Principles of Sustainability

Sustainability is defined as an avoidance of the depletion of our natural resources in order to maintain a balanced environment.
Two ways that this can be done were seen by my wife and I when we visited the Naples Botanical Garden in Naples, Florida.  The first is the use of local materials for construction.  For example, the many elevated boardwalk pathways that lead you throughout the garden, were made from resurrected bald cypress wood which had sunk over one hundred years ago during logging operations in a local river.   The nature of the wood allows it to be preserved while submerged, so it made an ideal recycled material for the garden walkways.
The second was the use of design plantings in the parking lot, which captured rain water and pollutants from the parking lot into bioswailes.  These engineered plantings are designed to filter the captured water and release it into a nearby lake to be used to irrigate the garden.  Thus, completing the cycle of water entering the landscape, being cleansed and reused without tapping into any other water source ... true sustainability!

Planting with Christmas in Mind

If you’re thinking about a new landscape for your yard, or just changing up an area on your property, consider incorporating evergreens.  We see them all around in outdoor decorations during the Christmas season, so wouldn’t it be nice to have your own to cut for outdoor containers and window boxes - or even to fill vases in your home?    Tree varieties like Pine, Spruce, Cryptomeria, Leyland cypress, Magnolia, and Holly; and shrubs like Mountain and Cherry laurel, and Andromeda, are excellent choices to enjoy and utilize all throughout the winter months.   The soil in your pots from summer plantings will act as an Oasis for your evergreen boughs.  With this collection of material on your property – and maybe adding in some Kale and Winterberry holly, you can create your own beautiful winter containers.

A Lawn Alternative – American Beachgrass

Sometimes the traditional cool season grasses that are most commonly used in home lawns may not be the best choice.  Site conditions vary from residence to residence, but for homes in seashore communities, along rivers, or those lacking irrigation, KY bluegrass and tall fescue may not be the best choice.   These environments are frequently exposed to high wind conditions, salt spray, and sandy soils, which do not sustain traditional grasses.  

American beachgrass (Ammophilia breviligulata), a native species to eastern North America, is commonly found in sand dunes along the Atlantic Ocean.  Although not typically conducive to recreational use, this low-maintenance grass serves to prevent soil movement from wind as well as providing a wildlife habitat.

The optimum beachgrass planting season runs from early October through March.   Once planted, these small, bare-root plants need no follow up maintenance … including watering.  

Last Spring BCN Horticulture landscaped the Marina Grill in Belmar, NJ.  It was one of our largest jobs to date.  We teamed up with Vito Paratore (our photographer) to give you this awesome time-lapse of our work.  Hope you enjoy!

The Angel Oak Tree

My wife and I had the pleasure of visiting the Angel Oak Tree located on John’s Island in South Carolina in February 2014 and again in February 2015.

This Live Oak (Quercus virginiana) pre-dates, by at least a century, the cotton plantations of this region making it one of the oldest living organisms east of the Mississippi.  Our first visit was just after an ice storm had moved through the area and the arborists who were monitoring the tree and had responsibility for its care, had set up temporary metal poles to support the large branches just prior to the storm.  During our arrival we observed that all the poles were bent.   

Since our visit coincided with the arborist’s project, we were able to engage him in conversation and learned that the poles had become compromised with the added weight of the ice from the recent storms. It was fascinating to watch these professionals painstakingly and with much trepidation replace the temporary braces with the more permanent.  So much at stake in the care of this highly valued tree.  We discovered that the care of this tree is very precise with monitoring practices for insects, cabling large branches, prescription fertilization, and pruning. 

On our follow-up trip this year we observed that the temporary poles were replaced by more permanent wooden “telephone poles” to anchor and stabilize these massive branches.  The tree is in outstanding health with a great shape and form.  With the care it receives and its general health, the Angel Oak will probably provide future generations many more years to enjoy its beauty.

Meadows

On a recent trip to Storm King Arts Center - a 500 acre sculpture garden, we viewed the extensive use of meadows as a canvas for large-scale art installations. The ecology of native meadows consists of using predominately grasses with perennial forbs (herbaceous plants). Meadows can be established by removing all unwanted vegetation, usually with a herbicide or hand cultivation. Once the area has been prepared, in many cases, the seeding can be done by hand with a selected mixture determined by existing site conditions. Some of the more commonly used native plants are Switchgrass (Panicum virgatum), Indiangrass (Sorghastrum nutans), Little Bluestem (Schizachyrium scoparium) Senna (Senna marilandica) and Rudbeckia (Rudbeckia fulgida). Meadows generally take 2-3 years to become fully established. Once matured, they provide a habitat for wild life, and an opportunity to practice low maintenance techniques. This would mean no need for fertilization, and just mowing the meadow in early spring before growth resumes. In some states burning is permitted in early spring, which is the most ideal method in cleansing and invigorating the meadow. Meadows are dynamic, changing, ecologically sound, nurturing, and of great value when considering land use.

Mulching With Compost

Using manure and compost creates more diversity in the soil which is better for plants than traditional hard wood mulches and fertilizer programs.

It's commonly known the many benefits of hard wood mulches such as moisture retention, moderating soil temperatures, and weed suppression; however, one of the guiding principles to good landscape health is diversity. A diverse landscape is one with various types of plant material that attract different forms of wildlife.

Below ground we want to employ the principle of diversity with the existing soil microorganisms. There are countless decomposers in the soil like fungi, bacteria, earth worms, and arthropods that create an environment that helps sustain plants. These diverse players also build healthy sustainable landscape environments.

Traditionally, landscape professionals and homeowners have been applying a hardwood chip mulch. These materials have a high Carbon to Nitrogen (C:N) ratio -about (100:1). The decomposers described earlier that have a great impact on plant health require carbon and nitrogen as a food source to survive. Plants also need carbon and nitrogen to survive. The decomposing organisms or microbes break down organic forms of nitrogen (mulches, compost) to make it available to the plants. Materials with high C:N ratios do not contain enough nitrogen to fully support microbial growth. Hence, microorganisms rob available soil nitrogen from plants in order to break down mulch. This leads to plant nitrogen deficiency, and nitrogen is the main element necessary for plant growth.

Conversely, compost (yard waste, manure) has a very low C:N ratio. Far less carbon to nitrogen - about (30:1). The lower C:N ratio of compost contains more nitrogen than is required to support microbial activity; therefore making more nitrogen available to the plants.

Diversity occurs by incorporating compost into the soil system, which attracts different decomposers than you find in hardwood mulches; thus reducing the traditional need for fertilizers and chemical treatments of properties. It is these new microbial players that provide the different nutrients needed in the landscape. Nutrients that, in the past, have been provided by commercial means. It is important to remember that diversity leads to stability.

For a great source of compost go to http://www.rt34landscape.com/