Need Clean Water? Use Herbs

Freshly harvested cilantro

Plants having multiple uses is nothing new to science, turning corn into ethanol, the perennial foxglove into digitalis for heart conditions, and indoor plants cleaning the air of toxic gases, are a few examples.  Now college students at Ivy Tech Community College, in Lafayette, Indiana, along with students from Universidad Politecnia de Francisco J. Madero in Hidalgo, Mexico have been studying one of my favorite herbs - cilantro - as a water filter for contaminated water.

Using a process called bioabsorption, the two colleges successfully collaborated on a research team to confirm using cilantro to capture heavy metals will remove lead and nickel from polluted water.  Douglas Schauer, lead team member, says that the "ground-up cilantro can be inserted into a tube into which water is passed through. The cilantro allows the water to trickle out but absorbs metals, leaving cleaner drinking water. Dried cilantro can also be placed into tea bags that are placed in a pitcher of water for a few minutes to suck out the heavy metals."

Other possible bioabsorbant herbs include dandelions and parsley.

Read the entire article.

Irrigation Overkill

What's wrong with this picture?
 

For a sodded driveway this is overkill.  There is no reason to have the irrigation in the center sod strip.  They should have used either a groundcover or pavers in the center of the driveway.

What other mistakes did the irrigation installer or owner make?

• Watering at 5pm in the early evening is a good way to get fungal disease.
• Uneven spacing of irrigation heads on turfgrass means uneven distribution of water which is the one of the biggest water wasters.  
• Possibly no rain shut-off device or not hooked up properly.  This location received two inches of rain the night before so irrigation was not necessary for this turf even if it was new sod.

I asked Aaron Smith, owner of  Insight Irrigation, for his professional irrigation contractor perspective. "When I see this several things come to mind that should be considered: 

• Areas less than 4 foot wide should not use overhead irrigation. 
• If necessary, small areas can be irrigated with drip. (many new products are out to do this I.e Hunter)
• This is a safety hazard since people could slip .
• This is an environmental hazard from oil from vehicles washing down into stormdrain."

When installing irrigation systems, get a certified irrigation professional like Aaron to help you or   learn what goes into having an efficient irrigation system before you do the work . 

Sustainability Isn’t a Plant List

First published in Ornamental Outlook, June 2008

Horticulture experts expect similar plant questions seasonally – it’s what we do. With the new landscaping trend of “Florida-friendly”, I’m finding one question germinating the same way: “I can’t find this plant on THE plant list!” Government planning departments, builders, homeowners, and landscapers trust that if it’s on the plant list, it’s sustainable and could, no, should be used. That’s not the point of sustainable landscaping. Suitable, sustainable landscaping isn’t a plant list, nor is it the mandatory turf grass, five trees, fifty shrubs, for every lot.

There are three basic needs of sustainable landscaping: knowledge, efficiency, and proper maintenance.
Deciding on a plant palette doesn’t require an adherence to a plant list. It requires knowledge of the site, which includes sunlight, soil contents, site percolation, and pH conditions. When plant lists are used, the ugliness of cookie-cutter landscapes, less diversity, and higher maintenance properties becomes the norm.
Designing a landscape entails knowing how the site is going to be used and what the building will look like, specifically where the doors and windows, sidewalks, driveways, etc will be placed. This information is crucial to which plants are selected and how the owner of the property will eventually maintain it. Selecting improper plants for a site can mean high maintenance bills with necessity for using chemicals to curtail insect and disease problems, the usual symptoms of an overstressed landscape.

An on-site inspection before the landscape is designed, then again - before the landscape is installed is also necessary. If the site is undeveloped property, depending on how it was graded with roads, swales and utilities installed, the soil conditions may have been impacted since the landscaping plan was designed and need adjustments to the plant recommendations.

