Spring is in full bloom now and how wonderful it is to see the green landscape again.

Photo Credit– tikibata1/photobicket

Maybe you want a little bit of flower power for yourself, but don’t have the space or desire to dig up a garden plot.  Consider container gardening.  They can’t be beat for urban gardening, accessible gardening or” no time to garden” gardening.

If container gardening brings thoughts of the ubiquitous hanging baskets at the grocery store or garden center, this is definitely not your only option.  Those premade arrangements are perhaps the easiest way to go, but there are so many more options.

Balconies and patios everywhere are sporting container gardens these days, and yours can, too, with a few easy steps. Flowers are a popular container garden choice, but edible plants, such as peppers, tomatoes, summer squash, bush beans, herbs, lettuces and even potatoes grow well in containers.

As always when it comes to growing things there are factors which affect the success of your project.  Here are some important things to remember when planning a container garden.

Start out with soil. Choose a light weight potting soil mix, not garden soil, which is too heavy.  You want to avoid compacted soil, and the potting mix is already prepared with perlite, peat and vermiculite, which will keep the soil aerated and light.

Drainage is important. Use pot shards, small stones or gravel (not marble chips) to keep the water from oversaturating the soil.  Mold and rot are the results of poor drainage.

When choosing plants, either edible or ornamental, pick ones that are heat tolerant.  Avoid those lovely hanging baskets that are filled with tender plants that crisp after one day without water.  You will do better to choose your own that you know will survive with less water and heat.

Some common flowers that will survive hot, dry container garden conditions are geraniums, petunias, marigolds and zinnias.  Check with your local cooperative extension agent or certified garden center professional for more information on suitable plants.

Pick plants that require the same amount of water and sunlight.   You can tell if your plants are getting too much sun if they are too pale and the leaves get crisp around the edges.  Too little light makes plants weak and spindly.

If you are planting an edible garden container, at least eight hours of sunlight is best.  You can grow lettuces and herbs with less, but not produce.

Test your container garden soil daily for moisture. Since they are in an artificial environment, the plants can’t send roots out in search of ground moisture…they depend on you for survival.  Without enough water the plants will die. Remember wind! Plants will dry out far more quickly in breezy weather.  Resin containers will retain moisture better than clay containers.  They are also easier to move because they are lighter.

We love your comments.  Let us know how your container garden grows!

Check out these great container ideas. Stylish or utilitarian, they will be excellent for any container garden you choose. Happy gardening!

Sediment pollution in a muddy river _ USGS Photo

April 22nd, 2010 is Earth Day.

This has turned out to be a greater than one day event.  Earth Day has takenon  a global awareness month status with events and campaigns to highlight service to the environment.

As an homage to that I am going to be writing a series of articles highlighting opportunities to give back to Mother Earth for this Earth Day Month of April.

My personal volunteer efforts will be in the area of water resources.  I’m joining a River Cleanup of the Neuse River, because water resources are near and dear to my heart.

Shortly after my 2^nd year at  UGA’s School of the Environment and Design, water resources loomed large on my horizon and every project I did somehow included ways to conserve or preserve water resources.

Stormwater, runoff, constructed stormwater wetlands, constructed wastewater wetlands, soil and water conservation, low impact development, stream restoration, rain gardens, erosion control, non-point source pollution.

You name it and I wanted to tackle it with all the zeal of an awakened neophyte in the world of environmental design.  All it took to get me started was seeing the devastation that suburban development was causing in local watersheds when I was trotting around doing site analysis.

Then, I had a couple internships and got an even closer look at what is going on to our drinking water supplies, and how the problems might be effectively mitigated.  After that, everywhere I went, all I could see was bad landscape design contributing to water resource problems.  It was enough to turn any sane person into a water activist, not saying I’m sane or anything.

No, sane is not defined by wanting to stand up and yell at someone for making such a mess and calling it design.

Water became my raison d’être.  All I wanted to do was to work in the field of water resources.  And I did, for a while, but all good things come to an end.  Now I get to write about water in the landscape instead of design for it. Not a bad trade-off in my book.

So, I am going to kick off this great month of environmental awareness with water resources as my first theme.

You may be asking, “What does this have to do with my garden or landscape?”  Everything, dear friends.  If you have a home, and water falls on that property, that water eventually ends up in the water supply, no matter what.

