Recently in Community Landscaping Category

This video give new meaning to "sustainable landscaping." This is one of the better tent cities in America...there are more. This is an eye-opener. Sustainable community is about more than green...it's also about practical heart and survival during tough times. How can you help the homeless in your community?

The purpose of an intensively grown garden is to harvest the most produce possible from a given space.

The Arizona Master Gardener Manual on Intensive Gardening methods examines several ways to grow in small areas.

The practice of intensive gardening is not just for those with limited garden space; rather, an intensive garden concentrates work efforts to create an ideal plant environment, giving better yields with less labor.

A good intensive garden requires early, thorough planning to make the best use of time and space in the garden. Interrelationships of plants must be considered before planting, including nutrient needs, shade tolerance, above- and below-ground growth patterns, and preferred growing season.

Using the techniques described in The Arizona Master Gardener Manual on Intensive Gardening , anyone can develop a high-yielding intensive garden.

It's important to restore landscapes in an ecologically sound way.  And that's not as intuitive as you might think.  It's not "business as usual."  Here are some suggestions from the California Landscape Contractors Association that might help you understand the major landscaping transformation that takes place after a fire.

Recommendations to Help Protect Your Property After a Fire from the California Landscape Contractors Association

Fire destroys hundreds of homes each year in California and often burns thousands of acres of land.  If your property was damaged by fire, the California Landscape Contractors Association (CLCA) is pleased to offer some recommendations to help your landscape recover and to help protect your property.

... In general, many plants and trees are exposed to fire in their native environment and many will recover in the spring and should be left alone.  Any pruning or cutting back of fire-damaged plants should not be done until the plants show signs of recovery. Removing bark, leaves or limbs can expose the plants to sun damage.  Heat from the sun can actually kill the tissue beneath the bark on some trees.  It is best to leave them alone until new growth appears.

... Some plants recover faster than others. Burned plants can still be green underneath and still have healthy roots. If similar plants appear to be recovering, wait a few more weeks before removing damaged parts.  Full damage to woody plants may not be apparent until the next spring or summer season.  Re-examine them at that time and then carefully remove damaged wood to make room for new growth. Ash on the plants will not cause damage and should be left alone.

... Damaged trees that have branches that are cracked or overhanging homes, driveways etc., that can be a future hazard, should be removed.  Trees that have shifted in the soil due to wind or burn damage and those with burned roots should be removed as well, because they are now considered unstable and could potentially fall.  If fire has completely burned off all the bark around the entire circumference of the tree and/or fire has burned deep into the trunk, the tree should also be removed.

... Fertilization is not recommended.  Immediately fertilizing can cause damage to the roots and cause additional harm to the plants. Waiting also gives the soil time to recover.  Wait until the spring and fertilize at half rates with a product containing nitrogen.  Do not fertilize with manures at that time, since they contain a high concentration of salts that can injure roots.  

... Plastic irrigation lines, parts and drains may be damaged.  Check your existing irrigation system for leaks and damage and document them for your insurance company.  Also shut off irrigation water immediately after a fire to help prevent erosion and further damage.

... It is generally not recommended to water plants immediately after a fire.  If your area is experiencing a drought and water is necessary, water gently by hand.  Severely burned soils do not absorb water well.  Make sure the flow of water is slow enough to be absorbed. Also examine and clean concrete drains and swales.  Many become filled with ash and mud during a fire.

... In areas where protective plants are removed or destroyed, soil becomes vulnerable to erosion.  Soil erosion can happen slowly or it can happen very quickly in a heavy rain.  The exact measures needed for your property are based on your soil type, slope grade, home location, weather, water availability etc.  Also areas exposed by fire can open the door for invasive species and weeds. In some areas erosion control materials or mechanical control measures may need to be applied.  Contact your local CalTrans office or local forest service for guidelines in your area.  

