winter 2004 the ecological landscaper newsletter

8/6/2019 Winter 2004 The Ecological Landscaper Newsletter

1/20

soil remained was clay chun kyand br assy orange. If I had addedwater, I could have m ade potter yright there.

It seem ed sensible to loosenup th e soil by adding sand. Theprevious residents had a mam -moth sandbox for their singlechild and we had stored t he sandin garbage cans t o spread afterice storms. I dumped wheelbar-rows-worth of sand into t he pit.It struck me t hat th e soil was stillthe wrong consistenc y, so Iadded my entire com post pile,about t hre e wheelbarr ows full. Iwas told later t hat c lay and sandis the form ula for cem ent ; with-out th e compost, I would haveended with a n in-groun d pool!

The Newslet ter of The Ecological Landscaping Associat ion Vol. 11, No. 4 Winter 2004-05

T he No -Wor kGarden ...w e l l, l es s -w o r k , a n yh ow

Years ago, when I decidedtha t I needed a larger gar-den, I set out to dig up th esunburn ed an d t hinly-coveringgrass in th e only sunn y spot inmy small yard. With visions of perenn ials dancing in my h ead,but very little knowledge, I setout with a shovel.

Aroun d th e edges of our lot,garden s mu st h ave grownthrough the seventy years thatthe h ouse had stood, as the soilwas loose and loamy. However, itwas obvious that n o one h adplanted in th e central area be-cause, with t he first th rust of theshovel, I h it th e builder's rubbleheap. By the end of the day I hadmade a th ree-foot-deep pit. What

Continued

Because l and doesn t come wi t h a m anu a l . ..

w it hin:

How t o Dig a Ga rden Bed.. .. .1Weedless Gardening...............4Testimonia l to the Year-Round

-Hay -Mulched G ar den.. . . . . .7 No-Work Gardening............9Wildlife. . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . .10Winter Conference.. . . . . . . . . . .12 ELA News.............................14

ELA-CaliforniaGleanings.............................15 Events, Unclassifieds...........18Guide to Healthy Landscapes,

Order Form.......................19

PRICE $2.00

How t o Dig a Gard en BedOr, This is What You Shoul d N ot Do

Fran Gustman


2/20

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 Str eet, #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 easternMassachusetts. All members are wel-come. Contact us for specific datesand locations.

ELA Board of Directo rs

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

2

I mixed together t he clay,sand, and compost and theresu lting soil felt like somet hin gI wanted to put a trowel into.Since th en, in that bed I havegrown h ardy geraniums,

daylilies, flax, pinks, calam inth a,catanache, campanula, Siberianiris, Oriental poppies, Labradorviolets, even lavender and bulbs.By blind luck I h ad foun d th ecorrect formula.

Dig Safe. "Double dig" means todig the soil to th e dept h of twoshovel-heads, thereby aeratingit. Fertilizer, compost, peatmoss, manure whatever suitsthe type of plant s is added.This techn ique was used bymast er British gardener s beforeth e first World War, when laborwas plent iful and ch eap. In m yeffort to exca vate the rubble, Ihad outdone them I hadtriple dug!

I was lucky that I didn't hitan y pipes or gas lines. It is vitalto call Dig Safe at 888-DIG-SAFE (344-7233) before start ingdigging projects. Dig Safe, a freeservice, notifies u tility c ompa-nies of proposed exca vationprojects. The com panies go tothe work area and mark t he lo-cation of unde rground featur es.

The no-dig method. Tilling thesoil causes two problems. It addsoxygen, which burn s up the nu tri-ent s before the plant s get to th em.And, it brings weed seeds u p to t helight. Soil is always full of weedseeds but it takes light to causethe m to germ inate. If it seems thatthe more you weed, the moreweeds you find, th is is why!

Anothe r way to ma ke a gar-den bed m ight be called the no-dig method. If I were going toma ke a n ew bed today, I wouldsprea d five to ten layers of ne ws-paper on top of the grass orweeds, holding down th e news-paper (ne wspapers today are

printed with lead-free ink) withseveral inches of compost,pre fera bly, or m ulch. To plan t, Iwould cut an X thr ough t he lay-ers and settle the n ew plantsright in.

The compost on top providesnut rients that seep downwards

with water. The com post may beused a s a mu lch by itself; orwood chips can ne atly finish off the bed. Mulch keeps th e soilmoist and cool in hot weatherand degrades to add more n utri-tion. Use soaker or dr ip hoses toapply water only where needed.Keep th e soil aerated by notsteppin g on it. Add stepp ingstones for weeding purposes andotherwise stay on the pat hs.

Keep in m ind th e un derlyingsoil when deciding which plantsto put in . You can assume t hesoil is good over a relat ively de-cen t lawn since grass does poorlyin nu trien t-deficient soil. Thenewspaper layers kill the grassby keeping out th e sunlight an dthe decomposed grass and news-papers add nu trients to t he soil.

If the soil is sandy or stony,start with plants that enjoy nu-trient-poor soil. There are m anyof them: Artem esia , yarrow( Achillea ), false indigo( Baptisia ), Coreopsis , andlavender are but a few. If the soilis clay, it is nutr ient-rich an dcompost an d mu lch will improvethe texture. Plants that do wellin clay soils include black-eyedSusan ( Rudbeckia ), Echinacea ,

Liatris , and goldenrod(Solidago ).

Adding compost an d mu lchto sandy, stony, and clayey soils

on a year ly basis may impr oveyour soil to th e point th at youcan dig in it with your bar ehan ds I'm n ot promising, butit's possible!! You m ay ha ve tochan ge your plantings to thosethat like nutrient-rich soil! TheWell-Tend ed Perenn ial Ga rdenby Tracy DiSabat o-Aust is alovely reference book an d listsplants by their r equirements.

How t o Dig a Garden Bedcontinued.

Continued

Gramm a said w hen you come onsom ething good, first thing to do is

share it with w hoever you can find;that w ay the good spread out w hereno telling it w ill go. Which is right.

Little Tree in The Education of Little Tree , by Forrest Carter

James MarzilliCathy RooneyKathy Sargent-

ONeill

Myra SchwartzBruce Wenning


3/20

Gard en ing with out digging is easier. Try it!You 'll like it!

Fran Gu stm an is editor of The Ecological Landscaper an d HortResource s Newsletter (for

New England horticultural pro-

fessionals and am ateur devo-tees); a board m em ber of the Brighton Gard en an d Horticu l-tural S ociety; and a d esigner

specializin g in sm all and urban gardens. Con-tact her at fgustm [email protected] .

More on gard ening wi thout d igging in Lee Reich's Weedless G ard ening, p . 4 .

Jobs. The Cam bridge Climat e Calendar

includes a large selection of job open ingsof environm ent al inte rest. To subscribe,ema il [email protected] read on -line, go to t tp://www.tu fts.ed u/ tci/Calenda r.html. Click on Resourc es atth e left.

3

How to dig a garden bed continued.

In Appr eciat ion!A big t hanks to a l l

w h o ge n e r o u sl y c on t r i b u t e d t o t h e

2004 Fall Annual Appeal

These addi t ional f unds enable ELA t o carr y out

and expand our p rograms and mission.


4/20

Weed less Gard eningLee Reich

T here was a time th at weeds made me n ervouswhenever I went out t o my garden by theirabsenc e! I feared th at somet hing was wrongwith m y soil. I had taken deliberat e measu res tocreat e th is condition, but it was initially har d to be-lieve tha t th ey ha d worked so well.

There are four componen ts, described brieflybelow and de tailed in m y book, Weedless Gardening(Timber Press, 2001) to m aintaining th is "weedless"condition. These components integrate togethernicely and pr ovide ben efits to th e hea lth of the soiland t he plants beyond weed control.

1) Minimize soil disruption to pr eser ve th e soilsnat ural layering. I never tu rn my soil over, either byhan d or rototiller. Buried within every soil arecount less weed seeds, dorman t but waiting to beawakened b y exposure t o light or air. Not stirringth e soil keeps th em asleep. Even when set ting

transplants, shrubs, and trees in the ground, I takecare to minimize soil disturbance.Maintainin g the nat ural inte grity of the soil

brings incidental ben efits. Water is better utilizedbecause ch ann els created by freezing and thawing,eart hworms, an d old roots are left intac t; excesswater can drain a way while capillary water can beheld and dra wn wher e needed in all directions even upwards. Not having to tu rn the soil allows meto plant earlier in the sprin g because I don't h ave towait for the soil to dry enough to till.