New environmental aficionados still want a plant list. “Just tell me what I need to plant” is a familiar plea and when you depend on someone’s expertise, you’re hoping they know what they need to do. The plant list is only a tool to use but just like the familiar adages “the right tool for the job” and “there’s more than one way to skin a cat” – plants lists are not the end-all and frankly, shouldn’t be used except for suggestions for specific plant needs, i.e. xeric, hydric soils or shade loving plants. Recommending a plant list without knowing the site conditions or having a variety of site conditions is tantamount to having an unsustainable landscape.

Getting an efficient irrigation system comes with a price. That can be a hard sell to builders, developers, and homeowners who have become quite comfortable with Florida’s low-cost lifestyle. Water, labor, and materials are cheap compared to other parts of the country, especially when it’s not being correctly done; so changing the mindset of what efficient is can be tricky. Having irrigation systems with 15% to 47% effectiveness isn’t sustainable but it’s usually what the homeowner gets when the bottom line means not informing the end-user of the cost of not installing irrigation correctly.

When improper plants are selected, crammed into an instant landscape , compounded with an inefficient irrigation system, you have an unsustainable landscape. The results are less drought tolerant landscapes, usually more weeds, insects, and diseases resulting in an overuse of chemicals, leading to stormwater runoff issues and a vicious cycle of expensive and high maintenance. High maintenance details of constant pruning, usually with unsterilized or infected tools can lead to spreading of insects and disease, with hedges succumbing to inevitable bare-bottom syndrome and ornamental trees falling prey to crape murder. I’m always amazed at homeowners and businesses settling and paying for these landscape disasters thinking that these disastrous methods are best management practices.

There are plants, shrubs, and trees for every lifestyle and landscape design. There are plants that thrive with shearing and there can be a need for deadheading and pruning after flowering to ensure a vibrant and healthy shrub or tree. Forcing high maintenance and instant landscapes on unsuspecting homeowners and commercial properties that trust that the builders, developers, landscape architects and landscape companies are installing a low maintenance, sustainable landscape, is not good business.

Sustainability is not a plant list but a philosophy. In gardening, sustainability’s philosophy is way of living so that landscape plants, irrigation, and the post-upkeep is efficient, uses resources wisely, and allows for proper maintenance. As more and more sustainable development is achieved, the lower the market costs for the plants, labor, and materials will become.

Researching the property for proper plant selection, determining the seasonal attractiveness so that there is lusciousness and beauty, combined with installing an efficient irrigation system that in the future will mean lower bills for the homeowner and a better use of our precious water supply will benefit the entire state of Florida.

Want to find the right plants for your landscape?  Check out SJRWMD's Waterwise Landscapes.

Spring Water Wise Event

The City of Sanford is doing its part in celebrating Earth Day and educating its residents on water conservation. Its a great opportunity to know more about taking care of your yard? I will be at the Spring Water Wise Event at Lowes this Saturday, April 16, 2011 from 9am until 2pm helping with landscape designs and selecting plants for your backyard. Bring your landscape photos and plant problems so that I can help you make lawn maintenance easier. Bring your old showerheads to exchange for new showerheads. There will also be a rainbarrel workshop.

Harvesting Rain From The Skies

Polish architect students Ryszard Rychlicki and Agnieszka Nowak use gutters that surround the entire building to harvest rainwater for its 500 residents.  Rychlicki and Nowak hope to reduce water use by 25%.

Using rainwater to irrigate is a way of life in Europe and other continents around the world. 

Since 1900 the total water consumption in the US has increased by 1000%. At present, an average American uses five times more water than a citizen of developing countries. Such an increase is related to among others, improved living standards. On the other hand, a national hobby of the Danes is collecting rain water for washing and watering plants. within the last ten years average use of pure water in Denmark dropped by 40% and inhabitants of the so called eco-villages use a third part of the national average.

While acknowledging the health factor of sanitation is important to Americans, we have to really work hard to increase our water efficiency of indoor plumbing and outdoor irrigation.  Using rainbarrels, cisterns, and surface water needs to become more than a hobby - it should become a way of life for our country.

H/T to WebEcoist

NCIS Los Angeles Highlights Water Waste

My husband is a big fan of NCIS and NCIS Los Angeles.  While watching the popular forensic television show on CBS this week, he had to rewind the show so I could watch Hetty touch on the most common insane reason for overwatering lawns.

