Recent Inspiration

You might want to get a cup of coffee or tea.  This is much longer than I usually post.  I often wonder what percentage of plants used in popular urban and suburban landscaping are natives?  In my wanderings around our city and neighborhoods, it seems like there are no native plants whatsoever.  Non native evergreens, invasive burning bush, imported cultivars, and domestically hybridized plants are everywhere.  I cringe as I see the preponderance of non native plants consuming our yards.   Isn't anyone paying attention to what we've done?   Isn't it obvious that we've tried to "beautify" our yards at the expense of our vitally important ecosystems?   The necessity of using natives is so absolutely logical to me now, I easily become depressed when faced with the sheer magnitude of exotic and hybridized plants used everywhere.  Now that I've learned that landscaping with native plants is absolutely essential to our own well being, I get discouraged.  But wait a minute.  Get a grip.  Hey, until only recently I was part of this big problem.  It's taken me several years of obsessive study to finally adopt this culture.  And still I struggle with giving up some of the non-native plants I've purchased and nurtured.   So I've got no right to look askew at other yards and judge.  Having been helped by many others to understand and accept the importance of native plants, I have to stand back and realize that education is the key to helping others adopt this philosophy.  I've got to help in this education.  Still, some recent experiences encourage me. 

Simpson Garden Native planting
- Phase I

On my way home from Bowling Green one day, I stopped to check on the native plant bed installed at Simpson Garden Park last year.   After only one short year, all the plants had grown and filled in the space allowed for them.  I was thrilled to see this rapid progress.  I emailed Dan Parrat, a fellow Master Gardener, who works for the BG park system coordinating the volunteer activity at the various city parks.   I believe Dan too is a recent convert to the importance of natives.   I offered my help to maintain  this public display of native plants.  He quickly took me up on the offer.  A few weeks later, I popped in again to take another look.  Dan was there and tossed me into his golf cart.  We were off to the back native garden.  He physically walked me through the layout of a five year plan to expand the native garden.  He and Cinda Stutzman, a Natural Resource Specialist for the City of Bowling Green, had developed a thorough and inspiring plan.  This was highly encouraging.   Nice!  I hadn't met Cinda, but understand she is highly respected in the local area.   Now I'm starting to see there are a lot more dedicated people than I knew involved in educating the public locally on native plants and their vital benefits.

From time to time, I pass by the Bowling Green Community Center on the north edge of town.  Recently I noticed signs indicating the natural border landscape was a Prairie Restoration.  Wow!  This is fantastic.  How did this come about and who was responsible?  I emailed Cinda and asked her.  Turns out she was the driving force behind this remarkable project.  Knowing earlier there had been a failed attempt to get the community to accept a small prairie planting at Simpson Garden, I thought there must have some push back before this prairie became a successful effort.  Cinda told me that there had been some discontent.  Addressing the issues, she published and handed out a small pamphlet speaking about the money savings aspect of this prairie project.  No mowing!  No costly and harmful chemicals.  No CO2 emissions.  The community of BG accepted this prairie restoration.  Another boost for my hopefulness, a win for the environment, and more public awareness.

Native Witch Hazel
 Nichol's Arboretum

A few weeks ago our local chapter of Wild Ones had a field trip to the University of Michigan's Nichol's Arboretum in Ann Arbor Michigan.  For three hours we walked through the dramatically colored fall woods with Matt Ross.  Matt is a graduate of UM and teaches the Urban Horticulture and Sustainability class at Owens Community College.   He pointed out the various trees, noting the particular environment where they each grew.   One of the late blooming shrubs that really caught my attention was the native Witch Hazel.  We have several nursery cultivated ones in our yard, but they aren't native and as such don't function as wildlife support.  I've got to replace our old non-natives with several of these attractive native plants.  For me, the real take away from this trip was finding out that our educational institutions realize this subject is so important, they teach classes in the subject.  They also preserve large and and conveniently located areas of pristine habitat readily available for all to learn from.

