Posts Tagged: Monique Myers

Drought Tolerant Plants

Ventura County Cooperative Extension’s Monique Myers has written a Green Sheet titled “Drought Tolerant Plants”.

In addition to the benefits of drought tolerant plants, Dr. Myers explains general drought information; history on the use of drought tolerant plants; as well as the characteristics, selections and maintenance of these plants.

Benefits of drought tolerant plants include:

• Lower water bills
• Reduced water use
• Attractive plants with less maintenance
• More wildlife habitat
• Less plant disease and more pest resistance
• Deeper roots help to stabilize slopes
• More groundwater recharge
• Less polluted runoff flowing to the ocean

Other Green Sheets on a variety of green subjects can be found here.

Drought tolerant plants such as this Red Bird of Paradise (Caesalpinia pulcherrima) lend a colorful tone to this Southern California garden.

Compact for a Sustainable Ventura County

Ventura County UCCE Coastal Community Development Advisor Monique Myers is currently working with others in the community to create a vision for the long-term future of Ventura County. They will be addressing issues such as: housing costs, traffic congestion, economic vitality, and a county response to climate change.

Your insight is important! Please take some time to learn additional information about this important project. More information and the opportunity to complete a questionnaire can be found at, www.VenturaCountyCompact.org. The survey takes about 10 minutes to complete. Answers will be used to determine which issues are most pressing for residents, and all responses remain anonymous.

Rain Garden Installed by Volunteers

On a late day in August, Ventura County UCCE Master Gardeners and 20 hard- working youth in the Oxnard City Corps program began installation of a rain garden at the Camarillo Ranch House. Channels were dug, and rocks and boulders moved. An estimated 100 wheelbarrows of dirt was moved on one of the hottest days of the year all by volunteers to create the rain garden.

So what you may ask is a rain garden? Ventura County UCCE’s Monique Myers provides the following answer:

Rain gardens collect rain water and beautify a yard. They provide a simple form of rain water harvesting, allowing homeowners to save valuable rain water. Although more commonly found in wetter climates, rain gardens are certainly beneficial in water-thirsty California where local rainfall often does not meet water demand and imported water is necessary to support the majority of the population. As water prices climb and the threat of droughts loom-large homeowners and municipalities are looking toward conserving and utilizing water that falls on-site. Rain gardens offer a simple, attractive and inexpensive option.

Basically, rain gardens receive rain that falls on a roof or other collection surface.  The water is channeled, via rain gutters, pipes, swails or curb openings, into a depression in the yard where it soaks into the ground and waters vegetation. Contrary to what many people think, a rain garden is not a pond feature. A properly functioning rain garden holds water for only a short period of time. The purpose is to retain water just long enough for it to percolate into the soil. Most of the time, the bed of the rain garden is dry.

More work days will be scheduled soon, including one on Monday October the 5th. This will be a planting day. Work will start at about 9:00 am near the barn. Bring gloves, hat, shovel and smile! If you are unable to make that day, but are interested in helping, please contact our office.

Oxnard City Corps youth working on rain garden project

Oxnard City Corps youth working on rain garden project

Monitoring waterways for invasive quagga and zebra mussels

The University of California’s Early Detection Monitoring Manual for Quagga and Zebra Mussels publication defines aquatic invasive species (AIS) as ”non-native aquatic organisms that have caused, or likely will cause economic or ecological harm or impacts to human health (pg 1).”

Written by Ventura County UCCE’s Carolynn Culver and Monique Myers and Los Angeles County UCCE’s Sabrina Drill and Valerie Borel, this publication gives great background information while providing clear guidelines and instructions for monitoring small lakes, reservoirs and streams in California and is designed especially for citizen volunteer and monitoring groups.  We hope that early detection of these species in California’s waterways will reduce their negative impacts.  From the manual:

The sooner a population is detected, the more time there will be to take action and the higher the likelihood of successful eradication. Responding to an infestation at an early stage is also referred to as rapid response. Rapid response plans for AIS in general, and quagga/zebra mussels in particular, are being developed and updated in California (pg 1).”

For more information about these invasive species, check out the California Department of Fish and Game website at http://www.dfg.ca.gov/invasives/quaggamussel/.  Anyone interested in monitoring a water body is encouraged to contact your local Fish and Game authorities to coordinate efforts.

The Early Detection Monitoring Manual for Quagga and Zebra Mussels is available for viewing in the Ventura UCCE office (please call first to make sure) and for purchase online at http://anrcatalog.ucdavis.edu/. Use promo code PRVEN56 at checkout to receive a 10% discount. For orders of five or more, please contact our office for bulk discount rates.

Water Conservation in Your Own Backyard

Monique Myers, Ventura County UCCE’s Costal Community Development Advisor has some great information to help us conserve water and reduce the flow of pollutants all at the same time!

Myers writes this on our website, “Water is a valuable resource in Southern California.  It is important that we capture rainwater and allow it to soak into the ground where it can water plants and replenish groundwater supplies.  Rain that falls on hard surfaces, such as buildings and asphalt, picks up pollutants as it flows.  This 'stormwater' is then directed to storm drains and ultimately ends up polluting our streams and oceans."

Individuals can help conserve water and prevent polluted stormwater runoff through wise gardening and land-use practices.  Our website provides some useful tips for Southern California residents.

Some of the suggestions are for large projects, and while you might not be in a position to tackle those changes now, the information may be useful to you in the future or may be of benefit for a friend or neighbor. Many of the other ideas, such as composting and natural planting, can be incorporated easily as time and resources allow.

Please follow this link http://www-csgc.ucsd.edu/BOOKSTORE/greensheets.html to see them.

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