Posts by Bret de Zordo
Super El Niño 2026–27: How to Prep Your San Francisco or Marin Yard Before the Big Storms
The ocean is sending a clear signal. On October 8, 2026, NOAA’s Climate Prediction Center reported that El Niño is still strengthening, with a strong-to-very-strong event likely through early 2027 and high odds of a historic one (NOAA CPC). For San Francisco and Marin homeowners, that makes this fall the time for El Niño yard…
Read MorePre-Spring Design Audit — Make Your Garden Feel Better (Before You Add Anything)
Do a pre-spring design audit in late January to improve layout, sightlines, usability, and curb appeal. A practical checklist for SF + Marin gardens—plus the upgrades that pay off most.
Read MoreWinter Home Sale Yard Staging Checklist — Curb Appeal That Actually Moves the Needle
Selling a home in SF or Marin? Use this winter yard staging checklist for quick curb appeal wins—cleanup, pruning, lighting, paths, and simple upgrades that make buyers feel “this home is cared for.”
Read MoreWinter Storms Reveal Everything: A Simple SF and Marin Drainage Checklist (and Fixes That Last)
January in San Francisco and Marin is when your landscape stops pretending. A summer yard can look perfectly fine while quietly failing underneath: compacted soil, hidden low spots, and drainage paths that only show up when the ground saturates. Winter rains make those patterns obvious. After a few storm events, most properties reveal the same…
Read MoreWinter Garden Reset in San Francisco & Marin: Pruning, Cleanup, and Storm-Proofing (Without Overdoing It)
Winter in the Bay Area is a funny season. We don’t get “true winter” the way other places do—but we do get wind events, saturated soil, surprise warm spells, and that one storm that drops branches in exactly the spot you walk every day. And because San Francisco and Marin are basically a patchwork quilt…
Read MoreThe Spring Weed Game in SF & Marin: How to Win Without Nuking Your Yard (Timing, Mulch, and Smart Maintenance)
Spring weeds in the Bay Area are not a vibe. One week you’ve got a tidy yard, and the next week you’re staring at a full-blown weed renaissance—oxalis, buttercup, sow thistle, chickweed, spurge—plus whatever mystery plant is auditioning for dominance in your gravel path. The usual response is panic: pull everything, spray something, or spend…
Read MoreJanuary Garden Care in San Francisco & Marin: A Simple Checklist for Healthy, Beautiful Gardens
Keep your San Francisco or Marin garden healthy this winter—storm prep, drainage checks, mulch + compost, seasonal pruning, and smart irrigation adjustments. Contact FYGN for design, build, or maintenance support.
Read MoreSmart Irrigation in San Francisco & Marin: How to Water by Microclimate (and Avoid Wasteful Runoff)
If you live in San Francisco, you already know the truth: you can leave the Sunset in a hoodie and arrive in the Mission in a t-shirt. That same fog/sun split is happening in your garden too. That’s why “set it and forget it” watering is one of the fastest ways to end up with…
Read MoreToo Wet Garden Solutions
Many gardening trends come and go. But a mud garden? It’s not a thing yet. Showing off carefully curated puddles of mud and bragging about stagnant mosquito breeding areas will unlikely top the list of Bay Area gardening trends. While Californians have taken the time to prepare for extended dry periods, few of us are…
Read More10 Link Throughs for FYGN
Measure Up Before You Plop Seeds Down How much space and water do I need to support my vegetable habit? This is hard to pin down as the size of vegetables and water consumption for each type varies greatly. As an easy rule of thumb, most tables and charts will recommend an inch of water…
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