spring 2005 the ecological landscaper newsletter

8/6/2019 Spring 2005 The Ecological Landscaper Newsletter

1/12

health and environmen tal impacts.Ecological landsc apin g der ives

from ou r un derstan ding of sustain-ability, interr elatedness an d bal-ance in naturally occurringecosystems. The principles apply toevery phase of landscaping: design,plant selection, installation, m ain-tenance, and pest managementincluding tur f man agemen t. Envi-ronm ent ally friendly lawns in-cluding residential lawns, ath letic

fields, and even high-end c omm er-cial turf using little or no syn-the tic pesticides and withenvironm ent ally sensitive use offertilizers are growing in n um beraround the count ry.

Wha t follows is a synt hesis ofecological landscaping as applied toturf management .

Assess the site and choose appro-priate plants and co mponents.Thorough assessment of the land-

scape is a primary con cept of eco-logical design. Look a t sit echaracteristics (sun, shade, windexposure, existing plant s), soils(texture, structur e, depth, drainage,pH), microclimates and other sitevariations. Evaluate land use an dcultural car e (play, degree of main-tenance desired). Then choose suit-able plant s and landscapecompon ent s. By evaluating these

The Newslett er of the Ecological Landscaping Associat ion Vol. 11, No. 4 Spring 2005

Eco-turf

New approach es to designingand caring for our lawns,gardens and landscapes,

wheth er th ey are called "planthealth care program s," "integratedpest management," "organic lawncare" or "xeriscaping," are part ofa growing nationwide movemen taway from c onventional landscapemanagement. More and moreth ere is recognition th at lawnsand landsca pes overuse water, en-

ergy, pesticides and fertilizers.Ecological approaches to design-ing and car ing for landscapes seekto m eet the publics desire for anattractive outdoor environmen twhile also minimizing adverse

Continued

Because land doesnt come with a manual...

w it hin:

Ecological Turf Management...1

Winter Conference Review........1

Ridding Prairie Grass of Weeds....5

Carex appa lachica.. . . . . .. . . . .. . .5

Chinch Bug..........................6

No-w ork law n.......................6

Barley Straw for Clear Ponds. ..8

ELA Seeking Sponsers............8

Gleanings.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .10

ELA News...............................11

Events..................................11

Annual Appeal 20 05 ...............12

PRICE $2.00ISSN 1554-656X

The 2005 Winter Conference &Eco-Marketplace, held March 4 and 5

in Marlborough, Massachusetts, fea-tured 21 knowl-

edgeable andengaging speakers.

Reviews of thelectures of theWinter Confer-

ence will be integratedinto other issues of

newsletter so as to focus on those top-

ics in depth and to enhance theeducational aspect of our or-ganization.

The success of the ELAs 2005

Winter Conference and Eco-Market-place on March 4 and 5 in Marlborough

was not mere happenstance. A largegroup of dedicated board members

and volunteers, assisted by woefullyunderpaid staff, smoothly producedand ran this year-long effort.

Special recognition must go to theConference/ Marketplace Planning

Committee. Education CommitteeChair Nancy Askin and the educa-

tional committee maintained ELAsstandards by finding knowledgeable,

respected speakers. Eco-MarketplaceChair M. L. Altobelli provided thedrive to put together the Eco-Market-

place; this is the third year that con-ference guests have been able to

meet with vendors of landscaping

Until man duplicates a blade of grass,nature can laugh at his so-called scientific knowledge.

T homas Edison

ECOLOGICAL TURF MAN AGEMENTMichael Talbot

AA

AA

AA

W inter Conference Review

Chris OBrien, ELA President

Continued p. 7


2/12

The Ecological Landscaperis published by the Ecological Landscaping

Association (ELA).Subscriptions are a benefit of

membership in ELA.For information about ELA, contact:

ELA, 60 Thoreau Street, #252Concord, MA 01742-2456

(617)436-5838

Or check our Web site at:www.ecolandscaping.org

Talk to us! We welcome comments,letters, articles, ideas, and opinions.Contact Fran Gustman, Editor, [email protected] or 617-787-4274, with newsletter content.

Send all other ELA business, includingaddress changes, to the Concordaddress above.

The ELA board meets throughout theyear in various locations in eastern

Massachusetts. All members are wel-come. Contact us for specific datesand locations.

ELA Board of Directors

President: Chris OBrienVice President: Bob LeviteTreasurer: Tom Sheehan

Recording Secretary: Sue Storer

M.L. AltobelliNancy AskinDon BishopDennis Collins

Bill JewellAndrea Knowles

Administrative Assistant:

Pat MacAlpine

Newsletter: Fran Gustman

Mention of products is not intendedto constitute endorsement. Opinionsexpressed in this newsletter do notnecessarily represent those of ELAsdirectors, staff, or members.

Ecological Landscaper, Spring 2005, Page 2

components in advance, weavoid put ting turf in un suitableareas, like those with he avyshade, poor dr ainage, poor soil,excessive tree root competition,southe rn slopes, or h igh traffic.

Seek more diversity in the land-scape. Diversity may be th e mostimporta nt principle of ecologicallandscaping. It can be as basic asincluding many varieties of turf-grasses in th e lawn seed m ix andas radical as replacing lawns withmixed plantings of tree s, shrubs,groundcovers and other plants.

Accept and appreciate plantstha t impr ove a lawn's adapta bil-ity and ease of care, like whiteclover. Avoid monoc ultur es with

significant pest problems all-bluegrass sod, for example. Re-ducing lawn area s and plant ing avariety of tree s, shrubs, an dherbaceous plants leads to an in-crease in t he diversity of anim allife, includ ing beneficial micro-and macro-organisms.

