Soil Layers

A neighbor's foundation construction opened up the ground in a way that allows one to see the soil layers, or soil horizons. The top soil is the A horizon. It is mostly made up of organics from decomposition (plant matter). The next layer that is brown in color is a the B horizon it is a mixture of the soil and the plant matter due to leaching and mixing processes involving animals/plants. The C horizon is the lightest material. Its nature comes from the "parent material" or rock in the area. Then in the bottom of the picture, you can see the white limestone that gives rise to the layers mentioned above. The rock is about 6 feet below the surface in this area. Depth to bedrock can vary widely, so it is good to know for any gardening work. I think it also conveyes that the good topsoil is a limited resource that we need to protect and use wisely.

Surprise plant of the year...

This has to be the surprise plant of the year. Aster odoratum 'October Skies' doesn't look like much all year. It has sort of a lime-green color, small leaves, and it gives off a clove-type odor. Then, at the end of September it lights up a firework storm of 1" purple flowers. It is slightly shorter than New England Aster, but isn't self-supportive, so it looks like a small bush of color. Friends have told me that early season cutback can keep it as a bushy, low to the ground perennial. A good plant for color, prolifferation, drought tollerance, and surprise.

Composting takeout

Yes, there are alternatives to the styrofoam containers for takeout. They haven't made it directly to the consumer yet, but some of the great restaurants in town are using Ecosteward to deliver these compostable containers. They are either from recycled materials, by-products (burgasse), or from a "new" kind of plastic that does not come from oil. It all decomposes in under 90 days. I'll put them to the test and let you know how it goes.

Plant Winners

Some plants are real winners while others have not performed well in another year of infrequent rain. Here are some of the winners that have impressed me and why:

Bottlebrush grass: a 3' grass that grows well in the shade, reproduces from seed very easily and plays well with others.

Celandine Poppy: again, does well in the shade and a good reproducer.

Swamp Mikweed: although it gets 3' or taller, it really attracts insects, provides a great pink color, and reproduces well. It does like regular amounts of moisture though.

The Tooty List:

Irises: not as successful for me, hard time holding their ground.

Black eyed susan: very good plant. Too good in fact. Plant sparingly.

Butterflyweed: really hasn't proliferated and has an awkward form.

Lawn Maintenance

Here is the equipment I use for maintaining the lawn. I use the reel mower for the large, flat areas. The deck is smaller than many combustable lawn mowers, but it otherwise takes the same amount of passes to cut the grass. The weed whip is electric and after about 5 years, its battery life is about 20 minutes. It is good to use on irregular shapes and contoured areas like the front yard.

Sustainable Halloween

So I wanted to have the jack o' lanterns lit late at night without the hazard of candles or the power of flashlights. I found that the solar-powered outdoor lights worked well as long as the opening on top was wide enough. The sun recharges batteries which in turn power the orange LED to light the jack o' lanterns. It is about the same amount of light as a candle. It is cool to the touch so it is safe for kids. Once I'm done with the jack o' lanterns, the lights will be re-attached to their base and used as yard lights again.

Storm damage

A friend asked if a device that could see into trees would alert folks to problem (hollow) trees in advance of the storm damage on September 14, 2008 in Louisville. It may have forecasted some weaknesses and problems, but as the following photos show, it would miss many in urban areas. We have trees that are poorly branched, so "V" shaped trees would split. Others are poorly rooted due to urban conditions. They are shallow rooted and confined, so when a wind hits a mature tree (even an Oak), there is damage. Preventative care with trees is best. It's even better to do it as the tree matures rather than when problems are noticeable.

Prairie Success

The prarie garden in the backyard is succeeding! I am attracting new insects like butterflies that weren't coming to the space when it was just turfgrass. They are finding habitat and food with the plant selections found here. It is very rewarding to see this happen in a year's time. The butterfly is a Monarch (Danaus Plexippus) and the caterpillar will become an Eastern Black Swallowtail (Papilio Polyxenes).

