California Friendly Garden Solutions

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2018 California Friendly Garden Contest Winners

Congratulations 2018 Winners! Please take a moment to scroll through the following gardens that are winners of our 2018 California Friendly Garden Contest. Often, it is the nearly invisible parts of a California Friendly garden that go unnoticed. If you are considering changes to your own garden we hope these [...]

CA Friendly Garden Contest Finalists – 2018

CONGRATULATIONS! To the finalists of the 2018 California Friendly® Garden Contest Please take a moment to scroll through the following images of great California Friendly gardens. These gardens are not only beautiful, but often contains a multitude of nearly invisible features that attract birds and butterflies, support pollinators, reduce water runoff and green [...]

Governor Declares an End to the Drought – Now What?

The drought is over. On Friday, April 7 California Governor Jerry Brown officially declared the end to the most severe drought in our state’s history. So, what does this mean for our gardens? Certainly, there will be further drought cycles and using water wisely in our gardens will be a permanent part of our gardening [...]

What is Milkweed and How Do You Care for It?

Milkweed is the host plant for the monarch butterfly. As a host plant, it provides the monarch larvae and adult butterflies with a food source. Milkweed belongs to the genus Asclepias, which has many different species spread out through America and Mexico. Asclepias line the migration path for these butterflies as they travel back and [...]

Designing with Succulents

Succulents and cactus have experienced a surge in popularity over the last few years, and for good reason. Their colorful, unique shaped foliage looks good year round – no flowers necessary.  They grow large and small so it’s easy to find one that will fit happily into the smallest pot, or grow up into a [...]

Great Shade Trees for Small Gardens

Thank you for visiting our blog. If you have any comments, I’d love to hear them. I am often asked for trees for small gardens, and so I have developed a little list of my all-time favorites. I’ve grown most in my own garden and the rest in friend’s gardens. These are sturdy, easy to grow [...]

5 Rules for Garden Success

Rule #1 Despite our recent water restrictions, this rule has and will always be the best; Water deeply, less often. S-l-o-w  down watering, making certain your soil is soaked 6-12 inches deep ~ twice a week in hot weather, once a week in cool, dry weather. Trees need deep watering around the root base, not just the [...]

3” of Mulch Saves 30% of Water

From the productive valley of central California, to the consistent temperatures of Orange County, California has always made gardening easier on us. Now, it is time to make gardening easier for California. Applying three inches of a shredded bark mulch can provide many benefits to the landscape. [su_spacer size=”10″][su_spacer][su_spacer size=”10″][su_spacer][/su_spacer] […]

CA Friendly® Gardening Solutions | Creating a California Friendly® Garden

I’m convinced – gardeners love the outdoors, love nature and love the earth more than most people. That’s why we garden, to be closer to nature. So when it’s time to make decisions about the plants to place into their gardens these folks are increasingly weighing things like water needs and climate suitability. Gardeners are asking [...]