How much and how often to water avocado trees in California
I’ve always wished there were a simple formula that could tell us how much and how often to water an avocado tree. Alas, the variables are too numerous and complex: weather is ever-changing, different soils have different capacities, each method of watering creates...
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Starting a vegetable garden in Southern California
The change I’d like to see in my corner of the world is that more people grow a little of their own food. It doesn’t require a lot of space, many tools, much physical effort or time or money. A found pot, some dirt gathered off Palomar Mountain, and a couple cilantro...
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Who is eating holes in your avocado leaves?
If your avocado leaves are getting holey this spring, you are due for a night hunt. Every May and June, I find myself going out after dark and finding the same culprit: June bugs. Here's what I do: Grab a flashlight or better yet, a headlamp. Bring along a cup with a...
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When to pick oranges and tangerines
A friend asked me how to know when to pick the tangerines from his tree. My first thought was, it's obvious, you pick them when they taste good. But then I remembered that for some people gardening is full of rights and wrongs; he was afraid there was a correct or...
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Keep mulch away from tree trunks?
When some people visit my yard or see photos of my trees, they spot a violation of the rules: Aren’t you supposed to keep mulch away from the trunks of your trees? (That's my rule-breaking lime tree in the photo above.) It's true, there’s no real benefit to keeping...
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Reading my grandma’s 1961 Sunset Western Garden Book (My, how things have changed)
Last summer, I was touring my grandmother’s yard when we came to her peach tree and she assessed, “It’s in OK shape. But I didn’t get around to spraying it this year.” We moved on to her macadamia, tangelo, tangerine, avocado, grapefruit, and then down to her apple...
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Drip irrigation troubleshooting guide
Some say drip irrigation is the best. I half agree. I'd modify it to say that drip, including its cousin the micro-sprinkler, is better than other methods of irrigation for many situations, but that it does come with its own set of downsides and challenges. Yet I use...
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How to plant and stake an avocado tree
Even though I’ve planted many avocado trees, I was nervous putting in this little Jan Boyce, or JB for short (pictured on left). It is a particularly fine-tasting variety that I'd been trying to get my hands on for years. But I needn’t be too nervous. I’ve already...
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Effects of a warm and wacky winter on deciduous fruit trees
Are your deciduous fruit trees acting funny this spring too? Frightfully funny? Look at a couple of my trees today compared to this time last year, and then let’s explore why they’re behaving this way. Finally, is there anything to do about it? Bloom is a full...
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Hand pollinating avocados
It was 95 years ago that J. Eliot Coit, who would later be called the father of the avocado industry, wrote the article “How to make the avocado tree bear.” In other words, we've always wished avocado trees gave us more fruit. One way to encourage production is to be...
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Growing fruit trees in Southern California
April is a dynamic time to talk about fruit trees -- as they are all blooming and flushing -- and this last week I did so as the monthly speaker for the Ocean Hills Garden Club in Oceanside. When allotted only an hour to cover "Growing fruit trees in Southern...
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How to outsmart garden weeds
Weeding the garden is not mindless work. This struck me the other day when my wife was helping in the garden and I saw her do what we all instinctively do to a weed: rip it out of the ground. That's generally a fine thing to do with a small weed, but this was a big...
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I'm Greg. My goal is to help others grow some food at home, with a focus on vegetables and fruits -- especially avocados -- in Southern California. I write a new "Yard Post" every Friday morning. My book
