Extension News: January 2008 Archives

A new way of thinking about landscaping home grounds and public spaces

New Hampshire's rapid development over the past four decades has replaced natural plant and animal communities with landscapes that often appear as an afterthought, replicating the same few plants over and over again," says Mary Tebo, UNH Cooperative Extension's community forestry educator.

"This cookie-cutter approach weakens natural communities, reduces plant and animal species diversity, degrades soils and water quality, and destroys the look and feel of the land that form our sense of place. Another result of disturbance is proliferation of invasive plants that crowd out native plants and imperil endangered species. Invasives alone cover more than 100 million acres across the nation and cost U.S. taxpayers billions."

Looking to nature for guidance

"But what if we looked to New Hampshire's natural ecosystems for guidance? By following nature's lead we can create landscapes and gardens that not only add beauty and increase property value, but that also protect soils, promote species diversity, reduce pollution, minimize energy and labor costs, recycle wastes, support the local economy, and look and feel as if they belong in New Hampshire.

"That's the approach we take in our new book, Integrated Landscaping: Following Nature's Lead," says Tebo.

"Integrated landscaping features multi-layered plant systems that grow and change over time," she says. "It proceeds holistically. Every step in integrated landscape, from initial conceptual design, to plant selection, establishment and ongoing maintenance, anticipates or loops back to connect with every other step."

Besides Tebo, the book's authors include landscape designer and permaculturist Lauren Chase-Rowell, geographer and low-impact living advocate Kate Hartnett, and professional artist and teaching naturalist Marilyn Wyzga. The idea for the book emerged after a conference where the four women got to talking about the need for information that would help landowners faced with challenging environments such as wet or droughty areas or small, tight spaces make environmentally sensitive decisions about landscaping.

A grant from the N.H. State Conservation Committee (the "moose-plate" fund) got the book project underway.

A book anybody can use: homeowners, professional landscapers, municipal planners and community developers

"We've created a book anybody can pick up and create a beautiful, multi-functional landscape, whether their space is a postage-stamp garden, a parking lot island, a municipal park, or a large backyard," Tebo says.

"We invite readers to take a fresh look at their existing landscapes by asking questions such as: How does it follow nature's lead already? Does it keep soils covered? Are there any invasive species present? Are any plant layers missing? Plants that provide food or homes for wildlife? Can an individual tree or shrub become the foundation for a multi-layered plant system?"

Lavishly illustrated, Integrated Landscaping features original photos, drawings, and sketches on almost every page to provide clear examples of the concepts presented. The book also incorporates 12 plant-system models that help landscapers and gardeners apply the concepts of layering and visualize how plants can work together in a variety of different low- and high-stress settings.

Integrated Landscaping provides extensive plant selection charts and lists, worksheets for completing a comprehensive site inventory, plus appendices that offer more information on the many topics presented.

The 162-page book costs $20, plus $4 shipping and handling for mail orders

Order online

Peek inside Integrated Landscaping: Following Nature's Lead

I brushed a mere dusting of snow off the car when I left that parking lot south of here. Suddenly it was coming down real hard and blowing right straight into the windshield, getting harder to see the road.

Lowering the sun visor seemed to help a little. Should've wiped clean the headlights before I left. Too late now. I think I'm still on the road, hard to tell though, I might be edging into that cornfield. No pull-off plowed out yet to let me pull over. Not sure I would anyway.

That character is following so close he'd probably plow into me if I stopped. Guess my tail lights are his security blanket or something. Holy smokes, buddy! Back off a little!

Keeping winter roads open: expensive
White-knuckled driving. If you've lived in New Hampshire for any time at all, you've experienced it. It's a common occurrence in all northern parts of the U.S., particularly those flat open regions of the West and Midwest. Staying on top of wind-blown, drifting snow is a constant chore for plow drivers, and snow removal costs can run pretty high.

A while back a county in Idaho kept track of what it cost to keep open a two-mile stretch of road. It ran upwards of $20,000; that was back in the 1990s, with lower fuel and other expenses than today. Their solution, with an eye towards both lower expenditures and improved driving conditions, was to plant a "living snow fence" the next spring.

Utility of living windbreaks
Call them what you like: windbreaks, shelter-belts, living snow fences, these plantings are popular in many parts of the country. Done right, they're more than just a haphazard line of shrubs and trees. In a properly constructed windbreak, careful bio-engineering considers design, location and plant species selection to achieve the intended results.

Like a structural barrier, a windbreak works by slowing down wind speed, causing the snow to settle out of the air into a designated area away from buildings and roadways. Long-lived plant barriers also offer a lot of other benefits. I think they have a place on many farms and rural homesteads.

Wind makes it worse
Wind exaggerates normal weather conditions, making everything a good bit harder to do. A glance at wind-chill charts illustrates that pretty well. Air temperature zero degrees? Add a 20mph wind to that and it's now 39 below. Add snow and you've got a double whammy.

Dense, multiple-row windbreaks can pile up snow where you want it. Somewhat like a sheltered deer yard. Lower-density field breaks can be used to uniformly spread snow over a larger area.

Grow your own
The materials for constructing these are easy to obtain (see article on State Forest Nursery) and could already be growing on your property. Besides buffering winds, these living screens can screen and soundproof unattractive or noisy areas, improve wildlife habitat, possibly even add extra income from agro-forestry products.

