Advice To Grow By
Water Conservation Tips
Click here for water conservation tips and tricks and help conserve water!
Garden Notes Blog
Previously Garden Notes Newsletter
Sign up for the San Joaquin UC Master Gardener Blog
Don't miss out on any of our seasonal and timely posts!
View all of our blog posts
Garden Notes Blog
-
Going Native – A History
There are lots of reasons to include native plants in your garden. But do you know when the native plant movement began in California and why the use of native plants is so important? Theodore Payne (1872-1963) is generally considered the father...
-
Transforming Your Landscape: A Journey of Inspiration, Challenges, and Success - Part Two
Watching the transformation of my front landscape over the past six months has been nothing short of exhilarating. Despite the challenges of an exceptionally hot summer, the plants have thrived, slowly acclimating to their new environment. This success...
-
The UC Master Gardener - and the Public - as IPM Ambassadors
An effective UC Master Gardener volunteer should see themselves first as a gardener, then a student, as well as a teacher, a storyteller, and finally, a defender of our shared California waterways and clean air. It may not be obvious, but we all live in...
-
Horticultural Terms — Epizoochory: Another Form of Seed Dispersal
Horticultural Terms — Epizoochory: Another Form of Seed Dispersal In the Summer 2024 edition of this blog, I highlighted the “eliasome,” a fleshy appendage on some seeds that allows ants to transport them into their nests to feed their...
-
Herb Study – Caraway
Herb Study – Caraway Over the years, my wife and I have converted our home's yard from 1100 ft2 of lawn to a native, edible, and herbal wonderland. We continue to add unique and fragrant herbs that enhance the overall beauty and bounty of our...
UC Garden Blogs
-
It's Friday Fly Day!
It's Friday Fly Day, and time to post an image of a fly that masquerades as a bee. That would be "the bee fly," a fly so named because it resembles a beeOrder: Diptera. Family: Bombyliidae. In its adult stage, it's a pollinator that feeds on...
-
UC Davis Seminar: 'Using Power of Food to Confront Climate Change'
Have you ever been asked: "Do you BELIEVE in climate change?' The more pertinent question, scientists say, is "Do you UNDERSTAND climate change?" Wikipedia defines climate change this way: "In common usage, climate change describes...
-
Celebrating the Crab Spider in Arachtober
It's Arachtober and that means celebrating arachnids for the entire month of October. Well, we ought to celebrate them year around, but October is THEIR month. Let's especially applaud crab spiders when they prey on such agricultural pests as the...
-
Learning About the Bees and the Nutrition They Need
If you missed the eagerly anticipated UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology seminar by apiculturist Juliana Rangel Posada, an associate professor at Texas A&M and an international leader in honey bee research, not to worry. Her...