Compost Confidential

The Five Biggest Mistakes We Make in Our Gardens & Landscapes

 I’ve spent a lot of time over the last several years, contemplating what I think are the five biggest mistakes we make in our gardens and landscapes. Consider the following list personal opinion, but I’ve drawn a lot of conclusions from my observation as I travel, speaking to scores of gardening enthusiasts and taping television shows in gardens across America. It also stems from my research for my latest book, The Green Gardener’s Guide. And as I like to say, as we do so much to beautify our own little corner of the world, we’re doing a lot of not-so-pretty things in the process. Here’s my list.

Poor Water Management: We are in a global water crisis. Of all the water in the world, only 1% is available to us as fresh pure water. Yet between 1950 and 1980, when the world’s population doubled, the demand on that water tripled! It’s a finite resource and we’re using it an unsustainable rates. Half of the water we use outside is wasted because we overwater or do so during the middle of the day. Consequently we lose much of it to evaporation and runoff. And harvesting rainwater using rain barrels is an easy way to collect and store this valuable resource for use on-demand, especially in times of drought.

Failure to understand a plant’s cultural requirements: Plants growing in their ideal environment are naturally more vigorous and therefore more pest and disease resistant. Plus, when we don’t read or heed the information on those plant tags, we make the mistake of planting that three-gallon holly against the foundation, only to cut it down a few years later when it overtakes the house. Put the right plant in the right place and you eliminate most of your maintenance problems, specifically the need to apply excess fertilizer or pesticides.

Failure to promote healthy soil: There is another world below the soil surface that we home gardeners know little about. Yet soil scientists tell us that in ideal conditions, it is teeming with billions of beneficial microorganisms that provide our plants with everything they need to grow and prosper, naturally. Of course that assumes we haven’t desiccated our soil with excessive salts that come from over use of synthetic fertilizers. Instead, we should improve the soil with a steady supply of organic matter, to promote plant growth by maintaining a healthy soil food web.

Excessive use of fertilizers: More is not better. Fertilizer that isn’t absorbed by the plant can leach into ground water or runoff into watersheds, polluting water systems and harming amphibious habitats. Excess buildup in the soil can desiccate life underground, making plants chemically dependent for their nutrients and creating unsustainable soil for plants to thrive naturally. Using any chemicals with discretion and on-target will go a long way to improving ecosystems everywhere.

Indiscriminate use of Pesticides: Only about 3% of all insects are considered pests, so why do we carpet bomb with non-selective pesticides when 97% are either neutral or beneficial. If you want to have a bug problem, start spraying. Many pest insect pests have developed a resistance to insecticides while beneficial insects are often the ones most adversely affected. In addition, according to the National Audubon Society, about seven million backyard birds die each year as a result of consuming insects that have been killed by pesticides.

I have plenty more examples for the above five and rivals for other common mistakes. Now it’s your turn. What are some other big mistakes? I’d love to hear about them. I’ll give away a copy of my book, The Green Gardener’s Guide to the best comment. Thanks.

(photo credit to iStock Photo)

Tree Topping; If you Love your Trees, Leave them Alone

 When it comes to gardening and landscaping, I seem to be spending a lot more time telling people what not to do, rather than the other way around. Let’s face it, there’s no shortage of information out there on how to plant a tree, grow a lawn, or prune your roses. But apparently, not enough people are getting the message when it comes to what not to do.

Case in point, this time every year, I get a stark reminder of a problem across the country, but especially in smaller towns like mine. Tree topping is rampant and with no apparent end in sight. Despite numerous campaigns by such organizations as Plant Amnesty, and articles by the International Society of Arboriculture and other credible sources, people still do what they do. In this case, maim, mangle and ultimately kill beautiful trees. 

Even when it becomes necessary to prune encroaching trees, there’s a right way to do anything, but coat rack cutting is not one of them. The lead picture in this post was taken before its inevitable demise. Few trees can withstand the incredible stress put on them by such drastic measures, especially when the process is repeated year after year. This tree, like so many others is gone. Only a stump remains, a stark reminder of its fate at the hand of human ignorance.

 There are so many abuses of tree topping here, I’ve pretty much stopped taking pictures of them. They all are atrocious and equally disheartening to look at. These days, I’m taking more pictures of the ultimate fate of these topped trees once they start coming down. Alone, an image of a stump doesn’t tell much of a story. But when you put that next to the images of the same tree from prior seasons, a story dramatically unfolds.

No doubt, we act in a heard mentality. See one person doing it, then another and before you know it, we’re all doing it, with no real knowledge as to why. Either that, or the guys with the chainsaw and a pickup are great sales people with no conscience. I keep waiting for the opportunity to catch someone in the act of actually committing such crimes against trees so I can ask what they’re rationale is. 

So as I try to close out this post on a positive note, let me attempt to encourage sound landscaping practices by saying what should be done; you should...NOT top your trees!

Oh well, I tried.

Joe Lamp’l

p.s. There’s so much more to say about tree topping and why it’s bad. You can read an article I wrote about that, here.

One Tragic Case of Intentional Colony Collapse

I had just started reading Rowan Jacobsen’s book; Fruitless Fall; The Collapse of the Honey Bee and the Coming Agricultural Crisis. With book in one hand and a good glass of wine in the other, I settle into my chair on this cold Saturday night.  I picked back up at the start of chapter two; How the Honey Bees Conquered the World when the email arrives. Normally, I wouldn’t bother to check it right then but for some reason this time I did. I wasn’t prepared for what I saw and even more disturbing when you consider the timing.

See for yourself and mourn with me one more sad case of human ignorance on the impact of nature. Although true Colony Collapse Disorder is still a mystery, this particular case is not. Apparently this email is circulating in cyberspace. A quick Internet search of Mortien, the insecticide pictured below, is a common pest control in Australia. Ideally, I would like to have confirmed the details and validate the content before posting. I’d like to think this didn’t really happen but I know better. In fact, it happens all too often. I’ve been on my soapbox too long to think otherwise. These pictures from that email tell the rest of the story.

 

Could there be any justification for this course of action? Was the homeowner allergic to bees? If so, they never said so. And besides, couldn't a beekeeper  have safely removed and relocated this colony to another location? To the contrary, the description in this email by the author tells me they were quite proud of their 'success'. Terms included: I thought I was pretty smart hehehe, and weapon of buzz destruction. They also mentioned that although the poison they used was not labeled for bees, they tried it anyway. Hel-loooo-oh. The brand of chemical pictured above isn’t important. If it weren’t that, it would be something else. But maybe there’s a reason you don’t see Honey bee bombs for sale anywhere Mr. or Mrs. Einstein? Yet, as I travel the country, speaking to groups about the delicate balance of nature, too few people realize the impact of their actions by treating cases like this the very same way. 

Finally, as if to defend this tragic massacre in some way, the email author ends their comments with this; "We think the queen flew away..either that or a small child has wings and has been living in the hive cos that thing was huge!" Really! Please help awaken others to the sad events of this story and let me know how you feel below. Thank you.

Joe Lamp’l