Choose plants that reduce theneed for input. Cut down oncaret aking by using low-maint e-nance and drought- and pest-re-

sistant plants. For cool-seasonlawns, th is means u sing a seedmixtur e high in fescues, espe-cially fine fescues (as in shademixtures) and endophytically en-hanced grasses, which repelmany tu rf pests and are more tol-eran t of stress and n eglect. [En-dophytically enh ance d grassesshould not be used where th eywill be eaten by grazing animals.ed.] Avoid drought-sen sitivegrasses to reduce the am ount of

irrigated lawn. Avoid grasse s th atare susceptible to pest s, like all-bluegrass and all-ryegrass lawns.

Establish adequate depths o famended loam topsoil. Turf andman y ornamen tals prefer a m ini-mu m of four inch es of sandyloam topsoil, although six totwelve inches is better. To sup-plemen t t opsoil, look for a com-patible mixture of loam andcompost, which is superior towhat is often sold as loam.Avoid he avy clay soils, especiallyover sandy subsoils, and mix lay-ers t o avoid inte rfaces. Betteryet, till 2-4 inches of compostinto th e top 6-8 inch es of exist-ing soil. Even a san dy subsoil canbecome a n accept able growingmedium.

Establish proper soil pH. Test-ing for pH may be t he m ost im-

portant step to improving thesustainability of plantings, yet itis often overlooked. Never applylimeston e without first doing asoil test. Turf prefers a pH of 6.4-6.8. Use calcitic limest one toraise pH and elemen tal sulfur t olower pH.

Enhance the mineral balance o fthe soils. A soil test is you rguide to a proper miner al bal-ance . Once pH is appropriate,

compost and rock m inerals maybe added to increase planthealth . Add gypsum (calciumsulfate) t o add calcium withoutraising pH; the balance sh ouldbe eight par ts calcium to onepart m agnesium (based on per-cent base saturation). Otherrock minerals are phosphate(for new lawns), sul-po-mag andJersey greensan d, or a well-bal-anced organic lawn fertilizer.

Proper mowing is e ssential. It ishard to overstate: lawns that are

Turf continued

Continued

Gramm a said w hen you come on

som ething good, first thing to do is

share it with w hoever you can find;

that w ay the good spread out w here

no telling it w ill go. Which is right.

Little Tree inThe Education of

Little Tree, by Forrest Carter

James MarzilliCathy RooneyKathy Sargent-

ONeill

Myra SchwartzBruce Wenning

Michael Talbot is the president an d p rincip al consu ltant of Michael

Talbot & Associates, Inc., a Cape Cod firm that specializes in ecological

landscape design and restoration, conservation perm itting, and env iron-

m entally friendly tree, shrub and law n care services. Michael w as a

foun der of the Ecological Land scap ing Association. Mike can be reached a

P.O. Box 187, Mashp ee, Massa chu setts 02649, 508-539-1912, info@m ichae

talbot.com , or on w w w .michael-talbot.com .


3/12

properly mowed are supe rior to othe r lawns, al-most regardless of managemen t. Mow 3 inches orhigher in spring and fall (3.5 inches is ideal) oras high as possible on sports turf. High mowingincreases t urfgrass drought-, stress-, and pest-tolerance and e nh ances root growth. It signifi-cant ly reduces infestations of light-requ iringweeds, like crabgrass, and broadleaf weeds, such

as dan delions. Mow often cut off only one -third of the leaf blade in an y one cu tting. Keepmower blades shar p to reduce te aring and subse-quen t disease infestations. To reduce water re-quirements in the heat of summ er, mowirrigatedlawns at 2.5 inch es.

The research is incontrovertible that lawnswith clippings left on th em are su perior t o lawnswhere c lippings are rem oved inall measu res of tur f beauty,health and sustainability.

Feed the so il and the soil willfeed the plants. Over t ime,nat ural-based fertility pro-gram s reduce th e need for useof outside fertilizers. As soilsbecome more biologically ac-tive, they suppre ss diseaseand insect pests nat urally. Or-ganic matter (composts, or-ganic mu lches, rock miner als,and fertilizers with slow-re-lease organic nutrients) en-hances m ineral balances and

increases biological activityand water-holding capacity. Natural organic nu -trien ts ar e used more efficiently, requ iring lessfertilizer for bett er r esults, and plants do n otgrow to be too lush, a cond ition that m akes the mvulner able to drought an d pests.

Be careful adding nitrogen. Use na tur al organicfertilizers th at add organic mat ter an d carbon tosoils or, wher e ther e is a need to be m ore compe t-itive with c onventional programs, use nat ural or-ganic n utr ients blended with slow-releasesynthetic nitrogen sources.

Use n itrogen (N) spar ingly in spr ing and/or inearly and late autum n, when tu rf can ut ilize itbest. A high-quality fescue lawn requires onlyone poun d N added per 1,000 squar e feet perseason, with clippings providing anoth er pound;all-bluegrass lawns requ ire only th ree pounds Nwith clippin gs. Two-th irds N in a fert ilizer blendshould be "water in soluble n itrogen or slowrelease nitrogen."


Overseed turf. A dense, 3.5-inch-high tur f with astrong root system is th e best defense against weeds.Wher e tu rf is sparse, overseeding may be the onlypest management strategy needed. Overseed with adiverse, endoph ytic mixture in late summ er (m id-Au-gust t o late Septem ber in m ost of New England). Inspring, patch with a m ix that includes 20% fast-estab-lishing ryegrass. Apply phosphate whenever seeding.

Water properly, if at all. It is estimat ed th at 30% ofour m un icipal water is used to irrigate lawns an dlandscapes. Supplement al water ing is not neede d on amature lawn mown properly and composed ofdrought-resistant fescues, and wher e th e soil is organ-ically rich and m oisture-reten tive.

Autom atic sprinkler systems often water impr op-erly; daily irrigation increa ses weeds, diseases, and

other problems. If irrigating,water every 3 to 7 days to a depthof 4 to 6 inche s, depending on thesite and soil. If the lawn sprinkleralso irrigates woody plants andperen nials, water every 5 to 7days for 45 minutes to an hour toproperly water th e woody plants.

