Year-long plant combinations

There is a landscape on Frankfort Avenue that I admire. It has something going on in all seasons. It has easily maintainable plants and needs minimal input. So why would I post a good list of plants for free as a Landscape Architect? Well, just because you have a list doesn't mean one would know how to use it well. Creative organization and simplicity in design is hard to achieve. Also, this is just a generic list of plants for the Louisville area, it's not the most creative list, just a good list.

Bleeding Hearts
Moss Phlox
Columbine
Hosta
Bearded Iris
Siberian Iris
Blue Flag Iris
Peonies
Serviceberry
Nandina
Variegated Dogwood
Hardy Geranium
Asiatic Lilies
Moonbeam Coreopsis
Lamb’s Ears
Mondo Grass/Liriope
Astilbe
Spirea
Coreopsis
Daylilies
Garden Phlox
Liatris
Tradescantia
Shrub Rose
Yarrow
Rudbeckia ‘Goldsturm’
Oakleaf Hydrangea
Asters
Sedum ‘Autumn Joy’
Red Dogwood
Mums
Gray Owl Juniper
Yew
Holly

Packing it up

It has been a while since I've written something. I guess I've spared you from reading aimless blog entries...

The project for this fall is creating a small garden space at Highland Baptist Church. Early this past spring I used Black Eye Susans as a cover crop over my potatoes. Now we are going to work on the garden space and it is time to harvest my wind torn, shade potatoes. (Not exactly a bumper crop but an interesting experiment.) Of course there is hardly anything that prevents Black Eye Susan plants from growing, so after one growing season there were 8" roots on healthy plants. (One was STILL flowering today and I couldn't take it out. It's way too cool to have something blooming at this time of year.)

The way I'm transplanting them is bare root, so I cut them out of the ground, shake the soil off, chop off any excess roots, then place them in the 5 gallon bucket. This allows for a lot of plants to fit into a small space for transport. The compact plants also minimizes the shock while they wait to be put in. Finally, I cover the top with plastic wrap to keep in the moisture until they are planted on Saturday. Here is a picture of the new garden at HBC:

If you have the time, stop by on Saturday morning and we can put these hardy plants in the ground!

Mapping Carbon Emissions

Scientists at Purdue University have mapped the carbon emissions across the United States in a project called Vulcan. The map is a layer in Google Earth that allows one to zoom in and see the US emissions at a state or county level. It is one more way to see where the emissions come from and what we are all doing. One can see the mapping in more detail at http://www.purdue.edu/eas/carbon/vulcan/GEarth/.

Bat House

So I've been wanting a Bat House. Primarily to keep the mosquito population in check. They can apparently eat somewhere between 500 and a Thousand mosquitoes an hour. That's sounds pretty good considering the next plague to hit Louisville (after the recent flood) will probably be swarms of mosquitoes! So on our recent trip across Kentucky we found a fellow selling birdhouses and bat houses.

We picked it up but I soon realized it was not a standard bat house (and had a stupid "bat" design on it), so I had to make some modifications. There are some pretty good instructions and plans on the internet for constructing bat houses but the construction seems to be in more of an art than science (such as, do all bats like the same standard design?). So here are photos showing the work I did to the bat house. First, a slot is typically put in the front of the house for ventilation (the bats enter the house through the open bottom).

Second, a thin piece of wood was inserted in the box to divide the space up. I guess the smaller spaces make it easier to climb in and heat. Third, roofing material was added to help waterproof the top of the house. The builder had used two pieces of lumber and the crack would have leaked water. That just wouldn't do.

So now that it had a solid roof, I thought, why not make it a GREEN roof? So using material around the yard, an old plant tray, a light soil mix (spent coal "clinkers"), and Sedum (Sedum kamchaticum). But the real change was adding a better bat image on the outside. My wife says that's so the bats know it is for them... Let's hope.

Amazing Willows

The Contorted Willows used in the tomato cages have pulled off a tremendous trick. The horrible ice storm took them down on January 20th. I stored and then cut them in March. They were put in the garden as bare stakes in April. But wouldn't you know, they have sprouted and now I have green leaves on my tomato cages! The vegetation was still green (and frozen) during/after the storm, yet did not show signs of life this spring. As soon as the branches had contact with soil though, they started to grow! I don't so much mind right now, but I was not thinking I would have multiple willow trees in my vegetable garden...