Not t urn ing the soil preser ves soil organicmat ter, which is too rapidly burn ed up when th egroun d is chu rn ed into a frapp of soil and air.Organic matte r is valued for the n utr ients it re-leases to plant s, for nu trien ts already in the soiltha t are re nder ed more available, and for its rolein fendin g off pest s. Left on top of the grou nd , or-ganic ma terials are able to protect th e surfacefrom pelting rain and searing sum mer sun. Fur-the rm ore, fertilizers and organic mat erials domost good near th e surface, wher e plant rootsnat urally proliferat e.

2) Avoid soil compaction by keeping feet,wheelbarrows, garden cart s, and tra ctors off planted a reas. Soils are tilled m ostly for aer ation,but deliberate aeration is unnecessary with per-manently designated, separate areas for plants

an d for tra ffic.The design of trafficked areas, wheth er pat hsor stepping stones, varies with the design of thegarden and t he kin d of traffic expected. Plantedareas in my vegetable garden c onsist of rect angu-lar beds. Planting beds in my flower garden aremore free form . Groundcovers an d the islands of mulch around m y trees are rar ely trod upon, soneither needs separately designated areas.

4

A garden, where one may enter in and forget the whole world, cannot be made in a week, nor a month, nor a year;it must be planned for, waited for and loved into being. Chinese Proverb

Continued

F r o m

W e e

d l e s s

G a r d e n

i n g

b y

L e e

R e i c h

Hor t icultur ist Lee Reich will be a speaker at the ELA Wint er Conference. For mor e

In undisturbed soil,left, moisture canmove down, side-ways, even upto plant roots.Loosened soil, right,holds less water and most of whatsapplied runs

straight down .


5/20

3) Protect the soil surfacewith a weed-free, usually or-ganic, covering, replenishe d asneeded. I t only takes a th inmulch t o smother small weedseed lings. Benefits of organ ic

mulches beyond weed controlinclude modulating soil temper-ature, preventing erosion bywind and water, feeding th e soil,and replenishing soil organic m at-ter. The mu lch of choice dependson th e look desired, the plants,th e soil, and what 's available.

Poorer soil and m ore deman d-ing plants need the m ost nourish-ing mulches. In m y vegetab legarden I lay down an inch ormore of nutrient-rich com post

over all the bed s. In flowerbeds,buckwheat hu lls are a mulch th atprovides adequate nourishmentand is attr active.

On pat hs I put wood chips,gravel, straw, or some oth er leanma ter ial free of weed seeds. A liv-ing option for path s is lawn grass,

paper. The paper eventually de-composes, but is needed for onlythe short while it takes t o killexisting vegetat ion. I use a boutfour sh eets of newspaper or asingle layer of land scape ba rr ierpaper or building paper, adjust-ing the num ber of layers accord-ing to how vigorously I expectvegetat ion to r e-sprout. A lushha yfield will need mor e layers; aweak patch of lawn will quicklyexpire beneath fewer (butth eres no h arm in using fourshee ts an yway). Most impor-tan tly, overlap the edges of th epaper so sprouts cannot wendth eir way up to the light . Wett ingthe paper as it is put down keepsit in place and h elps roots fromth e plantin g grow down th rough

it into th e soil.Next, the paper is coveredwith a m ulch. Organic mater ials,whether u sed to cover plantingor walking areas, shou ld be one-to th ree-inches deep for seedsor small transplants that is deep

which can be planted or, if pres-ent , simply left in place. Quirkierpath coverings are old carpetpads (horse hair is biodegrad-able) or wooden planks.

4) Use drip irrigation. Dripirrigation pinpoints th e water to

where it is need ed instead of wastefully wetting paths orweeds in un planted are as. Thismet hod of water ing, besideslessening weed pr oblems, canbe easily automated and usesabout sixty percent less waterthan sprinkling.

Readying the ground for a first-time planting. One appe al of "weedless garden ing" is th e ea seand speed with which I can get a

new garden start ed. And, it canbe done at any tim e of year.I begin site prepar ation by

mowing existing vegetation witha scyth e or power m ower. Tostarve roots that will attem pt tosprout new leaves, I next laydown a im penetr able blanket of

Weedless gardening continued.

Continued

5


6/20

Weedless gardening continued.

6

enough to plant in without m aking holes in t hepaper. For tree and shrub tr ansplants, make anX in the p aper. In addition to h iding th e paperand h olding it down, th e mulch keeps t he papermoist and starts it on th e road to decomposition.

Using differen t m aterials in beds a nd p athsmakes it obvious where to walk and can lend someartistry to the garden.

Maintenance. Main ta inin g my "weedless" gar denis stra ight forward.

Mulch. Once a year I replenish mulch whereold mulch has decomposed.

Fertilizer. Organic mulche s provide a smor-gasbord of nutr ients, so th e only addit ionnee ded ma y be mater ial high in nitr ogen, for ex-am ple, wher e th e soil is poor or in a vegetableor formal flower garden ; I use soybean m ealonce a year a t two pounds per hu ndred squarefeet or an inch or m ore of compost .

Clean-up. When clearing the garden , I continueto minimize soil disturban ce. Spent plants ar e

jerked out of the soil or given a quick t wist tobreak t he m ain roots, leaving th e finer roots inta ct.For plants like corn, I sever the large roots with aknife before pu lling up th e plant .

Weeding. Also included in m y garden main te-nan ce is dare I say th e word? weeding, and,again, I m inimize soil disturban ce. Even in a"weedless" garden, regular weeding is important.The u sual m eth od of disposing of weeds in a veg-etable garden is to chop the t ops back whichth en regrow. Wha t few weeds I find, h owever, Iyank out by th e roots. Weeds h aving long tap-roots, such as dande lion or burdock , are coaxedout with a trowel thrust a longside the ta proot. Itak e off th e t ops of whole c olonies of small weedswith my "winged weeder," rat her tha n pullingthem out one at a time; any hoe with a sharpblade can be slid a fraction of an inch below the soilsurface to do the job. I pay special atten tion to th egarden's edges whe re weed s and grasse s con-stantly attempt to slither in.

Youn g weeds ar e easiest t o rem ove and alsohave yet to make seeds or start spreading under-grou nd . Time spen t weedin g in a "weedless" gar-den is minimal and even pleasant.

Lee Reich, PhD, lectures, w rites, an d consu lts on gardens . His latest book is Uncom mon Fruits for Every Gar-den (Tim ber Press, 2004). His book sare av ailable through his w eb siteat w w w.leereich.com .

G e n e v

i e v e

R e i c h


7/20

Over forty year s ago, when we were young and

foolish, my hu sband Richard an d I decidedto start a weekend vegetable garden . TheMacn airs had propert y on t he mid-coast of Maineand we went the re every weekend from Cam bridge,Massachu setts. We were t old by our elders th at aweekend garden couldnt be done and that natu-rally made u s persevere.

To he lp us toward our goal, a frien d gave us Rut hStou ts book How to Hav e a Green Th um b Without an Aching Back : A New Method of Mulch Ga rden -in g [a r eview of th is book follows]. We m ark ed ou t30' x 60' in a blueberry an d weed patch with h eavyclay soil. All sum me r we hau led in sawdust and se a-weed. In th e ear ly fall, we obtained two loads of ma -nure. Then we had the manure spread and the arearotovated (deeply rototilled) to ch ew up th e weeds,mix in th e additives, and tu rn up th e rocks. Next weadded h ay to depr ive weeds of sunlight and to con-serve moisture.

The next spring, we had wild roses, sensitive fern,and goldenrod growing through the h ay. However,they were easily pulled up.

We ar e still gard enin g on t he same piece of lan d.We h ad such great success, that we soon inc reasedth e plot to 45' x 90', th e size it is today. Every year,we apply hay in th e fall. We cont inue t o add com -post, alth ough th e soil is now rich, loam y, and fri-able. Ther e is no nee d for an y other fert ilizer. Atfirst we proba bly couldnt h ave plowed bec ause t hearea was quite wet and n ow, with t he bet terdrainage, it is much so much easier to plant t hat weha ve no n eed to plow. We fill a large free zer everyyear with ou r veggies and fruits. Withou t what Rut hStout calls her "no-work" me th od, we could neverhave han dled even a small garden on weekends.

Using hay. Use spoiled hay, not feed hay; that is,hay tha t is n o longer suitable for feeding anima ls.

