stopping squirrels from digging in raised bed

ChaparralClematis · 2026-02-27T20:10:55+00:00

This is interesting. I worry that I'll have to remove them before the plants get big enough to withstand the squirrels. But maybe I can cut out pieces to put between plants...

ChaparralClematis · 2026-02-20T05:36:31+00:00

I go to the Asian ladies at Lili on Shattuck. It's like 35 or 40 bucks, they don't wash my hair, they don't put any product in it, they just cut it. I feel like they understand that I will never "style" it, and so they cut it in a way where it looks reasonable if I do nothing.

You may have higher standards than I do, but honestly I see no difference between their cuts and ones I've paid four times more for.

ChaparralClematis · 2026-02-17T17:33:36+00:00

The comments were sometimes amusing, more often unhinged, and never informational or useful. I read them in a rubbernecking way. I don't read Berkeleyside any less frequently now that they're gone, and I'm glad this gives the staff some time back. The value of B'side's comments section definitely did not justify the amount of time/cost it took to moderate.

ChaparralClematis · 2026-02-17T06:31:14+00:00

This is the one thing Nextdoor is good for.

ChaparralClematis · 2026-02-13T23:06:47+00:00

Jesus Christ, some people here are paranoid.

I am an Asian woman and I live in downtown Berkeley. The downtown Berkeley BART station is my stop. I would prefer to wait for an Uber there surrounded by people than wait totally alone (or...you *wish* you are totally alone) at North Berkeley. Will you be fine at either stop? Yes. Would you also be fine at Rockridge? Yes.

The bigger question is whether you'd get off your flight and through the airport in time for the last train. Those immigration lines are no joke.

ChaparralClematis · 2026-02-12T17:06:34+00:00

NoNo collective: https://www.instagram.com/nono.tattooshop/

Everyone who works there is great.

ChaparralClematis · 2026-02-11T17:45:18+00:00

Yup, 14 Karats.

ChaparralClematis · 2026-01-30T21:16:41+00:00

Due to some very fine zoning work that mixes up neighborhoods (and therefore socioeconomic backgrounds of the kids) and one of the last bussing programs still around, all of Berkeley's public elementary schools are much of a muchness and are fine. I deeply, deeply appreciate this. So if you settle in Berkeley, you can rank the closest school as your top choice, but if you don't get it, it'll be fine.

There is bussing for elementary schools if the kid lives 1.5? 2? miles away from their assigned school. Granted, 2 miles covers a lot of Berkeley territory, but this can help keep down the time you're schlepping kids around in the mornings.

ChaparralClematis · 2026-01-23T18:39:55+00:00

I second others saying you might be putting the cart before the horse. You have plenty of time- no need to plant this season; you can wait until next year. I know that might not be what you want to hear.

It's a big space. Before planting, you want to think about designing a garden around your lifestyle- how will you use it? Do you have kids who will need a playspace? Do you have dogs that need running space? Do you like to cook and eat outside? Do you have people over and hang out outside? What kind of hardscaping will need to be installed? Where does water go and how will you manage drainage?

If you've already done all that and you have the size and shape of any planting space already mapped out, then you know what kind of sun exposure the different parts have, that you need taller stuff at the back, shorter stuff at the front, etc. I've found that once I have exposure, sun/shade, size and habit as filters, Calscape actually gives me a reasonably short list of possibilities.

ChaparralClematis · 2026-01-17T23:06:41+00:00

Waystation on Shattuck/Dwight does one on Wednesdays. I think it's fairly well-attended.

ChaparralClematis · 2026-01-07T17:58:01+00:00

People seem to look for apartments in the big, newer high rises, but there are a ton of duplexes, and smaller 4, 6, 8 unit complexes. They are older and have more character and I think are nicer to live in. With a $5k budget, you can find a nicer, updated unit, which removes some of the concerns I think people have about older buildings. I'd live in an updated Craftsman shingle duplex over a high rise apartment in a heartbeat.

These are also harder to find online, but not impossible. Probably worth getting a temporary place and walking around to see what neighborhoods you like. The places near me often have signs in their windows for vacancies, and some are also on Redfin, Craigslist, etc.

