Office Park Landscaping: April 2008 Archives
So...let's talk containers on a human scale.
Pots on a porch are the simplest form of container gardening. Then come larger potted trees indoors. And porch boxes to decorate Mediterranean windows and railings. And even larger concrete pots that are lavish planters for corporate entryways and shopping centers. And indoor gardens infused with water gardens and even waterfalls.
Containers are practical ways to bring living plants up and close to where we spend our time. And I'm assuming you've already heard that Americans spend as much as 95% of their time indoors...
Customized Container Gardens
A new trend in landscaping is to plant customized containers in their final location. Add professional skills to create professional results -- and reduce the amount of transportation and injury to plants as they are moved from distant growers to retailers to final destination landscapes.
Just plant them in place. What a novel idea!
The novelty is really that local nurseries can grow these pre-designed pots in their well-tended facilities and then move them in one piece, with specialized lifting equipment, of course, to their home without any transplanting, trimming or damage from poor care.
Container Gardening for Scale
A hanging basked just doesn't provide the scale necessary for today's larger buildings. Whether the third story loft apartment or the three story office building...or towering entryway to a MacMansion, larger plantings fit better.
Environmental Impact of Container Gardens
LARGER CONTAINTERS: A potential benefit of larger plantings is that larger, more mature plants also provide more greenhouse gas and clim ate change benefits. Mature trees provide more air filtration than saplings, so the larger the container and the longer-lived the trees and shrubs, the "greener" they can be.
Larger containers also hold moisture better than small containers. Less exposure to air reduces evaporation. Mulching containers with decorative rocks, bark or other natural materials can also reduce water use.
SPECIES SELECTION: Some species of plants provide more air filtation and less water use than others. And desert plants such as cacti also require less water use.
RECYCLED MATERIAL: The containers themselves can be manufactured with recycled content: crushed concrete, rubber tires, recycled glass, etc. can be mixed into the container materials to use some of the landfill materials that cause problems in the wider community.
Waste is the largest contributor to climate change -- be it wasted construction debris (C&D), used tires, wasted green materials that are put into landfills instead of composted back into the soil...or wasted water.
Many green solutions provide multiple benefits in this complex, interwoven world of ours. Recycled content is one of those multi-benefit solutions...and large container gardens are a perfect application to not only use recycled materials in a beautiful way, but use them to grow environmentally hard-working plants!
In my experience, tumblers do not work as well as the manufacturer would like you to think they do !
A couple of reasons, for composting to really happen you need 4 basic needs; Brown (carbon), Green (nitrogen), Water (40%- 60%) & Air. But you also need a strong back a microorganisims. The tumblers is suspended in the air, with air flow all around the bin - this tends to dry the compost out, you will need to monitor and add water more often. I like the fact that a compost pile directly on the ground is in contact with soil micro & macro organisims, which play a huge role in the process of decomposition.
For composting to speed up or excellorate, you need enough material in the mix (critical mass) to get the pile or microbs going (heat up -131 F- 150 F optimum). At those temperatures the organic material is broke down very quickly, also plant pathogens and weed seed are distroyed in the center of the pile. This heat is generated by the microbs (thermophilic) that when comsume or break down a carbon molecule, it releases that energy stored in that molecule. Along with heat they respire water, which then dries the pile out further.
The other problem that will be incountered is the dead weight. When you have 60 gallons of material in a drum, most of the weight will settle, this tends to squeeze out air and all the weight is at the bottom. In order to mix & aereate the pile or the bin, you have to tumble or get that weight at the bottom of that pile, up to the top, several times to mix thoroughly. This can weigh quite a bit and can be hard work. Not to say turning a pile on the ground with a pitch fork is not hard, I just find it difficult and more time consuming to monitor, maintain and a rotate a tumbler.
As a general rule, the home built bins worked better and were easier to use than the manufactured ones. We had more problems with the tumbler than any others.
Composting can be as simple as green manure in which you bury food scraps in the soil of a flower or veggie garden, or it can be a large, scientifically designed operation to handle leaves, hay and food scraps gathered from restaurants, etc.
Either way, a little experimenting helps. And asking questions at your local County Extension center can be enlightening. Many of these Department of Agriculture offices also offer instruction sheets and classes to help you get started. Just look up "agricultural extension agent" and your county on search engines to find your local office. They are located in every state (US), and in most counties. Large cities also have offices.
Very helpful information centers!
