How to Plant a Fruit Tree

January 16, 2014

...and this video, from the Dave Wilson Nursery, shows you how to plant your trees once they arrive in the mail. One quibble–it’s been proven to be not a good idea to amend soil when you’re planting a tree. Other than that, this is how we’ve planted our trees and they’ve all grown well. And I wish that I had done the radical pruning you see at the end of the video. Cutting the tree to knee height will give you a shorter, more manageable tree. You ca...

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Fruit Tree Maintenance Calendars

Mr. Homegrown

December 19, 2013

Fruit Trees, Gardening

1 Comment

...we live, it’s the time of year to prune and deal with pest issues on fruit trees. The University of California has a very helpful page of fruit tree maintenance calendars for us backyard orchard enthusiasts. The calendars cover everything from when to water, fertilize, paint the trunks and many other tasks. You can also find them in one big handy set of charts in UC’s book The Home Orchard. The permaculturalist in me likes our low-maintenance pome...

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The Africanized Bee Myth

Mr. Homegrown

October 28, 2013

Animals, Bees

40 Comments

...ees is just that, hysteria. I have helped move many hives here from walls, trees and kitchen vents to people who have wanted to have bees. Most likely, all of the hives I have moved have been Africanized. I have yet to encounter a feral hive that I would consider aggressive. Africanized bees should not be used as an excuse to ban beekeeping in Los Angeles or anywhere else that has Africanized bee populations. The people fanning the Africanized bee...

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Our Hot Streets Are an Opportunity

Mr. Homegrown

September 6, 2019

Appropriate Technology, Bikes, Design, Transportation, Water and Power

2 Comments

...s 120.8º F (49.3º C). Being a crank I have two conclusions: 1. Let’s plant trees. 2. How about instead of painting streets gray we do something really radical and pull them up entirely and start cooling people rather than serving cars? According to the Los Angeles Times, “Recent research has found that when manufacturing emissions are taken into account, most cool pavements hurt the climate more than they help.” So, as is typical for our mayor Eri...

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Welcome to the Summer Fruit Season

Homegrown Neighbor

May 26, 2009

Gardening

...y happy to begin the summer fruit season. I will continue to gorge myself on these sweet treats while they are at their peak over the next few months. And now for the shameless plugs- I’ll be at the Old L.A. Farmer’s Market in Highland Park this afternoon selling veggie seedlings and fruit trees. So come and visit and pick up your very own peach tree and some growing tips. And did you know fruit trees are excellent for irrigating with greywater? L...

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