Sweeping up solutions

Click!  My photo was snapped by my husband as I posed with my bike.  Having just been retrieved from the garage, it had not seen the light of day in some time.  That would change today - I was going for a ride!  Dressed in a yellow summer blouse and my black and tan stretch pants which frequently doubled as pajama bottoms, this was my best effort at looking athletic.  It seemed appropriate to mark the occasion with a picture; let me take you back to the fall of 2017, to explain why. 

 Summer is upon us! If you’ve kept a garden or maintained a landscape here in Sonoma County, you know just how thirsty plants can get in the dry season. Luckily, many of the guiding principles for having a water-wise garden in our climate have the co-benefit of being fire-smart. Many folks are familiar with the concept of defensible space, but keeping that buffer around homes and buildings to reduce the threat of fires doesn’t mean we can’t have beautiful plants in the landscape. Defensible space can simply mean a properly maintained garden or yard!