New Video for Cardboarding Your Bermuda Lawn

My post Cardboarding Your Bermuda Lawn is my top post of all. How to remove the lawn is a big issue and keeps people from planting their dream native garden.

While I think Scott’s should have to send out a hazmat team out to deal with all the Bermuda they have sold into California (just kidding – kind of), it’s not going to happen anytime soon. Cardboarding has worked for a lot of people.

An addendum to the post. If you are on a slope, all-cotton sheets can work, especially if you have already cut swales, as the sheets conform better to the landscape. Landscape paper “mulch”, sold in rolls at Lowe’s and other sites online can work as well as the cardboard, so if collecting cardboard is keeping you from moving forward on your lawn removal project, go the paper mulch route.

Here is a video that one of my Theodore Payne Design Class Students made of his lawn removal and native garden planting. Thanks, Matt!

 

Sustainable Garden Practice Online at UCLA Extension June 27, 2022

David King, of The Learning Garden and founder of the Seed Library of Los Angeles  and I teach Greener Gardens, Sustainable Garden Practice, which has gotten rave reviews from Extension students. We explore landscape-level and garden sustainability including watershed, foodshed and local-focused native plantings.

This class will be online with zoom discussions weekly along with self-guided field trips and assignments that get you outdoors.

Designed for horticulture students, gardening and sustainability professionals, educators, and home gardeners, this course focuses on both gardens and landscape level sustainability.

We prioritize growing and eating food from local gardens and foodsheds and promote pollinator and habitat gardening featuring native plant palettes. We touch on permaculture and other sustainable design theories; managing our soils as living systems, and moving towards a lower-consuming lifestyle when choosing materials, plants and tools. Students are introduced to the latest water management practices such as swales, earthworks, rain gardens and hugelkultur.

Self-guided trips include the Los Angeles River, the Learning Garden and demonstration gardens that feature California native plants and water-conserving planting design, as well as the Lyle Center for Regenerative Studies, which advances the principles of environmentally sustainable living.”

Mondays 6:30 to 9:00 starting Monday, June 27, 2022. Biology X498.10, Enrollment #386710
Enrollment Page Here

“learn to create habitat for pollinators, grow sustainable food, and harvest rainwater”

 

Tending the Soil Tuesday March 8, 7pm

I am giving my “Tending the Soil to Tend the Plants” online talk on caring for the soil microbiome for the Los Angeles/Santa Monica Mountains Chapter of CNPS on Tuesday, March 8 at 7:00 p.m. See post below for more about this talk and the handout.

Here is a link to the talk: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c3tcuF8KQug

The downloadable handout below includes references for the talk as well as a suggested seed list of annuals and short-lived perennials (for SoCal) to interplant with your perennials and shrubs to increase your soil carbon and support your new or existing planting.

microbiome-handout-with-seed-list-rev-3-8-22Download

 

Two Local Articles about Native Plants

Coyotemint is happy in a container (c) Orchid Black

I am quoted (along with many others) in this first one on LAist.com, by CNPS-SGM volunteer and my former UCLA Extension student, William Hallstrom. Native plants 101: A Starter guide to Replacing your Thirsty Lawn with Drought-tolerant Native Foliage

The second one, by Liz Ohanesian, in the Orange County Register and San Bernardino Sun, is a well-researched article about growing milkweed and other pollinator-friendly plants in containers. Don’t have a yard? Grow these California Native Plants in a Container Garden

Image USDA

Sadly, this story was run by the publishers with a picture of Asclepias incarnata, Swamp Milkweed, a plant that isn’t found at all in California. Stock image photographers, it’s time to get some good pictures of native milkweeds into the image sites!

 

Tending the Soil to Tend the Plants Oct. 28 Zoom

Cardboard and Mulch on Planting Day (c) 2008 Orchid Black

Tending the Soil to Tend the Plants – Thursday October 28, 7:30 CNPS-SGM

Just in time for the fall planting season — create a soil microbiome that supports California native plants and reduces weeds by using principles inspired by advances in the science of soil health.

Discover how plants make mycorrhizae happy, how roots take in and “eat” bacteria, how the right fungal:bacterial ratio suppresses weeds — and how farmers are putting carbon in the soil and using diversity in plantings to boost diversity above and below ground!

Regenerative agriculture practices and no-till research offer solutions for happy and healthy native plants.

Find more information about CNPS San Gabriel Mountains programs and activities
We have free monthly plant walks and field trips – suspended during Covid – in addition to our free programs.
Subscribe to the CNPS SGM mailing list (we don’t share your info and our mailings are limited ).

microbiome-handout-with-seed-list-1Download

Here is the url for the youtube of the presentation: https://youtu.be/srgspmeenYM

 

Greener Gardens Online at UCLA Extension September 20, 2021

David King, of The Learning Garden and founder of the Seed Library of Los Angeles  and I teach Greener Gardens, Sustainable Garden Practice, which has gotten rave reviews from Extension students. We explore landscape-level and garden sustainability including watershed, foodshed and local-focused native plantings.

This class will be online with zoom discussions weekly along with self-guided field trips and assignments that get you outdoors.

