The Dry Garden: Dig it

Posted on | September 3, 2010 | No Comments

The fig beetles seem late this year, and maybe they are. It’s been unseasonably cool for much of the summer. Yet when these drowsy fliers properly known as Cotinis mutabilis appear, it’s a cue. It’s time to empty the contents from the bottom of your compost bins to make room for fresh additions at the top.

Why? These bugs, also called June beetles, are in search of decomposing vegetation in which to lay eggs, where their grubs will become an integral part of the composting process. If you want to enlist these most excellent helpers and prepare your compost bin for fall planting, the time to do it is now.

You will need a pitchfork, a wheel barrow, some burlap, a scoop shovel and fluent profanity.

Click here to keep reading ‘The Dry Garden’ in the Los Angeles Times. Then by all means please return to check newly compiled listings of dry garden events for September.

Photo from Emily Green’s garden by Diane Cu

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