Reduce o r eliminate stresscaused by people. A decline inthe lawn is often cau sed by peoplepressure from high t raffic anduse of hea vy equipment or frompoor maintenance, such as im-proper mowing, watering, and fer-tilizing.

Ecolo gical Pest Management o f Turf. Tur f is a com -plex ecosystem in volving plants, soil, an d a rem ark-ably large and diverse population of soil micro- andmac ro-organisms, such as bacter ium, yeasts, fungi,algae, n ema todes, ear th worm s, insects, big-eyed bugs,predatory ants, an d spiders. The vast m ajority arebeneficial.

Use of pesticides, especially insecticides but alsofun gicides, nem aticides, and her bicides, can lead to"pest reb ound." Because pest s tend t o recover morequickly than their nat ural controls, there m ay be amore severe outbr eak of the p est th e following year.

A "secondary pest outbreak" is different from apest rebou nd. An exam ple is an incr ease in sod web-worms tha t follows a tre atm ent for chin ch bu gs thatkilles off predatory an ts; the p redat ory an ts wouldhave consu med up t o 98% of sod webworm eggswith in 48 hour s after t hey were laid.

Excessive use of her bicides is comm on in con ven-tional turf mana gemen t; weed an d feed product s es-pecially add materials that are not n eeded th roughoutthe lawn. Even her bicides that ar e selective can

Turf continued

Grass clippings. Hort iculturist Paul E.

Rogers says that grass clippings left in

place take the place of lawn feedings

and, because the clippings are organic,the nut rients will be released slowly.

The numbers on a package of fertilizer

stand for the ratio of three chemicals:

nitrogen, phosphate and potassium.

The grass plant contains within itself a

one-to-one ratio of these chemicals but

most lawn ferti lizers have a first number

that is two to six times as great as the

third number. A 10-10-10 fertil izer mim-

ics nature more closely than a 36-3-6 or

similarly unbalanced fert ilizer.

Continued


4/12

clearly identified as objectionable. In th is way pesti-cide use can be greatly reduced or even eliminated.

Weeds. An ecological turf ma nagemen t programfirst deter mine s which weeds exist and at what pop-ulations in specific areas. Help your clients u nder -stand t hat weeds are n ot tru e pests of lawns as theydo n ot act ually kill lawn grasses (exce pt, per haps, ina limited way from h eavy crabgrass infestations).

Determine which weeds are objectionable to theclient and at what population level. Weeds m ay beless tolerat ed in h ighly visible ar eas but accepta blein less visible areas. Use this information to developa customized weed management pr ogram.

Weeds in turf fill niches in what is otherwise avery aggressive and competitive planting. And, asweeds have specific site an d soil requ iremen ts, the yare indicat ors of conditions th at are unsu itable forlawns. In some cases, weeds actually support thegrowth of lawn grasses through beneficial relation-ships. Here is a discussion of some specific weeds:

Clover. White Dutch clover (Trifolium repens)in lawns improves soil fertility and tur f health byfixing nitrogen from th e air thr ough its roots. It sig-nificantly redu ces th e ne ed for n itrogen fertilizersand crowds out less desirable weeds, especially invery sandy soils. Before the 1950's when selective

Ecolo ical Landscaper, Sprin 2005, Pa e 4

Turf continued

Continued

stress tur f plants. Stress pred isposes a lawn t ogreater injury from pests, environmental impacts,and people pressure.

I strongly recomm end en ding the u se of preven-tative insecticides, which im pacts t urf ecology ad-versely, may en danger pe ts, (espec ially dogs), an dinevitably leads to pest resistan ce. Synth eticpyrethroids and other insecticides applied to pre-

vent chinch bug damage and imidacloprid(Merit)or halofenozide (Mach II) applied to p revent whitegrub dama ge are now used rout inely, often in com-bination with a fertilizer. These grub pr eventat iveproduct s have a place in an IPM program but on lywhen ap plied for a year or two to specific ar eas oftur f with a history of grub dama ge; these ar eas aregene rally quite limited. Use grub pr eventatives toallow grub damaged turf to become sufficiently es-tablished to allow nat ural deter ren ce.

Adopt a car eful IPM appr oach . Apply pestic idesonly when need ed. Monitoring is nece ssary to an -ticipate pest imbalances so that controls may be

used when the y would be most e ffective. In an ec o-logical turf man ageme nt pr ogram , once toleran celevels are established, action is taken only when thepest reaches the tolerance threshold. Tolerancelevels should be set as high as possible. Use the leasttoxic mater ial and spot treat only pests that are


5/12


Turf continued

Continued

Ridding prairie grass of weeds

ARS weed ecolog ist Roger Sheley has been conducting

experiment s on " seed source islands" for four years as a way to

revegetate rangelands overrun by invasive weeds. Near the

Northern Cheyenne Reservation in Montana, he plants and

fences a small p lot of a desired species, such as purp le cone-

flower or cudweed sagewort, in the middle o f a weedy area.

Outside the fenced area, the weeds are removed by various

methods, including grazing by livestock. When the fence istaken down, the desirable plant moves outwards naturally.

Desirable plants have spread as far as 100 feet from the is-

lands. Seed source islands keep costs down because only small

areas are planted and they require fewer chemicals than other

revegetation methods. For more information, seeAgricultural

Research, November: http://www.ars.usda.gov/is/AR/archive/

nov04/plants1104.htm.i

Carex appalachicaBarry Glick

In the wild, Carex appalachicafavors dry woodland condi-

tions but is quite adaptable to just about any garden setting . I've

planted this useful sedge on a west-facing hillside on a 45-de-

gree slope. The super-fine texture of 12- to 24-inch Carex ap-

palachicacascading from the top adds a remarkable grassy

dimension that needs no mowing; it swirls around t ree trunks and

rocks, giving the impression of the movement of wind and water.

