by David Berle Extention Specialist Designing a landscape is much like designing the interior of a house. Colors, patterns, and textures must be arranged in a manner that is functional and suits the taste of the owner. The one major difference with landscape design is that most of the ele…

Giant Flowering Onion - Allium giganteum Family: Amaryllidaceae (Amaryllis) Zone 5 How to Plant: bulb; plant 6 to 8 inches deep and one foot apart in the fall Habit: upright in foliage and flower …

Red Gum Lerp Psyllid Update According to University of California Entomologist Donald Dahlsten, the natural enemy introduced into California to control the eucalyptus red gum lerp psyllid is now established in eight California counties: San Mateo, Alameda, Los Angeles, San Diego, Santa…

Using Plants To Clean Up Soils Plant physiologist Leon Kochian (left) and molecular biologist David Garvin examine wheat plants of various genotypes being studied for aluminum tolerance. (K8781-4) When it comes to helping clean up soils contaminated with heavy and toxic metals, na…

Overview: Phytoremediation is the use of certain plants to clean up soil, sediment, and water contaminated with metals and/or organic contaminants such as crude oil, solvents, and polyaromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). It is a name for the expansion of an o…