Gardening

If you must have a lawn, raise mower blade to 3 inches. Photo credit: Ulrike Mai from Pixabay If your power and water bills rise dramatically every summer, your garden might not be as green as it looks. Although a beautiful garden can bring joy, it can also waste energy.

Gardening extremes occur when unexpected weather conditions challenge plant growth and survival. Frost, heat, floods, wind, and drought are all environmental changes that can result in plant injury. Plant damage can be sudden and severe or it may occur over time.

Whip graft tied with string. Photo: Piqsels Grafting involves joining two genetically distinct plants to unite and continue growth as a single, compound plant.

Soils vary greatly from one place to another, even in your own garden. No matter how much work you do in your garden, all may be in vain if the quality of your soil is poor. Listed below are some things you can do to get to know your soil.

Dymondia magaretae, Wikimedia Commons Groundcovers range from ground-hugging mats to 3 or 4-foot spreading plants. They can be woody or herbaceous, evergreen or deciduous. Some grow from a single stem; others have spreading underground rhizomes that allow the plant to "creep.

Winter is a good time to clean and sharpen tools. Photo: Piqsels Maintenance and prevention Clean up the garden to avoid over-wintering diseases. Cover open compost bins with a tarp when the rains begin. Protect frost-sensitive garden plants such as succulents.

Hydrangea. Photo: Annie Spratt, Unsplash This section covers flowering trees and shrubs that have been introduced to Marin and other California counties as a result of European contact. These tend to enter dormancy when days shorten and temperatures cool.

Build a great foundation of climate-conscious, Earth-friendly gardening principles and knowledge tailored to the needs, climate and conditions of gardens in Marin.

General Gardening. Thanks for stopping by! We're always planting new ideas and growing fresh content - come back soon to see what’s blooming.

Master Gardeners are community members who have been trained under the direction of the University of California Cooperative Extension. Each volunteer has completed more than 50 hours of formal classroom training.