Advice to Grow By ... Ask Us!

The UC Master Gardener Program designed the California Garden Web to serve as a portal to organize and extend the University of California's vast collection of research-based information about gardening to the public. The California Garden Web focuses on sustainable gardening practices and uses a question and answer format to present solutions.

The blog below highlights gardening issues pertaining to the season.

Preparing soil for winter can protect soil health

Added December 13, 2024

Farmers placed clumps of soil into metal mesh baskets, submerged the baskets into jars of water, then watched to see if their soil held together. The slake test, conducted at the Soil Health Field Day in Woodland, measured soil health. Healthier soil,...
Ask a rancher: Surveys draw on hard-won wisdom for surviving drought

Added December 11, 2024

Roche team lands $1 million to help ranchers stay strong California ranchers benefit when they plan ahead for extreme weather variability, according to rancher surveys and interviews conducted by a team headed by Leslie Roche, a...

Suds for a Bug, or a Pitcher of Beer for a Butterfly

Added December 20, 2024

Suds for a bug? A bug for some suds? The annual “Beer for a Butterfly” contest, launched in 1972 by butterfly guru Art Shapiro, now a UC Davis distinguished professor emeritus, gets...