Rebecca’s Monthly Gardening Tips
A hopefully helpful list of what to do in your garden this month – tried and true tips from the experts.
Rebecca in the Mercury News
Most Snakes are TRULY Good Guys!
Although you may not get the “warm & fuzzies” from those slithering creatures you encounter in your backyard or along your favorite trail – most are TRULY harmless & EVEN beneficial!
Sustainability We Can Live With
Using Sustainable Flooring
Using a sustainable flooring option won’t deplete our natural resources — there are many gorgeous options to choose from: If you’re under the impression that environmentally friendly flooring products, such as bamboo and cork, are nothing more than the latest fad that will soon disappear, then think again. Though very different from each other, both are high quality products that make beautiful and durable floors. In addition, bamboo and cork are easy to install and cost about the same as traditional hardwood. What Is Sustainable Flooring? Simply put, sustainable flooring is a material that doesn’t deplete natural resources when harvested. In fact, both bamboo and cork regenerate themselves and can be maintained indefinitely. Below is a comparison on how each is grown and harvested. Traditional Wood Flooring Sustainable: No Material: Wood (oak, pine, etc.) Maturity: 30-100 years How Harvested: Timber cutting When Harvested: Once at maturity then replanted Bamboo Sustainable: Yes Material: Grass Maturity: 5-7 years How Harvested: Cut at ground level When Harvested: Every 5-7 years, regrows from roots Cork Sustainable: Yes Material: Wood Bark Maturity: 25 years How Harvested: Bark is peeled away When Harvested: Every 9-12 years, tree remains alive while bark regenerates While sustainability is important, a product has to perform well to be a viable alternative. Fortunately, both bamboo and cork have a lot going for them. Click here for full article and...
Gorgeous Sonoma Home, Featuring Mature Oaks & Passive Energy!
Home » Modern House Designs » Mature Oaks and Living Roof contribute to Passive Energy Home Mature Oaks and Living Roof contribute to Passive Energy Home There is nothing better than deciduous trees to create passive cooling in the summer via the shade of leaves and passive heating in the winter via the lack of leaves, and since mature oak trees have huge leaves they rank among the best passive energy deciduous trees that mother nature has to offer. Mother nature has also given us other ways to make use of passive energy for our homes and with all the advances in building technologies, one of the best examples of this is the use of a living roof for heat dispersal in the summer and heat retention in the winter, with the bonus of adding another place to plant grass, herbs, sedums or even small rooted vegetables. Turnbull Griffin Haesloop Architects made use of these passive energy tricks when designing Sonoma Residence, located in Sonoma, California, on a gently sloping meadow that softly descends down to a spring fed pond. Turnbull Griffin Haesloop Architects made use of these passive energy tricks when designing Sonoma Residence, located in Sonoma, California, on a gently sloping meadow that softly descends down to a spring fed pond. The criteria for Sonoma Residence was for a home that embraced an indoor / outdoor lifestyle so that their guests could easily transition from the home to the pool to the pond, and since many days in Sonoma can be very hot, Turnbull Griffin Haesloop Architects included a large shady outdoor sitting area underneath...About Growing 2 Shine
Being an avid gardener, born and raised in Indiana, I feel incredible blessed to live in sunny California & be able to grow my own food all year-round! I write a monthly garden column for the San Jose Mercury News & am constantly striving for tips & ideas on how to live a little more gently in regards to ourselves, our planet & each other – basically sustainability we can live with! As a fulltime realtor here in the Bay Area, I help my clients “Go Green” in & around their homes & communities.
I hope you will find my monthly Green Tips useful; & I hope you find inspiration in the monthly Garden Tips & the incredible Edibles You Can Plant & Grow!
WEEKLY GREEN TIP: Save time, money (and hopefully the planet)!
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Pocket Gophers make their presence known by building crescent shaped mounds of dirt. They feed on plant and tree roots as they tunnel through the soil. They are active year-round and can have up to three litters a year in well-watered areas. They also gnaw on irrigation lines to divert water into their tunnels, making it difficult to properly water plants. Adults live about three years. Trap them using Macabee or box traps for the best means of control.
More information can be found here
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