C. appalachicais hardy to zone 5 and maybe to zone 3. It likes

full shade to dappled sunlight and average to well-drained soil. It

makes a 4- to 8-inch clump and blooms early- to mid-spring.

As with most carex species, prop agation is quite easy. A

mature clump will yield many divisions, which can be replanted

or po tted up and grown on. Wash off all of the soil and trim thelong, fine textured roots and the tops back to about 2" . Repot

them and new roots will appear at the bottom of the po ts

within a few weeks.i

2002 Barry Glick and Sunshin e Farm & Gardens

Barry Glick grow s over 10,000 kind s of plant s at his 60-acre

garden an d n ursery, Sunshine Farm & Gardens, in the

m ountain s of Greenbrier County, West Virginia, z one 5.

He w elcom es vis itors and correspond ence: 304-497-2208,

fax-497-2698, [email protected].

broadleaf herbicides were developed and cloverwas market ed as a weed, white clover was an im -portan t par t of every fine lawn. Encou rage client sto tolerate clover populations or spot tr eat with aselective b roadleaf herbicide.

Crabgrass. Crabgrass (Digitaria spp.) is amon gthe m ost hated weeds in th e home lawn but it isone of nature's ways of colonizing bare soils to pre-

vent erosion. Correcting conditions that lead tothin t urf and mowing high is the best way to man-age crabgrass, an an nua l that re quires light t o ger-minate.

As crabgrass does not grow in shade, only treatsunn y areas. For fussy client s, consider app licationof corn gluten for 50 - 90% cra bgrass red uct ion.Use Dimen sion, the best and least toxic of syn-the tic pre-em ergents for very fussy client s.

Moss, spurge (Euphorbia sp.) and hawkweed(Hieracium sp.) . Moss indicates compacted soil oflow fertility and thin tur f. Spurge and hawkweedare found on poor, sandy, acidic soil wher e th ere is

weak, thin tu rf. By correct ing th e soil and r enovat-ing the t urf areas, these plants can be crowded out.Spot trea tm ent is only moderate ly effective forhawkweed or moss.

Dandelion. Anoth er h ated lawn weed, despiteits beauty in bloom, dan delions (Tarax acum offici-nale) are am ong the m ost beneficial. Their deeptaproots aerate th e soil and accumu late importantminer als from d eep below the grass roots, espe-cially the essential nutrient potassium. Importantnut rient s are ma de available to grass plants byleaving the clippings from mowing. Dandelions arean import ant sour ce of nect ar for early-seasonbeneficial insects an d a traditional food for people.

Dande lions ten d to appear in quan tity only incompact ed soils with weak tur f. They and oth erbroadleaf weeds ar e gradually crowded out indense tur f. Hand pulling while in bloom or h oeingduring the season will kill many. If clients arefussy, spot trea t.

Use a "least-tox ic"pest management strategy.Prevention is the best con trol for disease, weeds,or insects. When furth er treatm ent is deemed ap-propriate, ch oose the least toxic. Only move tomore toxic contr ols if the contr ol has failed tolimit (not eliminate) t he pest at an acceptablelevel. Here is a list of pest control measures forlawns, from least to most e nvironme nta lly damag-ing:

Cultural controls. This is the ke y to prevent-ing pest problems. Using pest-resistant seed an dgood mainte nan ce, overseeding dama ged tur f areascould be the only pest management needed. Forexample, dense t urf is enhan ced by m owing high


6/12

Winter Conference continued from p. 1

and leaving clippings, and t he de nsity th en h elps pre-vent th e germ ination of man y weed species, particu-larly crabgrass. Corn gluten significantly redu ces th egerm ination of many weeds, including crabgrass. Wa-terin g light ly in t he middle of hot, dr y days redu ceschinc h bu g damage in lawns, while en dophytic tu rf isessentially free of chinch bug damage. Compost fertil-izers and tea can suppress cer tain fungal pathogens.

Mechanical controls. Many broadleaf weeds canbe managed by careful hand weeding. Digging dande-lions in bloom will kill most of th em , even if you onlyremove a portion of the root. Other m echanical con-trols are plant ing groun dcovers, using mulch es andweed barrier cloths, sealing cracks in pavem ent swhere weeds grow, and alterin g edges an d fence linesto pre vent weed growth. Mecha nical contr ols are ef-fective, efficient and very en vironm ent ally sen sitive and are not used enough.

Chinch Bug: the sneaky lawn pestBruce Wenning

The hairy chinch bug (Blissus leucopterus hirtus)is in the order, Hemiptera, and family, Lygaeidae(seed bug). The ha iry chinch bu g is the same ch inchbug that is a pest living in t he tha tch of tur fgrass inNew England. Kent ucky b luegrass, r ed fescue, per en-

nial rye, and ben tgrass lawns are m ost susceptible tochinc h bu g dam age especially those in su nn y loca-tions on sandy soils that h ave been fed h igh-nitrogenfertilizer.

The ch inch bu g is a surface feeder th at uses itspiercing-sucking mouthpa rts to suck sap from tu rf-grass crowns, stems and blades. While feeding, bothadults and n ymph s inject toxic saliva into th e grassplant , cau sing yellowing an d wiltin g, brownin g, andeventua l death. Adults ar e 1/5 inch long with blackand white overlapping wings. The imm atur e state, th enym ph, h as five instar s, or stages; th ey look similar toadults.

Hairy chinch bugs tend t o aggregate, or group,when feeding, causing irregular patches of wilting yel-low and brown grass. If the grass r ema ins brown, ithas been killed. The dam age resem bles th at caused bywhite grubs.Damage frequently goes untreated be-cause the browning occurs mainly in July and Au-gust and is attributed to summer dormancy ordrought stress. It is for this reason that I call thehairy chinch bug the sneaky lawn pest. By the timeyou notice that your lawn has been killed, its toolate to save it.

Monitoring. Weekly monitoring starting in lateJune will give you an edge over th ese sneaky insec ts.

