gardening

I'm just itching to start pruning our evergreens, but my arborist self knows it’s a bit soon. I will wait until we have a hard freeze, to ensure my pruning cuts won’t attract any bark beetles. When a tree is pruned, we actually are wounding it.

This spring I told myself I would remember to fertilize the lawn in the fall, because I forgot in 2019. I noticed the grass didn’t seem as strong this year and I had a lot more weeds such as clover and black medic infesting the lawn. Now fall is here and I’m ready to fertilize!

I have often written about my friend Laura’s fantastic gardens. She has always had horses and chickens. Then, also having a tractor, she was able to turn and aerate large piles — all the ingredients and tools for outstanding compost.

Over the years I have seen or heard some big herbicide bloopers. A man came with samples of damaged leaves and I told him it was herbicide damage. He insisted it couldn’t be because where he used herbicide wasn’t anywhere near these plants.


I found photos last week of our landscape when we bought the house in 1988. There were trees lined up like soldiers along the borders of the property and lawn everywhere else. No flowers, no shrubs. Everything was flat. Although this was boring, it certainly was easy to maintain. Thirty-two years later, I look back at that landscape and think, why did I plant so much?

They wore pajamas, were wrapped in blankets, and carried cups of Dutch Bros and Starbucks as they gathered to celebrate the beginning of their senior year and the almost end of the soothing summer weather. The Class of 2020-2021, while practicing social distancing and wearing the latest fashion in face masks, gathered together at 6:00 a.m. Sept. 4 on the bleachers of the CHS football field to watch their sun rise.

As I drive the freeway through Carson City, I am reminded of one of the best Master Gardener Volunteers’ gifts to the community. From the spectacular eagle sculptures at either end of the freeway to each of the metal sculptures along the rest of the freeway and on/off-ramps to the landscaping, multi-use path and the patterning on the walls, I remember a group of Master Gardeners from the University of Nevada Cooperative Extension who created what we see today.

Mountain Lakes Estates Retirement Living is celebrating National Dog Day all week long, Monday, Aug. 24-Friday, Aug. 28, 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Reno and neighboring residents and their pups are invited to stop by the sales trailer at the 765 South Meadows Parkway Reno, NV 89521, to pick up a free homemade dog treat and enter to win a $50 gift card from Lulu's Pet Grooming. The treats are made with love by Scraps Dog Company in Reno.

It’s only August and the leaves of the "Autumn Blaze" maple at The Greenhouse Project site are completely yellow. What’s going on?

The featured speaker at Monday's Democratic tele-luncheon will be Mary Liveratti, who served as AARP's Nevada state president for six years before retiring in 2018. She now serves as a volunteer advocate on behalf of legislation impacting seniors. At Monday's luncheon, she will talk about the role she plays in the University of Nevada, Reno’s NEST (Nevada Ensures Support Together) program, which addresses the social service needs of older Nevadans.

You may be noticing issues with your precious tomatoes such as blackened leathery spots on the bottom, cracks on top or catfacing. Gardeners work hard to grow delicious tomatoes and when the fruits aren’t thriving, they worry.

I can’t believe what I’ve been doing this past week. All gardeners realize there are a lot of repetitive, often tedious, tasks involved in gardening successfully. But seriously! I have been snipping off hundreds, no thousands, of crabapples. Most people let the crabapples stay on the tree for fall color. Believe me, I would like to do that, but ...

Watching the news on the Numbers Fire south of Gardnerville reminds us how important it is to create and maintain defensible space around your home. The fire burned 18,380 acres in the week it took to get it contained. Have you taken responsibility to make your home/landscape defensible and survivable?

Yvonne Joyce David
May 5, 1944 – July 16, 2020

Yvonne J. David, resident of Carson City, Nevada, passed away on July 16, 2020. Yvonne was born on May 5, 1944 to the parents Nellie (Alma) Lovingier and Arthur A. Lovingier in San Francisco, CA. Yvonne arrived in Carson City in 1977 and began to work for the State of Nevada. She loved working for Western Nevada College, assisting teachers and staff before retiring.