Jan Hunter told me to check out Catherine Zimmerman's website.    I met Catherine at a talk she gave in Columbus, Ohio several months ago.  What an interesting lady.  She had been interviewed by Jane Pauly as part of the series Jane did about people who changed careers late in life.  Catherine had been a documentary film maker.  Going back to school she got a degree in landscape design.  This led her to developing an interest in creating meadows in home landscapes.  As part of her growing interest in home meadows, she started researching the topic and wrote "Urban & Suburban Meadows".  Now using her film making background, she's doing a documentary film to accompany her book.  She periodically posts articles to the Native Plants & Wildlife Gardens blog.  One of her recent posts highlights how various cities are using native plants and meadowscaping to overcome blighted areas, return interest to playgrounds, and otherwise put underutilized public land to good use.  This was highly encouraging to me to see the numerous public projects utilizing native plants to better our way of life.  Seeing these projects take hold in public areas and schools, shows me that education is working.  Keep those articles coming Catherine.

For me, " Bringing Nature Home" by Doug Tallamy is the the most important environmental book since "Silent Spring" by Rachel Carson.  Reading Tallamy's book  has literally helped to change my life.  Prior to reading this, I thought native plants were merely good for the environment because they used less water, required little maintenance, and needed no harmful pesticides.  Little did I realize they are absolutely vital for us.  So I jumped at the chance to hear him speak in person  in nearby Ann Arbor, at the University of Michigan.  Inside an hour's presentation, he presented his carefully conducted scientific studies demonstrating the necessity for shunning foreign plants in favor of natives.  At the end of the lecture, he stepped out of his role of a scientist.  Showing pictures of native wildlife he now finds in his own yard, he made an impassioned and emotional case for using native plants.  One study he and some of his graduate students conducted was comparing two neighborhoods.  One was a typical suburban neighborhood devoid of native plants.  The other neighborhood had started planting natives three years earlier.  The data was astounding to me.  In only three years time, a significant amount of wildlife, birds, bees, butterflies and others had returned to the native neighborhood.   OK!   Have I said this before?  I'm impatient!   But three years I can do.  You can't increase your education into the natural world any better than reading and listening to this man.  Thanks Dr., Doug Tallamy.  .

White Tailed Deer

Several weeks ago, I looked out my office window and saw a late migrating Chipping Sparrow plucking the last seeds from the Snakeroot.  Several American Goldfinch were enjoying a quick drink from the birdbath.  Winter is coming and the squirrels were busy burying Walnuts and Hickory nuts.  A movement to the right caught my attention.  Two deer were slowly working their way up the ravine about 20 feet outside my window.  Oops.  Darn!  There went the leaves from that little Oak seedling I was hoping would someday produce acorns.  Tallamy says the Oak supports more wildlife than any other tree species.  I guess deer are one of those animals.  In spite of the colder weather and cloudy skies, I'm encouraged and dream of  helping others to realize a way to a richer environment, full of the natural wonders that we once had.

UGH - Lawns

The Old Chemical Lawn

One thing leads to another.  The more I learn, the more I want to know.  I started this journey drawn to the low maintenance and natural beauty of native plants.  Then I found out about the positive and important ecological role of these in our lives.  Along the way I learned that most of our turf grasses are not native  That led me to learning more about the synthetic chemical fertilizers and pesticides I've religiously applied to my lawns for most of my adult life.  They were part of the regimen necessary to keep these non native lawn grasses lush, weed and pest free.  Researching, researching, and finally listening to my own heart, I had to stop the chemicals and go organic on the lawn.  As with all non-native plant environments, this chemically treated lawn is devoid of life.  The evidence of links between lawn chemicals and cancer in ourselves, and our pets is growing.  There is a huge controversy surrounding this issue, but as a cancer surivior, I'd rather be safe than sorry.  Now, I'm not going to hijack my own blog on Native Plants and blog on and on about organic lawn care.   I promise.  Rather, after this one post, I'll put all my organic lawn info on a separate page within this blog.  There is an enormous amount of info on the web about this subject.  I'll just tell you what I'm doing. 

This started as an experiment.  I took three parts of the yard, generally out of sight from the street, and stopped the lawn service from applying the chemicals.  After reading numerous books and other papers, I decided that to make this work, I had to get the soil back to the biologically rich environment it once was.  In order to compare the before and after results of my organic treatments, I took soil samples from the test area.  Instead of the standard nutrient soil tests, I sent these away for a biological test to determine what and how much life was in the soil.  After a year or two I will compare the organic results visually and scientifically (before and after biological soil test comparisons) with the remaining chemically treated lawn.   As suspected, the microbial life in the soil was pretty poor.  The chemicals had drastically hurt the "soil food web". 

