Thoughts on Garden Planning

General notes on a new season

The catalogs are coming. I feel at least a twinge of avarice, as the lovely pics come in. I took my ecological gardening class and read Noah's Garden and know how the showy lovelies won't feed the locals. Though I love to look at the pictures of new and unusual varieties, I will order from native plant nurseries.

To satisfy the old inner gardener, I may get an alpine geranium, almost pinched a branch to root last year when we delivered flyers for Tony Trupiano for congress and I saw it on a porch. It was November 6 and still the thing was growing outside. Last year the plan was to get a flat of lobilia to tuck in here and there in the pots. It makes an accent and it cascades and it is blue and every time this gardener walks by, it starts music inside her. Maybe I will get to that this year.

Seeds were not purchased last year until July, then I bought corn and other short season vegetables, started them in flats. I grew year old seeds and saved seeds, saving Heirloom Tomatoes on napkins worked well, just put the napkins in the pot and cover. The broccoli started in July is still out there, but the recent cold probably did it in. Parsley came along and lasted long into December and it will come back in spring. We'd better eat it quick, as it will go to seed.

It fell to 31.8 on the porch last night. Last fall I moved all of the tender things, Impatiens and Coleus and Sansevieria into the house. Regulating temperature was too much trouble. Geraniums and Norfolk Island Pine and Bay Laurel and Rosemary can all take a little cold. Unknown about Amerigus Lily and Elephant Begonia.

The long season corn that was supposed to ripen inside wasn't planted soon enough, will try it again. Likewise the peas. The peas were blooming in November, but there just wasn't enough of light or warmth or whatever they needed to grow big enough to eat. Perhaps it was a dearth of pollinators. It was too much faith, starting things later than they would grow. They ought to have been in a hoop house. Even the peas in a garbage can covered by spun poly didn't make peas.

A zone map in a catalog noted when they will send their mostly tender plants (April 30-May 12). We here in Detroit are indeed now zone 6. (!) Insects are keyed to the light, though and probably aren't going to read the map.

Backyard/Schoolyard Habitat

Life without nature can have serious repercussions for children. An article from ej, a magazine for environmental journalism at MSU says so. A syndrome was informally named called nature deficit syndrome. For more, go to ejmagazine.com fall 2006 issue. Sarah Kozicki wrote the article.

I am thinking of a grow zone at church, maybe to stop mowing there, see what happens and keep a diary with the kids. I planted some Swamp Milkweed (Asclepias incarnata) with them out on the grounds as well as in a plastic container. They loved playing with the gossamer.

We stopped mowing in the back forty, down the hill 15 years ago maybe? We got a lot of Buckthorn there, I noticed several years later. I need to reconstruct the time line. When was it that the FOTR sent a mailing to each and every riparian land owner in the Rouge and had an event for us. I met Barbara there. She had pictures of Buckthorn . I checked. Sure enough, Buckthorn ( Common Buckthorn- Rhamnus cathartica and Glossy Buckthorn- Rhamnus frangula) had begun a little colony under the Willow, under the Maple. Under the Buckthorn, nothing grew.

When I really looked at things in the Buckthorn Thicket, it was spooky, not like the thickets of my childhood. Usually there is undergrowth. In a thicket of shrubbery, often children will make paths, but here nothing grew and no one went there. It was empty underneath and spreading on all sides. We cut it down. I began putting leaves there in the fall, to create a layer of mulch to keep the side shoots from growing. It turns out that Buckthorn is very clever, it gets the birds to spread seeds by eating the black fruit (though it causes digestive upsets) and it also spreads by rhizome. Fortunately, it is very easy to pull when it is young. I get it in many of my beds, even out front, far the major seed sources.

