Toward Sustainable Landscape Design
Special Request from the fish of the Doan Brook & Lake Erie: Oxygen please! Doan Brook Watershed Partnership works promote: – Wise Water Use and Water Efficiency – Green waste reduction – Fertilizer management – Native Plantings – Pollution Prevention – Soil Health – Pollinators, Birds, Wildlife – Food Gardens – Composting • Doan Brook is 11.3 miles long – Integrative Pest Management • The watershed area is about 11.9 square – Alternative Groundcover miles – Permaculture • Ecological Address to over 64,000 people
Sustainable Landscaping or Getting your Lawn off Drugs Sustainable landscaping is guided by the basic principle of ecology: interconnectedness. Tending to our local landscapes can either work in harmony with our environment or against it, usually the later. Consider the following Impacts of our common model for domestic and commercial landscapes:
Air Pollution & Fossil Fuel Consumption: A lawn-mower per hour = pollution of ??? Cars per hour? 11 or one car driven 100 miles • Each weekend, about 54 million Americans mow their lawns, using 800 million gallons of gas per year and producing tons of air pollutants. • Landscapes consume petroleum, indirectly, through transportation, fertilizer and pesticide production, and unnecessary yard “waste” disposal.
Harm To Biodiversity - Pesticides • 7 million = approximate bird deaths per year For one pest eliminated by pesticides, 1000 beneficial species are killed in • the process at $40 billion per year = value of pollination to U.S. agriculture • • Declining Honey bees are believed to be responsible for 80% of all pollination in the US • Beetles pollinate about 88 percent of all flowering plants in the world.
Harm To Biodiversity - Habitat Loss • Traditional development results in habitat loss, fragmentation – lawn habitat is now found in every geographic region of the country • 1/4 of all species in the world are facing extinction in 50 years • Habitat fragmentation and broken "nectar corridors", used by migrating pollinators such as bats, butterflies and hummingbirds, contain less food and often heavy pesticide applications
Great Lakes Basin Land Use 1985 100% 90% 2 1 80% 4 1 4 9 70% 6 8 60% Percent 9 1 50% of Basin 6 7 40% 4 4 3 9 30% 20% 2 7 10% 9 7 3 10 1 2 5 6 5 3 1 0% L. Superior L. M ichigan L. Huron L. Erie L. Ontario Forest / Agriculture / Residential /Other
Harm to Biodiversity - Invasive Plants Garlic Mustard • Exotic plants escape, invade, and out-compete native biodiversity (or biodiversity period) to create low- functioning landscapes Yellow Flag Iris
Impacts to health: You, me, our kids & pets Childhood leukemia is 6 times greater in families using lawn pesticides (US National Cancer Institute) Homeowners use about 10 times more chemical pesticides per acre on their lawns than farmers use on crops (U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service)
Expensive to Maintain • $40billion/year spent on lawn care • 1 acre of American lawn costs $400-700/year to maintain • Average homeowner spends 40 hours/year mowing – That’s one week of vacation!
Water - Consumption of Natural Resources • Lawns use 30% of municipal fresh water supply in East; 60% in West • A little perspective: In one day, 200,000 gallons of water can irrigate one golf course or meet the daily water needs of 2200 Americans
Water – Fertilizer & Pesticide Pollution • 40-60% of nitrogen applied to our yards ends up in rivers, lakes and groundwater • In the US each year, we use about 67 million lbs of pesticides = FOUR TIMES more than the amount used by the agricultural industry Green Lake in Shaker: eutrophic conditions lead to odor and zero oxygen
Dissolved Reactive Phosphorus in Lake Erie Maumee Cuyahoga 0.8 0.9 0.4 0.4 0.0 -0.1 1975 1980 1985 1990 1995 2000 1975 1980 1985 1990 1995 2000 Sandusky Grand 0.3 0.6 0.0 0.2 -0.2 -0.3 1975 1980 1985 1990 1995 2000 1975 1980 1985 1990 1995 2000 Source: P. Richards, Heidelberg College
Water – Hydrocarbon Pollution • 17 million gallons of gasoline are spilled by Americans every summer while refueling yard equipment, that’s about 50% more oil than the Exxon Valdez disaster.
