landscaping

Chances are you enjoyed an heirloom tomato or two this summer--those wizened, wrinkled, motley-colored yet thoroughly delicious fruits grown from the same kinds of seeds your great-great-grandmother might have carried across the Rockies in a covered wagon long before anyone ever thought to genetically engineer a seedless beefsteak the size of your head. (And if you've never tried an heirloom tomato, get thee to Trader Joe's this minute, where out of season heirlooms still grace the shelves. They go nicely with the organic basil leaves and fresh mozarella, with just a drizzle of olive oil.)

We were delighted to read in the Alternative Consumer this week about Trees of Antiquity, an outfit that deals in heirloom trees--that is, specimens that haven't been cross-bred to a fare-thee-well like some exotic variety of teacup poodle. Which doesn't mean you can't have variety, as the online store stocks everything from Apples and Apricots to Jujubes and Pawpaws. Now is the time to order your trees, which can be shipped in their dormant state in January for early planting.

If you'd like to shop around, blogger William Rubel has a nicely curated list of sources for heirloom fruit trees posted on his blog, where you can also find fascinating information about traditional cooking methods from around the world, should you decide to bake an heirloom apple pie. 

And the iVillage Garden Web has a lively Heirloom Plants & Gardens Forum--you've gotta love how technology makes it easier for us to get back to the basics.

How green is your garden? How often do you need to water your lawn? Are your plants native? Are they drought-tolerant? These are questions all homeowners should ask themselves, and questions that developers and landscapers will probably be required to ask in the future if they want their projects to be LEED-Certified.

According to a recent press release, the American Society of Landscape Architects (ASLA), the University of Texas at Austin’s Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center, and the United States Botanic Garden are collaborating to develop a rating system for sustainable landscape design, called the Sustainable Sites Initiative.

The initiative will resemble the rating systems developed by the U.S. Green Building Council as part of their LEED programs, and will measure the sustainability of commercial, residential, and public landscape projects.

So what's the big news that ASLA plans to announce tomorrow during a press conference at its Annual Expo? The USGBC is supporting the project and plans to adopt the Sustainable Sites metrics into its LEED system once the initiative is finished.

This means that sustainable landscaping will take its place alongside green building materials, insulation, energy conservation, and all the other highly-prioritized LEED mandates.

Currently there is no rating system to guide landscape development in a green project -- and, according to ASLA, "sustainable landscape design can save billions of dollars in infrastructure and environmental costs while reducing individual maintenance and utility bills."

Image via daniel wildman; sxc.hu

I happened upon this great looking Green Screen wall that can be used for climbing plants, trellises and possibly even a pebble wall. The best part is that they are made of recyclable material. They would look terrific on our landscape, and we're hoping they are affordable. I'll call them up and see then will post prices on my blog....READ MORE at http://sjodindreamhome.blogspot.com

One Monday. Cyber-Rain announced their new wireless sprinkler control system for your present and future yard...and, just because it says “wireless”, doesn’t mean it’s only for techies.

This $299 sprinkler control system can save consumers 30-70% on watering bills says the company. While most sprinkler control systems on the market today rely on timers to regulate watering schedules, the Cyber-Rain system automatically adjusts watering levels based on YOUR local weather forecast, saving money, water and reducing pollution-causing runoff by stopping sprinkler systems on rainy days, automatically decreasing the watering schedule on cold or humid days, and increasing it on hot and dry days!

Question: How does the Cyber-Rain XCI do this?
Answer: Via your family PC!

The Cyber-Rain sprinkler control system and your computer speak directly to each other wirelessly, and Cyber-Rain talks to the Internet via your computer to get the weather forecast. You don’t need to have wireless in your home, and there is no complicated...Read the complete story at www.GetWithGreen.com

Surprise surprise, reforestation begins at home--and it can even save you money. Green Options has publsihed an article by Paul Pruefrock today on landscaping for reduced home energy consumption. Ever notice how farmhouses in the middle of hot, dry fields are always surrounded by a ring of shade trees? Before there was air-conditioning, there was good, old-fashioned shade.

Pruefrock writes that planting trees can greatly reduce energy consumption in both summer and winter:

"In the summertime, steps you take to keep the outside of the house cooler can help lower (or maybe even eliminate) the amount of air conditioning you need to run. And providing evergreen plants to buffer the north walls, as well as the direction of the prevailing winter winds (often, but not always, to the west), can help stop drafts and help keep the house warmer in the winter."

You can find tree-planting instructions here, and at arborday.org. To learn more about trees that will grow quickly to provide shade and insulation, visit Fast Growing Trees, and if you want to feed your family in the bargain, you can find more information at the Fruit Tree Planting Society.

A reader wrote in:

Today on KCTS in Seattle I saw an episode on lawns - how to grow them moreenvironmentally or how to replace them but I cannot find anything on yourweb site.

Patty