Columns

It’s not too late, but time is running out if you’re looking to add fruit and nut trees, berries and vegetables to your garden while they’re still available in bare root. Did you know just how long that new fruit tree will be around...

To kick off this year’s holiday season, I plan to add some color to cheer up my houseplant selection. Sometimes I give friends and neighbors a holiday plant, but I need to keep in mind if they have small children or pets as some...

Always on the look out for potential problems in my garden, I can use all the help I can get. Solutions are out there. One of my go-to websites that I use to diagnose those problems is UC Integrated Pest Management or ipm.ucanr.edu. You...

Whether you want them to or not all gardens change with time. It’s part of nature that the fittest survive. Possibly you have different ideas of what you want your garden to look like but it’s hard to fool Mother Nature. Several years ago...

Hopefully, you are not panic-selling to move: California has awesome people, climate, entertainment, educational opportunities and business. For property taxes, see my “Local Tax Impact in Santa Cruz County.” IRS Capital Gains rates run 15% for couples making over $89,251 and 20% for those earning...

My neighbor’s dog, Winston, is dealing with the heat of the summer during his walk and visit to my place. He can hardly wait for a drink of water and a flop on the cool hardwood floor. Even the plants outside aren’t happy when...

At the end of last month’s column, I wrote that “2023 would no doubt bring new challenges and opportunities.” What none of us could have imagined was how quickly those challenges would present themselves in the new year. The series of atmospheric rivers that pounded...

Wisteria are one of those vines that you either long for or lament ever having planted. They are all fragrant with a delicious sweet scent that varies from faint to strong to almost overpowering. Bees and hummingbirds love them. Here are some tips to...

Scotts Valley became a city 57 years ago on Aug. 2, 1966. Scotts Valley is still a young city and still evolving. The city’s population has grown from approximately 3,600 in 1970 to about 12,000 residents living in some 4,600 homes today. Forming a new...

A recent article in the New York Times caught my eye: Hot weather cherries, drought resistant melons and six other crops that are being developed or already in the market could change how we eat in a fast warming world. In the face of...