Search Results for: label/trees

142 results

The Trees are Rooting

Mr. Homegrown
Thoughtstylings
1 Comment
Spotted in the latest edition of the SkyMall, this mash-up of sports marketing and the walking/talking tree things from Lord of the Rings. Yet another item to add to my catalog of questionable garden art. Note from Kelly:  Ack!!! I can’t believe Erik posted this. These things are a crime against both nature and aesthetics–even more so than most items in the SkyMall catalog. And now, you too will have to live with this image burned i...

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DIY Christmas Trees

Mrs. Homegrown
Design
5 Comments
A while ago Erik posted a link to an Instructable on how to make chairs out of scrapwood. William, author of that project, just let us know that he’s done a holiday Intructable on how to make a cute and quick modernist “flat pack” Christmas tree. This sent me into an internet rabbit hole, wherein I procrastinated for a long time by reading about homemade Christmas-tree-like-structures. Two favorites: 1) The Mountain Dew Christ...

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The glass is half full–even if it’s full of greywater

Mrs. Homegrown
Animals, Food, Gardening, Mistakes, Thoughtstylings
17 Comments
...failures in the agricultural line. It’s been the theme of the year. For instance, we lost the grape which covers our back porch to Pierce’s disease. No shade for us this summer. Then we had to pull out our citrus trees because there’s a new citrus disease in California, very similar to Pierce’s disease. We blogged about the crookedness and incompetence of the teams sent by the CDFA to intimidate people in our neighborhood...

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Least Favorite Plant: Ficus benjamina

Mr. Homegrown
Least Favorite Plant
7 Comments
Photo by Elon Schoenholz While Ficus benjamina, a.k.a. “weeping fig”, is one of my least favorite trees, my most favorite photographer, Elon Schoenholz is currently posting a series of ficus tree images on his blog. Schoenholz, wisely, takes a neutral stance on this hot button tree describing Ficus as, “L.A.’s favorite underappreciated, unheralded, unfavorite curbside flora. I have no real love for these trees, per se, n...

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Made in the shade- Passive cooling

Homegrown Neighbor
Domesticus
13 Comments
...has on the summer heat, because it still feels pretty darn sweltering in here. Shade is an easy way to keep things cool. Shade can be utilized inside and out. An outdoor seating area begs for shade. This can be achieved with trees and shrubs or vines trained over a trellis. A roof structure of some sort can also provide shade for outdoor areas. If you have pets that spend time outside, make sure to provide them with a cool, shady spot for hot su...

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The End of California Citrus?

Mr. Homegrown
Food, Gardening, Pests
17 Comments
...re officials will knock on the doors of residents in three areas in Los Angeles where the psylid has appeared to ask for permission for a foliar application of pyrethroid and a ground application of imidacloprid to any citrus trees a homeowner might own. While I understand the gravity of the situation–we really are looking at the possible end of citrus in California if HLB gets a foothold–the use of imidacloprid gives me cause for con...

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Planting a Mini-Orchard

Mr. Homegrown
Gardening, Water and Power, Water Conservation
2 Comments
...of washing machines use a lot less water than the old one that I still have. Other than the unnecessary bucket and the persimmon tree (died, for some unknown reason) this greywater application has worked very well. Our fruit trees are lush and happy. With the news that Lake Mead could go dry by 2013 we figured it was about time to figure out how to grow food with very little water in a Mediterranean climate that gets on average 15 inches of rai...

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The Spice Zee Nectaplum

Mr. Homegrown
Food, Gardening
8 Comments
We just harvested our first Spice Zee Nectaplum and, no exaggeration here, it was just about the tastiest fruit we’ve ever eaten–very sweet, with a indescribably rich taste and aroma. The nectaplum is a complex hybrid developed by Zaiger’s Genetics and sold through the Dave Wilson Nursery. It’s a gorgeous tree, with deep red leaves in the spring that gradually become a dark green by mid-summer. Hybrid fruit trees are cre...

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Did Kelly follow her 2012 resolutions?

Mrs. Homegrown
Miscellaneous
11 Comments
...st being with it, regarding it with joy instead of judgement. This I did not do, which is a real shame. I don’t know what my block is, why the garden is no longer fun, but that is something to ponder. -Learn to identify trees. What a crappy goal. It’s too vaguely stated. All trees? How many trees? I do know a few more trees this year than I did last year. -Take up archery again. This means starting with practice in the back yard once...

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