Home & Garden

Wood roofs burn like kindling

Most people believe that wildfires ignite homes through direct contact with flames, but it is rare to have a home ignite this way. Thanks to effective defensible space campaigns, very few homes are in direct contact with traditional wildland fuel models (e.g., uninterrupted [...]

A different type of migration

Kate Russell
Kate Russell is a UCCE Master Gardener in Santa Clara county.
Latest posts by Kate Russell (see all)
Migration probably isn’t something you associate with gardening in Gilroy. But maybe you should. When we talk about migration, we generally mean large groups, moving from one region to another, due to seasonal changes, depleted food supplies, safety or reproduction. To most [...]

Vectors for plant disease

Kate Russell
Kate Russell is a UCCE Master Gardener in Santa Clara county.
Latest posts by Kate Russell (see all)
Few weeds come up as quickly and resiliently as common groundsel. Also known as old-man-in-the-spring, this European annual weed prefers Morgan Hill’s cool, wet winter weather, dying off each summer, but it never fails to return each year. Common groundsel description Like [...]

Fire safety in the garden

One or two minutes may be all the warning you get when it comes to fire. Fire-safe gardening around your home can give you the time you need to get out safely. [...]

Rounding the bend

Kimberly Ewertz
Kimberly Ewertz
Kimberly Ewertz is a freelance writer for South Valley magazine and Gilroy Dispatch.
Kimberly Ewertz
Latest posts by Kimberly Ewertz (see all)
Running through the sleepy town of Mount Madonna, the Shay engine powers the locomotive as local residents laze in the summer sun at the nearby creek, while others are hard at work at the town’s booming businesses: the mining company, sawmill and lumber company. The architect [...]

How does your garlic grow?

Kate Russell
Kate Russell is a UCCE Master Gardener in Santa Clara county.
Latest posts by Kate Russell (see all)
Being the Garlic Capital of the World means there are plenty of garlic goodies to be found in Gilroy, but growing your own garlic may be the most rewarding way to celebrate this cousin to onions, shallots, chives and leeks. In late spring, garlic plants may not look like much. [...]

Tours in two towns

Debra Eskinazi
Debra Eskinazi
Debra Eskinazi is the editor of South Valley magazine.
Debra Eskinazi
Latest posts by Debra Eskinazi (see all)
Spacious parcels, stunning views, fertile gardens and interiors adorned with items from around the world describe some of the finest sites in this year’s homes and gardens tours. It would be enough if it were one tour, but Mother’s Day weekend offers two distinct tours in [...]

Fuzzy, but not friends

Kate Russell
Kate Russell is a UCCE Master Gardener in Santa Clara county.
Latest posts by Kate Russell (see all)
If you have citrus trees, you probably have citrus mealybugs. Cousin to scale insects, these tiny Morgan Hill pests are often overlooked. At first, you may see some sooty mold on a few leaves, an ant trail, or, finally, a telltale cluster of fuzzy white, tucked under leaves or [...]

Sap-sucking pests

Kate Russell
Kate Russell is a UCCE Master Gardener in Santa Clara county.
Latest posts by Kate Russell (see all)
Aphids, or plant lice, are nearly always a problem in the garden. This is particularly true in winter, when it comes to cabbage aphids. Cabbage aphids (Brevicoryne brassicae) can wipe out a cabbage crop before it ever gets started. Native to Europe, this pest of cole crops is [...]

Garden myths

Kate Russell
Kate Russell is a UCCE Master Gardener in Santa Clara county.
Latest posts by Kate Russell (see all)
Oxalic acid—you’ve heard the warnings, telling how rhubarb leaves and other plant parts that contain oxalic acid should not be eaten. But that’s not entirely accurate. Let’s learn the truth about oxalic acid in the garden. The chemistry behind oxalic acid As an acid, [...]
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