What this water takes with it on its journey to the sea makes or breaks an ecosystem, and the safety and purity of your drinking water supply.

• Rain from your roof and driveway flushes toxic waste into stormwater.
• Water draining from your yard carries any fertilizer, insecticides and herbicides you have used directly to streams and wells.
• Stormwater sends seeds and sprouts from invasive exotic plants floating away from your yard and deposits them in the stream and all along the way.  Just take a look at the purple loosestrife infestation for a little case study on this kind of pollution.
• New construction sites and improperly graded land loses soil to erosion and the sediment is deposited into streams and rivers.  Yes, indeed, those “erosion control” measures are usually half measures that break down before the project is finished… but,  “So what if the silt fence is down?  No one’s looking, right?”  Egad, what irresponsibility.
• Pet waste left in the yard, or park, or street gutter contributes bacterial and nutrient waste to our water supplies.
• Trash that breaks loose during storm events frequently gets washed along and ends up in the stream or river.

I could go on, but I think you get the idea.

My children used to come home on Earth Day all pumped up about environmentalism…that is until I said,  “Okay, then you are in charge of recycling here at home.”  Well that was the end of their enthusiasm, but not the end of their continuing education about doing, not talking.

Well after this discourse, I have to ask, “Are you doing, or just talking about going green this Earth Day?”    We don’t have to tackle the world’s problems, just address a couple in our backyard.

I want to challenge you this Earth Day to do something for you, your family, your community and your earth by joining a river cleanup this year.  Many watershed protection organizations are sponsoring cleanups in literally hundreds of areas around the country.

You can look on the website for American Rivers to see if there is already one organized for your local watershed.  If you don’t see one for your area, get a bunch of friends together this month and organize one.  American Rivers has all the information you need to successfully stage a cleanup for your local needy water source.

If you have never taken part in something like this, it will make a believer out of you.  You will never forget how we affect our water supplies by what we do at home.

Every little bit helps, so just do something.   It does not matter what we intend to do, just what we actually accomplish. Yep, just do it.

Volunteer your services to celebrate Earth Day this month and  this year  for a more sustainable and  greener tomorrow.

Please let us know about your green up, cleanup efforts.  You can send pictures, post events, tell your story.  You’ll make us smile.  We all want to know what’s happening on the green water resource scene.

Photo Credit: Stevie B. / Wikipedia

I don’t know about you, but I really, really don’t like rodents running loose, either in my house or on my property.

Pets aside, rodents are not much fun.  Carrying diseases, digging up the landscape, eating electrical wires, biting children, destroying plantings and crops, and dropping mouse dirt all over the house are only a few of the nasty habits of these wildlife pests.

Unless there is a sanitation problem in your vicinity, an abundance of rodents is indicative of an imbalance in the local ecology.   There has been plenty of press about the lifestyle that destroys the natural environment.  What we want to talk about today is restoring a little bit of balance.

Enter the backyard habitat at your own home.   By inviting helpful birds and insects, you can keep the pest population, including rodents to a minimum.  It’s one of the basics of biointensive IPM (integrated pest management).

When it comes to rodents, few natural predators beat Barn Owls (Tyto alba).

Barn Owls are indigenous to every continent aside from Antarctica.  They are a rodent integrated pest manager’s dream, eating 2–3 rodents a night.   As a matter of fact, a nesting barn owl family can eat more than 1,000 rodents a year.

Barn owls have also been known to eat swarming termites, katydids and crickets.   Raise your hand if you could stand a few less of them around.

Instead of the familiar owl hoot barn owls make a sound similar to shrreee, and it’s more like an ear-splitting scream at close range than anything else.

Unfortunately the barn owl population has been dwindling.    As more land is developed and more trees are removed from the landscape, the available nesting spots have also declined.  In some states the barn owl is listed as an endangered species.   Your state or province will have information available from the Department of Natural Resources.

So how do you do the IPM fix for this problem?   All you have to do is attract a barn owl family.

Attracting barn owls

You can make your yard a haven for an owl family by providing a safe, secluded nesting box.   There are commercially available nesting boxes, but building you own is not difficult.  There are many plans on the internet.  I’ve included a couple free resources at the end.