NCIS Los Angeles, Season 2 Episode 17 "Personal" - February 22nd

NCIS Special Agent Sam Hanna: "Did you just pull that address of the top of your head?"

NCIS Operations Manager Henrietta "Hetty" Lange: "I wouldn't be doing my job if I wasn't keeping track of my agents. Oh, and the by the way, you're overwatering your lawn."

NCIS Special Agent Sam Hanna: "I like a lush lawn."

I wonder if Hetty is wondering ala Renn and Stempy:  "Idiots, I'm surrounded by idiots. "

Edible Landscaping - Florida Style

UPDATE: Read Teresa's an in-depth article on Edible Landscaping for Green Builder magazine on "Edible Landscaping 02" pages 31 - 37.

The International Builders Show in Orlando January 12th - 15th will be showcasing two demonstration homes, Green Builder's Vision House and ReVision House 2011.   (You can see the homes in detail in Green Builder magazine, January, February, April 2011 issues.)

These homes will feature technology and trends in green construction. Using products that will help homeowners conserve energy, water, and provide better air quality is important in these tough economic times. While current costs for this new technology may be more expensive at the onset, homeowners will reap benefits in reduced bills, lower maintenance costs, and better health.

The Vision House is urban-techno farmhouse introducing vegetables and low maintenance into the Orlando infill city lot. This landscape is perfect for busy professionals, having reduced turf areas, small raised garden beds, and patio containers of fruits and vegetables. In the same College Park community, the ReVision House showcases a Napa Valley Florida-style landscape for homeowners who have more time to be outdoors and are gardening enthusiasts. The larger lot features an edible landscape with nut trees, small orchard, berries, and herbs in containers and as ground covers. The home is situated in a cul-de-sac neighborhood and has full sun in the front yard with shade in the backyard.

Both landscapes have incorporated soil amendments of Sodcaster and Turf Pro in the garden beds and turf areas which will improve moisture retention and decrease the need for fertilizer. At the ReVision House, the compost comes from a more refined technology! BCR Environmental donated organic nutrient-rich, odorless compost of biosolids that  have been incorporated into the soils.  Lechuza, elegant self-watering containers are used indoors and outdoors at both houses, saving the homeowners time and money worry about watering and replacing plants that get neglected.

Landscape species were selected based on proper site conditions and mature size that will allow the landscapes to grow naturally and create a biodiverse urban sanctuary for wildlife.  Proper placement of the shrubs and trees reduce the amount of pruning and future maintenance allowing the plants to grow healthy without water and nutrient competition.  The specially selected plant species at the Green Builder demonstration homes - after establishment - will be able to survive on normal rainfall, supplemented by efficient irrigations systems that will be used during droughts. The maintenance of these yards will be minimum with less mowing, less fertilizing, and less pruning - reducing their susceptibility to pest issues. Both of the homes will be certified Florida Water Star, water-conserving indoors and outdoors. The Vision House 2011 receives SJRWMD's highest Gold certification, while the ReVision House 2011, a renovated home earns the Silver certification.

Sponsors of the Vision and ReVision House 2011

Vision House:

Irrigation: Clearwater PSI

• Lechuza, a division of Playmobil - Self-watering containers
• Lake Jem Farms - Zoysiagrass turf supplier
• Sunniland - Soil amendments, stone mulch
• Davey Tree Experts Company - Tree Pruning
• Florida Water Star Certification

ReVision House:
Irrigation: Bruce Hage Irrigation

Landscaping: 

• Chestnuthill Tree Farm - Berries, grapes, fruit and nut trees
• Lechuza, a division of Playmobil - Self-watering Containers
• Lake Jem Farms - Zoysiagrass turf supplier
• BCR Environmental - Compost/Commercial fertilizer derived from biosolids
• Sunniland - Soil amendments
• Davey Tree Experts Company - Tree Pruning
• Landscape Design, Florida Water Star Certification - Teresa Watkins

Being grounded in saving dollars and making sensible decisions regarding our natural resources will certainly become more important in the coming years. Growing your own vegetables, fruits, and herbs is an easy way to start an edible landscape and  take advantage of Florida's warm weather and abundant rainfall.

