By U-T San Diego7:30 p.m.Aug. 14, 2014

Free California Friendly Landscape Training Classes help turn the dream of a more attractive and water-efficient yard into a reality.

The San Diego County Water Authority and its member agencies are offering free classes about WaterSmart landscaping throughout San Diego County. The classes introduce a holistic approach to landscape design and maintenance that emphasizes water-use efficiency.

The three-hour seminars are fast-paced and informative. They offer solutions to common landscape problems. Participants will learn to think about landscapes from the soil up. In addition, they will learn how to design landscapes that are sustainable in San Diego Countys climate. Class topics will include how to make the best use of the regions limited rainfall, irrigate efficiently and choose the best plants for each yard.

Space is limited, and pre-registration is required. Visit WaterSmartSD.org for class dates and locations.

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Low-water landscaping classes are free

AMES | Tom Farniok has surveyed the landscape, and he fails to see a great divide at quarterback.

Discussing Sam Richardson and Grant Rohach, Iowa State's starting center said, "They're both level-headed, good leaders. They like success, obviously, but they really want success. They're driven.

"It's pretty even right now. They're really kind of the same person. That's why it's difficult to pick a guy."

That's been the company line throughout spring practice and fall camp. Richardson and Rohach, a junior and a sophomore, respectively, are neck and neck in the battle to start at quarterback for ISU when the season begins against North Dakota State. Even if head coach Paul Rhoads and his staff make a choice, sticking with it might be another matter, given the revolving door that's been spinning at that position under Rhoads.

Where it used to be Steele Jantz and Jared Barnett a few years ago, or Barnett, Jantz and Richardson, it's now Richardson and Rohach. Another candidate might be Joel Lanning, the true freshman out of Ankeny. But the two men who have won games at quarterback for the Cyclones are Richardson and Rohach.

"They're both - all three of them - at the 1-2 and 1-2-3 positions are great kids," said Mark Mangino, the new Iowa State offensive coordinator. "They have great personalities and I enjoy being around them.

Mangino, like Farniok, chooses to stand on common ground when evaluating the quarterback candidates.

"I think those guys are focused on being the best they can be and winning that position," added the former head coach at Kansas. "They all have certain leadership qualities. Whether your quarterback is a captain or a true freshman, there's a certain amount of leadership. I think those guys possess that. They just need to polish up and put the whole package together. That's the process we're in right now."

Of course, Farniok and Mangino can only run so far with the similarities, because the two veteran quarterbacks are not the same guy.

Richardson is a 6-foot-2, 223-pounder from Winter Park, Florida. Rohach, listed at 6-1, 224, was born in Iowa City, although he attended high school in Moorpark, California.

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Little separation between Cyclone QBs

Birds add a lively element to the garden, and attracting them to your landscape is easy if youre a good host or hostess. What you have on the menu and the quality of your provided lodging determineswhether your yard is alive with the sound of chirping and singing.

You dont need to be a bird expert to get them to flock to your yard, says Elaine Cole, president and owner of Coles Wild Bird Products Co. With very little knowledge and effort you can attract a lot of birds to visit your yard.

Follow these steps to setting up a backyard bird sanctuary.

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Cole's Wild Bird Products Co

Keep your feeders well-stocked.

A full "kitchen" attracts loads of birds to your landscape. This is especially important during the winter months when food is scarce for your feathered friends. Keep your feeders full, says Cole. That way neighborhood birds keep your yard on their go by and visit list, and migrating birds just passing through will notice all the feeding activity going on at your feeders and make a pit stop.

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Attracting Birds to Your Garden

Is there such a thing as a low-maintenance garden?

Some landscapers and horticulturists will tell you no every garden needs maintenance of some kind.

For the most part, they are right.

From personal experience, I can tell you there are high-maintenance and lower-maintenance gardens. It's all about plant choice right plant for right space and giving plants room to grow without crowding.

It's also about the plant types you select. Plants that need constant pruning to keep them sized and shaped and plants that dislike temperature and soil changes have no place in a low-maintenance garden.

For me, native plants especially in my bees, butterflies and birds garden are the way to go.

Landscape designer Denise Greene agrees, and shows and tells you how to best to create a minimum-care garden that attracts and feeds feed bees, butterflies and birds at 10 a.m. Saturday, Aug. 16, at the Freedom Park Interpretive Center, Centerville Road, James City County. The program is free and open to the public. A $5 donation is suggested for each person.

"Low maintenance means a minimum amount of input is required to keep the plants in the garden healthy and growing," says Greene. She grows 130-140 plants native to the Mid-Atlantic region at Sassafras Farm, a nursery she started in 1997 at her home in Gloucester County. She sells plants at the Williamsburg Farmers Market many weekends.

"The reason natives can be low maintenance is because they are adapted to the specific growing conditions of the site. Of course, you have to know what the site conditions are and which plants are adapted to those conditions. Just because a plant is native doesn't mean it will do well in any conditions, but it will thrive if you plant it in the right place."