... Water flow is an important factor of any erosion plan.  Never underestimate the power of storm water and debris.  Evaluating the area and planning for storm events is a critical first step to protecting your property and improper or inadequate measures can aggravate potential problems.  If you need help with erosion control or fire prevention landscaping, be sure to hire a licensed professional who specializes in that area of expertise.  Ask for references, insurance certificates and request to see their license.  You'll want to protect your home and your neighbors' as well.

... It is also an important time to evaluate your property's landscape and damage.  Take a look at what worked and what did not and try to determine how to make your property safer in case of a future fire.  For future reference, it is also a good idea to keep records and photos of your landscape as part of your home inventory list for insurance purposes.

For helpful information about fire prevention landscaping please go to: www.clca.org/clca/education/fire-protection.php

Our wild and cultivated landscapes are all vital to prevent climate change -- and especially in the aftermath of disasters such as Western states' wildfires.


Barbara Landrith
Outreach Specialist

California Landscape Contractors Association
barbaralandrith@clca.org
1491 River Park Dr#100
Sacramento, Ca 95815
(916) 830-2780
www.clca.org

It can be done!  One home at a time!  Low impact family gardening makes a huge difference in our climate change strategy...and the health of our families:

Havana relies on 200 urban farms known as organoponicos

Cuba, on the brink of starvation when the Soviet Union collapsed 20 years
ago, now produces 90% of its fruits and vegetable needs, using organic,
low-tech inputs.  The Cuban diet is healthier and uses 1/3 the energy to
produce versus typical western food production.

Some of the plots are small - just a few rows of lettuces and radishes being grown in an old parking space.

Other plots are much larger - the size of several football pitches. Usually they have a stall next to them to sell the produce at relatively low prices to local people.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/8213617.stm

Not so long ago, finding good quality compost was not that easy. But times have changed. Nowadays, and for the years to come, good and affordable compost can be found in a lot of places due to the establishment of new legislations all across North America. In fact, municipalities, institutions and businesses are already using the sorting-composting approach, or will have to, in a near future. So, following the principle of supply and demand, you can now get good compost at a good price.

Landscaping Business Opportunities with Compost
 
This is excellent news for landscapers and a promising future with great business opportunities. Since the recent legislations are limiting the use chemical products and putting in place water restrictions for irrigation in several states for lawn care and landscaping, the need for compost is increasing.

Today, good quality compost is not as expensive as it used to be and it is available at several places such as garden centers, landscape suppliers or compost producers for 15$ - 25$/yd3.

 
Top dressing with compost is the best way to maintain a beautiful and healthy lawn and landscape. In fact, this method is part of a professional and complete maintenance program and it will improve the entire landscape. Top dressing with compost is perfect for grass, trees and shrubs. It provides all the essential nutrients for an excellent soil and healthy plants.
 
1.         What are the benefits of compost spreading?
 
A.        Provides all the essential nutrients needed for a rich and a healthy soil;
B.        increases resistance to all kinds of parasites such as fungus and harmful insects;
C.        helps the soil structure in retaining water;
D.        stimulates microbiological activity;
E.        neutralizes the pH of the soil.
 
2.         How do we spread compost?
 
Top dressing with compost

By using the top dressing method in combination with other services such as re-seeding, core aeration, corn gluten or/and organic fertilizer application = 1 yd3/2000 sq.ft.
 
Turf renovation

To repair damages caused during winter or during a draught, and by insects, or to improve poor density turf: (1 yd3/1000 sq.ft)
a)        Core aeration
b)        Seeding
c)         Top dressing.
 
Seeding with compost
Seeding with compost is more efficient than hydro seeding and without the need for synthetic fertilizer. For the landscaper, seeding with compost generates more profit for his business. 

This service is highly in demand (1.5 yd3/1000 sq.ft.)
 
 3.         How much does it cost?
 
The best way to determine the cost you will charge your clients is counting by the cubic yard. You need to measure the dimensions of the area to be top dressed.
 
For top dressing, we suggest the application of 1 yd3 for 2000 sq.ft.
For turf renovation it should be 1 yd3 for 1000 sq.ft.
For seeding with compost, you will need to calculate 1.5 yd for 1000sq ft.
 
