Lois de Vries' Garden Views

Touring Leaning Pine Arboretum with Hunter Francis and Chris Wassenberg   Is gardening sustainable? Well, that depends on our definition of what sustainable gardening is, doesn’t it?   The short answers are no, and no. Why? When we say a system is “sustainable,” we imply that it will stay the same without additional inputs of whatever keeps that system running. Look out the window. If you took a two-month vacation in high summer, how would your garden look when you came home? Without someone to take care of it while you’re away….. If it would be a disaster, with brown grass, shrubs dropping their leaves, and perennials fried to a crisp, plants defoliated by insect pests, or decimated by disease, then your garden is not very sustainable. If, instead, it would look pretty much the same as when you left, except that it would be less tidy and everything would seem to have grown six inches, then it’s more sustainable. Despite what you may have heard, there’s no such thing as ...

The Sustainable Gardening Library Home Page The Sustainable Gardening Library makes it easy for homeowners to find the information they need to create their own environmentally friendly gardens, for professionals to find information on sustainable landscape practice, and for those who want to grow wholesome food to find information on alternative farming methods. Our founders care deeply about the future of our planet, the other species with whom we share it, wise and respectful use of the land, and how our food is produced. You can help by becoming a Sustainable Gardening Library collaborator.   We’re looking for public gardens and arboreta, colleges and universities, government agencies, and other nonprofit horticultural or agricultural education organizations that want to share their content on sustainable gardening and farming research, demonstration gardens and projects, and sustainable landscape practices. It’s Easy to Work with Us   You • ...

Americans are interested We’ve built the Sustainable Gardening Library Our goal is to ferret out those techniques that provide the best potential for helping people garden and farm more sustainably. We’re doing it by curating and organizing resources from expert sources and delivering them through an interactive web application. We’re breaking down barriers by promoting the exchange of sustainable gardening information between and among public gardens, arboreta, and other educational non-profits, colleges and universities, and government agencies, taking a new, cross-disciplinary approach. If your organization has relevant content, let’s talk. Contact The Sustainable Gardening Library is comprehensive, but not overwhelming Too much information is the bane of everyone’s existence these days, but particularly for those who would rather be planting than searching though millions of web pages for answers to simple questions. That’s why the Sustainable Gardening Library is special...

Give the Earth a hug on Earth Day (credit: SoulPancake) How do you love the Earth through gardening? Soul Pancake’s video Props to the Planet is my go-to inspiration for Earth Day and every day. It asks people to pause a moment to reflect on how, why, and what they love about our planet. It brings a complex subject down to earth. It shows, in a spontaneous way, how loving the Earth is fun and makes both people and the planet happy. On Earth Day, it seems appropriate for those of us who enjoy gardening, or simply experiencing gardens, to pause and think about how we can love the Earth through our favorite pastime. I’ll kick us off: How do you love the Earth through gardening? I act as a steward of my small corner of the world and am mindful of protecting its natural ecosystems and providing wildlife habitat. I enjoy the beauty of exotic and ornamental flowers as much as anyone, but have learned over time that some of them are not very well-behaved in our region, so I respect the ...

Feeding time at the Duke Farms Eagles' Nest Over the Easter weekend, two Bald Eagle chicks hatched at Duke Farms. Their heritage is a long and complex one that includes many unsung heroes – folks who dedicated their lives to ensuring that the single mating pair that remained in New Jersey in 1976 was not the last. In New Jersey, Bald Eagles are still considered state-endangered for the breeding season and state-threatened for the non-breeding season. State regulatory protection remains unchanged even though they have been removed from the federal Endangered Species list. The story of the near-extinction of these majestic birds throughout the lower 48 states is just one example of why sustainable farming practices are so important. Bald Eagle population decline is directly tied to the pesticide DDT, which caused severe thinning of the eggs’ shells and resulting nest failures. DDT was widely used in U.S. agriculture from 1945 through the 1950s. The alarm sounded by Rachel Carson...

This cart does a great job of hauling firewood. Load capacity: 800lbs. A tractor cart that converts to a wheelbarrow The EZ-Stow Hauler™ is a big hit at our house. The Undergardener says: “This is really well-made and sturdy.” I use it to move leaves around the yard, to mulch my roses and perennials, to haul away pruned branches and trimmings from perennials and shrubs, and to move tools and containers around our property. But it can also handle heavy loads. Whether you’re using it as a wheelbarrow or pulling it behind a tractor, the cart is easy to maneuver and the center of gravity keeps it well-balanced. Ease of Use Once you’ve decided whether you want to use the EZ-Stow Hauler™ as a wheelbarrow or tractor cart, there isn’t much to do. Just assemble it, and off you go. You can check out the full review of the EZ-Stow Hauler™ at http://gardeningproductsreview.com/ez-stow-hauler-review/ and see why I gave it a 5-shovel rating.

We’ve got a simple solution – let us host your content in SGI’s Sustainable Gardening Library 50 key organized and curated topics Science-based, authoritative information Everything in one place Quick and easy to use Cross-disciplinary approach Uses multiple expert sources Incorporates GIS-mapping Enables social sharing The Sustainable Gardening Library is the single, centralized, easy-to-use, authoritative repository for information on sustainable gardening and farming practices. It’s accessed via a state-of-the-art, web-based mapping portal and supports Word, pdf, jpg, files and video links. Currently, we’re recruiting organizations that want to provide accurate, vetted, science-based information to journalists, students, scholars, researchers, educators, and the general public on how to become active caretakers of Earth’s resources beginning right in our own back yards. If you’d like to join us, just let us know .   If you’d like to support The Sustainable Gar...