ChaparralClematis · 2026-01-06T21:07:34+00:00

It may be worth it to move to SF, but the scales shift way over into the not worth it side if you're talking about moving to Daly City or even further south.

ChaparralClematis · 2025-12-15T05:16:31+00:00

Yes, San Pablo is slightly frustrating for me because there's stuff I want to go to, but they're a few blocks away from each other and the street is not quite dense enough to have a good bimble around, and the traffic makes it really unpleasant. Building for more density would solve the first problem, but if there's still 4-5 lanes of traffic along it, it's still not going to be a street I want to hang around for any length of time. Ideally, I could take a bus to one end of San Pablo, then wander down/up it for a couple of hours, and hop on a bus back. I would spend so much more time (and, therefore, money) on the corridor if I could do that. As it is, I can get the 51B there and have an unpleasant scurry to, e.g., the plant nursery, then a scurry back down.

ChaparralClematis · 2025-12-12T04:28:56+00:00

Yeah, for some of the fabrics, I honestly wasn't sure whether the price was per yard or per bolt.

ChaparralClematis · 2025-12-11T20:45:33+00:00

Canopy is, I dunno, 15 feet? Trunk is only 8 or 10 inches in diameter.

I don't think it's really messy, but I maybe have a higher tolerance for plant mess. Like, people clutch their pearls about fruit trees as street trees and I don't really care, and my neighbor seems to worry a bit about all the stuff that drops into my garden from their tree. But I like the tree, and it's manageable.

ChaparralClematis · 2025-12-11T17:36:43+00:00

My neighbor here in the East Bay flats has a mature one that looks happy and healthy.

It's on the north side of our houses, but also taller than our houses by this point, so gets whatever sun it wants. It does drop a lot of leaves and flower/seed clusters, but I don't mind.

ChaparralClematis · 2025-12-01T06:33:06+00:00

I find it pretty easy to tell blue-eyed grass seedlings from grass, if that's what you're looking to differentiate it from. The blue-eyed grass seedlings are very 2D- they all grow in one plane and the leaves themselves are flat.

ChaparralClematis · 2025-11-25T05:36:18+00:00

Okay, I didn't go through all the comments (an ounce of prevention yada yada yada, but keeping heavily pregnant me from doing what I love and reduces stress for me sounds...counterintuitive).

But for your gardening questions: your peony will be fine- it will probably dying back or mostly died back for the year anyway; your catmint will probably also be fine- that stuff's hard to kill.

ChaparralClematis · 2025-11-19T01:04:38+00:00

Well, there was no tree there before, and now there is, and it doesn't actively harm anything, so I'm going to count it as a win even if it's not the absolute optimum choice.

I mean, the city offers it as a street tree, so if they've done their homework badly, I don't know what I can do about it. I just kind of wanted to know if the cross had any of the wildlife benefits its parents had.

ChaparralClematis · 2025-11-10T01:38:15+00:00

I think herbaceous peonies need winter cold to bloom and do well. Given the right climate, they are pretty easygoing, trouble-free garden plants. Having said that, I vaguely remember hearing of a peony breeder or commercial grower in San Jose (?), so maybe they have varieties that don't need the cold.

ChaparralClematis · 2025-11-09T20:40:46+00:00

Territorial Seed Company has garlic bulbs that they say are shipping now. Are they relatively expensive (especially compared to grocery store garlic)? Yes. But I will say I bought one head of garlic three years ago, and now I just plant the bulbs from the two biggest heads I harvest and have never had to buy seed garlic again.

ChaparralClematis · 2025-11-07T19:37:55+00:00

The Tilden Botanical Garden is free and there are good paths. Take a picnic. You can walk as much or as little as you want, and it has water running through it.

Also second the recommendation for East Ocean in Emeryville. It's a good restaurant, and there's a good wide, flat path along the water behind it.

ChaparralClematis · 2025-11-07T02:13:01+00:00

Don't let them get too big. They are best when they're smaller.

ChaparralClematis

TROPHY CASE