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Dan Vierria

Gardening Columnist

About This Author

As a senior writer for The Sacramento Bee, Dan Vierria covered media, food, restaurants, pop culture/trends and home & garden. Currently, he is a freelance writer, social media page administrator and certified University of California Master Gardener for Sacramento County.

Articles by this author

Cheat Sheet

A garden is an artist’s canvas. Brushstrokes of yellow and red, a green background, swipes of light and shadow. The creative effort is personal and satisfying. But like all masterpieces, gardens age and require attention.

You may fancy yourself the Claude Monet of Sacramento gardens, but perfection is fleeting. Plants die. Tastes and styles change. Plants outgrow space. Moving to a new home, you may prefer to paint over the existing canvas.

Fall is for planting. The lavender that inexplicably expired, the long-suffering salvia and bare spots stir anxiety. Nurseries are stocked with choices, so many that plant anxiety manifests uncertainty and inaction.

Hot Times

Spring gardening begins with excitement and energy. As August arrives, plants and people experience a trial separation in hopes things work out. We choose air conditioning and shady patios when insufferable heat clobbers Sacramento.

It’s not our fault August gardening begats sloth and surrender. Gardens refuse to cooperate, shedding the lush greens of spring for the crispy browns of late summer.

Yards Ahead

Sacramentans seem conflicted about the perfect residential landscape. Our preferences range from attempting to control nature with vast lawns and boxwood hedges to creating serene spaces that appear untouched by human hands.

Variations abound, inspired by landscape design choices. Contemporary, modern minimalist, cottage garden, French country, tropical, xeriscape—the menu of artistry and whimsy is abundant.

What nudges us to consider a major renovation, a new look?

Two-Way Street

July is when we celebrate freedoms. For me, few freedoms are as precious as my freedom of religion.

When I served as an Air Force chaplain, I had many conversations about religious freedom. Few went like the one I had with a deputy commander of my base.

She was passing my office and stuck her head in the door. “Watcha doing, Chaplain?” she asked.

I said, “I’m trying to write a prayer for colonel so-and-so’s retirement ceremony, but I’m not getting far.”

A Rake’s Progress

Foraging for drip irrigation repair parts, I glanced at my primitive gardening tools. Idling in a corner of the garage, the old-timers had weathered wooden handles and scarred cutting surfaces. The digging fork had a bent tine, courtesy of tree root vs. steel.

I was reminded of the evolution of garden maintenance. Gardening tools arrived when a human picked up a tree branch and gouged out a planting furrow. Bone, wood and stone tools were simple but effective. Replacement parts ample and free.

Today, preferred tools are cordless and powered by lithium-ion and nickel-cadmium batteries. Mowers, trimmers and leaf blowers are encased in combinations of plastic, fiberglass, metal and composites. They drain kilowatt hours, like the EVs that share many garages.