Step one had me stop the lawn service chemical treatment to these three areas.    Step two was to spread a thin layer of compost over the test areas.  As part of this initial strategy, I also had the compost tested for biological life.  The free compost available at our city was surprisingly strong with the necessary life.  Organic matter in the soil is one of the things that helps to feed the microorganisms.  This compost not only adds some organic matter, but also inoculates the soil with the lacking microorganisms.  In step three, I sowed grass seed into the existing turf.  In step four, I brewed some compost tea and applied to the new organic lawn areas.  Actively aerated compost tea (AACT) is easily created and contains high populations of the microorganisms found in the compost.  So this really kick starts the whole process of reestablishing the soil life.

The plan was to apply two thin layers of compost annually, along with four applications of AACT to the test areas.  During the summer and into the fall, I kept the lawn service for the rest of the lawn.  When mowing I had always left the grass clippings on the lawn.  I had known for a long time that this helped to provide the soil with some organic matter and natural nitrogen.  But I never considered the counter affect the lawn chemicals would have on this practice.  Put organic material on, then kill the microbes that break it down into nutrients the plants use.  I guess that doesn't make much sense.  DUH!

Every time I cut the lawn, I kept asking myself if I should really wait the planned two years to see the results in the test sections.  As I was struggling with my own impatience, the lawn service did the fall chemical  application and posted the required "pets, kids, and people stay off for 24 hours" notice sign.   Everyday I see neighbors walk along our neighborhood yards with their kids and pets.  I'm a cancer survivor and this time the notice really hit me hard. That did it.  I decided to pull the plug and go totally organic. No test.  The yard is now totally organic.  No more synthetic fertilizers and pesticides.  Better safe than sorry.

6 cubic yards Compost

With the leaves falling and nighttime temperatures periodically dropping into the 40's, perhaps it's too late in the season to effectively make a big change.  Nonetheless, I'm doing what I can.  Knowing I've got to start  restoring the biological life to the soil, I cancelled the chemical treatments.  I did have them do a core aeration right away.  Next I've started raking organic compost in a thin layer over the entire lawn.  So far it's taken a whole week to get only 2/3 of the lawn done.  And there is probably another 2 cubic yards of compost to spread.  This has proven to be a lot more work than I ever imagined.  I've definitely got to find an easier way to accomplish this in the future.  Once the compost is down, I'll spray about 10 gallons of AACT on the lawn.  And then if the temperature forecast shows a warm up coming, I'll over seed with a slow growing grass seed mixture.  From then on I'll continue spraying AACT perhaps four times a year to help maintain the microorganisms.    That soil biology will effectively break down the grass clippings and naturally feed the grass plants.  I'll continue to over seed as necessary. 

Here's the goal:
1) Gradually reduce the lawn size to the point where I can comfortably cut it with hand powered push mower.
2)  Where I must have grass, it will be maintained exclusively with organic methods. 
3)  Get more neighbors to do the same.

No More

And from now on. I'll update you on my organic lawn on a separate page within this blog.  Here's to less work on lawn maintenance, lower water bills, no chemical pollution to the runoff water, less frequent mowing, and best of all, a safer and healthier lawn for the benefit of my family and neighbors.

6 Hours Later

Pachysandra Removal in Process

My back is aching; my legs are cramped, and I'm awfully dirty.  I spent 6 hours over two days pulling out the Pachysandra.  On the first day, I was totally amazed.  At the end of 4 hours, pulling plants and coaxing roots from the soil, I had not seen a single sign of life other than earthworms.  Not a single spider, beetle, fly, or other insect.  The Pachysandra leaves were untouched by insects or other creatures.  How could this be?  Not a single insect.  I know, I know.  This is a non-native plant.  And native insects don't generally eat non-native plants.  After all, one of the reasons so many of us used Pachysandra in the past was its "pest free" status.  But not a single bug!  Not even the deer had munched on these plants.  I would have thought at least a few insects or creatures would have roamed the dense stand looking for food.  But not a single sign of life above the ground.  Wow!  I didn't expect to experience first hand such dramatic evidence of herbivores shunning non-native plants.

