Hi! Like the title says, I note have a yard to garden. I want to get fruit trees (looking in to the ones that can stay in a pot). Any how, I’m confused as to what I do once I know my zone. How is this info helpful?

Produce Safety after an Urban Fire

For a detailed report please read thru the UCNR report in the link below.

https://ucanr.edu/sites/SoCo/files/308873.pdf

I have this tree in my front yard but can’t seem to identify it. The identification apps I’ve used give me different results. Thanks!

I am looking for a bushy tree to provide privacy and feed my pollinators that frequent my small yard. I don’t care if it gets 15-20 feet high the trunk just can’t get more than 3-6 feet wide.

I am also open to bushes so long as I can trim the bottom. There are coyotes in my area and I don’t want to give them any hiding places.

My dog loves to roam the yard and I frequently find her with leaves in her mouth so suggestions need to be dog friendly please just as everything else I’ve planted has been.

Any leads? Thank you!

Every year, we forget that "Southern California" doesn't mean "tropical paradise" for our plants. It means "where you water at dawn and pray for rain." But hey, we keep planting like it's the Amazon rainforest, right? At this point, my garden's just a weed cemetery. Anyone else living in denial or is it just me?

I transplanted a few types of lettuce into a planter box on my deck about a week before the fires.

The box was outside the whole time during the post fire and ash falling days, but they were also outside last weekend for the soaking rain.

Should I be wary of eating these leafy lettuce bits? Or should I trim it all and foster new growth? Hesitant to eat something that’s been exposed to potentially harmful burned ash stuff, or maybe I’m overreacting.

I have a very old fuerte avocado tree that still produces a few glorious avocados, but it mostly produces loads of those small cucumber shaped avocados. They never seem to ripen though, they just stay hard then finally shrivel and turn black. Is there any trick to ripening these guys that I’m not aware of?

I’m looking for recommendations of where I can go and buy landscaping boulders in the LA area that are small enough for one person or two people to move and carry. Thanks in advance!

EDIT: I'm located in the LA metro/westside area. I'm willing to travel to San Fernando Valley if needed.

The checkout line for the later is always shorter. 🤓

Enjoy this moment of zen at a creek between yards…and me checking to see if EVERY platform links as well as YouTube now.

https://bsky.app/profile/mrfrenchfries.bsky.social/post/3lgqoikkods2p

Hi all,

I was wondering if anyone has had any success with growing patchouli outdoors? When I research the plant it looks it should grow well in our zones here in SoCal (zones 10, 11) but I rarely see it and have never seen it sold at any nurseries. I know it’s too cool right now to grow it, but would love to grow it outdoors in a pot once the weather warms up. I’m just curious if anyone has had any success with it, or possibly what challenges they’ve faced growing it. Thanks!

Hello hello, I was wondering if anybody knew of a nursery in Los Angeles that carries lisianthus flower plants. I just got some cut flowers of those, they're lovely, and just learned that it's a fit for our zone. Apparently they're rather difficult to grow from seed and so I was going to just start from plants. Thanks for your help!

Reading up on milkweed, it's recommended to plant native milkweed plants - woolypod, narrowleaf, swamped milkweed are some recommendations. The tropical milkweed from Home Depot or Lowes is a big No-No, so I will dig those up.

I'm a gardener, and tried to grow native plants from seed - definitely not as easy as I'd hope, but I will purchase natives and try again.

If people want to post their best sources please do. Monarchs need our support. Thank you!

I want to get some non GMO blueberry plants to grow. I live in Los Angeles. Where is a good place near LA to buy them? Thank you for your help!

Any recommendations for plants with a tidy, compact growing habit that we could plant in a repeating pattern to line our bocce court?

Ideally: *Evergreen *Perennial *Full sun *<3 feet high

We’re in 9b/10a. (Kearny Mesa, San Diego)

Located in SoCal (La Verne area) and in need of a tall privacy hedge (at least 8-10’). It will be next to a wall and will be a few feet from pavers so ideally nothing that has aggressive roots that will ruin either of these things.

Thanks!

Anyone ever have success with this method? I once dug up a handful of earthworms, but they didn't do much and the scraps rotted into a stinky, slimy mess.

(Picture for reference, not my setup.)

My home thankfully survived the fires, but was near where homes were burning down. The closest house fire was 7 blocks away (~1 Mile), but house fires raged on past that point, and lots of toxic ash and soot settled in my yard. I was planning on growing a vegetable garden plot this year (raised beds), but given the amount of lead, arsenic, etc., in the ash, I'm wondering how much topsoil I should dig up and toss out to do so safely. Do I replace it with garden soil? Add worms? Any advice or resources I should look into?

Hi,

I have an orange tree in Huntington Beach and I'm not sure what's wrong with it.

As you can see in the picture, the leaves are brown or blackening. What am I looking at and how do I fix it?

https://imgur.com/a/unhappy-orange-tree-kkeAM0M

Thanks for your help.

Hello all,

Considering the very dry and unusually warm past few months, I am curious what people have in their vegetable gardens in zone 10 right now and whether I am wasting my time and garden space by hanging on to my winter veggie seedlings and small plants.

Life got busy and I was late to plant my brassicas, lettuce, cabbage etc. They grow very slowly and are only 2-3 inches tall, have leaf damage from snails and aphids. It looks like my winter veggies won't be harvest ready before the weather really warms up and the plants bolt so I am considering cleaning everything up and starting my summer seeds.

Thank you all!

View Poll

I left my home due to everything going on and my newly planted bare root rose bushes went unwatered for about 5-6 days. One is looking okay but the rest are not doing so hot. Should I give up on time and replace them now or try to revive them? Stores are running out of them fast so if I need to replace I would prefer to do it now.

Using a SoCal seed company! Can’t wait to see these grow