The preferred habitat of a barn owl is large expanses of open grassland.  Does this sound like most of suburbia to you?  I thought so.

Since barn owls are cavity dwellers they prefer holes in trees.  Where trees are prevalent, most barn owls will choose natural habitat over a nesting box, so don’t be insulted, and don’t spend a lot of energy on this kind of bird house if you are near forested land.  Focus your habitat building in a different direction, say, songbirds or ladybugs.

Barn owls will naturally nest about one half acre apart.  Depending on your neighborhood, the owls you attract will eat enough pests for you and several neighbors to see a significant reduction of rodents.  Oh, yes, burrowers beware!

Global Barn Owl Distribution, Map by: Achim Raschka / Wikipedia

Get an Outdoor Nature Cameras: Audubon BirdCam, to watch your owls, or other birds nest and grow.

Please share your thoughts & comments.  Spread that backyard habitat love around the world!

Resources:

Different Barn Owl Box Plans

Scott Spear’s  PVC Pipe & Aluminum Sheet Metal Design

http://kaweahoaks.com/html/barn_owl_house.html

University of Maryland Extension: Barn Owl, Friend of Agriculture and Communities

http://extension.umd.edu/publications/pdfs/FS795.pdf

A cool book about Barn Owls, their habits ad conservation.

William Blake knew it all along. Some things never change. Photo Credit: Wikipedia

OK, I did get in a plug for Valentine’s Day earlier this week, but really now, can too many hints be dropped, Dear Valentine?  I thought not.

Gift giving on Valentine’s Day can be dangerous business when it comes to romance and roses, but I’ll get to that in a minute.

First a few thoughts on Valentine’s Day Gift Giving.  It’s a well-known fact that most men give the  gifts they would like to receive on this auspicious occasion…and who can blame them.  Gossamer clad passionate dreams hover in the mind like sugarplum fairies waiting to dance.

Yeah, that’s a little flowery, but this is a family friendly venue.  You get the gist.  Daydreaming of love is is no crime, though.  It seems like just the right fit  for most anyone, depending on how it comes down.  Sometimes Mars Men do it differently than we would on Venus, though.

Now don’t get me wrong, there nothing inherently deficient  in “Howdy, honey.  Here’s some scanty lingerie. Gonna try it on now?”  This is made all the more appealing when  accompanied by a good swift, masculine kick to the bedroom door.

Now, you know I’m just joking with you, guys.  Still, hurried romance does not hold a candle to the lingering way of love.

I’m speaking of savoring a dozen (or more) classic long stem roses, fine chocolate and a dinner for two.  Then come the kisses and cuddles.  Passion has been known to fully blossom, as it were, in such august presence–or should I say, presents?  That is, of course, this female’s perspective.

Naturally, we ladies tend to give our men what we would want, too, like jewelry for example. (another little hint)  More than one lady has given her Valentine a box of chocolates.  Sorry ‘bout that.  Some men have even gotten roses.  Poor darlings, ha!  Ah, but that’s what we love…roses!

Roses are so beautiful.  In fact, roses are the favorite flower in the United States of America.  Yes, you are right.  The American Beauty Rose is the national flower.  Such is our love affair.

Roses have been around forever, but they have only recently come to such uniform visual quality.  Perfectly formed petals, fantastic coloring, tight buds and sturdy stems are the highlights of horticultural efforts for the past hundred years.  The fragrance is mostly gone now in these artificially perfect specimens, and the buds often bend their heads in sorrow long before they bloom, but these prize beauties are still wondrous to behold when fresh and new.

Commercial rose growing has now become a huge international industry supported by vigorous toxic chemical intervention to keep up the necessary productivity.  The ever increasing demand for roses has inspired growers to seek new places to (pollute and) cultivate roses to placate our rose passions.  Now, roses are plentiful and inexpensive, even in wintertime, because they are grown in South America.  As you know, it’s summer down there at the moment.

Beauty sure has its price. Because they are so prone to disease, commercial and home grown roses are usually sprayed, dusted and doused with fungicide and insecticide cocktails to fight off the foul destroyers.  Good for roses, bad for us.  Added to that,  the synthetic fertilizers most rose growers use, in the home or in the greenhouse, contribute to polluting the streams and causing eutrophication. The contamination continues by osmosis.  Whatever leaches into  vase water, we dump down the sink and right into our drinking water supply.

