Thursday, February 15, 2007

Grow Zone- the workshop

Practical Grow Zones- the Workshop

There were park stewards, people responsible for maintenance of large areas of parkland and acres of grass who need to accomplish the impossible with few tools and even less budget, spin straw in to gold, as it were.

Protocols for planting large areas of Grow Zones in a short time, making grow zones palatable to section of the population who have wildly different interests, who like things a certain way and have political clout were presented.

I do not use Round Up on my property. I have chemical sensitivity issues and have been an organic gardener for many years.

People in charge of large public areas tend to have to show results on a reduced time line. They are likely to use round up, till, and use round up again before they plant to reduce the number of seeds from invasives that tend to take over in disturbed areas.

Disturbed areas don't have the complexity and Biodiversity to buffer the invasion of foreign and invasive species. Yes I am talking about buckthorn and garlic mustard, also crabgrass and dandelions, those weeds we all know from our childhoods. Getting rid of the pests takes time and lots of tilling to expose the seeds, smothering and tilling or weed killer and one tilling.

All of the pesticide application and tilling takes money. Grants have been obtained.

Wayne county parks has 26 acres in Grow Zones. Up from 24 acres in 2006.

The workshop had information on how to plant buffers around detention ponds and clean them up. A lot of detention ponds have that been built and are getting clogged and smelly. Good information.

There are local nurseries that provide plant material and seed for native plantings.

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