We’re thrilled to see so much rain falling on our drought-parched North Bay. Yet in spite of the wet start to the new year, a changing climate means that California will continue to cycle in and out of droughts, sometimes with catastrophic flooding in between. How do we use the winter’s abundance far into the dry season? How can we cleanse and restore the water table while reducing flooding?
We’ve designed and built many gardens over the years, and we’re proud of every one of them. But every so often, a landscape project tells a story that touches our hearts in a special way.
The story of the birds and bees is the oldest on earth. We’re talking not only about birds and bees, but butterflies, bats and other wildlife that serve critically important roles as pollinators. The vast majority of flowering plants on earth need help reproducing via pollination. And one-third of all the food we eat depends on pollinators.
If you are tempted to eradicate weeds in your garden by spraying with the herbicide Roundup, think twice. Roundup, the brand name product that contains the chemical glyphosate, is a powerful and widely used herbicide that the World Health Organization deems a "probable carcinogen." It also concentrates in the food chain when absorbed by plants and organisms that are ingested by larger insects and animals, resulting in ecological disruption.