"Invaders don't simply consume or compete with native species - they change the rules of existence for all species by altering ecosystem processes such as primary productivity, decomposition, hydrology, geomorphology, nutrient cycling or natural disturbance regimes."
-P.M. Vitousek et al. American Scientist, Sept.- Oct 1996

Notes on the Backyard/Schoolyard workshop at UofM Dearborn Environmental Interpretive Center: Bill Craig, who has a grow zone at his house and is active at Buchanan Oasis Garden at Buchanan Elementary School , Livonia, Michigan had some wonderful photos of areas he stewards. One photo was of a Spicebush Caterpillar. Add Spicebush (Lindera benzoin to my list of must grow for my planned hedgerow. There is a Swallowtail that is dark and comes from the caterpillar. The berries are good for culinary use. It is a must grow shrub for me.

Many presenters recommended the book Last Child in the Woods -Saving Children from Nature Deficit Disorder.


There were other presenters. Sharon Oliver-Merchant from Adler Elementary School in Southfield, Dan Ballnik of Dearborn, Susan Erhardt from Greening of Detroit showed slides of the Tree Keepers Kids garden at Neinas Elementary School, Detroit ; Dorothy McLeer from the Environmental Interpretive Center at U-M Dearborn; Rick Plecha, Plymouth-Canton Schools had a list possible fund and grant sights. There were some fine gardens, and many ways of going native and promoting diversity in the environment, were presented.

There was a hand out on making service projects with children. If I have to quantify and document, I will, but I see it as a nuisance. I suppose the paperwork is one way of communicating and working with groups.

Backyard/Schoolyard Habitat

Life without nature can have serious repercussions for children. An article from ej, a magazine for environmental journalism at MSU says so. A syndrome was informally named called nature deficit syndrome. For more, go to ejmagazine.com fall 2006 issue. Sarah Kozicki wrote the article.

I am thinking of a grow zone at church, maybe to stop mowing there, see what happens and keep a diary with the kids. I planted some Swamp Milkweed (Asclepias incarnata) with them out on the grounds as well as in a plastic container. They loved playing with the gossamer.

We stopped mowing in the back forty, down the hill 15 years ago maybe? We got a lot of Buckthorn there, I noticed several years later. I need to reconstruct the time line. When was it that the FOTR sent a mailing to each and every riparian land owner in the Rouge and had an event for us. I met Barbara there. She had pictures of Buckthorn . I checked. Sure enough, Buckthorn ( Common Buckthorn- Rhamnus cathartica and Glossy Buckthorn- Rhamnus frangula) had begun a little colony under the Willow, under the Maple. Under the Buckthorn, nothing grew.

When I really looked at things in the Buckthorn Thicket, it was spooky, not like the thickets of my childhood. Usually there is undergrowth. In a thicket of shrubbery, often children will make paths, but here nothing grew and no one went there. It was empty underneath and spreading on all sides. We cut it down. I began putting leaves there in the fall, to create a layer of mulch to keep the side shoots from growing. It turns out that Buckthorn is very clever, it gets the birds to spread seeds by eating the black fruit (though it causes digestive upsets) and it also spreads by rhizome. Fortunately, it is very easy to pull when it is young. I get it in many of my beds, even out front, far the major seed sources.

"Invaders don't simply consume or compete with native species - they change the rules of existence for all species by altering ecosystem processes such as primary productivity, decomposition, hydrology, geomorphology, nutrient cycling or natural disturbance regimes."
-P.M. Vitousek et al. American Scientist, Sept.- Oct 1996

Notes on the Backyard/Schoolyard workshop at UofM Dearborn Environmental Interpretive Center: Bill Craig, who has a grow zone at his house and is active at Buchanan Oasis Garden at Buchanan Elementary School , Livonia, Michigan had some wonderful photos of areas he stewards. One photo was of a Spicebush Caterpillar. Add Spicebush (Lindera benzoin to my list of must grow for my planned hedgerow. There is a Swallowtail that is dark and comes from the caterpillar. The berries are good for culinary use. It is a must grow shrub for me.

