The Problem with Invasive Plants

Did you know that a lot of the common ornamental plants that many people used in their landscaping are actually non-native plant species.  Some of these species are quite benign and do exactly what they are meant to do.  They are planted, they bloom and die and that is the end of them.  But in many cases that is not what happens, in some cases the plant escapes its confines and spreads uncontrolled into the surrounding ecosystem. 

This usually does not go well for the local flora and fauna of that ecosystem.  When this new unknown plant spreads it will usually do so unchecked due to the lack of predators and diseases that kept it in check and balanced with it original ecosystem. 

One in particular that I want to talk about is a plant called Kudzu.  If you live in the South, East or Northwestern part of the U.S you are probably familiar with this menace already.  Imported from Asia in the late 1800- early 1900 this plant was brought over for a variety or purposes.  It was used in erosion control, livestock forage and some food and "medicinal uses".  However by 1953 it was shown to work all to well at the job it was brought over here for.  It spreads quickly about 1 ft/day and is resistant to many common herbicides.  This plant once brought over to be helpful to us is now the bane to the existence of many landowners and homeowners. 

But what is done is done and the many species we brought over are here to stay and there is not much we can do about it except continue to manage and control them as best we can.

What can we do to help?  

1. Learn the local invasive plants and control/eradicate them from your property.
2. Dont plant non-native ornamental on your land.
3. Research into local natives that will do what you want/need.
4. Tell others about the damage that invasives cause.

Prairie Lily by Josh Larson

This beautiful Prairie Lily on the right is a native to much of the Midwest and it a great addition to any native landscaping.  Seeds for this beautiful native flower can be found at many native seed stores.  One that I know of is the Prairie Moon Nursery near Winona, MN.  If we all do our little bit we can help this poor beleaguered country of ours and bring back the native wonder it once had.

For more information about invasive and native plants you can talk to your local extension agent or check out land management agency sites like the Forest Service, Fish and Wildlife Service and NRCS.

 

Until next time my fellow environmentalists

 

Josh 

 

 

3rd Update of My Texas Winter Garden

If you have been following along this is my 3rd installment of My Texas Winter Garden.  The goals of this garden were to grow the cool season crops of radishes, beets, lettuce and spinach during my time here in Texas.  To do this I utilized a greenhouse and a control planting exposed to the elements.  So far the results have been dramatic but expected and what I hoped to achieve from my research.


 Below are pictures that pretty much say it all.

Control Lettuce

Greenhouse Lettuce

You can see in the picture on the left the control lettuce planting is barely out of the ground and is only about 1 inch in height.  On the other hand the picture below depicts the same variety of lettuce planted on the same day.  You can clearly tell from the picture that it is much larger and healthier than the control.  Though countless tests and studies have clearly shown that greenhouses moderate and improve growing conditions sometimes it takes seeing it for yourself to really let it sink in.  I still have hope for the control lettuce that it may rebound and become edible.  One thing I am fairly certain of is that I will be enjoying the greenhouse lettuce long before the control lettuce.

I cannot speculate on the spinach that I planted since my dogs decided some digging was needed in that garden bed and my spinach was lost in the crossfire.  Though I can guess the results would be similar to that of the lettuce.

Cover Crops

In addition to this my cover crop plantings in a third garden bed are going well.  The Winter Rye and Hairy Vetch mix seems to be fairing better than the lettuce though I have not gotten the growth that I expected with it being largely unchanged since the last update.  If it hasn't been irreparably harmed by the cold temperatures it was exposed to I expect the growth will take off in the next month as temperatures continue to warm and sunlight get stronger with the approach of spring. 


Until next time fellow environmentalists

Josh

Native Landscaping for the Frugal Enivironmentalist

What comes to mind when you think of landscaping?

Probably something like heavy equipment, ornamental plantings, laying down weed barrier and highly processed wood chips as mulch and heavy crushed stone or masonry mined and transported across the country.

That's about what runs through my mind when I think about it.  But none of these things have what could be called a stellar record for reducing environmental impact.  You need petroleum to run the Bobcats and trucks to haul the ornamental invasive plants around.  Those invasive plants then escape the landscaped areas and impact the surrounding environment by suppressing native species and destroying native ecosystems.  While the stone and masonry itself is not to damaging to the environment the processes by which it is harvested, processed and transported is damaging. 

With all this in mind how was I to create the landscaping that I wanted without causing any undo environmental impact.  I chose to use one of the oldest methods know to environmentalists and I recycled.

Using the humble brick, a shovel and a garden rake my girlfriend and I  laid out the basic design of a flat curve running from the back deck to the fence on the edge of the yard.  We did this using bricks that had been pulled up from a old patio on the property.  Later in the year near the end of February I will broadcast seed of native grasses and native flowers into this landscaping form.  When sprouted these plants will provide a eye catching, beautiful landscaped area full of native Texas plants and recycled bricks without spending undo amounts of money and having very little environmental impact.

This landscaping will also serve as a line between the raked, mowed and otherwise manicured part of the lawn; separating it from the space where we let the needle and leaf fall form a natural mulch.  This will create a "wild" part of the property which will add diversity to the house and help reduce its environmental impact.
  
Until next time my fellow environmentalists

Josh     

Update on My Texas Winter Garden



Greenhouse Lettuce

So far I have had good growth on on my garden both inside the greenhouse and outside.  I will note that the greenhouse plants are doing much better than the ones exposed to the elements.  Both types of spinach and lettuce that I have planted in the greenhouse are about 2x the size of the ones in plots outside. 



Dead Tomato Seedling

I also am having good growth in my cover crop bed with the winter rye and hairy vetch growing well andso far they have been very frost tolerant.  We have had some cold temperatures here the last few weeks and that did kill off my cherry tomato plant.  It was not a cold tolerant species and I was simply curious to see if the added protection of the greenhouse would save it.  It appears that on this scale at least that answer is no. 


Exposed Lettuce

A couple considerations I will have to keep in mind is that the area is the am protecting is not large therefore it isn't buffered as well against the temperature swings like a larger enclosed structure would be.  Also most greenhouse plastic is 6 ml and I am using 2 ml plastic because it was the easiest and cheapest available to me.

So far the experiment is going well and overall I am getting the results I expected from my research and small scale experiments.  I will also note at this time that I am not getting the growth I was hoping for due mainly to the cooler temperatures and the lack of sunny days.

Until next time my fellow environmentalists.

Josh