Growing Works News Today

Artificial turf is so bad — it harms soil, breeds bacteria and sheds microplastics — that some naturalists would prefer water-guzzling grass. So what to do now?

Cardboard is crucial for sheet mulching to kill a lawn, but critics say there's no science proving it works. All you really need, they say, is lots of wood chips.

Acorn file photo After 26 years in public office, Linda Parks is leaving Ventura County. The recently retired county supervisor has put her Westlake home on the market and is moving to San Luis Obispo County. It’s where she and her husband, Allan, met four decades ago when they were both at Cal Poly University.

Some say politics is the art of compromise. Outgoing Supervisor Linda Parks would rather fight for her causes.

Ojai’s oak trees are stressed, and a UCLA professor says extreme, prolonged drought is the reason.

Shelburne Community School student Shea Bellezza’s drawing and essay on trees took the top prize in the Growing Works of Art contest’s grade 5 division.