Is your yard ready for winter? Here in Northern Nevada, it can feel like there’s a lot to think about in taking care of our homes and yards. This season, we invite you to prep for the cold season with the Truckee River in mind. From pest prevention to tree planting, adding natives to our gardens to protecting our homes from fire, this is the perfect time of year to take a closer look at your yard.
Read MoreHave you made a plan to winterize your home's irrigation system? By winterizing your irrigation system, you'll remove all water from inside its pipes, so it doesn't freeze and expand. Winterization also includes disconnecting and turning off your home's outside water for the season ahead. Learn more about how to do-it-yourself - or hire help from a QWEL certified professional!
Read MoreHave you had a chance to visit Lake Park’s River-Friendly Living Demonstration Garden? Installed last spring, the garden is full of native plants and landscaping features perfectly suited for our high desert environment. As the City of Reno continues to add more native plants, it’s becoming an even better model for what we can all plant in our own yards. To honor the garden’s first year of growth, we checked in with landscaping expert Carrie Jensen for suggestions on what we can learn from the River-Friendly Living garden and add to our personal yards.
Read MoreAs late summer approaches, you might notice more news popping up about toxic algae blooms. From Washington to Utah to Vermont, algae blooms were all over the news last summer and this summer’s drought conditions could lead to prime conditions again this year.
Waters across the U.S. are seeing higher incidents of algae blooms, and the Eastern Sierra is no exception. Down south, we saw algae blooms in Crowley Lake near Bishop and Bridgeport Reservoir. In the north, the Truckee River watershed had algae blooms at Virginia Lake in Reno and at Pyramid Lake. These algae blooms prompted local water quality officials and health departments to issue warnings to avoid swimming and recreating in these waterways due to health risks.
“Think globally, act locally.” This popular phrase, first coined by Scottish city planner and conservationist Patrick Geddes in 1915, could not be more germane to these times we are living in. Flip on the news and you will undoubtedly learn of the latest environmental catastrophe and its negative impacts: from hurricanes and tornadoes to wildfires and droughts. It can be overwhelming, to say the least, and can leave one feeling hopeless and helpless when it comes to “saving the environment.”
Read MoreSpring has sprung in the Truckee Meadows!
And since spring wouldn’t be complete without the cheerful chirping of songbirds, what better way to celebrate spring than by taking a moment to talk about providing for our feathered friends in our River-Friendly Landscapes.
Read MoreDid you know that approximately half of what Truckee Meadows residents send to the landfill in the summer months is organic material? That’s about 2,500 tons (or 350 elephants) of yard waste and kitchen scraps going to our local landfill every day! Instead of trashing these materials, which creates transportation emissions (contributing to air pollution and climate change) and takes up landfill space (decreasing land conservation), we can reduce unnecessary waste, improve soils, save money, and keep the Truckee River clean - all at the same time! In this, the sixth of our River-Friendly Landscaping series, we’ll show you how. So what’s the magic solution to this trashy problem? Composting! And what’s composting? Composting takes organic material and decomposes it into an organic fertilizer and soil amendment. It’s pretty much…
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