It was very expensive this year, $2-$5 per bale,beca use of the sh owery weath er. You can get itfrom farm ers who bale h ay for sale an d in Mainemany people use hay around their homes duringthe winter for insulation and are willing to giveit away in the spring.

Loose hay should be spread 8"-12" deep;tight flakes from hay bales may b e piled onlyabout 6" deep. More h ay should be a ddedas it r ots. Idea lly weed seed s will be soshaded t hat t hey will not germinat e. If

th ere is a lot of rain, th e hay m ulch will decom-

pose more quickly and the grass seed in th e haywill grow. Just add m ore h ay to smoth er t he grass.When we began u sing the year-round h ay

mu lch, we used 200 b ales of hay a year. Now thateven spoiled h ay is expensive, we keep it down to100 bales by spreading it thin ner a nd sprea dingfall leaves first. We also cu t grass from our field tospread on the garden.

Planting in hay. Ruth Stout pulled the ha y asideand plant ed directly into the soil but she al-ready h ad a very fertile garden when sh e beganher experiment . In our case, we pull the hay asideto plant peas, beans, or corn , but also cover theseeds with c ompost. To plant squash or c ucum -bers, we hau l compost to th e garden and poke th eseeds into the com post hills. Whe n pu tt ing instart ed plants, such as tomat oes, we dig a hole,add a shovelful of compost, plant , and pull thehay back around.

We a re aggressive com posters, utilizing ma -nur es, seaweed, an d shr edded leaves in addit ionto garden an d kitchen waste (minus meat s andfat). But th ose who dont like to be both ere dwith a compost pile can simply tuck their wastesun der t he h ay. A garde n covered with h ay is justa h uge compost pile, an yway.

Vegetables. We grow beets, car rots, ch ard, pea s,snow peas, bush bean s, Kent ucky Wonder polebean s, green bell peppers, basil, parsley, cucu m-bers, zucch ini, garlic, red and sweet Spanishonions, Stuttgart onions, sugar pumpkins, butter-cup an d hubba rd squash , and several varieties of tomatoes. We are n ot around to pinch our tomatoplants proper ly, so we don't sta ke th em. The y de-velop into very str ong plant s tha t don 't get blowndown by wind, and if the fruit tou ches th e hay it

does not rot as it would on soil. We en d up with soman y tomat oes from six or eightplants t hat , after feeding family

and friends, c ann ing, an d giv-ing them away, we also make

dozen s of jars of gree ntomato mincemeat andTopsfield re lish, a famou srecipe for green tomat oes

[see sidebar], for friends an dfor fund r aisers.

W hen one tugs at a single thing in nature,he finds it attached to the rest of the world. John Muir

Test imo nial t o t he Year-Rou nd -Hay-M ulched Gard enWanda Macnair

Continued

7


8/20

At on e time we also grew pota -toes. We would simply lift t he hayand place the seed potatoes on th esoil. Harvesting was noth ing morethan lifting the h ay again an d pick-ing up the goodies. We usually leftsome of the smaller potatoes overthe winte r t o cont inue growing inthe spring. There were two draw-backs: field m ice and the Coloradopotato beetles, which we ha nd-picked and on which we used BT(bacillus thuringiensis ) withoutmuch success. Since growing spacewas a concern and finding a coolstorage space for th e ha rvest was aproblem, we now pass on potatoes.

Perennials. To prepare a ne w bedfor peren nials we discard m uch of

the soil and replace it with c om-post. Th en everyth ing grows well,including the weeds! I couldmulch for weed prevention, but Iwant to encourage seedlings togrow, to sha re t hem with four orfive big plant sales, includin g theBoston-area Combined Plant Soci-eties Plant Sale in April. Next yearI plan to h ave a batch of Digitalis'Grandiflora' (yellow perennialfoxglove) an d Eupatorium 'Choco-late', along with old stan dbys.

The whole truth. There a re a fewdrawbacks. Ther e is still plent y of work, but it is more spr ead out.We ar e often spre ading hay in lateNovember and into December,when man y garden s are alreadyput t o bed. We cover m ost of th evegetable plants with hay an d th eydecompose over th e winter. Wepull up the corn and the colecrops and haul them to areas inthe neighboring field that n eederosion contr ol durin g th e springrun-off.

Slugs multiply un der t hemu lch. We cont rol them withdiatomaceous earth, which dis-courages them with i ts sharp,scratch y surfaces, and woodashes. I used to make early morn-ing trips aroun d the garden with atin can and a sm all stick to gath erslugs. Then I would pour boilingwater over them a nd m ake "slug

recipes

8

Testimonial continued.

Unlike a cake w here the chem istry is v ery im portant, some of the amoun tsbelow m ay be altered slightly. We hope you en joy the process a s w ell asthe results. The hou se w ill be filled w ith the odor of the spices.

Topsfield RelishGrind coarsely and measure after grinding 3 pints ripe tomatoes, 3 pints

green tomatoes and 1 quart onions. Grind and add 1 bunch celery, 1 smallcabbage and 4 red sweet peppers. Add 1/2 cup salt (non-iodized), mix well,and let sit overnight.

Drain well and add 3 scant pints vinegar, 3 pints sugar, 1/2 cup mustardseed, 1 teaspoon cinnamon and 1/2 teaspoon cloves. Boil 30 minutes, stir-ring often. Pour into glass jars that have been heated with boiling water andseal. Because of the vinegar and the sugar, this does not need refrigerationafter opening.

Green Tomato MincemeatChop and drain 3 or 4 pounds of green tomatoes and add an equal

amount of water. Do not use any tomatoes that have begun to turn pink.Scald by bringing to a boil, then draining, and scalding again. Add 1 cup

raisins, 1 cup currants, 1 pound citron and/or other candied fruit peels and putthrough a coarse food chopper. Add 4 cups brown sugar, 1 orange with juiceand rind, 2 tablespoons salt, 2 tablespoons cinnamon, 1 teaspoon cloves, 1teaspoon nutmeg, 1 scant cup vinegar. Mix well and cook slowly 2 hours.

1 1/2 pint commercial spaghetti sauce jars are a good size, the amountneeded for a 9-inch pie; buy new canning lids. The original recipe called for 1cup suet. However, we left out the suet one year because of a vegetarianfriend and found that it tasted just as good and was healthier; besides, it wasdifficult to locate real beef suet.

When baking, we use a two-crust recipe. When the crust is baked, the pieis ready.

Now that the Macnairs are retired, they spend m ore tim ein Maine but return frequently to tend their perenn ialgardens in Cam bridge, plus a house full of plants. Theyare both active in the Am erican Gloxinia a nd Gesneriad Society and Am erican Begonia Society. They are on the

Am ateur Horticulture and Nom enclature Com m ittees of the New England Spring Flow er Show. Wand a w rites acolum n, "A Pass ion for Plan ts," for the Lincoln Count yNews in Dama riscotta, ME. Contact Wanda a t w m acnair@ m sn.com .

soup." However, they kept coming in from the field. This past seasonwas perfect for slugs as it was wet and cool; but, now there are wildtur keys aroun d and t hey like slugs, so the problem h as abated. Westill use the diatom aceous eart h an d wood ashes.The mu lch also in-vites m oles and voles to wint er in t he garden and dig tunn els.

Ruth Stou t also cautions against using hay con taining vetch ; inour are a, near ly all th e hay h as vetch, but we pull it out as it germ i-nat es. Wild roses and witch grass outside th e garden have a ballgrowing in under th e nice accomm odating mu lch.

The bo ttom line. People are always coming to see our garden and wehave gained re cruits. However, ther e are t hose who cann ot beswayed. One gardener with chickens adds th e man ure in early springrath er th an th e fall and guess what? he often burn s his plant s!Otherwise, compost, manure, an d hay become wonderful hum us andensure a healthy garden.


9/20

E d M a c

k e y

Born in Kan sas, sh e is a con firm ed New Yorke rwhen she mar ries Fred at age 45, in Jun e of 1929.They are weeken ding with friends in then -ruralConne cticut when , on the first day of th eir trip, by

2:00 P.M., the y ha ve agreed to bu y a h uge, ru n-down farm . She bec omes so busy t aking care of ittha t she t akes no tim e to acquire kn owledge first.She ha s a lot of fun r ecoun ting her ma ny ear ly mis-takes and few unexpected successes. Fourteenyears later, her r esults are still mixed but now shetalks on ly of gard en ing. She says, "As Fred p ut it ,Ruth may not have a green th umb, but she h as agreen tongue." But th en com es the c han ge to no-dig, all-over mulch gardening, covering the gardenwith a 6-8-inch layer of spoiled hay. She says,"When the farm ers arou nd h ere t ake leave of youthe ir partin g words are almost never 'Goodbye' or

'So Long,' but 'Take it easy.' Several years passedbefore I learn ed t o follow this sen sible advice; Ihope you will be m ore open to it t han I was." Now aconfirm ed m ulcher, she crows, "I wouldn't beafraid to br oadcast dan delion seeds all over m ygard en . The p oor t hin gs would die of old age beforethey had a ch ance to reproduce their kind."

