John Miller CA

If you’ve noticed a plain brown bird hopping around under your shrubs and flicking leaf litter in every…

By John Miller CA · Jul 28

Most California homeowners see fresh holes in the lawn and immediately blame the skunk waddling through the yard…

By John Miller CA · Jul 28

Praying mantises are one of those backyard creatures that California homeowners genuinely root for, partly because they look…

By John Miller CA · Jul 28

Most California homeowners who spot a scaly, strong-jawed lizard darting under a pot or log have no idea…

By John Miller CA · Jul 28

Orioles are some of the flashiest visitors you can invite into a California yard, with their bright orange…

By John Miller CA · Jul 27

A headline making the rounds says California has banned wood panel fences, and homeowners across the state are…

By John Miller CA · Jul 27

If your boxwood hedge is turning brown and begging for water every dry California summer, you are not…

By John Miller CA · Jul 27

If you live in a fire-prone part of California, that ring of bark mulch around your house might…

By John Miller CA · Jul 26

Pulling weeds all summer gets old fast, especially when California’s dry heat makes bending over the garden feel…

By John Miller CA · Jul 26

For years, a lot of Californians heard “defensible space” and figured it meant ripping out every plant near…

By John Miller CA · Jul 26

If you have ever watched a hummingbird zip right past a full feeder to land on a single…

By John Miller CA · Jul 26

Most California gardeners plant flowers to help bees, and that instinct is exactly right. But a whole group…

By John Miller CA · Jul 26

Rats can turn a peaceful California backyard into a stressful mess, chewing through irrigation lines, raiding fruit trees,…

By John Miller CA · Jul 26

Imagine walking into your local library and checking out packets of seeds instead of books. Across California, seed…

By John Miller CA · Jul 25

Something is chewing its way through California backyard gardens this summer, and if you grow both tomatoes and…

By John Miller CA · Jul 25

California quail are one of the most charming birds you can host in your yard, with their little…

By John Miller CA · Jul 25

You do not need a big backyard to grow real fruit in California. All over the state, homeowners…

By John Miller CA · Jul 25

If your yard is thirsty, struggling in the summer heat, or oddly quiet without bees and birds, the…

By John Miller CA · Jul 25

If you love the soft, swaying look of ornamental grasses but live where wildfire is a real worry,…

By John Miller CA · Jul 25

Every spring, a soft cooing from the backyard signals that a mourning dove has settled into a familiar…

By John Miller CA · Jul 25

Walk through almost any California garden and you will likely pass within inches of a spider so small…

By John Miller CA · Jul 25

Somewhere between hope and gardening reality lives the idea that one plant near a backyard pond can call…

By John Miller CA · Jul 25

When a heat wave rolls through California and temperatures push past 100 degrees, the birds visiting your yard…

By John Miller CA · Jul 25

A small lizard basking on your backyard fence might be doing your garden a quiet favor. Most California…

By John Miller CA · Jul 25

Ticks love to hitch a ride on tall grass and shady garden edges, and that is bad news…

By John Miller CA · Jul 25

Finding a small frog clinging to a plant stem or tucked under a pot in your California garden…

By John Miller CA · Jul 25

Barn owls are one of California’s most effective natural allies against rodents, and plenty of homeowners want to…

By John Miller CA · Jul 25

Some plants that have lived in California yards for decades are now showing up on county lists with…

By John Miller CA · Jul 24

That small lizard doing push-ups on your backyard fence is probably a western fence lizard, and it plays…

By John Miller CA · Jul 24

Finding a Mourning Dove nest tucked into a backyard shrub or balanced on a porch beam can stop…

By John Miller CA · Jul 24

If you have a hillside in California, you have probably noticed how fast ivy or ice plant can…

By John Miller CA · Jul 24

Rosemary earns its spot in so many California yards because it shrugs off drought and smells amazing, but…

By John Miller CA · Jul 24

Standing water in your yard can turn into a mosquito nursery fast, but nature has a built-in cleanup…

By John Miller CA · Jul 24

Big box garden centers sell the same handful of plants to everyone, but California’s native landscape holds hundreds…

By John Miller CA · Jul 24

You step outside to check your pepper plants and find them packed with deep-green leaves, looking healthier than…

By John Miller CA · Jul 22

You planted your peppers back in spring, watched them grow into full, healthy-looking bushes, and then waited for…

By John Miller CA · Jul 22

Chipmunks are easy to root for until one digs up your tulip bulbs or empties your bird feeder…

By John Miller CA · Jul 20

Seeing red leaves on your blueberry bushes in the middle of summer can stop you in your tracks.…

By John Miller CA · Jul 20

Basil is one of summer’s most rewarding herbs until the day you walk outside and find it covered…

By John Miller CA · Jul 20

Starting plants indoors before the busy spring season is one of the smartest ways to get a strong,…

By John Miller CA · Mar 11

Waiting all winter for spring blooms can feel like forever, but the good news is you do not…

By John Miller CA · Mar 9

Don’t Prune Your Roses Until You Check This One Thing First Pruning roses is one of the most…

By John Miller CA · Mar 7

Traditional lawns may look neat, but they demand constant mowing, feeding, and watering – especially during dry seasons.…

By John Miller CA · Mar 3

Late frosts can sneak up on gardeners and wipe out plants overnight, but some tough plants simply shrug…

By John Miller CA · Feb 28

Arizona’s blazing sun is notorious for its intensity, making gardening a challenge. Yet, there are remarkable crops that…

By John Miller CA · Aug 2

Growing vegetables in Colorado presents unique challenges due to its high altitude, intense sunshine, and varying temperatures. However,…

By John Miller CA · Aug 2

Gardening in Nevada’s arid climate can be challenging, but with the right selection of drought-tolerant plants, you can…

By John Miller CA · Aug 2

Gardening enthusiasts in Illinois often face the challenge of growing plants in heavy clay soil. However, with the…

By John Miller CA · Aug 1

California’s mild winter climate provides a unique opportunity for gardeners to cultivate a variety of leafy greens. Whether…

By John Miller CA · Aug 1