Climate Change and Gardening

Category(-ies): Climate Change , Plant Conservation , Plants in the Landscape

What will be impact of climate change on gardening? A New York Times article addresses both the good and the bad. The good: different plant choices due to warmer weather & a longer growing season and raising awareness about environmental issues. The bad: increased pests and new weedy invaders, a changing native flora (and for some US states, the potential extirpation of state flowers and trees), and all of the associated cultural and biological consequences.

Feeling Warmth, Subtropical Plants Move North via the New York Times

Gardener's Guide to Global Warming (US-based) from the US National Wildlife Federation

Posted by Daniel Mosquin at 9:47 AM

Winterizing the Green Roof

Category(-ies): Novel Uses of Plants , Plants in the Landscape

Green roofs are becoming more popular in North America. They bring nature into the urban environment, soften the view for people and provide habitat for insects and wild birds. They also have been shown to absorb noise pollution, alleviate stormwater runoff and help keep buildings cooler in summer. Canadian researchers, working in Ottawa and Toronto, have been testing designs for northern green roofs. A few simple changes to the typical green roof design resulted in dramatic reductions of heat loss from the buildings.

Typical green roofs use grasses, wildflowers and other low-growing plants in shallow soil beds - as little as 6 centimetres. The Canadian research team chose a plant that was well suited to the north. Juniper shrubs were planted to help reduce the effect of windspeed, which draws heat from the building. Deeper beds were constructed to form insulation against heat loss. Even in an experiment on a carefully designed energy-efficient house, the addition of a green roof resulted in a reduction of heat-loss around 8½ percent.

Link:
Green Roof Technology Adapted to Cold Climates from EnviroZine, online publication of Environment Canada

Posted by Eric La Fountaine at 1:41 PM

Armchair Gardening

Category(-ies): Plants in the Landscape

For many northern gardeners, the planting season is still far off. Cold winter days indoors give gardeners a chance to find out what is new in gardens, by reading through some of the seed catalogs that have been accumulating since the Christmas holiday. Americans spend over $3 billion on mail order and online gardening sales. Avid gardeners know that they will find much more variety in the catalogs than can be stocked on the shelf at the garden centre. Each year catalogs tout the latest, greatest varieties to get the gardener dreaming. Where do all these new plants come from?

Continue reading "Armchair Gardening"

Posted by Eric La Fountaine at 2:50 PM

Saving Seattle's Native Urban Forests

Category(-ies): Plant Conservation , Plants in the Landscape

When people think of Seattle and the Pacific Northwest in general, images of dense forest with towering trees come to mind. But, like many other areas, the natural parklands in the city are under serious threat from invasive species. A century ago, when Seattle was a young growing city, much of the area was clearcut for development. Few of the grand conifers that populate the forests of the Northwest remained to produce new offspring. The area was largely repopulated with deciduous trees like maple and red alder. Strong competition from invasive species kept the conifers from regenerating. Now many of the bigleaf maples, the most common tree in Seattle's urban forest, are nearing the end of their lifespan and an invasion of aggressive weeds is taking their place.

Continue reading "Saving Seattle's Native Urban Forests"

Posted by Eric La Fountaine at 1:21 PM

More Efficient Rain Gardens

Category(-ies): Novel Uses of Plants , Plants in the Landscape

Rain gardens have become popular landscape features in recent decades. The gardens are small depressed areas used to catch stormwater run-off from roofs, driveways and other impervious surfaces. Stormwater run-off is a major source of the pollution found in our rivers, streams and lakes. Studies have confirmed the ability of rain gardens to trap contaminants and in some cases convert them to less harmful compounds. A recent study shows how a small design change can help the gardens' ability to reduce nitrates.

Continue reading "More Efficient Rain Gardens"

Posted by Eric La Fountaine at 1:04 PM

A Green Evangelist in India

Category(-ies): Plants in the Landscape

Darepalli Ramaiah hopes to plant ten million trees before his life is over. After being punished for stealing mangoes at age eight, the villager from Andhra Pradesh, decided to take up tree planting. Although he lacks formal training, Mr. Ramaiah makes up for it with his enthusiasm for nature. Each day he travels around the countryside proclaiming the value of trees and environmental protection, passing out saplings and seeds to all who are interested. The modern day Johnny Appleseed has received many awards and accolades for his efforts to promote environmental awareness and tree conservation - including recognition from the late Prime Minister P.V. Narasimha Rao.

So far Ramaiah has given out more that one million plants, with a little luck he may surpass his goal.

Link: Green man who wants to plant 10 million trees from WebIndia123.com

Posted by Eric La Fountaine at 10:47 AM

Getting to the Root of Tree Death

Category(-ies): Plant Discoveries , Plants in the Landscape

The life span of trees planted in our home and urban landscapes often falls far short of their typical natural duration. Linda Chalker-Scott of Washington State University thinks the primary reason that so many transplanted trees fail, is poor root development caused by improper but common planting methods. Through research and experience she has developed techniques to encourage healthy root development in transplanted trees and shrubs.

Continue reading "Getting to the Root of Tree Death"

Posted by Eric La Fountaine at 4:30 PM

The Value of Shade Trees

Category(-ies): Plants in the Landscape

Researchers at Ohio State University have been looking at the value of shade trees in urban environments. Studies at an experimental plot planted in the mid-sixties and projects that monitored 96 urban tree plantings yielded a wealth of valuable data on the horticultural requirements of shade trees.

A recent look at the city tree plantings raised awareness of the social and economic benefits that they can have. Scientists at the university have created the Next STEP program, to look at changes in issues such as quality of life and home values in areas with urban tree plantings. A new shade tree test plot is being designed for the program.

Link: Trees' effect on quality of life under review from the Akron Beacon Journal

Posted by Eric La Fountaine at 10:27 AM

Making the Garden Attractive to People and Wildlife

Category(-ies): Plant Relationships , Plants in the Landscape

Gardeners in the northern hemisphere will soon be busy with fall cleanup - trimming back all the dried plants and raking everything into the compost pile to make everything neat and tidy. It might be a good idea to allow a little mess in the garden this fall. As space for wildlife diminishes, animals and plants can be given a little space in home gardens.

Leaving dried seed heads on plants provides food for birds and other creatures during the winter. Leaving some leaves and twigs can provide habitat for creatures. The hardest part of doing this can be developing a new sense of aesthetics that allows for the beauty of nature's natural process of decay. It is not necessary to let the garden go wild, just allow a little space for nature.

Richard Burkmar comments on this.

Link: Gardening for Yourself from Space For Nature

Posted by Eric La Fountaine at 7:57 AM

Managing Canada's Aging Urban Trees

Category(-ies): Plants in the Landscape

In many cities across Cananda, trees planted when subdivisions were built are mature and nearing the end of their lifespans. In many neighborhoods all the trees were planted at the same time and are often all the same type. Urban forestry experts are concerned that if a replacement strategy is not developed, entire neghborhoods could lose their trees at one time, leaving the streets bare.

The non-governmental National Forest Strategy Coalition is urging that a coherent plan be developed to deal with the issue. The organization is preparing an inventory of the condition of Canada's urban forests to highlight the need for government funding and action to coordinate replanting efforts. Any strategy to manage urban forests must take the modern city environment into consideration and provide for the continued care of the trees.

Link: Aging Urban Forests Under Threat from CBC News

Posted by Eric La Fountaine at 4:24 PM