Both homes will be featured in the January and March issue of Green Builder and on DIY and HGTV.  You can visit the Green Builder Vision and ReVision 2011 homes during the International Builders Show Jan 12th - 15th from 10am to 4pm.

Teresa's article on Central Florida edible landscaping: Edible Landscaping: So Good You Can Eat Them Right Up

Not In My Backyard on In Your Backyard

UPDATE: Lake Frances Estates HOA has tabled the Florida-friendly landscaping complaint for the time being. It seems the HOA's covenants don't restrict Ms. O'Connors ability to have a natural landscaping. We'll be watching to see what happens and that the neighborhood harassment ceases.


UPDATE: Lauren Ritchie and Mo O'Connor will be guests on "In Your Backyard" this morning at 11:15am. Don't miss it! If you're not in the radio listening area, you can listen to "In Your Backyard" on http://www.wlbe.org/.

UPDATE: I drove by Ms. O'Connor's landscaped yard and it's wonderfully low maintenance and very water-friendly. It looks beautiful and I know that the shady lot is cooler than the some of the huge dead and weedy turf lawns in the rest of the community.

Lauren Ritchie has updated the reader's response to her editorial, 'Lauren on Lake' Orlando Sentinel column. Very interesting. The support seems to be on Mo's side! Indeed, Florida needs mo' water conserving yards!

Photo by Lauren Ritchie, Orlando Sentinel

Lauren Ritchie's editorial on Lake Frances Estates HOA's squabble in the Orlando Sentinel certainly showcases that fences make good neighbors and Florida-friendly isn't always friendly.

Mo O' Connor's landscaping has stirred retirees out of their comfort zone and into legal action. For six years she has been retro-designing her Lake County landscape to be more eco-friendly, in other words, less maintenance, less water consuming, and no chemical applications. From Richie's photo, her landscape looks cool in Florida's summer, and easy care. Cranky critics of the landscape say the care-free, natural landscaping encourages snakes and rats. Helloooooooo?!?!!??! This is Florida, home to Silver Springs, where Ross Allen's Serpentarium, and The Creature from the Black Lagoon reside. Florida has over 44 native snake species.




Note to Northerners: Anacondas are not native to Florida.




Repeat after me: "Snakes are your friend." Having black snakes and racers in your yard will stop you from having rodents. Especially if you have an abundance of citrus trees and lakes close by. Snakes benefit by keeping the rodent population controlled. Get rid of the snakes and you will have rats. Lots of them. Lake Frances Estates residents thinking that they don't have snakes living in their yards in a lake-front community makes me wonder how they have survived in Florida. Ireland is the only location in the world that doesn't have snakes, and yes, I know it's an euphemism for pagans, but it's also because of the Ice Age and land isolation.

Tip of the day: Know what to do when you see a snake.

Florida has seen increasing amount of unnecessary water use (particularly in non-native communities of snowbirds) on St. Augustinegrass lawns since the 1990's. Scare tactics of Gestapo-like HOAs threatening lawsuits to any resident who cannot keep their lawn green since the 2005 state legislation seems to be falling on deaf ears. Florida homeowners know that the law, for the most part, is on their side. While this law does not exempt homeowners from having landscapes that are completely gravel, cemented entirely, or ugly, unmowed, and weedy front yards, beauty is in the eye of the beholder. But less turf, more ornamentals, groundcovers, and shade trees are a good alternative to the high maintenance landscapes that can waste up to 200,000 gallons of water per lawn a month.

Mo O' Connor's yen for easy care yard or the Lake Frances Estates HOA's attitude is not unusual. Zellwood Station's HOA board was inundated with complaints about resident Barbara Tubb's Florida Friendly landscape. Uneasy neighbors cited fire hazard with the pine straw mulch. I spoke to the HOA committee and they tabled the charges. Five years later, there hasn't been a fire in this mobile home park.

