The buds are swelling and we are now witnessing signs of Spring!  Soak up the flowering magnolia’s and plum blossoms before the petals drop to the earth.  Now is the time to plant your tulip bulbs, trim your rose bushes down and remove the rusty leaves and start weeding your garden beds while the soil [...]

My neighbor Asha grew this, (over 6 feet tall), black bird of paradise that is thriving in our Oakland climate!

 
 
Engineers Liza and Matt bought their West Berkeley home two years ago and created a sustainable garden complete with honey bees.  The other day I stopped by their Berkeley bungalow, and Liza showed off their glorious garden.  Shortly after I arrived Matt appeared home on his bike.  (Matt and Liza bike to BART daily to [...]

Artists Jo and Leah used their creativity and vision to create an urban oasis in their West Oakland home.  When I showed them their home four years ago they saw past the cigarette stained walls and 70’s wood paneling and put an offer in.  The first thing they did was refinished the hardwood floors, re-plastered [...]

Okay, I get it! Times are tough, water is scarce, and gardens are evaporating. As I walk my neighborhood I am seeing the relics of landscaped front yards. If you are thinking of digging up the dead sod, here is some inspiration. EBMUD has a few rebates, click here to view. [...]

Stop the procrastination and get in your yard! Even if you only have an hour or two, now is the time to pull thoses weeds and fill in gaps. Some of you have very tailored gardens and there isn’t room for more, while others, (like myself have a free for all.) April and [...]

So, I am in my backyard trying to weed, prune and enhance, and I see that my roses are choked with aphids! I realize that this is the time of year to purchase ladybugs at my local Ace Grand Nursery, so I am off to purchase 100 ladybugs. I am hoping the ladybugs will do [...]

Have you just purchased a home in the Oakland/Berkeley/East Bay area with crummy landscaping?
I just opened the newsletter portion of my East Bay Municipal Utility, (EBMUD) bill and saw the call for water conservation. I went to their website and saw that there is a landscape rebate for $1000. EBMUD is looking [...]

Sunset Magazine is having a container garden challenge, click here for more info.