On day two I continued my eradication of this plant.  The roots are shallow but extend far from the green plant.  Pulling on a root often created a movement three or four feet away where the "other end" of the plant shook and eventually gave way to my persistent pulling.  Although my muscles still ache, this is kind of fun to see some quick results.  I run into the large roots of two specimen-sized Bleeding Hearts.  They are non-native ephemerals, meaning they grow and flower early in the spring and totally die back to the ground in the summer.  But what a show they put on in the spring.  Decision time!  Non-native but  magnificent spring specimens, or pull and replace with something native.  Over the past 12 years I've nurtured them and watched these two plants grow in size and marveled at their beautiful drooping deep pink and white flowers.  Pull or leave?  I'll leave them.  No, they aren't native and thus don't provide the life I'm trying to reestablish.  So they go.  I start pulling and the roots break easily in my hands.  OK, I'll leave some small pieces.  No, no no.  I've had to water these for twelve years.  They are beautiful but that's all.  No other benefit.  OK, that's it.  OUT!   As the roots keep breaking I keep struggling with my decision but finally decide for the wildlife, for conserving water, and my new found respect for the environment.  After filling several 5 gallon buckets, finally all the Bleeding Heart roots are gone. 

As I continue pulling pachysandra, I started to see some pill bugs, small spiders, and other small insects.  Why the difference from the prior day.  There is some life here.  I'm thinking "are non-natives not so bad after all?"  What's different this day over the prior day.   I continued to pull and follow every root I found.  These pachysandra roots are everywhere.  Ah.  Now I see.  There are several small areas of decaying wood branches. The insects seem to be concentrated around these piles of woody debris.  Microorganisms are working on breaking down the wood, and larger creatures are feeding on them.  This small food web is just a tiny example of the new life that will flourish in this area once it's restored to native vegetation.

Five garbage bags of pachysandra later, now on to the good stuff.  On day three I'm at my local native nursery loading up on a variety of plants to replace the Pachysandra.  After consulting with Jan, I ended up with Great Blue Lobelia, Foxglove Beardtongue, Smooth Aster, Common and Swamp Milkweed plants, Butterflyweed, Brown-Eyed Susan, Jewelweed, and some Cardinal Flower.  To keep the cost down, most of these purchases were very small, young plants called plugs.  However, the Smooth Asters are blooming now, so I got larger quart size ones.  I also got a Silky Dogwood to replace the foreign Variegated Red Twig Dogwood that was on far right of this planting area.  Jan and I had quite a discussion about the Jewelweed, its wildlife benefits, and how prolific it can be.  Jewelweed is the native variety of the common non-native Impatiens used so much in "traditional" gardens.  Unlike most of the native plants I'm growing, this is an annual.  It lives for only one year.  I was stunned as Jan pinched a seed pod on one of these plants.  It exploded and sent seed scattering for feet in every direction.  What great fun.  Jewelweed is also known as Touch-Me-Not.  I guess we now know why.  As we loaded the Jewelweed onto the cart, we could hear seed pods popping.  I expect I'm going to have a lot of Jewelweed next year.  While at the nursery, I met an energetic young lady who turns out to be a locally known Monarch butterfly expert.  You can see her Monarch pictures at http://www.flickr.com/photos/candy__kasey/?saved=1.   She was so enthusiastic about Jewelweed for attracting hummingbirds and butterflies, I wanted to hurry home to get it planted. 

Replanted with Native plugs

Over the next two days I planted all these treasures.  I was able to remove 15 pieces of drip irrigation that previously kept the pachysandra, dogwood, and bleeding heart watered.  Now this is where I learn patience.  You can hardly see the new plants in this patch of dirt.  This late in the season with the cold weather setting in, I don't expect any new growth.  But the Jewelweed can sow its seed, and the others can start making themselves at home.  I know next year they'll start to fill in, and the following year, this will be marvelous.  In the meantime, I keep dreaming of a lush bed, alive with bees, butterflies, hummingbirds, a variety of other interesting insects and birds, and a changing palette of colors as the seasons change.