Vegetable garden update

This is a quick update on the vegetable garden. The heavy rains have taken a toll on the garden. The potatoes have gotten tall and the rains caused them the fall over, so I am trying two methods to get back on track: cutting them back and staking them up. I'll report back with how the methods work out at the end of the season. The tomato cages have worked out great; the Contorted Willow stakes and Wild Grape vines created a sturdy platform and the plants are growing great. The beans have put on a lot of growth and have taken to the willow branches. The pumpkins, squash, watermelons, and cucumbers are enjoying the warm temperatures and steady rains. The carrots and taller greens have been knocked over though. Hopefully it will all balance out in the end...

Urban ecosystems

There is a really great interview with Os Schmitz the Oastler Professor of Population and Community Ecology in the School of Forestry and Environmental Studies at Yale University. The interview follows his research on the timescale needed to recover a damaged ecosystems. His research suggests that damaged ecosystems can recover in about a lifetime rather than a much longer period of time. He goes on comment in the interview about the role that urban people and places have in the larger scheme. "It’s really important to get [urban people] to think that they're part of an ecosystem -- be it an urban or other ecosystem-- rather than simply be drivers of ecosystems. When we restore parks, or when we think about creating green spaces, we have to be careful and get our values in order and identify collectively what it is that we mean by green space. For example, I can imagine that we could restore shrub lands in cityscapes. We could also have small forests throughout cityscapes."

Waiting for decomposition

Well based on the article I wrote in November on compostable take-home restaurant products, I should have seen some decomposition of the products by now. The ones either lined with PLA (Polylactic acid) thermoplastic or made from PLA thermoplastic are taking a bit longer. The burgasse (paper) products broke down pretty quickly. Once I see more decomposition, I'll repost some photos.

Landscapers, Gardeners Prepare for Warmer World

I was a part of a recent radio broadcast discussing preparations for our changing weather on Louisville's Public Radio. You can find the audio archive and written form at this link.

Weed Killers

You have weeds that need killin'. The first question you should investigate is why are they there in the first place? Typically it has to do with the lighting, soil condition or soil nutrition. This link shows you what the weeds can tell you about the conditions in which they are growing. If you can change the condition then it will make it harder for the weeds to come back after the current batch of weeds are destroyed.

So how do you kill the weeds without poisoning the ground for the next thousand years? Well, there are a few alternatives. There are a number of commercial products based on some old, tried and true recipes. One of those is called Burnout. One can make a simple form of this by combining lemon juice, vinegar, clove oil and some sulfates. Another formula is 1 cup of salt, 8 drops of detergent and 1 gallon of vinegar. Heat the vinegar to dissolve the salt, then add the detergent. In either case, using a spray bottle will work as an applicator. Baking soda can suppress emerging weeds but won't work on young plants. Corn gluten can also be a suppressant, but it may add undue amounts of nitrogen to the soil. But some weeds, like dandelions, are easily pulled by hand or with root tools.

Tomato Cages

The garden plants are finally all in the ground! What was holding up the show was the construction of the tomato cages. The January Ice Storm brought down many trees around Louisville, including a Contorted Willow (Salix var. pekinensis 'Tortuosa'). I took the branches and joined them with wild vines (Wild Grape Vine and Ivy Vine). I am experimenting with jute twine and nylon twine to hold it all together. So far I like the jute better because it offered more friction. The sturdy cages will house tomatoe plants on the inside and will have pole beans running up the outside, thus maximizing the garden size. We will see how it all progresses.

Companion Planting in the vegetable garden

Companion planting is combining vegetables, herbs, and flowering plants for beneficial effects. The right mix of plants can deter or distract pests, attract the right kind of insects for polination/bug control, provide a better soil environment. One example is the use of beans/peas/clover can "fix" nitrogen which makes it available as a fertilizer in the soil for other plants. here are two charts that list what plants do well with others.

Seeds of Change (Organic Seed Supply) Companion Planting
National Sustainable Agriculture Information Service, Companion Planting

Vegetable gardening

There is a rally call to for gardeners. Some say it harkens back to the days of 'Victory Gardens' of World War II. At that time, scarcity was real, food and gas prices made things tough, we were at war... Though similar, we are now faced with trials of our own. Vegetable gardening can be a very reasonable addition to our lives.

