Guides, Stories & Resources

New year, new rain. It has been a wet start for California in 2019. Since the start of the year, several strong storms have hit the state, each bringing some serious amount of rainwater. As a result, the majority of the state is no longer in some dryness conditions it was in before. In the year’s first snow survey conducted on Jan 3, the snowpack water content was 67% of average;

Feeling really hot this summer? It’s right. Everywhere you go, you can see news about record high temperatures and wild fires. In such hot weather, how can plants in a garden survive and thrive? Record Temperature July 2018 is the hottest month in California since 1895, when the temperatures were first recorded.

A golden monarch butterfly stopping on a bush, a hummingbird sucking from a flower…a view that everyone would love to see. The good news is, we can turn a yard into a pollinator friendly garden and enjoy such a view often. Pollinators play a vital role for the eco-system, and for us humans, yet their populations have experienced dramatic decline in the last 20 years.

There are so many benefits for converting a lawn to water efficient gardens. The most significant one, of course, is water saving. Compared with a lawn, a landscape with drought tolerant plants can save 30-80% of water. In a dry place like California, such water saving is extremely important.

This story is about an amazing transformation from barren to beauty. When the owners moved into the house, the first thing they wanted to change was the front and back yards. It was barren, utterly unattractive. The main part of the front yard was this hard surface covered with sand. It had been used as a parking space for years.