Then you multiply the cost of the compost, including delivery, by 3, 4 or 5:
 
$ X 3 times for municipalities (parks/ sports fields);
$ X 4 times for commercial;
$ X 5 times for residential (or less than 10 000 sq ft.)
 
It is as simple as that!
 
Any questions please, e-mail Ecolawn at:  info  (AT) ecolawnapplicator.com.

Daniel Cote
Ecolawn
62 Railroad Ave
Norton, Vermont
www.ecolawnapplicator.com

Community development techniques -- both commercial and residential -- have a major impact on fresh water supplies and the surface and underground water system. Pavement is a big contributor to the problem. Now it can provide a solution.

Sustainable Solutions with Low Impact Development

L.I.D. is in. That's Low Impact Development, the standards by which the local ecosystem is minimally impacted by development, and water is preserved as a precious resource.

West coast microclimates are interesting. From rain soaked areas like San Anselmo, to rain starved areas like Bakersfield, each zone presents it own challenges for water issues. With each water challenge comes difficulties that municipalities, developers, and home-owners have to adapt to, and manage.

California Water Conservation Solutions

For example, water conservation is critical in California's central valley where each gallon of runoff can be a precious resource, if properly managed. Other areas of California offer surprising challenges -- such as Marin county, which is more like Portland, Oregon, which receives over 40 inches of rain a year.

LID offers workable solutions that developers and home-owners can implement to manage water issues whatever their situation -- dearth or deluge. Whether the issue is drought conditions or excessive runoff, sustainable water management is important to California.

Permeable Pavement allows water to rapidly pass through the pavement into a cistern or natural underground water supplies.

Modular Pavers Used in Hardscape Applications

Permeable pavement is a relatively new concept and product that reduces "impervious" surfaces from driveways, sidewalks and other hardscapes by allowing water to run through the pavement and back into the soil - not follow the hardscape to the street and eventually into our waterways. This solution retains more rainwater for our underground aquafers - but it also allows plants and the soil to filter pollutants out of the water naturally.

Permeable Pavers

One LID product that can provide solutions for water runoff and infiltration issues, large or small, is permeable pavers from Permapave Northwest.

Different from traditional concrete pavers, Permapave NW pavers have an actual flow-through rate of over 1 gallon of water per second. The pavers are manufactured from natural rock, with an acrylic polymer binder similar to the clear coat on your automobile. The finished product is a completely inert paver which returns water directly to the soil, or underground storage, without adding alkalinity, zinc or hydrocarbons to the runoff.

When permeable pavers are installed over properly prepared secondary filtration in the sub-grade, they will capture and filter 100% of gross pollutants and up to 70% phosphorus, 80% of heavy metals and 98% of hydrocarbons from the water that flows through them.

Residential Applications Alleys, Driveways Walkways Patios Camper Parking High Traffic Grass Areas Pools / Hot Tubs Courtyard Rooftops Sidewalks / Pathways Foundation Drainage

Commercial / Industrial Applications Parking Areas Pedestrian Walkway Bike Path Plaza / Entryway Bioretention / Rain Garden Rooftop Tree Grates Rooftops Roadways / Median Strips Large Public Spaces

Modular Permeable Pavers for Sustainable Landscaping

Modular pavers over an advantage over "poured" pervious pavement by allowing edges of permeable pavement to be installed in many locations - under downspouts, along sidewalks, along driveways, around trees, around rain gardens, and on or around patios.

Modular Pavers Used in Landscape Applications

• Permapave NW pavers are available in a number of colors/aggregates to enhance building and landscaping aesthetics.

• PermapaveNW's Permeable pavers come in a modular, 12x12x2" standard size, with widths up to 16" and thicknesses up to 4" for heavier vehicle loads.

• The pavers, while extremely pervious, provide the hard surface needed for normal urban activities.