Florida-friendly landscaping can be attractive, beneficial to wildlife, and protect our natural resources. It's not to be feared. Silver Springs was a world renowned tourist attraction for its natural beauty long before Walt Disney World put Central Florida on the map.

Embracing the natural aesthetics of Florida landscaping is one of our best policies that will help preserve our state's natural resources for future generations.

In Your Backyard - "2010 New Year Resolutions"

Happy New Year! My most important New Year's resolution is to keep this blog up to date! That being said there's a few things that I want to become more serious about and a few promises to myself to nurture my gardening soul. These resolutions will not only help you save money, they will help make our world a better place without compromising our freedom.

1. Get a Rain Gauge - Know how much rain your backyard receives. Adjust irrigation system accordingly. Using a rain gauge to water your landscape only when necessary will help save you money but also save you horticulture problems in the coming year. Most of the disease and pest problems your landscape has to endure is not their fault but the fault of the caretaker's compassionate but cruel care. Most people overwater their turf creating a short-root system. A short root system will be more susceptible to insects, more susceptible to diseases, and be less drought-tolerant. St. Augustine turf only needs 1" - 1.5" inches of water a week.






2. I'm going to create a living fence of orchids. Hanging them in clay pots from my shaded fence. Orchids are easy to grow outside under shade in Florida. Right now I have dendrobiums hanging from beautiful dried wood and they bloom for me three times a year with only Mother Nature's help. Here's another good orchid site.





3. I'm going to visit a Lake County Open Preserve that I have never been to or hiked. LCWA provides free canoe and kayak rentals. Great opportunity to see pristine and restored wetlands, scrub habitats, and native plants. I've been to Bourlay Historic Nature Park, Crooked River Preserve, Flat Island Preserve, Hidden Waters Preserve, Sabal Bluff Preserve, and Sawgrass Island Preserve and Wolfbranch Creek Preserve. This leaves Lake Norris Conservation Area to explore. Can't wait for spring to get here!





4. I am resolved to educate more people to remove exotic invasives from their yards! Invaders like Brazilian Pepper and Chinaberry Trees. The Florida Exotic Pest Plant Council has a great brochure to download and learn about exotics.


5. Reduce my water use by 10,000 gallons this year. Replace my toilet. Fix a leak Replace clotheswasher. Showerhead. Based on one 10-minute shower a day, an energy-efficient, low-flow showerhead can save up to 10,000 gallons of water a year, representing a $145 energy savings You can also check out The Best Low-Flow Showerhead review.

Other topics on the radio show today:

• Cold hardy palms. Palms that won't freeze in Florida or even South Carolina!



February 2009 - Frozen Queen palms at a nursery in Volusia County (and this winter will be colder.)


• Weather Underground - Check current weather and predictions, weekly, monthly, and annual rainfall.


• Word of the Day: Humectants - A humectant is a substance used primarily in foods and cosmetic products to help retain moisture.

LISTEN TO TODAY's SHOW.

Turning Water Into Fire

What if running your car, bus, tractor, train, plane, was as easy as filling it with water? It's in the works if one Florida man figures out what he did.

A Florida man may have accidentally invented a machine that could help solve the gasoline and energy crisis plaguing the U.S., television station WPBF reported.

Sanibel Island resident John Kanzius is a former broadcast executive from Pennsylvania who wondered if his background in physics and radio could come in handy in treating the disease from which he suffers: cancer.

Kanzius, 63, invented a machine that emits radio waves in an attempt to kill cancerous cells while leaving normal cells intact. While testing his machine, he noticed that his invention had other unexpected abilities.

Read what Mr. Kanzius has discovered.

Most of China's Water Polluted

Reuters is reporting that two-thirds of China's water supply is polluted.

Only 37.6 percent of 585 cities surveyed had air quality "indicating a clean and healthy environment," down 7.3 percentage points from 2005, the China Daily said, citing a report by the State Environmental Protection Agency (SEPA).

Thirty-nine cities, many scattered across the northern coal-rich province of Shanxi and China's northeastern rustbelt province of Liaoning, suffered "severe" air pollution, the paper said.

