Garden And Landscape Design

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Plan Your Fire-smart Landscape

> Three zones of defensible space > Guidelines for plant spacing > Woodpiles, decks, tanks, & other fire hazards > Choosing plants for a fire-smart landscape > Fighting fire on a slope > Fire-smart home landscape design examples To create defensible space, think about your garden in three zones.
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Meet the Pollinators

Bees are our most important pollinators. Most are solitary bees that live independently, not the bumble bees or honey bees we are more familiar with. Bees visit flowers for the pollen or nectar, which supply the nutrients they need.
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Clay Soil

If you feel like you need a jackhammer to bust into your garden soil, you've got clay. This is a familiar garden complaint in Marin. If you want to make your clay soil more workable, you can amend it with organic material.
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How to get help

Sonoma County Master Gardeners are here to help! Garden Sense is a free program for Sonoma County residents who want to learn how to create a beautiful and sustainable garden that conserves water. We make home visits and provide information on low-water-use plant selection and irrigation.
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Olives for oil

Irrigation Scheduling Tools In development in Greece-An innovative irrigation scheduling tool for olive crops Soil Moisture Monitoring http://ucmanagedrought.ucdavis.
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A dark haired woman holds a pesticide bottle in her hand to read it.
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Tree & Shrub Insecticides Limited in New Law

February 11, 2025
By Lauren Fordyce
As of January 1, 2025, popular lawn and garden pesticides belonging to the neonicotinoid class, can no longer be used by home gardeners on outdoor fruit trees, lawns, or ornamental plants in California.
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A brown, dying shrub in front of a row of healthy green shrubs.
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Wilted plants: lack of water or disease?

February 4, 2025
By Belinda Messenger-Sikes
A well-watered plant that suddenly wilts or unexpectedly drops its leaves could be infected with the soil pathogen Phytophthora. The disease it causes, Phytophthora root and crown rot, can affect many plants, including ornamental trees and shrubs, fruit trees, and vegetables.
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