Honeybees in the Garden

Caroline Gengoi, UC Master Gardener, Yolo County

Honeybees (Apis mellifera) are common visitors to backyard gardens in the summer months. As gardeners and beekeepers, my family loves seeing our hard-working bees moving from flower to flower. In Davis, you might see honeybees pollinating, looking for water, swarming, or traveling back and forth to a hive. Honeybees benefit your garden through pollination but can also overwhelm limited water sources and compete with other native pollinators in the area. In this article, we discuss attracting honeybee pollinators to your garden, why they might be crowding your pool or dog’s water bowl, and how to support native bee species as well as non-native honeybees. 

One of the main attractions of honeybees to gardeners is their pollination services. Most of the honeybees you see out of the hive are female worker bees. Like most animals, bees require food, water, and shelter to...

Global Impacts of Growing at Home - Closing the Loop: How Your Food Scraps and Yard Waste Become Healthy Soil (Pt 2)

Kelly Mae Heroux, UC Master Gardener, Yolo County

Every week, Yolo County residents set out food scraps, leaves, and yard trimmings in their organics bins. For many, it’s as routine as taking out the trash. But this simple act does more than just haul waste away. It helps close the loop in a local circular economy, turning common discards into resources that nourish and rebuild our soils.

Organic waste collected in Yolo County is processed through a combination of anaerobic digestion and aerobic composting. The resulting compost is made available to residents to use in their lawns and gardens, and supplied to local growers who depend on the compost to maintain soil health and farm productivity. In fact, according to an article in the Davis Enterprise, local farmers...

Ask a Master Gardener

This column is written by the Master Gardeners of Yolo County each month. It provides answers to selected questions recently asked by Yolo County gardeners..

QUESTION: What is Integrated Pest Management?



ANSWER: Integrated Pest Management (IPM) is a science-based approach to managing pests that combines multiple strategies to keep pest populations at acceptable levels while minimizing risks to people, beneficial organisms, and the environment. A key feature of IPM is that it addresses a broad definition of “pests,” which includes not only insects but also fungi, bacteria, viruses, nematodes, and weeds.

IPM begins with identification and monitoring to determine what organisms are present, their population levels, and the extent of damage. Correct identification is essential because many organisms are harmless or even beneficial. For example, some insects are beneficial predators. They may look similar to harmful insects. Understanding whether a problem is caused by an insect, a fungal pathogen, a bacterial infection, a viral disease, or invasive weeds or an abiotic cause such as...

This two question article previously appeared in the Winters Express and Davis Enterprise.

Have a gardening question? Send it to jmbaumbach@ucanr.edu, with “Ask MGs” in the subject line. Include as much detail as possible and pictures if you have them.

July Garden Tips

Peg Smith, UC Master Gardener, Yolo County

July is a month to sit back with iced tea or lemonade and enjoy the results of your spring labors. It is also a time to make sure that garden tasks are completed early, before the heat of the day. A gardener’s body is their best tool. The sensible approach (I must confess to not always being sensible) is to avoid overdoing your personal strength and energy supply or becoming dehydrated. Drink plenty of fluids, rest often, and apply sunscreen.

In spring, we enthusiastically add plants to our gardens. Their care, support, and maintenance through the heat of summer will determine if they need the dreaded ‘I tried, but it died’ label. If we pay attention to water needs, protection from extreme temperatures, and are vigilant about pest and disease control, young plants will thrive and provide...

July Vegetable Planting Guide

Peg Smith, UC Master Gardener, Yolo County

July is commonly our hottest month with periods of several days with temperatures in the high nineties to well over one-hundred degrees. Based on National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) records, the year 2024 holds the record for the most one-hundred-degree days in Davis history. There were fifty days with a high temperature of above one-hundred degrees that year. Most of those occurred in July. The longest period of over one hundred-degree weather was eleven days. The combination of extreme daytime highs and warmer-than-usual overnight temperatures will affect vegetable growth and production. Plants such as tomatoes will respond to the heat by producing fewer blossoms and dropping blossoms. Be....

New UC Master Gardeners of Yolo County Videos!

UC Master Gardeners of Yolo County - Woodland Community College Gardens

Video by Toni Mitchell (MG-Solano)

UC Master Gardeners of Yolo County tend to several gardens within the horticulture unit at Woodland Community College. They also propagate plants and utilize the lath house for their biannual plant sales featuring perennials and heirloom tomatoes. For more information or to visit CLICK HERE

UC Master Gardeners of Yolo County - Winters Community Library Teaching Garden

Video by Stephanie Myers (MG-Yolo) and Toni Mitchell (MG-Solano)

The UC Master Gardeners in conjunction with the City of Winters, the Winters Community Garden, and the UC installed this lovely garden next to the library. It's used and enjoyed by many community members. The garden is located at 708 Railroad Avenue, Winters.

Creating a 12 Month Garden

Video by Janey Santos

Discover how to create a garden that delights every month of the year. UC Master Gardener of Yolo County, Janey Santos shares her experience and approach to layering blooms, foliage, and texture in the garden each month so there’s always something beautiful to enjoy — from the first spring flowers to the quiet structure of winter.

University of California Statewide Integrated Pest Management Program

The Yolo Gardener Newsletter is a monthly publication and the events posted here are based on information available at the time of publication. For the most up-to-date information on our events CLICK HERE.

University of California Agriculture & Natural Resources (UC ANR) is an equal opportunity provider.