One met hod is to remove the ends from an em ptytwo-pound ca n, slicing the tur f to insert on e end in to

Continued

products with an ecological bent. Cathy Rooney

brought years of experience with trade shows and eventmanagement to professionalize our operations. PatMacAlpine, ELAs administrative assistant, provided support

to all. No detail was to small to escape the attention ofKathy Sargent-ONeill, former ELA president.

These individuals are the backbone of the effor t and are

responsible for the reputation ELA has acquired for aworthwhile Winter Conference and Eco-Marketplace.Please extend thanks the next time you see them. A

A

Turf continued Biological controls. Natur al enem ies of pests(predators, parasites, and path ogens) can be at-tracted an d conserved. Some m ay be purchasedand released, like predatory (or entomopatho-genic) nem atodes; use the Heterorhabditisgenu s for lawn grubs. Monitor in late sum merwhile soils are still warm and apply in late after-noon while soil temper atur es are ab ove 60F;keep turf soils moist for one to two weeks.

Low impact sprays and dusts. Biorationalpesticides include hor ticultural oils, insecticidalsoaps, spinosads, Azadirachtin (Neem ), botani-cals, and m ineral fungicides. These pesticidesten d to be less destruc tive to "non -target organ-isms," a euph emism for us, our pets, ben eficialpest control organisms, and other creatures.These should be th e mat erials used first for mosttrea tm ent programs, although few are clearly ef-fective against typical lawn pests.

Continued


Gradual metamorphosis: eggs, nymphs (larvae)

adult. The nymph goes through five instars (growth

stages) to reach adulthood. Nymphs do not have fullydeveloped wings nor can they reproduce but feed like

adults.

There is no pupa stage.

Complete metamorphosis, for example in butterflies

moths, and many beetles: egg, larva (different in form

and sometimes mode of feeding from adult), pupa

(transition stage to adult), and adult (could feed on

completely different plants and have different mouth-

parts than larval form). A butterfly egg hatches into a

caterpillar (chewing mouthparts), transforms into a pupa

(inside a casing), then into a nectar-feeding adult butter-

fly. BW

Illustration from Shurtleff, Fermanian, and Randell,


7/12


th e soil. Add water and con tinue t o add water a s needed tokeep th e can a lmost full. Let th e water sit for 10 min utesand th en count t he chinch bugs that have floated to thesurface.

A second m eth od is to put a sect ion of tur f in water for10 minutes and th en count t he chinch bugs on the surfaceof the water. A golf course cup cutter works well to removea p lug of tu rf.

My favorite met hod is to dren ch a squ are yar d of tur fwith soapy water (one ou nce d eter gent to a gallon ofwater). Next, place a white cloth over the area. In about20 min ute s, insects will leave the t urf and cling to th eunder side of the cloth to escape th e irri tat ing soap. Turnthe cloth over an d count the chinch bugs. If you usewhite flann el, the ir feet will get c aught, which ma kes foreasy counting.

For each m eth od do at least five samp les and averageth e coun ts. Sampling during July and August should bedone on th e edge of dam aged turf, the zone of heavyfeeding, to include h ealthy an d dam aged sections to-gether or just outside th e zone of damage.

The appr oximat e th reshold for dam age per square footon n on-irrigated tu rf is 30 to 50 ch inch bugs per squarefoot. Irrigated, well-ma intain ed tu rf could sustain a h igherchinch bug population without sh owing much stress.Chinch bug populations can increase rapidly so continue tomonitor weekly.

Practice proper cultural practices to ensure a den se, highquality lawn. [See art icle on Eco-turf, p. 1.] Implemen tingIntegrated Pest Management practices will help safeguardyour lawn from extensive damage done by ch inch bugs.

Chinch bug continuedReferences. For more informa tion, th e fol-lowing sources for this article are highlyrecommended:

Daar, Sheila. Least Tox ic Pest Managem entfor Law ns . The Bio-Integral Resource Cen -ter, P.O. Box 7414 Berk eley, Californ ia.94707, 1992.

UMass Extension. Professional Gu ide for IPMin Turf for Massachu setts: 2003- 2004 . UmassExtension/U.S.D.A. Cooperating. 51 pp.

Shurtleff, Malcolm C., Thomas W. Ferman-ian, an d Roscoe Randell. Controlling Turf-grass Pests . En glewood Cliffs, NJ: A RestonBook, Prent ice-Hall, Inc., 1987. 449 pp.

Vittu m, Pa tr icia, J., Michael G. Villan i, andHaruo Tashiro. Turfgrass Ins ects of theUnited States and Canad a , second edition.Ith aca , NY: Corn ell Universit y Press, 1 999.422 pp. i

Bruce Wennin g is horticulturist a t Habitat, aproperty of the Massachu setts Audu bon Soci-ety in Belm ont, Massachu setts, and is a m em-ber of the ELA Board of Directors. Contacthim at 617-489-5050.

Turf continued

Synthetic chemical pesticides. Such products shouldbe th e last choice for pest con trol, yet in the U.S. they ar egener ally used first. They tend to h ave the har shest impac ton t he environm ent , adversely affecting bene ficial organ-isms and causing damaging rebounds and secon dary pestoutbr eaks. Professionals can successfully man age en tirelandscapes, including lawns, without the m.

There m ay be circumstances where a synthetic pesti-cide is the only effective treatm ent . In tha t case, chooseth e least toxic material registered for that pest, like non -arsenate, post-emergent crabgrass herbicides, non-2-4D/dicamba post-eme rgent broadleaf herbicides, and sterolinhibitors for fungal diseases. Time carefully and spot

apply them only to areas with significant p est populations,and when the re is no evidence of nat ural contr ol.

Preventa tive and broad-scale pesticide applicationsoften do far more harm than good, and their use is en-countering more and more public resistance. Those

who adapt t o using ecological methods ar e in th e vanguardof the lawn in dustr y.


8/12

Paul Kwiatkowski

Help us support you

by keeping us

on the cutting edge!