The surface not only performs well for sidewalks, biking paths, parking lots, and driveways but also handles water efficiently in both drought and flood conditions.

The EPA has long noted the benefits of pervious pavers, highlighting them in their Best Management Practices: "depending on the design, pervious pavements (pavers), when used in combination with other techniques such as vegetated swales, or vegetated filter strips, may eliminate or reduce the need for land intensive BMPs, such as dry extended detention or wet retention ponds." (EPA Best Management Practices- porous pavements)

Both residential and commercial developers may find that the use of pervious pavers, which can range up to $8 per square foot, can actually make money for them, by eliminating detention ponds and increasing the amount of land that can be developed.

Home-owners can install the easy-to-use permeable pavers themselves, providing drainage areas for driveway or patios that may be puddling, or as a pervious cover for an underground water storage cistern.

The pavers can also be used as stepping stones, in pet areas, in gardens, along walkways, as parking areas for RVs -- the landscaping possibilities are endless.

Some municipalities are offering rebates for the purchase of LID products like Permapave. Check with your local city or county city and county governments, as well as water providers (ie: Metropolitan Water District) to find incentives and rebates to improve water quality, reduce runoff, or retain stormwater.

Sustainable Solutions to Stormwater Runoff

Retaining rain water for your landscape can be especially helpful during California's prolonged droughts. By protecting your landscape with adequate water supplies from a cistern, and from focusing the available rain into specific rain gardens, your plants will not suffer as much - and your water bill will thank you, too!

Sample permeable pavers by Permapave Northwest

CONTACT:
Permapave Northwest
Distributor for Western US
1-877-694-0141
815 NE 172nd Ave
Vancouver, WA 98684
www.permapavenw.com

On Lincoln's 200th birthday, Feb. 12, 2009, the new Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack "broke pavement" on The People's Garden during a ceremony on the grounds of U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) commemorating Lincoln's birthday.

Green for Watershed Protection

Secretary Vilsack declared the stretch of pavement permanently closed and returned back to green, and encouraged other Administration officials and the general public to join in to protect the Chesapeake watershed.

"It is essential for the federal government to lead the way in enhancing and conserving our land and water resources," said Vilsack. "President Obama has expressed his commitment to responsible stewardship of our land, water and other natural resources, and one way of restoring the land to its natural condition is what we are doing here today - "breaking pavement" for The People's Garden."

The dedication comes on the 200th anniversary of the birth of the 16th President of the United States, Abraham Lincoln. Lincoln founded the Department of Agriculture in 1862 and referred to it as "The People's Department" in his last annual message to Congress.

Green for Beneficial Gardening Promotion

Secretary Vilsack announced a goal of creating a community garden at each USDA facility worldwide. The USDA community garden project will include a wide variety of garden activities including Embassy window boxes, tree planting, and field office plots.

The gardens will be designed to promote "going green" concepts, including landscaping and building design to retain water and reduce runoff; roof gardens for energy efficiency; utilizing native plantings and using sound conservation practices.

Green Space for Runoff Reduction

The USDA People's Garden will eliminate 1,250 square feet of unnecessary paved surface at the USDA headquarters and return the landscape to grass. The changes signal a removal of impervious surfaces and improvement in water management that is needed throughout the Chesapeake Bay Watershed.

Demonstration Habitat for Backyard and Green Space Applications

The new garden will add 612 square feet of planted space to showcase conservation practices that all Americans can implement in their own backyards and green spaces.

As a component of the garden, pollinator-friendly plantings will not only provide important habitat for bees and butterflies, but can serve as an educational opportunity to help people understand the vital role pollinators play in our food, forage and all agriculture. The garden plot is adjacent to the site of the USDA Farmer's Market.

Watershed Protection of the Chesapeake Watershed

About 100,000 streams and rivers thread through the Chesapeake's 64,000-square-mile watershed, which is home to almost 17 million people in Virginia, Maryland, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Delaware, New York and the District of Columbia. The Chesapeake Bay is the largest estuary in North America, with a length of 200 miles and 11,684 miles of tidal shoreline, more than the entire U.S. West Coast.

