"
- Gardening Gratitude
- "Gardening in February?" You bet!
- Gardening with a Sense of Purpose
- Giving Thanks
- Go Green for Saint Patrick's Day
- Gourds
- Graveyard Plants
- Great Sierra River Cleanup Saturday, September 16
- Heritage Gardens
- Heritage Gardens, part 2
- Holiday Decor from Nature
- Holiday Decorations from Nature II
- Holiday Recycling
- Halloween Horrors: The Dark Side of Mother Nature
- Hover Flies
- How to Age Terra Cotta Clay Pots
- Identifying Pine Trees
- If No Caterpillars, Then No Butterflies
- Indoor Plant Therapy
- In Praise of Dandelions
- Invasive Plants are Changing with the Times
- Is Glyphosate a Carcinogen? And Bacon too!
- Is it a Bee, Wasp or Hornet?
- It's Garden Tour Time - Come On Over!
- It's Time to Feed the Birds
- Join in on Audubon's Winter Bird Counts
- Join the Great Backyard Bird Count in February
- June Garden Calendar
- Know Your Zone and Microclimates