ELAs WINTER CONFERENCE &

ECO-MARKETPLACE is an ann ual

tw o-day ev ent that prom otes

aw areness of ecologically soun d

landscaping methods, materials,

and practices, w ith speakers,

demos, and a marketplace full of

produ cts and services!

ELA ROUNDTABLES com plem en

and reinforce the theme of the

Winter Conference in more inti-

m ate settings, w ith Q & A, discus-

sion, an d refreshm ents!

Volum e 1 of ELAs Guide to Healthy

Landscapes , "From the Ground Up:Site and Soil Preparation" is on

sale. Volum e 2, "Site Ana lysis an d

Design" is in production. Futur

chapters will include lawns and

alternatives, plant care, Integrated

Pest Management, native plants,

sustaina ble practices, and gardens

as habitat!

Join ELAs VOLUNTEER netw ork

Learn, grow, and hav e fun !

To underwrite an event or to sponsoran ELA project, contact:

[email protected]

(reference ELA

in the subject heading)

S E E K I N G E L A

s p o n s o r s

a d v e r t i s e r s

V O L U N T E E R S

Interested in ELA membership?Visit www.ecolandscaping.org.

During the past de cade, inter est has grown in th e use of barleystraw as an a lternat ive to ch emical cont rol of nuisan ce algaeblooms. The rea sons behind th is trend are simple. Barley straw

is much c hea per th an bu ffered alum or algaecides and, also, poses nothreat to wildlife.

Mount Aubur n Cem eter y in Cambr idge, Massachuset ts, is an ar-boretu m an d garden landscape of 175 acres, with t hr ee small pondsand a vernal pool. The th ree ponds h ave each recently undergonesome form of restorat ion work to deal with water q uality or invasiveaquat ic plant s. Nuisance algae blooms have been a pr oblem each yea rwith the arrival of summ er. Our sta ff has worked with aquat ic biolo-gists in rec ent year s to control the problem. The r esults have beenmixed. With buffered alum app lications, clarity h as been improvedfor the short term but has n ot been sustained and m any applicationswere require d, increasing the cost of maint enan ce enor mously. Al-gaecides were pr oven to be ineffective as well, and, in on e instan ce,the application resulted in a fish kill. The costly and r ath er ine ffec-

tive pond maint enan ce history of Mount Aubur n provided the m oti-vation t o consider alternative tr eatment s.Barley str aw is very inexpen sive a nd environm ent ally safe. A bale

of barley straw can be obtained for roughly $35. The straw takesnear ly six month s to th oroughly decay in a water body, although itwill decay more rapidly in warmer temperatures than in cooler re-gions. The con trol of algae incr eases opportun ity for th e growth ofsubme rged vascular plants, which pr ovides a safe habitat for inverte-brat es to bree d, which, in tur n, pr ovides mor e food for fish an d birds.

To plan my exper imen t with barley straw, I search ed for sourc esexperien ced with sm all pond ap plications. I found a wealth of in-form ation from th e Cent re for Aquat ic Plant Mana gem ent in Eng-land ([email protected]). In 1980, a British farmer

discovere d t he algae-cont rolling capability of barley str aw. Muchexperimentat ion had taken place since. I also wanted informationabout experimen ts closer to h ome an d found fact sheets from OhioState University (//ohioline.osu.edu /a-fact/0012.h tm l) and Purdu eUniversity (www.agcom.pu rdue .edu/AgCom/Pubs). Thr ough t heUniversity of Massach usett s, I tracked down a pr oject condu ctedby Bill Clark of UMass Exten sion at th e Cap e Cod Cooperat ive Ex-tension in Barnstable.

I conta cted Bill in April of 2003 an d he condu cted "Barley Stra w101." In a n utsh ell, as bar ley straw decays, its ce ll walls decomposeand release lignins in to th e water. The lignins r eact with oxy-genated water and sunlight to form hydrogen peroxide. The perox-ide is very short-lived but continuously produced by th e r ott ing

stra w. It is th is compoun d th at inh ibits the growth of algae.The am ount of barley straw to apply is based on the sur face are a

of the pond, used in previous studies at a rat e of one ba le per

BARLEY STRAW FOR CLEAN PON DS:habitat and budget-friendly algae control

Continued

Paul Kw iatkow sk i attend ed Evergreen State College in Olym pia,WA, and joined the Horticulture Departm ent at Moun t Auburn in1999. He currently w orks in the greenhouse, designs perennialgardens, and , in ad dition to w orking on ecological problem s likepond habitat restoration, has created a rainw ater harvesting sys-tem to help w ith irrigation.



9/12

acres of surface area. The second pon d is 0.9 acre.Because of the laten ess of the sea son and t he

algae already growing, I was conc ern ed about thepond deoxygenat ing as the straw decomposed, soI reduced t he am ount of straw to roughly two-thirds of the basic application rate. I subm ergedfour bales in th e larger pon d and 3 1/2 bales in th esma ller pon d. After filling the ba gs, I tied th em to-gether in groups of four with polypropylene rope

and an chore d them with sn ow stakes. Hip wadersallowed me to adjust the de pth t o which t he bagssubmer ged as the y took on water. Also, later in

the season, in a per iod of drought, when t he bagsrose above the r eceding water, I untied, resub -merged, and and re-secured them in the upper12-18 inches of water.

Unfortuna tely, the ba rley straw did not seem tocontrol the algae, as neither pond had better coloror clarity than the cont rol pond.

In 2004 , I ha d two barley str aw bales left overfrom t he pre vious year and order ed eight m ore. Ialso acquired 100 fifty-pound onion bags. I wasable to an chor the bags by mid-April. The 0.9- acrepond h ad un dergone a significant restor ation proj-

ect an d I wasnt able to use it for the experime nt.In th e 1.48-acre-pond, I secured sixty bags, or sixbales. In th e cont rol pond from t he pr evious year,.95 surface acr es, I secured four ba les, or 39 bags.

