Search Results for: label/self watering containers

282 results

Front Yard Update: Welcome to Crazy Town

Avatar photo
Back to the Garden, front yard series, Gardening
22 Comments
...lost in the crowd on the slope. I’m hoping that it will start reseeding itself, because I don’t want to buy any more of it. I’m figuring that getting a meadow situation started will take time –and the cooperation of the grass. If it likes the slope, I’ll get a grassy meadow in coming years, but not this year. If grass is not to be, I’ll have to punt. And yes, it may have been more sensible (certainly more affordable) to scatter native grass seed...

Read…

California’s Drought and What To Do About It

Avatar photo
Thoughtstylings, Water and Power
33 Comments
...he desert planet Arakis in Frank Herbert’s novel Dune. Not only will we be watering our lawns less, we’ll be drinking our own urine. Knife fights with a bikini clad Sting will break out and we’ll be trading our bikes for rides on the over-sized worms emerging from our compost bins. But I digress. Let’s cover what we’re doing at the Root Simple compound. We’ve expanded our drought tolerant plantings over the past few years. These plants use less wa...

Read…

Trees Susceptible to the Polyphagous Shot Hole Borer

Avatar photo
Gardening, Trees
2 Comments
...cess for roots to grow and expand. Avoid excessive pruning, over- or under-watering, and planting inappropriate companion plants within the dripline. If trees are infected, systemic insecticides generally are poor for treating ambrosia beetles. Prophylactic spraying of the bark could be used to protect uninfected trees in some situations. Sterilize pruning tools between uses to avoid spreading the fungus. This handout can guide you through decidin...

Read…

Rain Barrels

Avatar photo
rainwater harvesting
1 Comment
...rigating plants does not need filtering or purification, and since outdoor watering accounts for the number one household water use, you’ll be using that water where it is most needed. Now, once again at the risk of sounding like a broken record, our strict rule around the SurviveLA homestead is that all irrigated plants must be useful, i.e. you gotta be able to eat it or make tea with it. Priority in our plantings goes to useful plants that don’t...

Read…

Rainwater Harvesting for Drylands

Avatar photo
rainwater harvesting
...We’re especially fond of his method of hijacking street gutter runoff and directing it with a small improvised check dam into a dug out basin in the parkway. We’ve watched our neighbor’s lawn watering runoff for years and wondered if we could find a way to use that water. You can watch two videos showing Lancaster at work here. And a podcast here....

Read…