Year by year h er ground becom es richer a ndfluffier, and Stout's vegetables are sensational. "Isimply spread mu lch where I want the compost tobe eventu ally. It rots and becom es rich dirt, with thevaluable by-product s of keeping down weeds, keep-ing the e arth soft, holding moistur e and eliminatin gplowing and spading, hoeing and cultivating."

Well, the mulch met hod is no longer a r adicalbreakt hr ough, but Ruth Stout's book is just asfresh and amazing as ever, seamlessly bringing herfriends, family, neighbors, and rur al surroun dingsinto the r eader's own interior life, wher e the y ami-ably stay for a very long time.

Copyright 1998 by Betty Mackey

Betty Mackey is a gard en w riter,editor, an d independ ent p ublisher.

In ear ly February, 2005, sh e w ill publish Creating and PlantingAlpine Garden s , by Rex Mur fitt. For m ore information go tow w w.m ackeybooks.com or wri te toP. O. Box 475, Wayn e, PA 1908 7 or bbm ack [email protected].

If "heartache" sounds exaggerated then surely you have never gone to your garden one rare morning in June to find that the frost, without any perceptible motive, any hope of personal gain,

has quietly killed your strawberry blossoms, tomatoes, lima and green beans, corn, squash, cucumbers.A brilliant sun is now smiling at this disaster with an insensitive cheerfulness

as out of place as a funny story would be if someone you loved had just died. Ruth Stout 1884-1980

9

N o-Work Gard eningBetty Mackey

Ruth Stout is the pioneer of the mulch method of gar-dening. She wrote several books on the topic, briefly de-

scribing the technique and then telling stories about her experiences and other's. The books are out of print but most are available used at low prices. ed.

Ruth Stout, How to Hav e a Green T hum b Without an Aching Back : A New Method of Mulch Ga rden -in g , New York: Galah ad Books, 195 5; Simon an dSchuster, 1978; originally published 1952. Ou t of print but available used an d in libraries.

T her e is no one word to describe my all-timefavorite garden book, How to Have a GreenThu m b Without an Aching Back , written bythe inim itable Ruth Stou t in 1952, and published in

man y editions and print ings. Ruth Stout is the sis-ter of famous m ystery writer Rex Stout but th esedays her books may well outsell his. Unselfcon-sciously brimm ing with e ner gy, hum or, and ch arm ,she ha ppily tells how she grows food an d flowers ona 55-acr e farm, first working herself practically intothe hospital with h er e ner getic digging and weed-ing, and later inventing the n o-work, incre dibly re-warding mulchin g met hod. But the m eth od is soeasy that ninet y percen t of the b ook is story telling.

She opens with mu tterings at what other gardenwriters have written, which she suspects have noth-ing to do with rea lity. "My am bition," she sa ys, "is to

write this book withou t a single state men t whichcan be m utt ered at . I will try to accomplish this byrelating my own exper iences, letting the reade r dothe conclusion-drawing. This does not me an, h ow-ever, that my m ind isn't crowded with opinions an dconvictions. It is. For instan ce, eleven years a go Iput into pra ctice a revolutionar y meth od of garden -ing, and if I were pu t in c ha rge of th e world I wouldmake it compu lsory for every garden er t o give it athr ee-year trial. After th ree year s I don't th ink any-one would go back to th e old, cum bersome p roce-dure. If someone did, if someone deliberat ely choseto work ten times as long and hard as he n eeded,chose to spend more money and h ave moreheadaches than necessary with less satisfactory re-sults, I wouldn't int erfere. I doubt if ther e would beenough of them in th e whole world to fill a m ediumsized mental institution."


10/20

the soil. In addition, brush piles placed in gulliesreduce erosion.

It 's import ant t o construct brush piles in orclose to per man ent cover, such as fencer ows,heavy timber or den se grasslands. A brush pile

located in a closely graze d past ur e is of littlevalue. In t his situation, small animals are e x-posed to pr edators while tr aveling to and fromthe brush pile.

The con struct ion of simple brush piles will im-prove wildlife h abitat on your propert y. If properconstruction and location are con sidered, brushpiles provide e ssen tial cover for wildlife su rvivaland r eproduct ion. Decem ber 13, 2004, Wind-Star Wildlife Gard en Weekly e-Magazine,[email protected]

Snags and Perches

A"snag" is a dead or dying tree . Ther e ar e twokinds of snags. A hard snag is a standingdead, or par tially dead, tr ee with some largerlimbs remaining and sound wood. A soft snag is astand ing dead tr ee in an advanced stage of decom-position with few, if any, limbs and advanced

hea rt rot. Gen erally, the larger th esna g, th e greate r its value for wildlife.

To man y people, a snag is an eye-sore or firewood waiting to be cu t. Towildlife, su ch as flicker s an d wood-pecker s, a snag is home . Snags are

used for ne sting, perch ing and t err itorial estab-lishm ent . The belted kingfisher an d green -backedheron use branch es hanging over water as perch esfrom which th ey can spot fish. Snags also serve asperch es from which birds fly out to catch insects.Insect larvae is often found un der th e bark an d inth e soft wood of sna gs.

Some people at tra ct wildlife by cut ting down asoft snag and setting it up in th eir yard where itcan be watched from t he h ouse. Snags or treebranch perche s can be provided over backyard

ponds, on th e edge of ha yfields or at bird feeders.Logs can be anc hored t o concret e blocks in sm allponds t o provide secure loafing sites for ducksand turtles.

In some cases, snags in a dvanced sta ges of decay may pose a safety thr eat. In th ese instancesit would be best to rem ove the snag and use alter-native methods to provide food and cover. Leaf-Chron icle, htt p://www.theleafchronicle.com

Brushing Up OnW ildlifeManagement

Sometimes peo-ple are faced withthe burden of cleaning

up broken limbs and bran chesfrom the ir yards an d fields. After all th e backbr eak-ing work is done, t hey h ave to decide what to dowith t he m assive pile tha t ha s accum ulated. Lots of folks opt to burn the d ebris, which is easier andless time-consum ing.

However, there's actually a beneficial use for it.Why not create some brush piles for wildlife? Allwildlife species n eed places t o escape from preda-tors, rest in safety, nest a nd ra ise their young.These places are n orma lly provided by some kindof cover. Cover exists in many different forms, fromhollow trees to dense grasslands. And for severalspecies of small mamm als and groun d-nestingbirds, brush piles provide the cover they nee d tosurvive and reproduce.

By proper ly locating and con struc ting brushpiles, proper ty owners can improve wildlife h abitatfor a n um ber of species. When located in th e rightplace, brush piles often bringabout a quicker "response"th an an y other wildlife man -ageme nt pr actice. In fact, an i-

ma ls will often tak e over abrush pile on th e night a fter itwas constructed!

Any br ush pile will provide som e ben efits forwildlife. However, it's best to pile the brush on topof large logs, old culvert t ube s or large rock s to pr o-vide tu nn els and tr avel openin gs at ground level.When using logs or c ulvert tubes, it's b est t o laythem parallel, with about 12 inch es between them .When using large rocks, pile th em about t wo feethigh in a triangular pattern.

Once t he base m ater ials are in place, simplystack th e limbs an d bran ches on top, largest limbsfirst. The b rush pile shou ld be at least six feet talland wide. Generally, the m ore bru sh piles that youprovide, the greater the benefit for wildlife.

Brush piles have oth er advant ages. Groundh ogstend to burrow under th em, rather th an out in anopen field. This puts th e bur rows wher e the y causeless damage. By th e way, groun dhog burrows ma keperfect retreats for rabbits.

Brush piles eventually decay and add h um us to

10

Wild l i f e

Continued

During the winter, keep bird seeddry with a dome feeder.

Supplement seeds with suet .