The largest pond, 1.48 acres, did not main tainclarity or color. In th e .95-acre p ond, h owever,clarity and color were quite good, much im provedfrom 2003. It appear s that t he bar ley straw wassuccessful in this case. In com parison, th e largestpond suffered from persisten t nu isance blooms,which should rule out cooler tem perat ures an d sig-nificant r ainfall as the re ason for success in th eother pond. Differen t algae ar e involved an d it is

possible that m ore barley straw would be requ iredto inh ibit th eir growth. We ar e also investigatingthe possiblility that th e largest pond is beingrech arged by the h eavily nutr ient-laden waters ofthe aquifer.

In 2005, I plan to cont inue th e barley straw ex-periment. Hopefully, the results will provide evi-dence t hat ba rley straw is an inexpensivealgae growth inhibitor. More trials by other peoplewould also help det erm ine t he effectiveness of thisapproach. i


Barley straw continued

quart er-acre of surface area. The ba les were br okenapart for good aeration an d the st raw was the nplaced into netting or a bag; Bill Clark used Christ-mas tree wrap, a water resistant n etting used whentran sporting trees for Christm as sale. The str aw wasthen anchored in the upper twelve to eighteeninche s of water where t he m ost oxygen is andwhere sun light c an com bine with the oxygen to

decay th e stra w. The pr evailing view is th at ba rleystraw will not er adicate a n uisance bloom th at is al-ready exists but is effective as a preventive.

Bill Clark 's Cap e CodCooperative Extension ex-periments began in 1995.Barley straw was applied tofifteen freshwater ponds.The re sults varied consid-erably from no apparentdifferen ce in c olor an dclarity to excellent clarity.In no ca se was barley

straw found t o have a negative impact on a pondecosystem.

In 2003, at the end of May, I purc hased t en b alesof barley straw from Hardwicke Garde ns Stat uaryand Water Garden Cent er in Westborough, Massa-chu setts. It had t aken m e a good deal of time an deffort, contacting numerous garden centers andfarm s, to find a supply source. It was the n m orethan a month past the early spring/post-thaw periodduring which I had hoped to anchor the straw in theponds. Neverth eless, I decided to go for it. I pu r-chased pon d nett ing, cut it into strips and sewedthe strips into bags with a spool of string-trimm erline. I an chor ed th e bags to cinder blocks. The ba gswere quite large and, I found to my dismay, veryheavy and unwieldy when waterlogged. I found itimpossible to keep t hem from sinking below th e toptwelve to eighte en inche s of water. I decided to tryanother sort of bag for the straw. A local fruit andvegetable distributor donated fifty fifty-pound onionbags that proved to be m uch more m anageable.

I focused my experim ent on two of th e thr eeponds at Mount Aubur n, leaving one pond un-treat ed as a contr ol. The largest pond h as 1.48

South Florida Periphyton Research: http://serc.fiu.edu/periphyton/This rem arkably useful algae site emp hasises periphyton, the algae that grow attached

to un derwater surfaces. Two databases dominate the site: a browsable invento ry ondiatom s and a search-driven d atabase on "soft" algae (n on -diatom s). Both are quitecomplete, including systematics data, habitat information, microscopic images,references and more. Research pages highlight projects on nutrients and periphytonresponse in th e Everglades, mangrove periphyton, and paleoecology of Biscayne andFlorida Bays. Site by South east Environmen tal Research Center, Florida Interna tionalUniversity, Miami. [email protected], February 14, 2005


10/12

Atrazine. Th e pesticide, comm only used oncorn , has been directly linked to can cer, lowsperm count s and deformities in frogs, and isshowing up incr easingly in wate r sup plies. How-ever, other lawmake rs claimed th at Atrazine issafe, and t ha t a ba n would negatively impact prof-its of pestic ide makers an d farmers. http://www.or-ganicconsumers.org/toxic/atrazine03170 5.cfm, March 2005

Plant Conservation Alliance Seeds of Suc-cess. Informat ion about gran ts, projects, events,publicat ions: www.nps.gov/plants.

Chemical lawn-care rebuffed. Quebec provinceand n early 70 cities in Canada have banned or re-stricted t he u se of pesticides for lawn care. In t heU.S., 20 stat es re quire public notification of pesti-cides applications on lawns and many communi-ties are initiating such policies on pu blic proper ty.

To discourage similar policies, the chemical lawncare alliance r an a n ad illustrated with heavy men sgarden ing gloves and h eadlined with the phr aseThe gloves ar e off. Count er ing, Beyon d Pesti-cides, an environme nta l group, ran an ad showinggarden ing gloves decora ted with daisies and a textsaying, "Get a Grip. The ch emical lawn c are in dus-try is worried th at th e word is getting out on th etoxic hazards of lawn pesticides. It is possible tohave a green lawn without toxic pesticides..."i

WELL WATER CONNECTION, INC. is a full-serv-ice firm providing custom-designed irrigation wells

for green industry professionals and their clients. Inaddition to providing water wells, we offer pumpdesign and installation services, water well design,stain removal and filtration systems, evaluation andrepair service, project man agemen t and more. Formore information, please contact John Larsen at 978-640-6900 or [email protected].

Ecolo ical Landsca erS rin 2005 Pa e 10

Sara Stein, acclaimed au thor ofNoah s Ga rd en:Restoring the Ecology of Our Ow n Back yard s(Houghton Mifflin, 1993) and other books aboutusing nat ive plants, died of lung cancer on Februar y25, at h er h ome in Maine. She was 69. A mem orialfund has bee n est ablished by t he family for th eVinalhaven Public Library Native Gar den in h er

home town.

Recycling. San Fr an cisco divert s 63% of disposablema ter ial from landfills, compa red to New York's20%, sort ing glass by color an d pap er b y type. It col-lects 300 t ons of food scraps a nd garden waste daily.The com post is sold to organic farm s and gardensuppliers. See: http:///temp.sfgov.org/sfenvironment.Sierra , Marc h/April 20 05

MIT Environmental Classes. http://enviroclasses.mit.edu/browse/index.jsp.

