Like many Californians in 2003, I began to grapple with the new reality of megafires.* My first experience with wildfire occurred in 1993. That October my high school became an evacuation center for the Laguna Beach fire. Then, after 10 years of relative calm, wildfires broke out in a fury no one could have forseen. San Diego took on an apocalyptic […]
Rock and Perennial Gardens- Beautiful and Fire Safe!
Recently, I client asked me to help her fix up her front. She had a bench her dad had made for her and wanted a nice garden to set it in. The front was overgrown with oregon grape and some indistinct shrubs. Here’s what I designed. It looks a bit sparse, but in a year, it will be fully grown […]
Fascinating article about what to do if you are trapped in a wildfire
https://ucanr.edu/sites/fire/Safety/Burnover/
Probably the best article on fire safe landscaping available
This article was written by Bert Wilson, a fire fighter, landscape contractor, and a native plant nursery owner. He was probably the most knowledgeable man on this topic that may have lived. He did a lot of his own experiments to separate fact from fiction. https://www.laspilitas.com/fire.htmhttps://www.laspilitas.com/fire.htm
Are you giving your energy away to Pacific Ultrapower in Chinese Camp?
If you are raking your leaves and bringing them to your local compost pile there’s a good chance you are. The Pacific Ultrapower plant in Chinese Camp burns local agricultural, logging, and yard “debris” for energy. The trees on your property are actually extremely complex solar panels. Unlike your solar panels on your home the energy is stored in the […]
Great address sign for firefighters invented by a Cali couple
Gives first responders immediate information as to what the status of the occupants of a home is during a wildfire Click here for their website
Looking back at the 2015 Big Creek fire
In 2015 an escaped burn pile tore through the Big Creek watershed and headed north (towards Pine Mountain Lake) before it was stopped at the I-120. You can see the charred trees a few miles before you hit Smith Station Rd. on the right hand side as you head east from Groveland. Some important reminders from this fire: 1) Escaped […]
Best irrigation tips from a local irrigation specialist.
Learned this today from Chris Bright. 1) Skip the soaker hoses. Too many bust from high pressure 2) Use the 5/8ths tubing not the 1/2 3) Do not use t-connectors. Give each plant their own separate line 4) Keep the lines above ground for easy diagnosis 5) Leave a saucer of water out for the squirrels. Then they won’t chew […]
Juniper- The “Gasoline Plant”
Juniper igniting an apartment complex in Carson City, NV
How to “eco-whack”
One day when weedeating, a praying mantis flew up and it got me thinking about the ecosystem I was plowing through. I had already taken out vetch, clover, lupine (all nitrogen soil injectors) and many wildflowers. I knew it was time to do something different! Here’s what you can do: 1) In winter, evenly space out oak limbs. In spring […]