11/20

2004 Acorn Crop

American Birds Disappear

C ompiled by Audubon ScientistGreg Butch er, the "State of theBirds" analysis has pr ompte dAudubon to urge th e strengthening

of existing environm ent al protec-tions and stricter enforce-

ment . The survey of thestatus of 654 bird species n ative

to the continental United States shows that Amer-ica's birds are in trouble. "Like th e can ary in th ecoal mine warning the m iner of danger ahead , birdsare an indicator of environmen tal and hum an

health ," said Audubon President John Flicker."Birds signal th at we ar e at risk ne xt."Statistically significant declines were recor ded

for bird species in five h abitat types: grasslands,shru blands, forests, wetlands an d urban areas. In

dec line ar e 70% of U.S. grasslan d bird s are in de-cline, 36% of shru bland bird species, 25%of forestbird species, 23% of bird species in u rban areas, an d13% of wetland bird spe cies. Bird sp ecies ar e disap-pearing due to loss of native grasslands, overgrazingof grassland an d shr ubland, development of wet-lands, bad forest ma nagemen t, invasive species, pol-lution and poor land use de cisions.

Keeping birds, and their home habitats, in goodcond ition is good conser vation policy and good busi-ne ss, Audu bon says. According to the U.S. ForestService, 69 m illion America ns, on e-third of alladults in th is country, call themselves birdwatchers.

The U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service n otes t ha t t hey c on-tr ibute a t least $3 2 billion in r etail sales, $85 billionin overall economic outpu t, an d $13 billion in statean d federal taxes, cr eatin g 863,406 jobs. "Birds alsocontribute to the bott om line in m ore subtle ways,providing free pest and weed control, distributingseeds, a nd pollinat ing flowers an d cr ops," saidFlicker. "We simply can not afford t o ignor e th e sta teof the birds." Environ men tal News Service,ht tp://www.ens.lycos.com, Oct ober 25 , 2004

Further analysis of theState of the Birds reportmay be found on the Audubon web site at

http:/ / www.audubon.org / bird/ stateofthebirds.

11

The first established Audubon group was the Massachusetts Audubon Society, in 1896.Today, Mass Audubon has 68,000 members and is one of 11 loosely linked state Audubon societies.

State groups are independent of the National Audubon Society, which has 570,000 members in 40 states.

Acorn s are imp ortan t source s of food forwildlife, including birds, rodents, bears,deer, and wild hogs. Animal populations riseand fall depending on the quan tities available.

Red oaks include the n orthern red oak, scarletoak and black oak; white oaks include ch estnu toak and Quercus alba . White oak acor ns are

sweeter an d mor e digestible, con-taining more starch es and car bo-hydrates than red oak acorns,which are rich er in fat. Oaks arekn own to follow a two to sevenyear cycle, with th e product ionof an un usually large crop of acor ns followed by a light eryear. Scient ists have not dis-covered what cr eates a goodyear for nut s, whether it re-sults from frost, dr yness, in-sect infestations, or othe rfactors.

If there was any doubt that the United Statesencom passes extre mely divergent views, the fol-lowing two report s on acorn quan tities should set-tle the mat ter. Morgan Simm ons of the Knoxville

New s Sentinel reported that th e Great SmokyMount ains National Park in Tenn essee had th ebest white oak acorn cr op in years, while the re doak cr op was rate d as fair. Mean while, Beth Daleyof the Boston Globe reported that acorns were inunu sually short supply in th e North east.

Many plants are known to produce seeds whenunder stress, seemingly in a bid to save thespecies rather than the individual. It is possiblethat several years of drought in th e North easttriggered the unu sually abun dant supply of thelast two years. Last year, the r egion h ad a goodsupply of rain fall so tha t oaks ma y not h ave had aneed t o produce lots of seeds or they m ay sim-ply have been resting.

In th e usual interconnected way of nature,acorn shorta ges will have conseq uen ces. Small ro-dent s, like m ice, chipmu nks, an d squirrels, willdie from sta rvation. The population of gypsymoths will rise, since fewer mice will feed on the

pupae. More gypsy moths will eat the leaves of oak tree s. Stressed oaks may produce feweracorns.

Fewer roden ts will also impact on t he largerpredators, such as fox and coyote, that eat them .

Garden ers will also be a ffected. Rodents th atnorm ally eat n uts will eat mor e bulbs from gar-dens t o get t heir supply of protein . Ed.

Nighthawk


12/20

Develop the knowledge and skills to buildenvironmentally friendly landscapes.

WINTER CONFERENCEEducational seminars

Knowledgeable speakerswith practical experience

Topics: landscape planning, design concepts,plant recommendations, habitat diversity, weed, disease, and insect control,construction methods and materials, lawn care, soil biology, pruning... and much more

12

For furt her details,go t o www.ecolan dscaping.org.

SCHEDULE OVERVIEW

Friday, March 48:00 AM Registration & Continental Breakfast9:30 AM12:30 PM Morning Seminars12:30 PM Lunch & Networking25 PM Afternoon Seminars5:30 PM Reception in Exhibit Hall

Saturday, March 58:00 AM Registration & Continental Breakfast8:30 AM 12:00 PM Seminars12:001:30 PM Lunch and networking1:30 PM Eco-Marketplace closes1:30 3:00 PM Afternoon Seminars

LOCATION: Royal Plaza Hotel, Marlborough, MA

EARLY REGISTRATION DEADLINEFebruary 24

PRICESBoth days: $160.Friday only: $99.Saturday only: $75.Walk-ins and Late Registration: $215, $145, $110.Saturday Eco-Marketplace Only: $15.

CEU CREDITS have been requested from

Are you a Landscaper? Garden Designer? Architect? Parent? Homeowner?Concerned with the quality of water? The health of the lawn children play on?

The spread of invasive exotics?Interest in ecologically sensitive landscaping is on the rise throughout New England.

Skilled practitioners are increasingly in demand.

ECO-MARKETPLACEShowcase for suppliersThe latest in sustainable technology

and products.

Join us for an Ecological Extravaganza!

e c o l o g i c a l l a n d s ca p i n g a ss o c i a t i o n sw i n t e r c o n f e r en c e a n d e c o - m a r k e t p l a c e

2 0 0 5

T he Cut t i ng E dge:Creating and Managin g

the Eco log ical Landscape


13/20

2005 ELA Winter Conference SeminarsFriday, March 48-9 AM Registration; Continental Breakfast in Exhibit Hall9:30 AM-5:30 PM Demonstrations and Mini Lectures in Exhibit Hall9-10:30 AM Managing Stressed Lawns , JEFF FRANK, The Nature Lyceum

Natural Biological Control of Insect Pests ,DR.MICHAEL RAUPP, University of Maryland Creating Wildlife Habitat in the Landscape ,PETER PICONE, CT DEP

10:30-11:15 AM NO SESSION

11:15 AM-12:30 PM Intergrating Natural Landscapes into the Managed Landscape ,KEITH WILEY, Wildside Plants Nursery Invasive Plant Control and Environmental Restoration,JOSH ELLSWORTH, Ellsworth Land Management Maintaining a Dynamic Biology in the Landscape ,DR. WILLIAM TORELLO, UMass; EcoOrganic s

12:30-2 PM LUNCH AND DESSERT IN EXHIBIT HALL2-3:30 PM Quantum Physics and Horticulture ,

JEFF FRANK, The Nature Lyceum The Gardener's Calendar , TESS MCDONOUGH, Hor ticulturist Thinking Ahead of the Machine ,JOHN W. DEERING, Earth Management: the Team Concept

3:30-4 PM NO SESSION4-5 PM Identifying Weeds in the Managed Landscape ,

RANDY PROSTAK, UMass Extension New Trees for New England ,DR. BRIAN MAYNARD, University of Rhode Island

Designing and Building Hardscapes , OWEN WORMSER,Treefrog Landscapes5:50-6:30 PM MARKETPLACE RECEPTION: Food/Cash Wine & Beer Bar

Saturday, March 58-9 AM Registration; Continental Breakfast in Exhibit Hall9:30-11:30 AM Demonstrations and Mini Lectures in Exhibit Hall8:30-10 AM Rodent Damage in the Landscape ,

DR. GWILYN S. JONES, Northeastern University Simple Steps Toward Organic Lawn Care ,CHIP OSBORNE and PAT BECKETT Fearless Pruning , LEE REICH, Gardener and Author

10-10:45 AM NO SESSION10:45 AM-12 PM Native Grasses , LAUREN BROWN, Author

Creating Winning Perennial Combinations Using Color and Texture ,MARIA VON BRINCKEN, Maria von Brincken Landscape Design Planning Your Livable Landscape ,BRITT ECKHARDT-SLATTERY, US Fisheries & Wildlife Service

