Search Results for: label/pruning/2011/04/making-it/2010/06/the-urban-homestead

831 results

Bread and Roses

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Gardening
6 Comments
...grows to the manageable size of 10 to 12 feet. We’ve been more diligent in pruning in the past year to keep it tidy on the arbor. The main problem with roses, in my opinion, is that at some times of the year the leaves are just frankly, uninteresting. As I noted I’m no rose expert, so I’d appreciate your opinions about ways to make our roses more healthy and vigorous. The soil they are planted in leaves a lot to be desired and I’m very confused ab...

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Our new front yard, part 6: it’s all potential at this point

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Back to the Garden, front yard series, Garden Design, Gardening
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...extra work for whomever is doing the maintenance, because they have to be pruning the plants back all the time to keep them in check. This isn’t only unnecessary labor, but it also wastes a good deal of fossil fuel what with the power tools and hauling, and if the clippings end up the landfill, the creation of methane gas. It may not be such a big deal in one yard, but it’s happening in thousands of yards, so the ill effects add up. The worst par...

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Home Orchards for Year Round Food Resiliency

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Fruit Trees, Gardening
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...tree). Our Fuerte gives us several months of avocado toast. Growing fruit takes knowledge and effort. Thankfully, we have a great resource in UC Davis’ guide to backyard orchards. My advice: talk to avid gardeners in your area to learn what grows best. Pay attention to irrigation and pruning. Take out under-performing trees. Buy bare root trees to save money. If you don’t have a yard perhaps a school, business or faith institution in your communi...

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Take a Summer Viking Break

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Design
...ng or canning. This means it’s the perfect time for a Viking break. Back in 2010 Norweigian oil tycoon Sigurd Aase funded the construction of a brand new badass Viking longship, the Draken Harald Hårfagre. It’s the first Viking longship with its own website and gift store. The ship made it to the U.S., a reminder that Columbus wasn’t the first European to make that particular journey. Please kick back this weekend and take your own Viking break. I...

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Tracking the Mood of the Gardener

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Gardening, Vegetable Gardening
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Swiss chard from the winter of 2010 A Root Simple reader I ran into this weekend took issue with my assertion that fall is the best time to start a vegetable garden in Southern California. Thinking about it some more I think she may have a point. Some of you may have noticed that we have a new feature on the blog–if you click on an individual blog post you’ll see a list of related posts at the bottom. Looking at some of those older posts showed t...

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