"The report also found that the ratio of quality water in the major urban areas, either for drinking or industrial use, had dropped by 7.24 percent," the paper said.
Two hundred cities had no "centralized sewage management system" and 187 had no garbage disposal plants, it said.

The government planned to have at least 70 percent of sewage and at least 60 percent of garbage treated effectively by 2010, but "the environment issue remains of serious concern and there is difficulty realizing the goal," the paper quoted the report as saying.

The report comes as the capital Beijing on Tuesday was shrouded in thick smog, which local media said was exacerbated by smoke blown into the city from crop burning in neighboring provinces.

On Monday night, an index measuring air pollution from Beijing's southern Daxing county read over 850 particles of "particulate matter" per square meter, which was eight times the norm, the Beijing News said.

North America Facing Worst Drought In History

A British newspaper, The Independent, reporting that America is facing it's worst drought in history, worse than the Dust Bowl years during the late 1920's.

From the mountains and desert of the West, now into an eighth consecutive dry year, to the wheat farms of Alabama, where crops are failing because of rainfall levels 12 inches lower than usual, to the vast soupy expanse of Lake Okeechobee in southern Florida, which has become so dry it actually caught fire a couple of weeks ago, a continent is crying out for water.

In the south-east, usually a lush, humid region, it is the driest few months since records began in 1895. California and Nevada, where burgeoning population centres co-exist with an often harsh, barren landscape, have seen less rain over the past year than at any time since 1924. The Sierra Nevada range, which straddles the two states, received only 27 per cent of its usual snowfall in winter, with immediate knock-on effects on water supplies for the populations of Las Vegas and Los Angeles.

The human impact, for the moment, has been limited, certainly nothing compared to the great westward migration of Okies in the 1930 - the desperate march described by John Steinbeck in The Grapes of Wrath.

Big farmers are now well protected by government subsidies and emergency funds, and small farmers, some of whom are indeed struggling, have been slowly moving off the land for decades anyway. The most common inconvenience, for the moment, are restrictions on hosepipes and garden sprinklers in eastern cities.

But the long-term implications are escaping nobody.

Meanwhile, China is flooding - Millions suffering.

Climate change raises threat of water wars

Mikhail Gorbachev on water wars and the need for water conservation. I wondered where he went. He's now the chairman of the Board of the Green Cross International.

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change recently released alarming data on the consequences of global warming in some of the world's poorest regions. By 2100, 1 billion to 3 billion people worldwide are expected to suffer from water scarcity. Global warming will increase evaporation and severely reduce rainfalls — by up to 20 percent in the Middle East and North Africa — with the amount of water available per person possibly halved by midcentury in these regions.

This sudden scarcity of an element whose symbolic and spiritual importance matches its centrality to human life will cause stress and exacerbate conflicts worldwide. Africa, the Middle East, and Central Asia will be the first to be exposed. The repercussions, however, will be global.

Read the whole article co-written with Jean-Michel Severino, the CEO of the French Development Agency

LA Residents Told To Cut Showers

Los Angeles residents have been asked to cut their showers to help conserve water during the drought.

Los Angeles residents were urged on Wednesday to take shorter showers, reduce lawn sprinklers and stop throwing trash in toilets in a bid to cut water usage by 10 percent in the driest year on record.

With downtown Los Angeles seeing a record low of 4 inches of rain since July 2006 -- less than a quarter of normal -- and with a hot, dry summer ahead, Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa said the city needed "to change course and conserve water to steer clear of this perfect storm."

It is the driest year since rainfall records began 130 years ago.

The Eastern Sierra mountains, where Los Angeles gets about half of its water supply, marked its second-lowest snowpack on record this year. That and the lack of rainfall could force the nation's second largest city into full drought mode in coming months, officials said.

Below average rainfall for the past few years has also turned the traditional summer southern California fire season into an all-round event. Firefighters battled two major brush fires in May alone, at the Los Angeles landmark Griffith Park and on the tourist island of Catalina.