Learn more about windbreaks

by Steve Turaj, Extension educator, Coos County

Changes in the state's Comprehensive Shoreland Protection Act (CSPA) go into effect April 1. To help natural resource professionals and concerned citizens understand the changes and bring them up to date on a variety of water quality issues, the N.H. Department of Environmental Services will hold a workshop Wednesday, February 13, at the Hugh Gregg Coastal Conservation Center at Sandy Point in Greenland from 8:00 until noon.

This workshop will cover shoreland ecology and the underlying basis for the CSPA, updates and changes to the CSPA, and a field exercise to demonstrate how to use the CSPA on the shore. There will be plenty of time to discuss the changes and to be sure participants are comfortable with the CSPA.

Presenters include Arlene Allen, the Shoreland Protection Outreach Coordinator of the NHDES Wetlands Bureau and Jeff Schloss, Water Resources specialist at UNH Cooperative Exension.

Please come prepared to spend an hour outside for the field exercise. There is no charge for the workshop, but please confirm your plans to attend so the organizers can make sure there are enough materials. Send your name and contact information to Steve@Greatbay.org or call 778-0015 ext. 305 and leave a message with the same information.

Come early to sign in, review handouts, and meet others interested in this topic. The N.H. Department of Environmental Services, UNH Cooperative Extension and the Great Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve sponsor this workshop.

What used to come to mind when people talked about going “green” was the use of compost and organic solutions for insect, disease and fertility problems in the garden. But thanks to the concerns of citizens all over the globe, going green has risen from practices adopted by a few to mainstream culture.

In fact, going green is often referred to now as being "eco-friendly" or environmentally sustainable, and has its own terminology and set of parameters. Manufacturers of many home and garden products have been quick to climb on this bandwagon, touting their products as eco-friendly, in the hope that you will purchase their product for this reason.

But what does eco-friendly really mean? What is it that makes a product eco-friendly? Eco-friendly products are products made of environmentally-friendly materials. They usually contain recycled materials or "rapid renewables." Recycled materials are those that had a previous use and are now being re-used in a new way.

One example is the use of newsprint in the garden as a mulch to control weeds. Another way to recycle would be to use salvaged materials, as our family did when turning part of a discarded candle-pin bowling alley into a new dining table. It could mean products that may contain "rapid renewables" or sustainable materials. Commonly known examples are bamboo and cork.

Using "rapid renewables" helps to protect precious natural resources. It is usually easy and economical to quickly replace these products, sustaining a steady supply without depleting our natural resources. However, bamboo and cork come from tropical countries and must travel long distances to reach us. A better source might be wood from our native New Hampshire forests and stone from our native bedrock.

Products that have gone through very little processing before coming to market are considered eco-friendly as well because they consume very little energy during manufacturing.

Examples include granite steps or benches, stone pavers and some wood products. Products that are handmade also tend to use little energy during manufacture, and so are considered environmentally friendly.

Eco-friendly products are as free as possible from harmful chemicals and compounds. In production, the use of toxic compounds such as wood preservatives or creosote, volatile organic compounds, chlorine and PVCs (these deplete the ozone layer) are reduced or eliminated.

This also applies to organic food, produced using management practices defined under the Organic Foods Production Act. Organically-grown food is produced in a way that replenishes and maintains soil fertility, uses minimal off-farm inputs, uses no synthetic fertilizers or pesticides, and encourages a biologically diverse agricultural system. Organic foods are one alternative. Another would be locally-produced, unprocessed food that doesn’t travel to us from across the country or even from outside the country.

One goal of true eco-friendly product manufacturers is to minimize depletion of the environment during production and transportation to market. Manufacturing plants often have high heating, cooling and electric costs, and many require large amounts of water. Eco-friendly manufacturers try to reduce their dependence on natural resources like water. They actively recycle and work to reduce their energy use. Their products have minimal packaging, and that packaging often consists of recycled materials. Distribution may be limited to keep the use of fuel to a minimum. Companies that use hand labor to manufacture, package and distribute their product, rather than machines, are also considered environmentally friendly.

Eco-friendly products have multiple purposes. They are manufactured from environmentally-friendly materials and often have a long shelf life. One example is cloth bags. These can be made of jute, hemp or other materials. They are used to bag groceries, carry books and a multitude of other tasks and they last for years. In addition, they help people reduce the amount of goods they need to purchase, thus reducing the amount of goods that need to be manufactured. Lastly, such products help people reduce the amount of trash that gets sent to landfills.

Eco-friendly products often come from companies where working conditions are humane and healthy, and their workers are paid a living wage. Known as fair trade, this affects humans and is one more component of what makes a product "green." Fair trade is about making a decent living, and most of us have heard this term used in relation to coffee and tea growers in other parts of the world.

Eco-friendly products often reduce the environmental impact of the building in which they’re housed. One recent example is a local radio station that advertises the use of solar power to run the station. Composting toilets, appliances that use electricity efficiently (e.g., ENERGY STAR), products powered with solar energy, efficient wood stove/furnaces and devices that remove pollutants from the air are all eco-friendly.

So how do you know if a product is truly eco-friendly of if the promotional material is just hype? To really know, you have to become a highly-educated consumer. Sometimes that just means reading the ingredients on the label carefully. Sometimes products meet certain standards or are endorsed by a well-respected entity.

If a product is certified organic, for example, you know it has been produced using certain practices and that an inspector has verified that the grower or producer has followed those practices. Sometimes it means doing a little research into the manufacturing practices of the company selling the product. Ultimately, it means deciding which of all the elements that go into making a product "green" matter most to you, and then basing your buying decisions accordingly.

By Margaret Hagen, UNH Cooperative Extension Educator, Agricultural Resources