12-1 PM LUNCH AND DESSERT IN EXHIBIT HALL1:30 PM ECO-MARKETPLACE CLOSES1:30-3 PM White Grubs in Turfgrass: Biology and Management ,

DR. PATRICIA VITTUM Soils and Soil Ecology , JOSE AMADOR, U of Rhode Islandand PAUL WAGNER, Soil Foodweb The Weedless Garden , LEE REICH, Gardener and Author

3 PM CONFERENCE ENDS

I n 2 0 0 4 , Th e Wi n t er Co n f er e n ce w a s a t t en d e d b y3 5 0 ed u c a t e d a n d en t h u s i a st i c p r o f e s si o n a l s a n d c o mm u n i t y m e m b er s

l o o k i n g a t e co l o g i c a l p r o d u ct s a n d se r v i c es

WAN TED: EXHI BI TORSMarch 4 and 5, 2005 a t t h e

Ec o - M a r k e t p l a c eEc o l o g i c a l L a n d s ca p i n g A ss o ci a t i o n

Wi n t e r Co n f er en c e

Jo i n u s ! w w w . ec o l a n d s c ap i n g .o r g ,e l a . i n f o @v e r i z o n . n et , 6 1 7 - 4 3 6 - 5 8 3 8

Please help us support you!! By participating in sp onsorship of the ELA, your organiza tion w ill show itself to be on the cutting

edge, raising its p rofile as a company at the forefront of environmental awareness!

Our annual Winter Conference &Marketplace is a two-day eventthat promotes awareness of ecologically sound landscapingmethods, materials, and practices,with t hree tracks of speakers,demos, and a m arketplace full of products an d services!

Ou r Roundtables complementand reinforce the t heme of theWinter Conference in more inti-mate settings, with Q & A, discus-sion, and refreshments!

Chapter 1 of our Manual , Guide to Healthy Landscapes, is on sale:"From t he Ground Up: Site a ndSoil Preparation." Chapter 2, "SiteAna lysis an d Design" is in pr oduc-tion. Futur e ch apters will include

lawns an d alternat ives, plant care,Integrated Pest Management ,native plants, sustainable prac-tices, gardens as habitat/food!

Other outreach programs includea br ochure on e cological land-scaping (including tips on select-ing an ecological landscaper); anational journal; and a m ovemen ttowards a tr uly national organiza-tion with r egional chapters!

Ou r membership is an excitingniche market th at uses cuttingedge methodology!

If you are interested in underwrit-ing a project or beco ming asponsor of ELA, contact us [email protected] reference ELA in thesubject heading.

SEEKI NG: SPONSORS


14/20

knowledge and experience to the topic of properplanting and aftercar e.

ELA Members $30. Non-Members $4*In collaboration with the Arnold Arboretum of Harvard University

ELA-CA newsThe Elements of Ecological LandscapingSusan Wyche

The da y was unseasonably cold for th e Monte reyBay, but th at didn t discoura ge a c rowd from gath er-ing for the first event of the new California WorkingGroup of the Ecological Landscaping Association."From the Ground Up: Elements of Ecological Land-scaping," a full-day conference held November 20 atCabrillo College, covered a few of the many topicsthat landscapers, designers, horticulturists, andhom eowners nee d to know about in order to shiftsuccessfully to ecological landscaping.

To help n ative plant s th rive in a garden set-ting, first speaker Kath ryn Math ewson had someimportan t advice: pay atten tion to the soil. Inman y sites, native soil struc ture h as been de-stroyed by construction and traditional gardeningmet hods and t hus n eeds to be significantlyamen ded before m aking the switch to n atives.Math ewson, a designer and owner of Secret

14

Best Management Practices for EnvironmentallySustainable Lawns.* Tuesday, Februar y 8, 2 PM 5:00 PM. South Sh ore Natur al Science Cen ter, Nor-well, MA 781-659-2559. Mary Owen, Turf Specialist,University of Massachusetts Extension, Amherst. Thissession will address establishing and maintaining turf areas, including: site assessment; soil preparation;grasses appropriate to site an d use, em phasizing pesttolerance; conventional and organic fertilizers; irriga-tion and water con servation, with emph asis on pro-tection of surface water an d ground water; and, theuse of aeration, com posts and topdressings.

ELA Members $25. Non-Members $35*Co-sponsored by th e Greenscap es Program ( a regional effort bythe North and South Rivers Watersh ed Association, Massachusett sBays Program, and mun icipalities of the South Shore of Massa-chusetts), which pr omotes landscapes that pr otect water and re-quire less irrigation, chem icals, and time to maint ain:www.greenscapes.org

Installation and Maintenance.* Satu rday, April 2,2005, 9AM Noon. Arnold Arbor etum, Jamaica Plain,MA. Tom Ward, Co-Director of Living Collection / Greenhouse Manager, Arnold Arboretum; DeborahSwanson, Hort icultural Educat or, University of Massa-chu sett s Extension , Plymouth County; Rolf Briggs,Consu lting Arbor ist/Owner, Tree Specialists, Inc.,Holliston, MA. Our three speakers bring a wealth of

ELA news

Continued


15/20

15

Phytophthora ramorum. The ConnecticutAgricultur al Experimen t Stat ion an d USDAann ounced th at plant shipments infected withPhytophthora ramorum (the sudden oak deathpathogen) arrived in Connecticut this spring.The sour ce was Hines Nurseries' Forest Grove,

Oregon, facility. Infected plants were ma inly Rhododendron 'Boursau lt' and 'Album ', Pierisspp. and azaleas. Officials are t rying to trac eplants, but m any were sold for cash to hom eown-ers. Nurseries with infected m aterials are askedto quarant ine or incinerate the m aterials. Hinesann ounced in September that t he Oregon sitewas P. ram orum positive an d halted sales of plants that could carry the disease. Some offi-cials called for bar coding every plant sold inConn ecticu t to impr ove trackin g. WeeklyNMPRO e-ma il for Dec . 14, 200 4

2005 Plants of the Year. Florida Nur sery, Grow-ers an d Landscape Association n ame d its 2005Plant s of the Year in a program de signed to pr o-mote un derused but pr oven Florida plant mate-rial. The 2005 selections are : Dura nta erecta'Gold Moun d', Ilex vomitoria 'Pendula, Tecomastans , Tibouchina urv illeana, Plectranthu s'Mona Lavender', Arachniodes simplicior 'Varie-gata', Phaius tank ervilliae, and Anthurium an -draeanum 'Sarah'. For m ore info, call407-295-7994. Weekly NMPRO e-mail for Dec.14, 2004

Chicago Botanic Garden plant trials. Detailed in-forma tion from the Ch icago Botan ic Garden planttrials is now available. Growers ca n u se th e site tolook up d ata su ch a s flowering dates an d diseasesor winte r injuries observed. The botan ic gardenalso posts its overall ratings of plants an d th edates th e plants were trialed. A search device canfind information on all the highly rated plants th egarden has t rialed in recen t years. WeeklyNMPRO e-mail for Dec. 14, 2004

Oiling too l handles. John ny's Seeds prefers to

sell tools with oiled han dles because t hey ar emore com fortable to hold and don't m ake blisterslike shellacked han dles. Once a year is enough toren ew the oil. However, ordinary h ardware stor elinseed oil usually contain s chem icals, such a scobalt, which isnt h igh on t he list of substancesyou want your skin to absorb! Joh nn y's sellsTried an d True Oil, which is free of the ch emicals.http://www.johnnyseeds.com/catalog/9375-cm2.htm l Rob Johnston,[email protected]

gleanings

Continued

Gard en s, showed be fore-and-after ph otos of sitesthat h ad been transformed.

And th en, what does one do t o control dama ginggarden pests? Ron Whiteh urst, en tomologist at Rin-con-Vitova Insectar ies, explored th e impact t hat in -troduc ing bene ficial insects can have on landscapesan d sh owed slides of just a few ben eficials. He

pointed out tha t viewing a garden as an ecosystemhas pr oven to be m ore succe ssful in contr olling dam-age from pests th an spr aying.

Alrie Middlebrook a nd Glen Keat or discu ssedplant com mun ities. Co-founde rs of the CaliforniaNative Garden Foundation, th ey paired pictures of plants in t heir nat ive environments with the sameplants in stru ctured gardens. They demonstratedthat learning from n ature and un derstanding com-plex relationships within plant com mun ities couldhelp designer s develop more beaut iful and m ore suc-cessful installations.