Construction of Mountain Lakes Estates Retirement Community is nearly complete, and its first residents are expected to move in this fall, said Darryl Fisher, president of Mission Senior Living. The active lifestyle community for adults 55-years-old and better is located at 765 South Meadows Parkway, Reno. Construction began in the spring of 2019.

I’ve fallen in love with some impressive summer-blooming plants given to me by my friend Peggy. They are Crocosmia ‘Lucifer’, sometimes called coppertips.

Heading into the weekend, there’s a number of activities, gatherings, virtual or not, happening around the Carson City region. Safety guidelines for the state of Nevada have been enforced, so please make sure to bring a mask and practice social distancing.

I’m not a fan of toiling in the heat. I do very little yard work when it’s hot. Sure, I could get up at dawn and garden for a couple of hours or stay up late and work in the yard at sunset, but I rarely do. After our COVID19 spring where I put in long hours doing yard maintenance, I have succumbed to the heat and taken my gardening, such as it is, indoors.

Look under your fruit trees. You might see dozens of tiny fruit on the ground. Don’t worry; it’s the June drop. Since trees often set more fruit than they can support, each June they shed an abundance of underdeveloped fruit.


Our landscape is fairly wild, partly because we like it that way for the birds, but also because it simply gets away from me. We love the space of our two and half acres, but sometimes I get discouraged that our yard will never be pristinely groomed. I have to stop and remind myself how much we do accomplish.

The Dayton Farmers Market opened for the 2020 season on June 11. The market will take place every Thursday this summer from 3 to 6 p.m. at 60 Second Avenue and Highway 50, across from Pizza Factory. Market-goers will find seasonal, fresh fruits and vegetables, eggs, honey, and more from our region’s farmers.

I am fascinated with German bearded irises with their frills, color combinations and scent. I’m also interested in the changes that occur to the flowers after a number of years. I have had deep goldenrod ruffled irises lose their ruffles and fade to a lovely light yellow after years in the same location.

My neighbor Mark, now known as “Chip” after Chip Gaines from “Fixer Upper” on HGTV, acquired his new moniker after building an amazing fence to enclose his wife’s garden (with her help of course!). Since we have major animal challenges in our neighborhood — ground squirrels, rabbits, deer and bears — a strong defense system is essential for successful vegetable production. The impressive garden fence that "Chip" built should keep all the critters out.

The Coronavirus has made many people want to grow their own food. At the Foothill Garden, a partnership with The Greenhouse Project and Carson Tahoe Health, Will Pierz, the garden manager and farmer, is growing some unusual, but hardy edible plants.


Seriously, “lasagna gardening?” Readers may remember my article on hügelkultur last year, a centuries old Eastern European method of no-dig raised beds made out of logs, branches, leaves, grass clippings, straw, cardboard, petroleum-free newspaper, manure, compost and/or other organic matter. Topped with soil and it’s ready to plant.

If there’s one thing that could be considered a positive during the mandated quarantine, it’s that nature is becoming a lot happier. From the return of dolphins in Venice, to the return of wildlife in Yosemite, and a lack of air pollution all around, Earth Day this year is certain to be a memorable one.

My friend Julie from Incline laughingly asked me recently if she could come garden at my house since her property was buried in snow. While that’s not feasible, it got me thinking. Others may wish they too could garden during these “Stay at Home” times but not have space for an in-ground garden and need to garden indoors, on a patio or on a porch.


My gardening clothes stink and I’m a happy woman! I’ve been pruning a Rhus trilobata, commonly called skunkbush sumac. Its name tells the story. I should have left my malodorous garments outside rather than carrying that pungent scent into the house. Oh well, I don’t care. I’m happy because I’m pruning. It takes so little to put a smile on my face.

Even with the stay-at-home order in place, businesses, families and youth can engage in a number of educational activities online to enhance their daily lives and help themselves, and others, through these challenging days. Amid the COVID-19 outbreak, University of Nevada, Reno Extension faculty, staff and volunteers have been hard at work to bring educational workshops, programs and resources useful during this time, into Nevadans’ homes.

Gardening is a great activity that can be done at home, and University of Nevada, Reno Extension is offering online courses to teach gardening basics. This April, Extension's Grow Your Own, Nevada! Program will live stream eight classes statewide to help those who want to get on a path to more sustainable, local, healthy living by growing more of their own food.