What plants haven't performed well

There are some plants through the yard that have not performed this year due to the drought of last. It doesn't make them bad plants to use, but that they have struggled. Currently, we are in a dry spell, so it isn't helping matters. Here are some of the plants:

• Columbine - many plants have not come back this year, I'll be reseeding them
• Red Dogwood - they do not seem to like it hot and dry therefore have struggled the last two years
• Hostas - plants are smaller this year and are not very full
• Swamp Milkweed - the new seedlings are doing fine, but the plants from last year are not doing as well

Want not, waste not

One way to reduce our impact on the natural environment is to just consume less. The less we consume, the less we have to throw away. What we do consume should be recyclable. The white bags show our trash for a week (a family of four). The left bin is our plastic/metals and the right bin is our cardboard. I would estimate that 90% of what is thrown out is packaging. We buy bulk where we can so in theory it would reduce the overall need for packaging. How can you reduce your consumption? How much recycling can you do?

Oakleaf Hydrangea, a favorite

Forest Pansy Redbud

By far the most requested plant was the red-leafed redbud. The plant's full name is Cercis canadensis 'Forest Pansy' or Forest Pansy Redbud. It is the most available cultivar in the area so it can be purchased. It is a very fast grower that has put on a foot and a half of growth this year already! The color seems to hold better in full-sun (it washes out to green in our yard due to shade conditions). The blooms in the spring are plentiful and more of a purple-pink than the straight species.

Prairie plant list (along alley)

A listing of plants in the area of the prairie by the alley:

Nyssa sylvatica - Blackgum
Hammelis x intermedia 'Birgit' - Birgit Witch-hazel
Hammelis virginiana - Common Witch-hazel
Viburnum nudum 'Winterthur' - Winterthur Witherod Viburnum
Aster oblongifolius 'October Skies' - October Skies Aster
Elymus hystrix - Bottlebrush Grass
Swamp Milkweed – Asclepias incarnata
Desmanthus illinoensis - Illinois Bundleflower
Northern River Oats – Chasmanthium latifolium
Rudbeckia hirta - Black-eyed Susan
Rudbeckia hirta angustifolia - Black-eyed Susan (red center)
Hemerocallis spp. - Daylily (Wisconsin orange variety)

Shade plant list (by patio)

A listing of new shade plants (mostly located at the back of the Jane house):

Polystichum acrostichoides - Christmas Fern (evergreen)
Rohdea japonica - Sacred Lily of Japan
Uvularia sessilifolia albomarginata - Variegated Little Merrybells
Epimedium perralchicum 'Frohnleiten' - Barrenwort
Asarum arifolium - Arrowhead Ginger

Car Lies

So here is one of the ways that we lie to ourselves about our driving habits: we don't think about how much each mile costs us. We calculate how many miles per gallon our cars get. We are concerned about the price of gasoline in dollars per gallon, but we don't think about the price per mile to drive everywhere we go.

We have a Honda CRV which sounds all nice and efficient, but the truth is our actual mpg in the city is 22. That's as good as 1980 mileage. So our cost per mile is roughly 25 cents/mile at current gas prices. So it adds up way too quickly.

sustainable outside

So how do you become sustainable outside? Well it goes back to basics: reduce, reuse, recycle.

Reduce is just to consume less. Less human input like fertilizing, gas mowing, and adding weed'n'feed. These things make our yards become addicted to our behavior rather than sustaining themselves. Some say the addiction is like putting our yards on Crack.

Reusing is finding new uses for the things you already have. It's like regifting to yourself. Our yard uses a poorly constructed sidewalk that's been broken to become a drylaid "stone" wall. It's been in place for six years now and doing great.

Recycle for me would include composting. We now take our household organic kitchen waste (peels, seeds, cores, skins) and add them to a compost pile. They in turn become soil for the yard. FREE SOIL!

Green TV

Ok, there is now a green cable channel. For those with Insight, it is channel 221, planet green. Most of the shows are building-based and deal with costly new solutions (i.e. solar panels, concrete countertops, new construction). So what can you do with the house you live in and what can be done outside?

LIVING sustainably

So what is Sustainable? The rote answer is behaving in ways that will not infringe on future generations. For me, it hits home now. That is, how do I pass along good life-practices to my children today? We can only expect the future to be better if we are willing to share what we know today. That is what led me to think back on what I inherited from my parents. It meant revisiting simple things like composting (we called it the compost pile) and a vegetable garden.

Back

Well, Verdant is back. So what's been going on? Well, there are now two rain barrels, less lawn, a three year old rain garden, grassed turfstone in the back yard, a compost pile, a prairie, a vegetable garden, new tree plantings (from seed) and mature plantings throughout. In the coming posts, I'll show the details of what has gone right and what lessons have been learned. I also hope to hit on other sustainable practices.