Plan for fire.
By Cindy Poore
This was a crazy summer! So, so hot. I may be getting old, but I don’t remember so may days of 100 plus heat from past years. Isn’t it usually just a few (3-4) weeks? This heat is just going on and on. And the fires are not making things better.
The fire. Now THAT was scary. And it didn’t even come close to us. The Blue Cut Fire burned so fast, so hot, so unpredictably, that we were under mandatory evacuation orders. After seeing the devastation, I can understand why. They couldn’t take any risks.
We were safe and pretty far from the actual fire. I wish I could say the same for everyone. A dear, dear friend’s property was right in its path. Fires were popping up everywhere on his property. He and his son stayed behind to defend his home and buildings. They fought with tractors and shovels and were on the point of exhaustion around midnight when a group of firefighters came over the ridge and helped them fight the monster off. All his buildings were saved. Tragically, his very near neighbors and many others in his valley were not so fortunate and lost their homes.
So planning for fire in your landscaping and maintenance is essential for nearly any home. Here are some tips from the University of California Cooperative Extension:
DEFENSIBLE SPACE GUIDELINES
Below are general guidelines adapted from CAL FIRE:
1. Create and maintain a defensible space of at least 100 feet or greater from each building or structure.
2. From the home to a distance of 30 feet, keep plants low, and make sure to have irrigation available when needed. Check with your local fire department about the exact distances required in your area.
3. Preserve single specimens or groupings of well-spaced and well-pruned trees or other vegetation.
4. Eliminate ladder fuels within the defensible space zone by disrupting the vertical and/or horizontal continuity of plants.
Hi all. Just wanted to let you know things are a little crazy here in Phelan due to all the evacuations and we are not able to get to the work we have scheduled. Please be patient with us we will get back to you as soon as possible. Thank you to all the police and firefighters that are risking their lives to save our area and homes.
Woops!
By Cindy Poore
We’ve been busy! It seems to happen every year at this time. April hits and there are just not enough hours in the day to get it all done. Everyone has kept us busy with their gardens and their dreamed-of gardens so I have been remiss in getting our newsletter out in a timely fashion.
Part of the reason I’ve been so behind is because I have stepped up my game and have gone back to school at my advanced age! Yup, bucket list beckons and I went back to school to work on finishing my degree after eons had passed. I did it even though I was afraid I couldn’t do it after all this time. But this past semester was great and I learned a lot. Don’t let fear get in the way of doing what you have always wanted to do.
Let’s talk about the weather…
The weather has been crazy hot for weeks! Ugh! I’m so done with it. This heat and the drought restrictions have been putting a real strain on your landscapes.
One easy trick with watering grass this time of year is to cut your grass higher. As I have mentioned before, longer blades shade the soil around the grass roots and store moisture in the blades for the main grass plant to draw on in tough conditions. The longer the blade, the bigger the reserve tank your grass has.
Also, please consider grasscycling. Grasscycling is merely allowing the grass clippings to be returned to the grass as you mow instead of collecting them to
be disposed of at the landfill. Thrice lovely because not only are you helping your lawn by giving it a mini water-saving mulching every mowing, but as the clippings dry up and decompose they are adding organics to the soil to build it up with needed nutrients AND reducing the waste to the landfill resulting in fewer CO2 emissions to perpetuate global warming.
Be very diligent on monitoring your water use. We are our checking and fixing sprinkler systems and drip systems every week lately. Don’t let those leaks and drips continue. Call us for an irrigation tune up to make sure you are not wasting a bit.
Summer is for…
Sprinklers! The calls have been coming in like crazy with sprinkler problems. There have been several with issues where they “thought” they had vetted a particular business as professional and they came out to do sprinkler repairs and refused to tell the customer how much they charge. The repair man told her “ Don’t worry, I will make you a deal.” Literally he refused and got upset when she wanted to know before-hand how much. “You don’t trust me!” he said.
Another charged the customer for installation of check valves to stop the flow of water downhill from coming out of the anti-syphon valves. What a waste of time and money.
Yes, it is not good to put valves downhill from the highest sprinkler. Sometimes that is what you inherit when you buy the place. But it is against the laws of physics to try to stop that. The water will just back up and flow out the next opening in line.
Anti-syphon valves are designed to allow upstream water to flow out the valve when turned off to protect the potable (drinking) water from contamination.
We will give you price per hour for sprinkler repairs and “guesstimate” how long it might take. When pipes and equipment is underground and digging is required, we cannot see what the issue is so that is why we charge by the hour. Digging conditions are sometimes problematic and it can take time to find the issue. We will work with you to minimize the costs, and offer you other options to make repairs when possible. Some things have to be repaired immediately, some things can be postponed. Give us a call with your sprinkler issues and we will take care of them for you..
Manage your sprinkler clock. With temps over 100 degrees, you watering schedule is very important. Sometimes you just need some advice on how best to set your sprinkler controller. And sometimes, you have no idea on how to work your sprinkler clock at all. We do both for our clients.
Most problems are simple. Like the time a gentleman was having issues getting his sprinkler clock to come on automatically. He felt it was a simple issue but he just couldn’t figure it out, and he was right. After much fiddling with the system his frustration just got the better of him and he was done. That one was a quick one. He had no time set on the stations. This actually is one of the most common issues with a seemingly ok system not coming on. A missed step in programming. So if you are having issues, get the manual and go through it step by step first.