One of the m ost inspirational talks was by Paul

Kephar t, restora tion ecologist, resource plann er, andco-founde r of Rana Creek Habitat Restoration.Kephar t h as designed large-scale com mer cial greenroofs, including that of the Academ y of Science s,und er constr uction in Golden Gate Park. As more of our landscape disappears under the footprint of large comm ercial and residen tial development s,rooftops provide habitat for birds and in sects an dcut d own on heat island e ffects. Kepha rt h as pio-neer ed th e use of Californias na tive bunch grassesan d wildflowers for rooftop plant ing and is develop-ing techn iques for using rooftops to filter and purifywater for re-use.

Lisa McAnd rews, a facu lty m em ber of CabrillosEnvironmental Horticultural Department, spokeabout the horticultural program and state-of-the-artbuildings and greenh ouses. Cabrillo studen ts servedas volunteer s at th e conference . Their visibility un -derscored an obvious point: th e future of ecologicallandscaping lies in edu cation. Educa tion is also akey p art of the ELAs m ission. In th e last year, ELA-CA has signed u p man y new mem bers. This eventprovided another excellent opportunity to make ourmessage public.

ELA-CA continued.


16/20

The winter moth (Operophtera brumata ) is an in-trodu ced species that h as been wreaking havoc insouthe astern Massachuset ts, including Cape Cod,for the last thr ee or four years. Winter m oths ha tchas early as late March . The larvae tun nels into bothfruit and foliar buds, especially of fruit trees (apple,blueberry, cherries, and others), but fruit buds arepreferred. Onc e a bud has been devoured fromwith in, the cater pillar will migrate to othe r budsand repeat th e process.

When leaf buds open , the small caterpillars canbe found within th e tight clusters of new leaves.During cool springs when leaf buds open late, th ewint er mot h cat erpillar can severely dama ge theleaves. Winter moth cater pillars often leave th eclusters to becom e free feeders at n ight. Th ey mayalso "balloon" to plants benea th infested t rees tofeed on herbaceous peren nials. Winter m oth cater -pillars are often found in association with fall andspring cankerworm s, which look similar an d havesimilar feeding pattern s.

Heavily defoliated trees will be severely stressed.They will put ou t a second flush of growth in orderto sur vive. Water is critical at th at t ime. Fert ilizerapplication is not recommen ded for tr ees that havebeen de foliated. UMass Exten sion,http://www.umassgreeninfo.org/fact_sheets/ defoliators/winter_moth.pdf

Children and pesticides. Pesticides have beenlinked to n eurological damage in children. On No-vember 10, 2004, Washin gton Post staff write rJuliet Eilperin reported that the Environmental

Protection Agency (EPA) h ad suspen ded a st udyaimed at exploring how infant s and t oddlers absorbpesticides and other household chemicals.

The Ch ildren's Environm ental Exposure Re-search Study was designed as a t hree-year investi-gation to look at children's contact withcommercial pesticides. EPA expanded this to in-clude chemicals commonly found ar ound th ehome and approached the American ChemistryCouncil (ACC), an industry lobby group represent-

16

A D R A T E S

full page (7 1 / 2 H x 10" V) . . . . . . . $130/issue; $440 / 4-issue runhalf page (7 1 / 2 H x 4 7 / 8" V). . . . . . $85/issue; $290 / 4-issue runquarter page (3 5 / 8 H x 4 7 / 8" V). . . . . $45/issue; $160 / 4-issue runeighth page (3 5 / 8 H x 25 / 16" V) . . . . . $25/issue; $85 / 4-issue runbusiness card (2 H x 3 1 / 2" V) . . . . . . . . . $25/issue; $85 / 4-issue runun-classifieds (line ads, up to 50 words) . . . . . . . $5/issue;

$17 / 4-issue run (additional words: $1 / 10 words)

The Ecological Landscaper is published quarterly. For an ad toappear in a specific issue, it must arrive by November 15,February 15, May 15, and August 15, two (2) months prior to thepublication date of the respective issue. Ads received after thesedeadlines will appear in the following issue. If an ad is taken out

for a four-issue run and canceled before the end of the run, wewill issue a pro-rated refund, less a 25% service fee.Cancellations must occur by deadlines above to take effect forthat issue. Any change made after the first run to a four-issue-run ad will void the four-run discount; new copy and additionalfunds are required before running the revised ad. The advertis-er is responsible for final content. ELA reserves the right torefuse an ad for any reason. ELA makes no claims, warranties,or other declarations as to the effectiveness, reliability, or resultsfrom the use of products, services, or procedures described inany ad. There are currently no tie-ins to advertising in ELA pub-lications or venues. Send ad copy and payments to: ELA, Attn.:Newsletter Ad, 60 Thoreau St., #252, Concord, MA 01742; 617-436-5838. Make checks payable to Ecological LandscapingAssociation.

Gleanings continued.

Four dry logs have in themall the circumstances necessary

to a conversation for 4 or 5 hours.T herefore, let us love winter, for it is the spring of genius.

Pietro Aretino

Continued

ing 135 chem ical manufacturers, which offered anadditiona l $2 million for the stu dy. The stu dy wasto have included chem icals found in everythingfrom furn iture coatings to cosmetics.

The En viron men tal Working Group, a Wash-ington-based non -profit body, believes th atfun ding by the ACC represen ts a clear conflictof int erest . Jan e Houlihan, EWG's vice-presi-den t for resear ch, said, "The EPA's resear chbudget is over $500 m ill ion a year, so you ha veto ask why th e agency is relying on the lobbyingarm of i ts own r egulated indu stries for such asmall sum of mon ey."

The p roject would h ave given each low-in-come family of 60 ch ildren in Duval Count y,Florida, $970, a camcorder, and children'sclothing, in exch ange for u sing pesticides inth eir hom es. Jeff Ruch, execu tive direct or of Public Employees for Environm ent al Responsi-bil ity, said, "Paying poor paren ts t o dose t heirbabies wi th com mercia l poisons to measureth eir exposure is just plain wrong."

A panel is set to r eassess the pr oject next spring.


17/20

Climate changes. U.S. Climate Prediction Cen teris forecastin g a season of cha nge for Jan uarythr ough March . Almost the en tire South ern half of the U.S. should see above-average rainfall, verygood news for th e drou ght -ridden South west.Below-avera ge r ainfall is expe cte d from t he Mid-west to New England an d in t he North west. Thewest, from Nort h Dakota t o New Mexico, will ha veabove-average tem perat ures. The South east, fromcentral Texas to southern Virginia, will see below-average te mper atur es. The Weekly Dirt, for 4Jan., 2005

Forestry. The Urban Hort iculture Ins t i tu te andComm un ity Forestry have pioneer ing ecologicalman agemen t to help t rees th r ive under toughcondi t ions . The s ites are a t :ht tp:/ /www.hort .corn ell.edu/uhi/ andhttp:/ /www.hort .cornell .edu/commfor/ .

Diazinon. Dec. 31, 2004, was the st op-sale dat efor residen tial use of th e insect icide diazinon .Retailers and form ulators ha ve unti l March 31,2005, to sell un opened out door diazinon resi-dent ia l products back to man ufacturers . Con-sumers m ay use diazinon r es ident ia l productsth ey have in th eir possession. The WeeklyDirt , for 26 Oct . , 2004

Pine shoot beetle. Pine products and nur serys tock cross ing the border f rom Canada t o theU.S. must m eet new documentat ion, t rea tm ent ,and h andl ing requirement s . Pine sh oot beet le

infests portions of the n orth easter n U.S. and isa vector for ma ny pin e tr ee diseases. WeeklyNMPRO e-ma il for O ct. 26, 2 004

Mustard. USDA's Agricultur al Resear ch Servicescientists ar e studyin g th e effectiveness of mu s-ta rd ( Brassica spp.) as a biofum igant to cont rolweeds and other pes ts . In greenh ouse s tudies onpotted ir ises, a fum igant mad e of mu stard e x-t racts redu ced weeds and n ematode popula t ionsby 70-80 percent without harm ing crops . Scien-t is ts a t t r ibute th e success of the fumigant toisothiocyanthes , chem icals produced by m us-tard plants t hat make surrounding soi l toxic topest s an d com pet ing plants. Week ly NMPROe-mail for Oct . 26, 2004

