Beware of rootstock suckers on citrus trees
My orange tree above looks fine, right? That’s what I thought until I crouched down and noticed this little devil: That branch growing from the base of the trunk — that’s the little devil. It’s not a branch of my orange tree; it’s rootstock. Citrus trees are usually...
Dormant spray deciduous fruit trees?
“Here’s a minimum spray program for mixed fruit tree plantings: In December or January, or after pruning, apply a dormant spray such as oil and lime sulfur to apples, pears, peaches, plums -- all fruits except those noted below -- for control of scale insects and...
Talk to you in 2020
Taking a week away from writing a Yard Post to end 2019, but here are a few photos anyway. Above, the cauliflower is coming along well with very few aphids this season. Below, installed a weather station in the yard the other day, which immediately recorded a couple...
Taking notes on your garden
I make a million mistakes in my garden. I love experimenting out there. My only goal is to not make the same mistakes over and over again, and my gardening notes help with that. I want to share mainly the three types of notes about my garden that I’ve found most...
Why are my oranges splitting?
It's December, my oranges aren't sweet yet, but they’re splitting. Oh no! Happens every fall, actually. Just as the cool nights start to turn the rinds from green to orange, and just as the first rains arrive, navel oranges begin to split. My orange tree whose fruit...
The Bacon avocado tree: a profile
Below is my Bacon avocado tree, which is older than me. I don’t know who planted it, and it’s on public property. Okay, so this isn’t officially my Bacon avocado tree, but it feels like that sometimes because I’ve been picking its fruit and paying attention to...
Easy weeding after first rain
There’s this slice of time a few days to a few weeks after the year’s first rain in Southern California when you can knock out thousands of weeds in minutes with a simple tool and little effort. The first rain falls -- and by rain, I mean at least a half-inch, which...
Charles Dowding
Having received our first rain of the season in Southern California, Charles Dowding is more relevant to us than he was a week ago. Dowding is a market gardener in England, rainy England. And he goes beyond growing and selling wonderful vegetables to writing,...
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