Nature and the interaction of people and the earth is essential to life balance. Get too far from nature and you will find that you are unsettled and cranky. We need to stop now and then and go out into nature to reconnect and find our inner calm.
Those of us who are lucky enough to have some space for a garden can bring nature home. We can build our own little natural environment to enjoy whenever we want.
Whether you have a tree and flower garden or a vegetable garden, pests can be a problem and a hindrance to your full enjoyment of your outdoor space. You put a lot of time and money into your garden, and you don’t want to let the pests eat your investment in nature. But you are also concerned about the environment, as all of us should be.
There are so many little creatures in nature. They all have a place here and a job to do. Mass destruction is not really necessary in nearly every case. There will always be some pests in your landscape. Having bugs in our landscape is unavoidable and is even desirable as they all serve some function in nature. Is the pest causing some economic or lifestyle issues? Then let’s try an integrated pest management approach.
What is integrated pest management, (also called IPM)? The basic definition of IPM according to University of California at Davis is: 1“Integrated pest management (IPM) is an ecosystem-based strategy that focuses on long-term prevention of pests or their damage through a combination of techniques such as biological control, habitat manipulation, modification of cultural practices, and use of resistant varieties. Pesticides are used only after monitoring indicates they are needed according to established guidelines, and treatments are made with the goal of removing only the target organism. Pest control materials are selected and applied in a manner that minimizes risks to human health, beneficial and nontarget organisms, and the environment.” Or put more simply, using the least toxic control method that will get the job done and reduce the pest population to the lowest threshold that will produce the least amount of damage.
The use of resistant varieties is my first choice for reducing pest issues. Of course, this assumes that you are in on the planning of your natural space before it is installed. Planning is the first step in creating your outdoor environment that can thrive with little care in the space you have. Do you have a sunny or shady spot? Is it windy? Exposed? What is the climate? How much space or light will the plants you have in mind require? All too often, people pick the plants they desire, not the plants that will do well in the space they have. It’s like saying I love that little fish! I’m gonna put him here right on my pillow where I can be near him all the time. Nope. Won’t work.
There are resistant varieties of plants that do not attract certain insects, or diseases in the conditions you have. Pick those varieties and plants that will work well there and avoid certain pest issues altogether.
You can’t really plan out all pests. So you have your natural space already AND you have pest issues. What do you do now? Well identification of your pest and understanding it’s biology and habitat is critical to control. What is it’s life cycle? Which parts of its cycle is damaging to your plants? What conditions does it thrive in? Know this and you are half way there to controlling the issue with the minimum of fuss.
Look at your cultural practices. Is the plant receiving the proper care? Does it need pruning? Are you watering enough or at the proper frequency? Is there enough sun? Perhaps the surrounding vegetation has become overgrown allowing too much shade or stagnant air patterns. Is the soil in good condition, not compacted or too wet or dry. Is the ph proper for optimum plant conditions? These are all things we can adjust to modify the conditions to improve the plant health. A healthy plant will naturally repel insects and disease.
Gophers and squirrels are notorious for liking just about every kind of plant. What do you do when they invade? Exclusion is often the answer for that. Pests like certain birds, rats and even some insects can be excluded from your garden by building walls, fences or screens and structures. There are so many possibilities depending on your situation. Traps work as well to trap and kill the intruders without chemical controls.
Then there is hand control. Got caterpillars? You can hand-pick them off. Not for the squeamish, obviously. And then there are traps and things like Tanglefoot which is a sticky substance that pests get stuck in.
Then you try biological controls, natural enemies and predators. Determine the type of pest that you have. Pretty much every pest in nature has a natural enemy or the planet would be overrun with that pest. Conditions in nature bring in the natural controls. In our artificial outdoor space, the natural controls are often out of whack. We need to supplement the environment with the natural controls. This might be anything from importing lady bugs to control aphids (aww..) to bringing in natural controls for snails and slugs like toads and snakes. ( I didn’t say it would be pretty) or birds, beneficial wasps and even bacterial pathogens like Bacillus thuringiensis, to control caterpillars . There are so many kinds of natural predators to choose from.
The next step might be to apply a chemical control to bring the pest threshold down to manageable levels. My first step in any bug issue is to wash off the plant. Pure and simple a blast of water can do wonders! It washes the majority of pests off the plant where many will not make it back to the plant. Washing off the plant often reduces the conditions that attracted the pest in the first place. Take aphids. They attract ants. Both are undesirable. Washing the aphids off the plant will not only reduce the aphid population drastically, but will also wash off the honeydew the aphids produce. The honeydew is what attracts the ants. Two for one with plain water!
The very last step in integrated best management is chemical control. As a licensed pest control applicator, I do not often resort to chemical controls. When a chemical control is warranted due to severe plant damage, with potential loss of the plant or a high value plant in danger then I consider chemical controls. When chemical controls are used, always use the least toxic product that will get the job done. It’s the responsible way to protect our earth.
1 http://www.ipm.ucdavis.edu/GENERAL/ipmdefinition.html
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