The Chesapeake Bay supports more than 3,600 species of plants, fish and animals.

Reduce Pollution on Wildlife Habitat, Forests and Water Resources...and Improve Community Natural Resources

USDA leads efforts on public and private lands to help reduce the impact of nutrient and sediment pollution on wildlife habitat, forest lands and water quality, as well as supporting community involvement in managing natural resources, urban green space and land stewardship. For more information about USDA, the People's Garden, the Chesapeake Bay Watershed and other conservation and agriculture related programs available in local communities, visit a USDA Service Center or go to the USDA Web page at www.usda.gov.

Complementary education materials such as the distance-learning project MonarchLIVE and partnerships with schools and the North American Pollinator Protection Campaign which will extend the impact and reach of the USDA garden initiative are available at na.fs.fed.us. Backyard conservation and other materials also can be obtained by dialing 1-888-LANDCARE.

"Locovores" eat foods from their local foodshed or a self-determined radius from their home (commonly either 100 or 250 miles, depending on location). By eating locally, most locavores hope to create a greater connection between themselves and their food sources, resist industrialized and processed foods, and support their local economy.

In trying to live a more sustainable, logical lifestyle, many locavores give themselves exceptions to a strict local diet. Commonly excluded items include coffee, chocolate, salt, and/or spices. To keep a local focus, they often try to find local coffee roasters, chocolate producers, and spice importers.

There is a growing interest in regional native foods and ethnic foods such as the Southwest's historic Mexican influence with herbs and peppers.  But there are additional native foods such as dried beans, squash, corn and nuts.

Locovores find tremendous challenge and adventure in discovering what grows in their own neighborhood and nearby communities.  They learn more about their ecosystems and how their use of water, their waste management choices and their choice of housing size, materials and styles all affect the natural food production capability in their region.  Everything is connected ... weather patterns, soil nutrients, drainage, insect infestations...and even those humble gardeners, migrating birds!

Locovores have much to learn from their wild neighbors -- both plants and animals.   What a great challenge to give your family -- trying to eat foods from driving distance from where you live!


"Leslie Allen has always been enthusiastic in her support of northern Nevada's local food lifestyle. As commercial horticulture program coordinator for University of Nevada Cooperative Extension (UNCE), it's part of her job ... yet her passion for this increasingly important field goes far beyond the norm. So much so, in fact, that Allen's love of what she does has found a new description."  She's a "Locavore" ... and proud of it.

A local eating study, known as "Locavore Nation," in which participants attempted to eat 80%  of their food from local, organic and sustainable sources. "Locavore Nation" was sponsored by America Public Media's radio show, "The Splendid Table."

After voluntarily subjecting themselves to eating 80% locally produced foods for a year, the 15 participants in the Splendid Table's "Locavore Nation" have been released from captivity and are free to go back to eating Corn Nuts and powdered mini donuts.

You can retrace their steps on the "Splendid Table" site, where the entire year's worth of blogs are still archived.

Learn more about Locovores at www.Locavore.ws

Golf courses frequently are large enough to include wetland areas.  But until recently, the manicured course was the norm.  More natural golf courses are beginning to emerge, but still need advocates to encourage the reduction of chemicals in landscaping, and preservation or restoration of natural and native flora and fauna.

This interview by Golf Digest with Robert Wood, the deputy director of the Wetlands Division, the EPA's representative in the Golf & the Environment Initiative, and an 18-handicap golfer.

Why do wetlands matter on golf courses?

Why shouldn't I be able to fill in the wetland on my golf-course project?
 
Wetlands are a vital part of any aquatic ecosystem. They provide habitat to a wide range of wildlife from fish, shellfish, all the way down to insect communities. Wetlands are the unique habitat for something like 30 percent of all endangered species, and 50 percent of endangered species spend at least part of their life cycle in wetlands. They're very ecologically rich.