I used to just love pressing roses to my face,  in hopes of a slight hint of old fashioned rose fragrance.  Alas, no more.  It’s downright dangerous.  I prefer not to try to kill myself with flower power.  Our poor livers are already overloaded with environmental toxins every day.  It’s a crying shame to add roses to the list of ‘don’t touch me,’ because I LOVE ROSES!

I really hate being the party pooper with all this poison talk.  But don’t blame me, William Blake started the whole thing with his talk of  roses, worms and the consequences. Some things never change.  Let’s just say from an environmental standpoint, we can do better than to buy that inexpensive rose bouquet at the grocery store, florist, or street vendor for our loved ones, and we can be more responsible in growing roses for our home gardens.

Yes, there are some bright spots growing ever more visible on the horizon for the rose grower and the rose receiver, and not a moment too soon.  Organic roses and sustainably grown roses are now commercially available in plants for the garden and bouquets for the beloved.  You can indulge in healthy rose passion responsibly.

You can buy  and grow garden roses that do not need chemicals to thrive.  These hardy beauties come in a range of colors and varieties.  There are China roses, tea roses, floribundas and more. Different varieties need different climates, but there are roses for Zone 4 to Zone 10 that are low maintenance, easy to grow and sustainable.  Earth Kind® roses and Buck Roses identified by  Texas A & M University and Iowa State University respectively, are available at fine garden centers and online. If you don’t mind a little kudo, I want to send a shout out to Chamblee Rose Nursery and the Antique Rose Emporium . These two are  nurseries that  have been pioneers growing in the sustainable rose.  You won’t find better roses for sustainability than with these two fine companies     For more information check out our articles on Earth Kind® Roses and Sustainable Roses.

For those special occasions you can now buy an Organic Bouquet which carries not one hint of danger, except perhaps from a thorn.

An Organic Bouquethas all the beauty and none of the chemicals of traditional commercially grown roses.  Since rose growing is so expensive anyway, and organic rose growing is not more costly, you can buy bouquets of organic roses for about the same as you would pay in any decent flower shop.  When it comes to shopping for cut roses, this one is a no brainer!

As Albert Einstein quipped, “A little knowledge is a dangerous thing.  So is a lot.”  (I wonder if he thought that up right after discovering the laws of relativity.)  At any rate, whether you knew a little or a lot about roses before, you can now claim to have added to your information base some rose history, rose poetry, knowledge of the long term effects of all these romantic rose remembrances, and the available alternatives.

Oh, I didn’t forget about Blake.   For our poetry lovers,  here is what William Blake shared in his Songs of Experience as the 39th plate.

The Sick Rose

O Rose thou art sick.
The invisible worm,
That flies in the night
In the howling storm:

Has found out thy bed

Of crimson joy:

And his dark secret love
Does thy life destroy.

Related Articles You May Enjoy

Roses and Sustainability

Earth-Kind® Roses – The Sustainable Choice for your Landscape & Garden

Whew, is there any end to the information about fire ants?

I have written 5 articles about fire ants now and I haven’t even begun to tell everything there is to know. I give up for a while.  It’s time to think about Valentine’s Day.

For the guys, I’ll just say this is the most important holiday, equal only to “The Birthday” in the life of a romance.  It’s love’s perfect time for posies, presents, proposals… and getaways. I had to reflect back on one of my own Valentine’s getaways when I was doing all this research, because that was my first introduction to just what a disaster it can be to encounter the ferocious red imported fire ant.

Now how, exactly, do romance and fire ants even get put in the same sentence?  Being from the DC area, we had never heard of fire ants, much less associate them with the child-free romantic retreat we had planned.  I certainly would never have thought to include them in any of my reveries.  What a mistake.   Our ideal vacation was ruined.  Fire ants entered unbidden and spoiled a long awaited and perfectly planned (or so we thought) romantic getaway.

Anyone who has visited Sanibel Island in Florida would attest that it is a perfect setting for a romantic rendezvous.  The resort was fantastic, the pristine, shell strewn beaches were almost deserted and the long weekend stretched out before us like a gauzy dream waiting to happen.

Oh, it happened all right, but it turned out to be the nightmare vacation from hell.

