Online guide to planting

Wondering which vegetables to plant in April, which flowers beckon good bugs to the garden or how to make your own slow-release fertilizer? The answers to these questions along with scores of garden tips are available at celosangeles.ucdavis.edu/garden/tips/index.html courtesy of the University of California Cooperative Extension’s Common Ground Garden Program in Los Angeles.

The site’s concise yet comprehensive entries are organized by month and divided by category: vegetables and fruits, ornamentals (houseplants included) and general (irrigation, fertilizing, composting, pest management and more). Gardeners would be hard-pressed to find a richer virtual crib sheet for nurturing nature in the L.A. area.

This unique homegrown resource mingles traditional garden wisdom, innovative techniques, neat ways to recycle household items and cutting-edge research from the University of California.