To most people, endangered species are things like snow leopards and elephants, but there are more than 1,000 endangered species in the U.S. alone.

That's right. People are not thinking about salamanders or vegetation in a wetland. They're critically important as a habitat. And they're critically important as a filter: We build all this infrastructure to keep water clean, and wetlands provide very much that same kind of cleansing capacity in a natural way. And they provide a buffering capacity for storm events. We saw this very much with the Katrina and Rita storms in the Gulf of Mexico.

Is there a figure for the size of America's wetlands? A lot of the wetlands have disappeared.
The first statistical wetlands status-and-trends report in 1983 estimated the rate of wetland loss from the mid-1950s to the mid-1970s at 458,000 acres per year. Wetlands then were largely thought of as a hindrance to development. In the 1991 report, which covered the mid-1970s to the mid-1980s, we were still losing wetlands, but the rate had declined to 290,000 acres a year. The third report, from '86 to '97, indicated that the rate of loss was down to 58,500 acres per year. Now the 2006 report, which covers 1998 to 2004, shows that the wetland area actually increased by an average of 32,000 acres per year. This was the first report to show that we were in a period of increasing wetlands. There was, however, some issue with this report over how wetlands were defined.

[Note: The report states that the total area of wetlands in the U.S. in 2004 was 107.7 million acres. Wood goes on to explain that the claim of wetlands growth has been contested. A New York Times story, for instance, explains that over the study period, 523,500 acres of true wetlands, swamps and tidal marshes were lost, but this was offset in the report by gains of 715,300 acres of ponds, including man-made ornamental ponds -- hardly a fair trade.]

To some golfers, wetlands and wild areas are just a nuisance, places where you're going to lose your ball. They'd rather see the golf course mowed from fence line to fence line. What do you say to them?

When you provide a bit of education, you can get a very different answer. You can say, for example, that not mowing certain areas is better for wildlife, better for water quality and allows native vegetation to thrive and maybe prevents an invasive species from moving in. It might change the look of the course a little bit and the way it plays a little bit, maybe not. I'm a golfer, and to me what's intrinsically attractive about the game is that you are essentially in a natural setting. And it's the restrictions and unique features of that natural setting that make a particular course challenging, one that you like and remember and want to go back to. That's been a design principle of golf courses from the beginning. It's part of the game.

One of the influential landscape architects of the last century was Ian McHarg, who was a professor at the University of Pennsylvania. He came out with a book in 1969 called Design with Nature. The audience was really urban planners and landscape architects, but it applies to golf courses, too. It's the tradition of the game, and we're rediscovering that tradition.

READ THE REST AT THE SOURCE: GolfDigest

Appropriate Technology (AT) describes a way of providing for human needs with the least impact on the Earth's finite resources.

When determining if a technology is appropriate for a specific use,  members of the Center for Appropriate Technology (CCAT) examine a number of issues:

Is the technology built locally or use local materials?

Can it be built, or at least maintained, with a minimum of specialized training?

Is its use sustainable over many generations?

Does it cause suffering in its manufacturing or use, human or otherwise, disproportionate to its benefits?

Can we financially afford it?

With answers to these questions, or at least predictions, we try to balance the benefits and harms of a technology to determine if it is appropriate.

Appropriate technology is not a specific item--it's not solar panels, or a greywater marsh, or anything. It's a way of evaluating a technology, a way of thinking about the social, economic, and environmental impacts of introducing a technology into our lives, and a technology may be appropriate in some situations and not in others. As E.F. Schumacher said when he coined the phrase, "AT is technology with a human face."

If you would like a more thorough description of the history of CCAT and four other demonstration cites at universities accross the United States see the following link [PDF 465.6 KB]. It was written by graduate student Kathy Jack under the advisement of Dan Ihara of HSU and the Center for Economic and Environmental Development.

Center for Appropriate Technology
Humboldt State University
Arcata, CA 95521
http://www.humboldt.edu/~ccat/drupal-5/?q=node/5