Search Results for: label/pruning/page/4/2010/06/the-urban-homestead

532 results

How to Remove Bees From a Tree

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Animals, Bees, Gardening, Trees
21 Comments
...rm. Perfect habitat for bees! This was entirely preventable with judicious pruning. Leave the bees alone. If they are way up in the tree and not bothering anyone, take a chill pill. Hire a beekeeper to remove the hive. What Kirk has done with tree hives is to come at night when all the bees are in their hive and wrap a screen around the entrance so they can’t get out. Next day he comes with a chainsaw and saws off the limb with the bees in it. The...

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Reader Favorite California Native: Ceanothus

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Gardening
8 Comments
...e managed to kill. It’s true that once you get it going, other 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 w...

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How to Garden With California Natives: Lessons from the 2016 Theodore Payne Garden Tour

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Garden Design, Gardening
7 Comments
...ive chaparral. Spacing can be tricky. You have to pay attention to nursery labels and not plant too far apart or too close together. Not that plants always perform predictably. You have to go back and edit: fill gaps in or take stuff out. The best gardens on the tour got the massing right like the Hessing/Bonfigli garden in Altadena shown in the photo above. Outdoor Rooms My favorite garden on the tour is the Loxton/Clark garden in Pasadena. It’s...

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Home Orchards for Year Round Food Resiliency

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Fruit Trees, Gardening
4 Comments
...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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