Water – Flooding & Erosion • Turf has shallow a root system and is not able to stabilize streambanks • If lawns exist on compacted soil , they generate up to 90% as much runoff as pavement • Greatest pollutant source to Lake Erie is sediment, greater than the other 4 lakes combined.
Aesthetics – Less to alight our 5 senses • Celebrate what’s unique about each geographic zone in the country • Green Spaces Increase: – community & economic stability – reduce stress, – restore attention, – elevate mood and make people feel better about life in general, – In fact, at new a new generation of psychologists and therapists focus on the relationship between time spent in nature and mental health
A New Landscape Ethic … Regulating services • carbon sequestration and climate regulation • waste decomposition and detoxification • nutrient dispersal and cycling Supporting services • purification of water and air • crop pollination and seed dispersal • pest and disease control Preserving services • genetic and species diversity for future use Provisioning services • accounting for uncertainty • protection of options • foods (including seafood and game) and Cultural services spices • cultural, intellectual and spiritual • precursors to pharmaceutical and inspiration industrial products • recreational experiences (including • energy (hydropower, biomass fuels) ecotourism) • scientific discovery
Our Community of Impressive Backyard Stewards The McGraws were winners of ourLaudable Lawn and Home Habitat Challenge. The three top stewards alone accounted for the following changes, based on 5 months and 71,340 square feet of backyards: - 6876 gallons of water saved - 142, 680 fewer pounds of nitrogen entering the watershed - 262 fewer bags of yard waste going to the landfill
Kathy Smachlo - Shaker Heights “ My goal was to transform this yard into a native plant menagerie, trying to put back into the environment plants that provide food and shelter for the insects, butterflies, birds, and yes, even the deer and rodents (food for hawks, you know). I also wanted to grow food for my family, friends, and if lucky even the food bank.
Judy Semroc - “ With 3.5 years, the garden filled in with masses of color and exceptional pollinator plants that have increased species count 4 fold ”
Susan Kent - Cleveland Heights “ On the tree lawn, I actually have to experiment with some "garden bullies" since it's strictly survival of the fittest, given dog traffic, winter salt, and summer drought! I call it "Darwin's Garden"
“ I'm tempted to groan Mari Keating - Cleveland Heights "what a lot of “ We currently have a 440 gallon collection work!",except that it did system behind our garages which we use happen exclusively on the (ever growing) organic gradually, vegetable gardens, strawberries, over time - raspberry bushes and fruit trees ” inch by inch, row by row. Think Spring! ”
Jim Miller - Cleveland Heights “ In the end, it's hard to put in numbers, but we appreciate having built a small connection with the natural forces of wind, rain, and sun. There is more to life than flipping a switch or turning a knob ”
Kyle Dreyfuss-Wells - Shaker Heights “ We ’ re hoping to the first LEED Gold home in Ohio ”
“ Designed to keep all stormwater on the site, with all rainwater hitting the roof diverted into a cistern, ponds, and rain gardens ”
We named it the "Dandelion House," because we hope the ideas it embodies will spread like seeds on the wind.
Jeff McIntosh - “ Having moved 16 times, living on several acreage properties as well as very small garden spaces, I have learned that small gardens can be just as productive, much easier to maintain and are less time-intensive if we approach them the right way. ”
Steve Cagan - “ 139 native varieties at last count. People always ask me, fearfully, if they plant native flowers, will the garden be beautiful???!!! ”
Veronica Walton - Cleveland “ One of the most surprising comments from a youth was... which end of the plant goes into the ground? ”
“ After showing a volunteer all of the weed types in a raised bed she picked every single chive as well. When asked, Did you notice the aromatic smell of the Chives when you picked them? She said yes, and the smell was so therapeutic I was motivated to do a good job. I lost my breath and a great crop of Garlic Chives ”
Fran DiDinato – “A City of Cleveland ordinance allows residents to keep chickens, ducks, rabbits and beehives but not roosters, geese or turkeys.
Jessie Jones - “ These frames contain atomic red carrots, purple early sprouting broccoli, redbor kale, de meaux endive, radicchio de traviso, minutina, tatsoi, batavian endive, danvers carrots, winterbor kale, tresfine endive, salad burnet, bloomsdale spinach, rapa, & cilantro ”
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