104 Erin Schanen the Impatient Gardener

June 28, 2017

...we discuss some of Erin’s recent blog posts and other subjects including: Gardening mistakes. Dealing with creeping bellflower (Campanula rapunculoides) and other weeds. Remodeling a cottage. Erin’s day job as editor of Sailing Magazine. You can hear more about Erin’s sailing adventures on Garden Fork Radio episode 421. How to plant a tree. Killing plants. Winter and gardening with climate change. The folly of taking shortcuts with your soil. The...

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Reader Favorite California Native: Ceanothus

Mr. Homegrown

June 7, 2017

Gardening

8 Comments

...er than yearly pruning, you can retire to the nearest bar and rest on your gardening laurels. But getting it established can be tricky. The most common mistake is over-watering during the summer months and planting in overly fertile soil. We didn’t over-water, so how we manged to kill three of them is a Root Simple gardening mystery. That said, many of our neighbors have had no problems with Ceanothus. If you have a well drained sunny spot, it’s a...

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Homesteading Disasters: The Skunk Menace

Mr. Homegrown

October 12, 2012

Mistakes

17 Comments

...rturned seedlings and scattered seeds. And each year I swear off vegetable gardening entirely. Actual photo of absent-minded conquistadors. So what’s the science behind this? Why do skunks dig? Skunks dig for doubloons dropped by absent-minded conquistadors many generations ago here in California. Our gardens in Los Angeles are thick in doubloons. In fact, if it weren’t for my metal detector I’d never be able to pay our inflated mortgage. Remember...

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Polyculture

Mr. Homegrown

December 7, 2006

Permaculture

14 Comments

...s. It is written for people who live places with cold winters (as are most gardening books, alas). So Angelinos wanting to follow his plan can start this earlier, perhaps in March. The SurviveLA polyculture that will be described after was started in October. Polyculture from Gaia’s Garden, attributed to Ianto Evan: After the last frost cover your garden bed evenly with a light broadcasting of the following seeds. Don’t mix them before broadcastin...

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Saturday Tweets: Garden Shows, Floppy Discs and an Auto-Wicking Garden

Mr. Homegrown

May 28, 2016

Saturday Linkages

Ten things we learned from #RHSChelsea, by gardening ed @janeperrone https://t.co/tKA9T61zQm pic.twitter.com/pi2tXCHIgX — Guardian gardening (@guardiangardens) May 27, 2016 Los Angeles braces for possible coyote wars in response to bid to change city policy https://t.co/OdRWbQnRxU via @DailyBreezeNews — Root Simple (@rootsimple) May 28, 2016 Shopping for Annuals and Perennials | Garden Rant https://t.co/rOsy9wwGF5 — Root Simple (@rootsimple) May...

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