Emerald ash bo rer. Ohio Stat e an d MichiganState Univers i ty researcher s found t hat emeraldash borer preferentially attacks North Americannat ive green ash, Fraxinu s pennsylvan ica .S tudies indicate th at Manchu r ian ash, F. m and -shurica , is at t acked to a lesser degree and sh ows

m uch less dieba ck. Week ly NMPRO e-ma il forNov. 09 , 200 4

The Iowa Depart men t of Natur al Resource ssaid infestations of eme rald ash borer ar e beingfound every week in man y areas of the eas ternU.S. Iowa nur series an d th e Iowa Nurser y &Landscape Association were asked t o part ici-pate in a voluntar y morator ium on import ingash n urser y stock from ea st of the MississippiRiver. Wee kly NMPRO e-m ail for May 11,2004

As a resu lt of tre es lost from eme rald ashborer, Michigan State University pub lished alist of ash altern atives. Suggestions ar e: Acer buergeranium ( t r ident maple) , Celtisoccidentalis (hackberry) , Gymnocladus dioica(Kent ucky coffee tr ee), Nyssa s ylvatica (pep-peridge) and Quercus imbricaria (shin gle oak). Weekly NMPRO e-ma il for O ct. 05, 2 004

Dogwood. Univer sity of Florida sa ys dogwood

may survive anthracn ose bet ter where areashave been pr eviously burned. Fur t her researchmay lead to cont rol led burn s . I t i s es t imatedth at t he disease has k illed 90% of th e na tiveEast Coast Cornus florida populat ions s ince th elate 1970s. http:/ /extlab1.entnem.ufl .edu/ PestAlert/dogwood.h tm Week ly NMPRO e -ma il for Sept. 2, 20 03

Wetlands. Ducks Unlimited provides funds forthe preservat ion of wet lands and the es tablish-me nt of new habitat . I ts efforts an d th e effortsof game cha pter s ben efit m any forms of wildlife.When th e first explorers set foot on NorthAmer ican soil , the first r eport s spoke of vastnu mbe rs of wildlife species. In th e space of afew hundr ed years m ore th an on e-half of theoriginal wetland is gone. 17 0,000 wetland ac rescont inue to be lost every year. Janu ary 3,2005 WindSt ar Wildlife Ga rde n Week ly e-Maga-zine

Pu t y o u r a d i n Un - c l a s s i f i e d s !Re a c h h u n d r e d s o f e c o l o g i c a l l y m i n d e d

l a n d - c a r e p r o f e s s i o n a l s a n d h o m e o w n e r sOn l y $ 5 f o r u p t o 5 0 w o r d s

( e a c h a d d i t i o n a l 1 0 w o r d s , $1 )Se n d a d s t o :

EL A6 0 Th o r e a u St r e e t , # 2 5 2

Co n c o r d , M A 0 1 7 4 2At t n . N ew s l e t t e r Un - c l a ss i f e d s

Gleanings continued.

17


18/20

18

events

un-classifiedsWELL WATER CONNECTION, INC. is a full-serv-ice firm providing custom-designed irrigation wellsfor green industry professionals and their clients. In

addition 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 at978-640-6900 or [email protected].

ELAs Guide to Healthy Landsc ape

The first chapter in ELAs Guide to Healthy Landscape series, From the Ground Up: Siteand Soil Preparation, is a fine training aid foremployees or an educational gift for an enthusi-astic custom er. Topcs ar e: ma naging soil fert ility,the importance of the soil food web, protectingsite features, managing invasives, and muchmore. Features are line illustrations, glossary,and list of resources and organizations. Cost(includes postage an d ha ndling) is $25 me mber s,$30 n on-me mbe rs (in MA add 5% sales tax).Inquire about quantity discounts. Send orders,with payment: Attn. Soil Guide Order, ELA, 60Thoreau St.,#252, Concord, MA 01742.

January 19-22, 2005. Eco Farm Conference,Pacific Grove, CA. See www.eco-farming.org forfurther information.

Tuesday, February 1 Thursday, Februar y 3. NewEngland Grows, the NEW Boston Convention andExhibition Center, Boston, MA. 3-day trade showpacked with th e latest in tools and gardenin g ac-cessories. Professional level lectures for the greenindu str y. $45 for 3 days. www.ne grows.org.

Satu rda y, Febru ary 5, 9 A.M. - 4:30 P.M. Eco-Land-scape 2005 : Eco-Effect ive Lan dscap es Equa l NewBusiness Opportu nities, Sacrame nto, CA. SpeakersRobert Tha yer, Kim Sorvig, Vickie Bess, work-shops, and min i-trad e show. Contact:www.ecolandscape.org or call 916-492-0393

February 8, 9, 10, 15, 16. 4th Annual Northea st Or-ganic Farming Association (NOFA)s Course in Or-gan ic Land Car e, New Haven, CT. Organic land car e,from design through maintenance. $350. NOFA ac-creditation offered. For m ore information, contac tBill Duesing, 20 3-888-5146, c tn ofa@ctn ofa.org, orwww.organiclandcare.net.

ELA ROUND TABLETuesday, February 8. 2 5:00. PM Best Manage-ment Practices for Environmentally SustainableLawns, Norwell, MA. Mary Owen, Turf Specialist,will address the establishment and maintenanceof turf areas and the protection of water andother resources. For more info: www.ecoland-scaping.org or 781-659-2559.

Feb 16-17, 20 05. North Californ ia Tur f Show,Santa Clara, CA. Go to www.eventproduc tions.comfor furt her informa tion.

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

Thursday, February 17 through Saturday, February19, 10 A.M. 9 P.M., an d Sun day, Febr uar y 20, 1 0A.M. - 6 P.M. Rhode Island Spring Flower & GardenShow: Gardens of New England. Rhode Island Con-vent ion Cen ter, Providen ce, RI. New Englan ds ear -liest flower show. www.flowershow.com.

Marc h 12 20. New Englan d Spr ing Flower Sh ow:

A Fresh Perspective, Bayside Expo Center, Boston,MA. $12-20 daily. New Englands biggest flowershow. www.ma sshor t.or g.

March 16-20. San Fran cisco Flower and GardenShow, Cow Palace, Daly City, CA. Con tac t: [email protected] or www.gardenshow.com.

March 15-16. Northeastern Regional IPM Center1st Biennial Conference, Manch ester, NH. ContactL. Thomas, 315-787-2626; [email protected];http://NortheastIPM.org/conference2005_index.cf.

March 22. Water Conservation Sh owcase, SanFranscisco, CA. Contact [email protected] orwww.gardenshow.com.

ELA ROUND TABLESaturday, April 2. 9 AM noon. Three GetReady, and Four Grow! The second half of afour-step program for ecological landscaping,Arnold Arboretum, Jamaica Plain, MA. TomWard, Debra Swanson, and Rolf Briggs will dis-cuss installation and maintenance. $ 30 members,$4 0 nonme mbers. More info at: www.eco land-scaping.org.

April 23-24. 33 rd Wildflower Sh ow, San ta C lara,CA. Con tac t [email protected], 650-691 -9749,www.cnps-scv.org.


19/20

Ecological Landscaping Association'sGuide to Healthy Landscapes

Volume 1

,

From the ground up:

Site and soil preparation

T his chapter is an intensive look at on-site soil management for long-term health ofthe landscape. Written by ecologically minded landscapers and other professionals,it includes 82 pages of practical and in-depth information for the professional andthe informed homeowner. First in a series.

Order Form

Name____________________________________Phone________

Company________________________________________________

Address________________________________________________

City________________________ State________ Zip________

Please send _______ copies of the Guide to Healthy Landscapes Volume 1 :

$25 per copy for ELA members, $30 for non-members.................... $__________

*Deduct $5 per copy when ordering 3 to 9 copies............................. $__________

*Deduct 40% for orders of 10 or more copies...................................... $__________ (*only one discount applies )

SUBTOTAL $ ____________

Add 5% sales tax if a resident of Massachusetts................................ $__________

Enclosed is a check to Ecological Landscaping Assoc. for a total of $_________

Mail check and form to:

Ecological Landscaping Association60 Thoreau Street, #252, Concord, MA 01742

617-436-5838www.ecolandscaping.org


20/20

If winter comes can Spring be far behind?

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

STD PRSRTU.S. Postage

PAIDPermit 88

Ashland, MA

ITS2005.A new m ember ship year has begun.

PLEASE RENEW PROMPTLY

www.ecolandscaping.org

Our cont inue d success dep ends on yo u!

Thanks!!

winter 2004 the ecological landscaper newsletter

Documents