Kevin Brown, Ag Resource Specialist, BCCD
We are obsessed with things looking neat and tidy.  We want that golf course look.  Why?  I have said before that the only creatures on earth that want things looking that way are human beings.  Period.  Every other creature wants to have cover and food and prey to eat and the list goes on.  Where do they find that?  Not in well-manicured lawns.
​
We can’t even get people to look at pollinator areas because they look “bad”.  Really?  Once established, they look fantastic.  Ever go out in the middle of a goldenrod field in the fall and just stand there and soak it in?  Wow.  Bees and pollinators everywhere.  Stand under an apple or cherry tree in the spring and watch them work.  It sounds like the tree is going to “take off”.  We have all these theories about why populations of things are struggling.  Bee numbers are low.  Bats, Monarch Butterflies, lightning bugs, insects in general, and the list goes on.  We love to blame things that we don’t do.  It must be pesticides people are using.  It is because there isn’t enough milkweed around.  It’s because ….   Do you ever think it just might be us?  All these creatures need a place to live, to forage and feed, to be protected, and we do our best to take all that away. 

Kevin Brown, Ag Resource Specialist, BCCD
This is not to be confused with a “creeper” named Charlie.  Creeping Charlie, or the official name “ground ivy”, seems to really be getting a foothold on the local area.  Have you seen it?  Do you know what it looks like?  It is a small purple flower with wide, scalloped leaves on it.  It will grow into a carpet and completely push out all other vegetation where it grows.  It has taken over parts of my lawn, and some of my garden, and just continues to spread.  I had a brother-in-law ask me about it the other day.  He and his son mow lawns as a business, and they were also seeing it everywhere.  He wondered what it was, and then (of course) how to get rid of it.  The first question had an easy answer- ground ivy.  The second question was a bit more difficult to answer, and I needed to do some research.  

​(A reprint from spring 2023 with some really good information.  I know with the weather we have been having, it is really bothering people that they can’t get that manicured lawn look.  Maybe it shouldn’t.)
​
As we enter a stretch of warmer weather, one thing is on a lot of people’s minds. Mowing the lawn. I know that I’ve been thinking about it too, as parts of my yard get taller and taller while others stay relatively short. While it may be tempting to get out there and mow on the first day that the temps reach 70 degrees, I’d like to provide you with some information and hope that you consider waiting before firing up the mower early this year.