Best books

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Native plants offer minimum maintenance, maximum benefits | Gardening

Connie Osiers favorite color is purple. How do I know? It was pretty obvious when I drove up to her South Hill home for this interview for the July Garden of the Month sponsored by the Inland EmpireGardeners.

Her front yard was a sight for sore, heat-stressed eyes. Velvety purple petunias, pink and white Stargazer lilies and light purple zinnias lined the walk to the dark blue front door. The lilies fragrance added to the sensual treat. A magnificent purple-leaved laceleaf Japanese maple draped over a wall at the foot of the sidewalk. Container plantings of mixed purple

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PAT MUNTS photo

Connie Osier shares a moment in her award-winning garden with Zamboni her tuxedocat. (Full-size photo)

Connie Osiers favorite color is purple. How do I know? It was pretty obvious when I drove up to her South Hill home for this interview for the July Garden of the Month sponsored by the Inland EmpireGardeners.

Her front yard was a sight for sore, heat-stressed eyes. Velvety purple petunias, pink and white Stargazer lilies and light purple zinnias lined the walk to the dark blue front door. The lilies fragrance added to the sensual treat. A magnificent purple-leaved laceleaf Japanese maple draped over a wall at the foot of the sidewalk. Container plantings of mixed purple annuals and chartreuse sweet potato vine adorned the front step and border beds. Below a small sitting area by the front door are large Endless Summer hydrangeas that rounded out the color theme. More on themlater.

Osier and her family have lived in their 1939 house for 25 years. We basically had to demo the yard in the beginning and start from scratch, she said. Osier helped the process along by taking landscape design classes at Spokane Community College which helped sharpen her skills for creating an exciting series of spaces starting with her entrance garden through to her backyard full of fruit trees, vegetables andchickens.

The space along the east side of the house is planted with aspen, alpine firs and wildflowers that combine to make you feel as if you are walking along a North Idaho trail. This garden was created after a major water line break meant everything including a large pine had to go. The pine was rotten and hanging over the neighbors irreplaceable tile roof, shesaid.

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Gardening: July garden showcases the color purple - Sat, 09 Aug 2014 PST

Second Carmel Valley gardener earns honorable mention in same competition

By Karen Billing

Two Carmel Valley gardeners have shown that being water-wise and having drought-tolerant landscaping dont have to mean ugly.

Amelia Lima's water-wise front yard won first place.

Carmel Valleys Amelia Lima was named the winner of the California Friendly Conservation Landscape Contest sponsored by the city of San Diegos water conservation program and public utilities department, while another Carmel Valley resident, Nancy Dalton, received an honorable mention.

Both womens gardens are alive with more than just rocks and a couple of cactuses they are colorful, lush and full of visual interest.

Im very concerned about water in our climate, as everyone should be, said Lima, a landscape horticulturist who owns her own landscaping company.

Lima said between 50 and 60 percent of all water in Southern California is used outdoors and, for the most part, people overwater their gardens. She said many people mistakenly think if a plant is not doing well, its because it lacks water. Her biggest tip is instead of dousing those struggling plants with more water, to find plants that actually want to live in this unique environment.

A dramatic sweep of river rocks in Nancy Dalton's garden gives the illusion of water flowing past plants.

Lima said that San Diego is a Mediterranean climate and only four other regions of the world share that climate the Mediterranean basin, South Africa, Australia and Chile.

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Carmel Valley gardener wins San Diego conservation landscape contest

Virginia Smith

Thursday, August 07, 2014

Hughes is that rare soul who prizes what other designers and gardeners despise - more so if it's scarred by deer browsing, insect damage or disease.

That's because, in addition to designing ecologically responsible landscapes, Hughes, 46, is a skilled woodworker who makes rustic furniture from garden "debris," a kind of plant-world Dumpster diver.

"It's a nice marriage, landscaping and woodworking," says Hughes, whose five-year-old business is called Weatherwood Design. It comprises about 70 percent landscaping and 30 percent woodworking.

Storm-felled trees and gnarly vines make good raw materials. So do pruned branches, old barn boards, and stuff plucked from the side of the road.

An arborist friend scouts out intriguing branches and discarded trunks. Hughes helps the Natural Lands Trust and local preserves thin out invasives or dead trees. And every July 4, again with permission, he rescues unwanted driftwood from death by bonfire at a public beach on Maryland's Eastern Shore.

The wood might sit for years on the 0.4-hectare property he shares with his widowed dad, Merritt Hughes, a retired English teacher. Logs, planks, oddball sticks and scraps are stacked along the driveway, in the yard, and in and around Hughes' densely packed, unheated 50-square-foot workshop.

"It's hard to throw anything out," he says of the jars of nails, screws and bolts, the bits of this or that, and the saws, planes and other tools of his trade.

Drying wood outside is challenging. But if rain and snow are his nemeses, water is also a friend. "My best ideas come in the shower," he says.