Alien Plant "Least Wan ted " Calend ar for 200 5:

www.nps.gov/plants/alien.How Green is Your Car? http://www.epa.gov/green-vehicles

Atrazine pesticide kept on market. Minn esota law-maker s made th e first at tem pt in th e U.S. to ban

gleanings

un-classifieds

ELAs Guide to Healthy Landscape

The first volume in ELAs Guide to HealthyLandscape series, From the Ground Up: Site andSoil Preparation, is a fine training aid for employ-

ees or an educational gift for an enthusiastic cus-tomer. Topcs ar e: managing soil fert ility, the impor-tance of the soil food web, protecting site features,managing invasives, and much more. Features areline illustrations, glossary, and a list of resourcesand organizations. Cost (includes postage and han-dling) is $25 members, $30 non-members (in MAadd 5%sales tax). Inquire about qu antity discounts.Send order with payment : Attn .: Guide Order, ELA,60 Thoreau St., #252, Concord, MA 01742.


11/12


June 2 -4. Native Plant s in the Landscape . MillersvilleUniversity, Millersville, PA. Lectures, native plant sale,

tours, workshops, exh ibits an d n etworking. Info: 717-872-3030, www.millersvillenat iveplants.org.

June 1 1 , 10 AM - 3 PM. New England Wild FlowerSociety Plant Sale. Extraordinar y selection of wild-flowers, native tre es, and shru bs. Garden in th e

Continued

prunifolium , not Cornu s alternifolia.) Man yth an ks to Jane Millon of Van Berk um Nursery forbraving the cold to do the c ollecting and Cat hyRooney for pu lling the project togeth er. Prizeswere donated by Woodstream and ELA: Sonic Re-peller, Deer Away, ELA's Guide to Healthy Land-scap es, Volum e 1 From the Groun d Up: Site andSoil Preparation , an d a bookstore gift ce rtificate.

ISSN. Thank s to th e work of Pat MacAlpine , ELAAdministrative Assistant, The Ecological Land -scaperhas been assigned ISSN 1554-656X. Thenumber, equivalent to the ISBN on books, givesthe newsletter official status in the Librar y of Con-gress data base and will bring atten tion to our pub-lication. The num ber is displayed on page one ofthis newsletter in the upper right h and corner. i

ELA news

New England Flower Show, March 2 00 5. The stu-dents of ELA member Andrea Knowles, horticul-ture instructor at Nashoba Valley Technical HighSchool in Westford, MA, were awarde d t he Massa-chu setts' Agricultura l Award and a bronze meda lfor t heir nat uralistic design, featur ing a gardenwithou t a lawn, shredde d leaves for m ulch, an d

low-maint enan ce nat ives and h ybrids. Some of theplants u sed were white-flowered Cornus florida'Cherokee Princess', Ilex glabra , Fothergilla gar -denii, tiarella, woodland ph lox, an d Vinca m inor.The de sign inc luded stepping stones, two stonebenches, and a pond.

ELA President Chris O'Brien is co-owner ofHoward Gard en Designs, Newton, MA, which re-ceived the President's Award for its be autiful andtranquil entr y.

Winter Conference Quiz. We were so inspired by

Pam Hart's "ID This Twig" quiz last year th at we re-peated it, mat ching over 30 samples with th ebotanical and comm on nam es. Kudos to those whoparticipated and especially to winner s Bess Cough-lin, Mary Tebo, David Barn ett , Laura Eisner, an dRobin Zitter. (About the mislabeled twigs andmissing mat che s: we were just c heck ing to see ifyou were paying attention! It was Viburnum

events


12/12

The Ecological Landscaper60 Thoreau Street, #252Concord, MA 01742-2456

STD P RSRT

U.S. Postage

PAID

Permit 88

Ashland, MA

No one thinks of winter when the grass is green. -Rudyard Kipling

Woods, Framingham , MA: 508-877-763 0,www.newfs.org.

June 16 - 18, 2 005 . Mid-Atlantic Highlands Biodi-versity: Makin g th e Conn ect ion in Your Com mu nit y.University of Pittsburgh at John stown, SouthwesternPennsylvania. Conferen ce on biodiversity in t hecentral Appalachian mountain range. Contact 814-532-

5049, www.naturalbiodiversity.org/conference.htm. i

Annual Appeal 2005

These funds help ELA to achieve its mission.

A big thank you to donors !

Events continued

Ellen Abdow

David Alessandroni, Carroll County Landscape

Doris E. Bouwensch

Daniel Carroll, Great Lakes Hort iculture

Jan ChildsMichael Colman, Hartney Greymont

Jana Howe

Francis and Mary Jesch, Cornucopia Gardeners

John Larsen, Well Water Connection

Peter C. Lowit t, Devens Enterprise Commission

Ryan Marlinghaus, Cal Earthcare Landscaping

Heather McCargo

Joe Moore

Alrie Middlebrook

Kathy Rehl, Rehl Gardens

Paul Sachs

Sue Storer

Diane Syverson

Colin VorgangCarl Wallman

Tom Ward

Thomas Wirth Associates

Camilla Worden

Anonymous - 6

Put your ad in Un-classifieds!Reach hundreds of ecologically minded

land-care professionals and homeowners

Only $5 for up to 50 words(each additional 10 words, $1)

Send ads to:ELA

60 Thoreau Street, #252Concord, MA 01742

Attn. Newsletter Un-classifeds

Job listings. The Cambridge Climate Calendar lists a large

selection of job openings of environmental interest. To sub-

scribe, email [email protected]. To read

on-line, go to: htttp://www.tufts.edu/tie/tci/Calendar.html.

Click on Resources at the left of t he screen.

spring 2005 the ecological landscaper newsletter

Documents