Things started off well enough. We were lavishly welcomed at our accommodations. We had a lovely dinner by candlelight overlooking the ocean. We took the de riguer walk on the beach afterward. That night we were serenaded by the waves and woke up ready for adventure.

It was a bright morning with not a cloud in the sky. Bike riding around the island to get our sightseeing in was on the agenda. So, there we were tooling around and having a great look-see.  It was shaping up to be such lovely day!  Hot but totally lovely.

Luckily for me, I like hot weather rather than cold, but around midday my (ex)husband’s internal temperature was rising and he had a pretty good case of sunburn. His face was tomato red, so we stopped for some cool water and a rest.

Spying a pristine bed of pine straw mulch around a shady palm tree, the man decides to sit there and catch the breezes while I look at kitch for kids. Well, like I said we were totally unaware of the South’s fire ant problems. He no sooner gets settled under that tree before he is swarmed with red imported fire ants.  I heard a howl then saw him swatting away, while he was trying to strip off his shirt.

Big mistake. He now had a weapon to beat fire ants off his legs, but they migrated under his shorts and to his chest and neck.  I don’t know how long that attack lasted, but it felt like an eternity, and I was only an onlooker.  Ouch.  Although it was years later that I experienced my own encounter with fire ants, just watching him suffer was awful.

It was horrible. He sustained so many bites that he was in total agony. Between the fire ant venom and the sunburn there was no comfort or rest. That was the end of the fun and the beginning of weekend misery I will never forget.

No kisses. No hugs. No laughter. For the duration it was just cold baths, grumpy fights and first aid. Such a waste of a holiday vacation.  Had we only known about fire ants, we could have avoided the whole thing.

Fire ants are found in more places all the time and many of them are fabulous vacation spots. We think about getting shots when traveling abroad, but who thinks about outdoor enemies in our own country?  Many Northern clime dwellers are unaware of the dangers of fire ants when traveling to the South.  Fire ants are never discussed in the travel brochures.  The state travel bureaus don’t even warn about fire ants.  How are we supposed to know?

Unfortunately, ignorance is no excuse– in the law and in fire ant behavior.  Fire ants are mean, have no natural enemies here and they hide in places you might never think to look.  Despite the best efforts of landscape professionals and scientists, fire ants still find ways to worm their way into paradise.

Don’t let this happen to you. You spent all that time planning the perfect trip. Now, spend a few moments and check out our articles on red imported fire ants to save yourself a nasty surprise. Familiarize yourself with where fire ants are found and what to look for. Be forewarned and be forearmed. You will be glad you did.

I hope you have a truly romantic Valentine’s Day. May it be full of love–and free of fire ants!

Related  Fire Ant Articles You May Enjoy—

Ferocious Fire Ants— Danger in the Grass

Red Imported Fire Ants—Your Landscape’s Hidden Electric Personality

Eliminate Red Imported Fire Ants?

Getting Rid of Fire Ants—What Really Works?

How to Sustainably Control Red Imported Fire Ants

What is Biointensive Integrated Pest Management?

Getting Started with Biointensive Integrated Pest Management

Garden Centers have great deals this time of year.

In the meantime Fall has been happening all around.  It happens to be my personal favorite season, followed closely by spring.  The leaves are near peak here and that means soon they will be on the ground.   Instead of sending them to the landfill, or burning them (oh, no!) a great way to fertilize your lawn is to run over the leaves with a lawn mower.  They will naturally compost, providing nutrients all winter long, and you don’t have to rake as many.  Depending on the number of trees, you still may have to rake up leaves.  Lucky you…save those leaves.   If you wait until the leaves are almost dry, you can either shred them or just put the pile near the compost area to add as “brown matter” to sandwich between green material such as yard scraps and vegetable peelings.   Your compost pile will love you.  You will be amply rewarded when rich brown compost greets you at the bottom of the bin.

It’s also a great time to check your local nursery center for some great buys.  Bulbs, shrubs and trees are all great fall plantings, and by now many are on sale.  Look for native varieties to go green!  Also, remember to keep them watered through the winter if it’s dry to prevent wind burn.

We look forward to blogging with you again soon.  Enjoy your Autumn.

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Fertilizing Your Lawn? Seven Sustainable Tips

Fall Leaf Fertilizer