Your Home

Tanya Kucak/Special to the Town Crier
Fiesta Marigold monkeyflower is an eye-catching, compact, long-blooming small shrub that is attractive to pollinators and hummingbirds. It does well in part to full sun and is drought-tolerant, though it looks better with additional water if grown in a sunnier spot.

A common complaint of gardeners: “What can I plant under my tree?” It depends on the tree, but natives are especially good options under established landscape trees.

Consider four things when deciding whether you can plant under your tree: leaf drop, root competition, watering and shade.

Megan V. Winslow/Town Crier
The Emerson House was recently updated with a nod to the home’s historical roots.

The year is 1906.

Just as Los Altos began to resemble a city, Edwin Emerson, a Bostonian, completed construction of an East Coast Shingle-style house on the corner of Emerson and Mira Monte roads, today’s Covington Road and Miramonte Avenue. It was the farmhouse for his 70-acre fruit ranch and took four years to build because he had trouble finding a contractor who could read his architectural drawings.

Tanya Kucak/Special to the Town Crier
Valley Violet ceanothus is among the most floriferous natives in early spring. All varieties of ceanothus are excellent habitat plants.

For gardeners – and anyone else concerned about the future of life on Earth – a recent article on the “insect apocalypse” is essential reading (New York Times Magazine, Nov. 27, 2018).

Researchers in Germany found that the number of insects is less than one-fifth of what it was 50 years ago. If you’re lucky enough to have lived that long, remember how many insects got plastered against your windshield on long car trips? Or how many bugs you couldn’t help but swallow on bike trips?

Lauren Andersen/Special to the Town Crier
Celeste Randolph’s backyard studio houses her design business.

As my design business grew, it was becoming difficult to continue working efficiently from my garage and spare bedroom.

A recent spate of home burglaries in Los Altos has left residents concerned about how to protect their homes. The Los Altos Police Department prepared the following list of ways to keep your home and belongings safe.

• Lock all doors at night and every time you leave.

Courtesy of Jen Yan
Lorilei Yan, Adelyn Segalla and Cora Yan, from left, raised money for The Nature Conservancy with their grandmother, Carolyn Segalla, by selling plants. The family sold approximately 100 small plants and donated $150.

Mountain View resident and grandmother Carolyn Segalla turned her love for her granddaughters and gardening into service by selling plants and clippings to raise money for The Nature Conservancy.