Here is why:

• Your vegeables have a lower carbon foot print due to no transportation costs. (Average distance traveled for our food items is reported as 1500 miles...)
• You have more control over our food prices. Seeds and small plants offer a great return on your investment.
• You have more control over the food quality. You can grow just the vegetables you want, control how much fertilizer/pesticides you wish to you use, and receive fresh vegetables at your table!
• It's very rewarding to grow your own food! This is the beginning of being more self-sustaining in our lives. Be proud of it!

Links to more information:
Jefferson County Extension Office Gardening Help
The White House Vegetable Garden
PowerShift'09: Climate change and food production
Garden Nerd (a little boost from an LA organic gardener)

A great video on urban organic gardening in Cuba out of shear need. They show a very sustainable way to grow food for themselves.

What to do while waiting

We are all waiting for Spring to really get here. So what can we do while we wait?

• Research new plants or changes to the garden
• Learn the latest techniques in garden care
• Order/purchase our seeds and plants
• Sharpen our tools
• Prioritize our garden to-do lists

The warm weather is drawing near! The waiting can be our preparation time.

Recent books

This is a list of books I've been reading this winter. Some of them are now somewhat dated, but still interesting for folks interested in the "green movement". I would have to say Natural Capitalism was my favorite:
Last Child in the Woods: Saving our children from nature-deficit disorder by Richard Louv
Natural Capitalism by Paul Hawken
Permaculture in a Nutshell by Patrick Whitefield
Science 101: Ecology by Jennifer Freeman
Guerrilla Gardening: A Manualfesto by David Tracey
The Biophilia Hypothesis by Stephen R. Kellert and Edward O. Wilson

Harbinger of Spring

Well, the Witch Hazel is blooming! It is the first plant that blooms for me and I am thrilled because it means Spring is on its way. The one pictured is Hamamelis × intermedia 'Diane', a red variety. Although the blooms are small, they are like fireworks exploding on the scene. If you have snow or cold right now, hang on because hope is on the way!

2009 Louisville Ice Storm

Yet another storm to blog about in about four months. This time freezing rain is the culprit. Much of the damage came from trees breaking due to the extra weight of a quarter inch of ice. Add even a slight breeze, and the downed powerlines have created the largest outage in Kentucky history. From the limited area that I have viewed, Birch trees have been a major victim as have Pear, Cherry, and Mulberry trees. Birch trees typically have an arching shape so I believe it captured more of the freezing rain/ice and just arched even more. Another plant that had difficulty in the last ice storm some years ago was the Eastern Red Cedar. Though a weedy plant, the central boughs looked bad for years to come.

Environmental Film Festival

Wild & Scenic Environmental Film Festival

February 7, 2009

The Clifton Center

6-10pm

$15 film screening

$30 reception & film screening

Sponsored by the Kentucky Waterways Alliance

Ecological Challenge, not global warming

I'm quite tired of hearing about "global warming". Aren't you? My main reason for the burn out, is it doesn't describe the situation. It seems like an oxymoron like "Good Grief".

I believe Ecological Challenge is a better phrase and a better description. Why? Because it gets to the heart of the matter. The globe, the earth itself, doesn't care if things get warmer or change. But the lifeforms do! And yes, the only constant in geologic timeframe is change itself. The problem is all of the environmental variables are changing at one time. The give and take between all of the non-living and living systems aren't regulating themselves effectively or quickly enough. So there is a new ecological balance to be struck.

For me there is no going back to some pre-industrial eutopia, but rather a question of how do we set out to a new future balance. And if this is truly a crisis, then we admit defeat. Rather I hope we all see our current state as an Ecological Challenge unlike any other.

Evergreen mulch

The city's Christmas Tree recycling program officially ended today. They encourage folks to pick up the mulch from the ground up trees. By the looks of what I saw at Hubbards Lane, there is plenty to pick up. From the photo you can see that it is not finely ground. We'll see how it performs as mulch over the season. More on the City of Louisville's program can be found on their website.

It is preferred to have an acid-based mulch for our area due to the clayey, limestone soil we have. Acid can brake down the ions in the clay to make more nutrients available (and the soil more tilable). And the acid can balance out the pH in our alkaline soils.