Summer pruning deciduous fruit trees
Summer pruning is monkey work. I love its simplicity. There is joyously little thought or skill involved. But it is necessary monkey work. If you want to keep a deciduous fruit tree small and you skip a summer pruning, you start to lose hold on the size and...
The Reed avocado tree: a profile
The Reed avocado variety is the first I ever grew. It is a great beginner’s avocado tree because it is relatively tough and productive. In addition, the fruit itself stands among the finest tasting avocados so it deserves consideration for planting by the first-time...
Learning from the California Gardener of the Year
Just when I thought my vegetable garden was humming, I visited Roy’s. Actually, before I visited Roy’s garden, he handed me three bags stuffed full of pickings. One contained heads of romaine lettuce. Another had zuchinni, yellow squash, spaghetti squash, and...
How much to water a fruit tree in Southern California, roughly
These are the rules of thumb that I try to keep in mind for watering fruit trees during late spring, summer, and early fall (think May or June into October): If the fruit tree is two feet wide (about as wide as your body), then give it two gallons each week. If the...
Growing a Bee Garden in Southern California
When I write my weekly Yard Post I’m often sitting in my garage, where my view out of the door used to be a weedy hillside but is now this: a dedicated Bee Garden full of color. The notion to grow a Bee Garden has been germinating for years, and finally last winter I...
Don’t rush to plant warm-season vegetables in Southern California
Tomorrow is June 1 and my peppers are still not planted, and I don’t feel late in the least. On the other hand, my sister-in-law had bad luck with vegetable seeds she sowed recently and now she feels rushed to buy plants and get them in the ground pronto, and she...
Thinning fruit
The most pleasing chore I have had in the yard over the past few weeks has been making sure that branches don’t break under the weight of their fruit. This certainly hasn’t been needed on all of my fruit trees, but there are some this year that would be torn apart if...
Pinch to shape young fruit trees
Spring is for pinching. Nothing to do with Saint Patrick's Day, this is using your fingers to prune. In the spring, trees are growing new branches that are succulent and easily snapped off by hand: no tools required. But why pinch? And what and where to pinch? First...
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