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Poetry in the wood

Connie Osiers favorite color is purple. How do I know? It was pretty obvious when I drove up to her South Hill home for this interview for the July Garden of the Month sponsored by the Inland EmpireGardeners.

Her front yard was a sight for sore, heat-stressed eyes. Velvety purple petunias, pink and white Stargazer lilies and light purple zinnias lined the walk to the dark blue front door. The lilies fragrance added to the sensual treat. A magnificent purple-leaved laceleaf Japanese maple draped over a wall at the foot of the sidewalk. Container plantings of mixed purple

You have viewed 20 free articles or blogs allowed within a 30-day period. FREE registration is now required for uninterrupted access.

S-R Media, The Spokesman-Review and Spokesman.com are happy to assist you. Contact Customer Service by email or call 800-338-8801

PAT MUNTS photo

Connie Osier shares a moment in her award-winning garden with Zamboni her tuxedocat. (Full-size photo)

Connie Osiers favorite color is purple. How do I know? It was pretty obvious when I drove up to her South Hill home for this interview for the July Garden of the Month sponsored by the Inland EmpireGardeners.

Her front yard was a sight for sore, heat-stressed eyes. Velvety purple petunias, pink and white Stargazer lilies and light purple zinnias lined the walk to the dark blue front door. The lilies fragrance added to the sensual treat. A magnificent purple-leaved laceleaf Japanese maple draped over a wall at the foot of the sidewalk. Container plantings of mixed purple annuals and chartreuse sweet potato vine adorned the front step and border beds. Below a small sitting area by the front door are large Endless Summer hydrangeas that rounded out the color theme. More on themlater.

Osier and her family have lived in their 1939 house for 25 years. We basically had to demo the yard in the beginning and start from scratch, she said. Osier helped the process along by taking landscape design classes at Spokane Community College which helped sharpen her skills for creating an exciting series of spaces starting with her entrance garden through to her backyard full of fruit trees, vegetables andchickens.

The space along the east side of the house is planted with aspen, alpine firs and wildflowers that combine to make you feel as if you are walking along a North Idaho trail. This garden was created after a major water line break meant everything including a large pine had to go. The pine was rotten and hanging over the neighbors irreplaceable tile roof, shesaid.

Read the original post:
Gardening: July garden showcases the color purple - Thu, 07 Aug 2014 PST

LOS ANGELES (KABC) --

"That's the main thing that people probably don't believe. It did not cost me anything," said Cordero.

Because California is in the midst of a water crisis, local water agencies are offering homeowners rebates up to $3 a square foot for removing water guzzling turf and replacing it with plants and mulch that use much less of our precious resource.

A new company called Turf Terminators will take those rebates in exchange for a new drought-tolerant yard.

"We've done a lot of planning. We've streamlined our operations, and we've actually come to a point where we can offer these services for a cost that is lower than the value of the rebates that we get. Therefore, we don't have to charge the end user and the customer any money," said Andrew Farrell with Turf Terminators.

After an initial consultation with the homeowner to choose plants and a variety of mulch, Turf Terminators will file for the rebate and handle the rest of the labor.

Another great feature of this type of landscaping is all of the irrigation is underground. With traditional sprinklers, there's a lot of evaporation in hot and windy conditions, which costs you money.

"A study of the city of Santa Monica and Santa Monica colleges says that for a 2,000-square-foot yard that's green and lush and has proper upkeep, switching that with drought-tolerant landscape...can save up to $2,200 in a given year," said Farrell.

However, if your yard is just dirt and weeds and not green-growing grass, you're probably not eligible for the rebate.

For now, Turf Terminators is only working with Los Angeles Department of Water and Power customers. But it plans to expand all over Southern California.

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Drought-tolerant yards can be free with rebate

Like dandelion sprouts carried by the twisting, battling winds to every corner of the yard, many of last Mays high school graduates are beginning to scatter throughout the college landscape, to military service or other opportunities.

There is a new horizon in each of their lives lives which never again will be able to return to carefree childhood years.

Among this group are many athletes who I got to know either personally or through article coverage during the past many years.

For these departing seniors, this is a time of great excitement and great sadness the latter being felt especially by the parents or guardians. There are pills for headaches, diarrhea, toenail fungus and many other ailments but theyve never discovered a quick cure for separation heartbreak or homesickness.

Time and gratitude for all those past years and memories are the best remedies.

As Ive reflected on the departure of so many of yesterdays high school athletes and hard-working students and overall good kids, Ive thought back to some of the lessons Ive observed during the years.

First, when someone nears the end of life, I doubt theyre going to regret not having gone to more meetings or having missed a Saturday round of golf, or be thinking of the game-winning shot they hit during a pick-up basketball or the perfect grade they received in calculus.

Not that those things arent important in their own sphere.

But, history tells us many people who are on their death bed have their last thoughts on their families, the way they treated other people and their faith.

With that in mind, I think its a good idea to:

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New horizon for each departing senior