There were other presenters. Sharon Oliver-Merchant from Adler Elementary School in Southfield, Dan Ballnik of Dearborn, Susan Erhardt from Greening of Detroit showed slides of the Tree Keepers Kids garden at Neinas Elementary School, Detroit ; Dorothy McLeer from the Environmental Interpretive Center at U-M Dearborn; Rick Plecha, Plymouth-Canton Schools had a list possible fund and grant sights. There were some fine gardens, and many ways of going native and promoting diversity in the environment, were presented.

There was a hand out on making service projects with children. If I have to quantify and document, I will, but I see it as a nuisance. I suppose the paperwork is one way of communicating and working with groups.

16 January 06 Ecological Gardening class

16 January 06 Ecological Gardening Class

Sun on the ice coated trees made a beautiful fairyland everywhere. We finally got some snow.

My advanced ecological gardening class ended today by not ending. We hope to do many things to assist people in gardening and learning how to work together to create healthy habitat, fix the hole in the environment we have caused by trying to monocrop grass everywhere.

A landscape architect analyzed some of our designs for our home gardens. If there is heavy flow of water, from a road or impervious surface, there needs to be rocks and things so the whole thing doesn't wash away.

Finding the right plants is crucial. For heavy flow or for an area of unbalanced and degraded places, you would choose easy to grow and undemanding plants. These would be mildly invasive in other environments, even if they are native. In a complex environment, a more intact ecosystemn, more delicate species can be grown.

Then there is moisture and sun and sandy or clay soil to consider. (right plant in the right place, the thing will grow)

Three kinds of land forms in our area, from glacial times are Ice Contact (many parks are located on this band) LakePlains, and Moraines. (Ridge Road is the top of a glaicial moraine.

Books:
Plants in the Chicago Region by Swink and Wilhelm (much information on plant associates)

Michigan Flora by Edward Voss (three books)

Native Trees and Shrubs Gary L Hightshoe (nice pics and diagrams, not always acturate)

Prarie Moon Nursery catalog

Nature Concervancy's invasives web-sight

Eastern Wild Flowers Peterson, or Neucomb (These were suggested for field use. You can also just take a little camera or sketch book and look it up later. Learning the words to look up species, like alternate and whirled was suggested.)

Landscaping with Native Plants Lynn M. Spencer.

Restoring Nature (Gopster, Paul H.) suggested by a student. This has some urban issues to consider when making a public garden.

Plants: Dropseed -Small grass, nice edging tolerates dry.

Panicum, (switchgrass is Panicum virgatum but there are 450 species in the genus, some invasive and nonnative) perhaps one of the smaller ones, holds up to salt, clay spreads.

Wrens and Shrubbery

Wrens

It occurred to me recently that I no longer have to mourn the wild rose that I had transplanted against the fence. I had chopped it out before thinking about the Wrens who liked to raise their family in it's cover.

Our neighbor has since taken out the privacy fence back there. In summer mint likes to grow back there with abandon now. The man hates this.

In leu of sadness, I need some shrubbery there so Jenny Wren can feel good about raising her children there. Perhaps if I put more cover there, the Wren family would think about raising their young in the Wren House again. They do get mad at me and think I am a bad neighbor when I come near.

I'm thinking a hedgerow of viburnum (I am favoring American Cranberry) and Huckleberry at the moment, though a cherry would be nice and a high bush cranberry and I killed a holly recently and want to find a native one. Perhaps a hedgerow of five would entice a Wren family. They probably liked the many little red hips, maybe a seven sisters rose is in the future too. Or maybe that will be on the fence on Tony's side. I think there is a wild rose down the hill in the shade that would like a chance to grow up in the sun.

My list for the shrubbery is: High bush cranberry Viburnum trilobum
Nannyberry V. trilobum
Huckleberry
Holly Ilex opaca
Choke Cherry Prunus virginiana

In looking up shrubbery, I have found that Jewel Weed is an Impatiens, Impatiens capensis, same Genus as the common garden plant. I keep Impatiens on the window sill, as they survive well inside if they are kept watered. Perhaps Jewel Weed will too.

I haven't bothered much with the feeder back there this year. We haven't had snow cover, I left a lot of seed pods standing. If we do get snow, I must remember to set the thing up.