“From home and school gardens to commercial sites, our gardens present the perfect place to become more sustainable. Designed for horticulture students, gardening and sustainability professionals, educators, and home gardeners, this course focuses on both gardens and landscape level sustainability.

We prioritize growing and eating food from local gardens and foodsheds and promote pollinator and habitat gardening, featuring native and dryland plant palettes. We touch on permaculture and other sustainable design theories; managing our soils as living systems, and moving away from a consumptive, non-sustainable lifestyle when choosing materials, plants and tools. Students are introduced to the latest water management practices such as swales, earthworks, rain gardens and hugelkultur.

Self-guided trips include choices of the Los Angeles River, the Learning Garden and demonstration gardens that feature California native plants and water-conserving planting design, as well as the Lyle Center for Regenerative Studies, which advances the principles of environmentally sustainable living.”

Thursdays 6:30 to 9:30 starting Monday, September 20, 2021. Biology X498.10, Enrollment #383104
Enrollment Page Here

“learn to create habitat for pollinators, grow sustainable food, and harvest rainwater”

 

California Natives Online at UCLA Extension April 9, 2021

Eriogonum grande rubescens, Achillea and Poppy

We explore the California native palette via zoom and self-guided field trips.

This class will be online with zoom discussions weekly along with assignments that get you outdoors. From the Extension website:

“California native landscapes are adapted to our climate, and provide habitat to many California native bees, birds, and mammals. Using native plants in a landscape can make a garden more resilient and drought tolerant.

Participants study the elements of a successful native landscape including native plant communities; healthy soil, use and/or non-use of supplemental irrigation; maintenance requirements; plant sourcing; installation; and use of rainwater. The course will enable students to develop California native plant palettes for common urban micro-climates.

CoVID 19 Update: This course will meet online via weekly zoom meetings.

Self-guided trips include choices of the Los Angeles River, native nurseries, local trails and botanic gardens and  that feature California native plants and water-conserving planting design, as well as the Lyle Center for Regenerative Studies, which advances the principles of environmentally sustainable living.”

6 Fridays 6:30 to 8:30 starting April 9, 2021.
California Natives Biology X499.22, Enrollment #379122. I  believe the class is full, but there is a wait list.

 

Q&A with Lili Singer Saturday 3/20

Lili Singer, formerly of the Theodore Payne Foundation, and I will be giving a Q&A on native gardening on Saturday, March 20 at 10 a.m. for the Riverside-San Bernardino Chapter of CNPS. Lili will give a short presentation on Native Color throughout the Year, then Lili and I will take your questions on gardening.

You must register in advance at https://bit.ly/garden321

 

Thoughts from Milkweed Q&A plus links

Now is a good time to plant native milkweed, which is just coming out of dormancy.

Barbara Eisenstein and I led a robust Q&A on milkweed and Monarch butterflies at last week’s San Gabriel Mountains CNPS program meeting. The video and chat will be up on the cnps-sgm.org website here, once it is uploaded. I learned some things I didn’t know, especially about milkweed growing conditions.

Vince Scheidt told us that Narrowleaf Milkweed, Asclepias fascicularis, the one most easily available in local nurseries, is found in clay areas with some moisture. So those with lighter soils may want to water a little more, and possibly a little more often, than just once a week. For established native gardens, this may mean watering the milkweed by hand. Another beautiful milkweed local to the foothills region is Kotolo Milkweed, or Wooly Pod Milkweed, Asclepias eriocarpa.

It is still possible to start milkweed from seed at this point in spring – meaning this week, or at least before the end of March. To be successful the seed would have to be kept moist! For some gardens, especially in the valleys, this may mean daily watering, or you can start the seed in pots. By the way, most of the milkweed found at nurseries is grown from seed.

Many people asked about Oleander Aphids. They can be left on the plant, unless they are impacting the plant’s health. Both Barbara and I remove with our fingers, but they can be sprayed off with water or carefully removed with a Qtip, either dry or wet with rubbing alcohol.

Barbara spoke about the pathogen OE, for which non-native milkweed is a vector. Bob “Bug Bob” Allen has a great youtube about milkweed that goes into great detail about this pathogen, and why planting non-native milkweed in California, even if you cut it down in winter, can spread this pathogen.

There is more information about this at Monarch Parasites, and more information and citizen science at Monarch Watch

Barbara is giving a free zoom lecture tomorrow at 10:00 a.m. on milkweed. Zoom Meeting Instructions can be found on the Instagram Page of Seed Library of LA Altadena,, or email SlolaAltadena@gmail.com to register

 

Capturing Rainwater for Natives

I’ll be speaking this Saturday, October 17 at 10 a.m. on Zoom on the Capturing Rainwater for Natives for the Riverside-San Bernardino Chapter of CNPS. Learn important techniques for keeping rainwater on site for happier native plants. This presentation includes appropriate rainwater harvesting and storage, plus some thoughts about greywater and best practices for native plant irrigation.

You must register in advance at https://bit.ly/rsb-rain

Here is a link to the handout: Capturing Rainwater Handout (pdf)