Use Plants with a Punch

“Modernism is efficient because it aims for simplification. The central assumption is that technological solutions are universal, and so are independent of social context. This is what makes it appealing—mass production for us all. But modernist thinking inevitably leads to arrogance about the social and natural world.” –Tim O’Riordan, Susanne Stoll-Kleemann; Biodiversity, Sustainability and Human Communities

 (Kiley landscape, Chicago Art Institute)

Dan Kiley was a prominent 20^th century landscape architect that represented the height of modernism. His designs complemented sleek modern architecture and were clean, gridded—and mostly bereft of plant biodiversity. This use of mass plantings of the same species were common to Italian, French, Modernist and Minimalist traditions; and still influence landscapes today. Many city landscape ordinances promote biodiversity in plantings by encouraging the use of multiple species—mostly to prevent urban forestry disasters that occur with single-tree use (Dutch elm disease, Emerald ash borer, etc.).

Ecologists have documented the decline of native plant species diversity in urban areas as well. As shown in the chart below, McKinney (2002) gleaned from the available literature these observations:  that species richness declines the closer one gets to dense urban areas, and the urban biota changes as well. 

Zipperer and Gunstenspergen did their own empirical research by comparing both native and non-native species richness in five community gradients. Their conclusions showed a slight revision to McKinney’s model, one that shows native species richness declining as it approaches the urban core, and non-native species increasing as it approaches the urban core.

To enhance native urban biodiversity, US federal agencies (EPA, USDA, and DOT--in some states) are promoting the use of native plants; as well as NGO’s such as the National Wildlife Federation and Audubon. Wilde, Gandhi, and Colson (2015) propose that landscape plants (the ones that are primarily used in urban areas) should be bred with ecological function. Many landscape plant species are bred for form and ornamental characteristics (larger or more flowers, fruit, or other showy aspects). Similar to our shiny modern grocery store fruit-- taste and nutrition are bred out, but consumer curb-appeal is in. Wilde et al propose not only to scale up the use of native plants in urban landscapes, but to ensure that their genotypes also include the pollinator services and genetic diversity of their rural cousins.

Blogger Feature: The Nature of Cities

"The mission of The Nature of Cities is to promote worldwide dialog and action to create green cities that are sustainable, resilient, and livable. The TNOC community comprises a broad diversity of people, from architects and designers to scientists, from practitioners to entrepreneurs—pursuing transformational dialog that leads to the creation of better cities for all.

TNOC is a virtual magazine and discussion site on cities as ecosystems. It is a global collective of contributors, an essay, long-form, media,  and discussion site—an idea hive—devoted to cities as social-ecological spaces, ecosystems of people, buildings, open spaces, and nature. We believe that cities are human habitat, and that design with nature and public open space at the metaphorical center is key to urban resilience, sustainability, and livability.

Founded and curated by Dr. David Maddox (Urban Oikos Partners LLC, New York City, david.maddox@thenatureofcities.com. (With thanks to Mike Houck of Portland, Oregon)"

Find his excellent blog at http://www.thenatureofcities.com/

Somewhere in San Francisco

Pollinator Friendly Lawns

You could say that I am not a big fan of lawns. Oh sure, I love to play a game of football or walk the dogs on some green turf. But lawns are the landscape default mode for most human habitat--college campuses, city parks, subdivisions, and businesses. You will find lawns even where they aren't really necessary, mostly because we feel compelled to control nature. Rachel Carson once wrote that "the control of nature is a phrase conceived in arrogance, born of the Neanderthal age of biology and the convenience of man." She's right, we cannot control nature without feeling its aftereffects. 

I have removed significant amounts of turf from very place that I have ever lived and gardened upon. That goes for most projects that I have worked on as well. At my previous home on the Gulf Coast, I drowned 60% of the existing lawn area by deeply burying it in pine needles from the 17 mature longleaf pines on my property. To build my beds, I simply raked paths in the pine straw. Within a few short years I had effectively killed the lawn underneath and even began to build an organic layer. All that I had to do was to plant directly into the pine straw. I reduced two and half hours of weekly mowing and edging to about thirty-five minutes of sweat. 

But I noticed in lawn that I did keep, a wealth of native and exotic wildflowers grew in it. And if it was too wet to mow in some weeks, I had a healthy and beautiful wildflower garden that resulted. I stopped mowing when the lyre leaf sage came into bloom (Salvia lyrata), and mowed when their seed dispersed, ensuring new blooms and plants for the following year. I even did a species count once and identified around 15 species in a square meter. Not bad in biodiversity terms. 

Some herbaceous plants will grow quite well with regular mowings of the lawn. Below is a list of species that are turf companions, will bloom and benefit the pollinators in your neighborhood.

Native species of grass companions:

• Blue eyed grasses (Sisyrinchium, several species) not a true grass but a member of the iris family, with pretty blue flowers
• Cinquefoils, (Potentilla). Similar to wild strawberries
• Wild strawberries (Fragaria, several species). The five lobed leaves of this and those of cinquefoils are very similar in appearance
• Yellow violets (Viola pennsylvanica). A few other species of violets are also native
• Spring beauties (Claytonia spp.)
• Wild geraniums, crane’s-bills (Geranium spp.)
• Azure bluets (Houstonia caerulea)
• Speedwells (Veronica), with several species, some native others introduced
• Wood sorrel (Oxalis acetosella), used as ground cover by some gardeners
• Smartweeds, knotweeds, many species in the genus Polygonum; some are small enough to do well in lawns. Some species are native and others introduced
• Asters (Symphyotrichum spp.) are great in the fall. Some grow rather tall, better for a meadow than a lawn; but if mowed not too frequently, they can do well and bloom heavily inviting many species of pollinators
• Chickweeds include two genera: Cerastium and Stellaria. They are also known by several other common names; some species, such as field chickweed, (Cerastium arvense) and star chickweed (Stellaria pubera), are native. They are small enough to do well in lawns

Non-native species of grass companions:

• Clover, (white clover, Trifolium repens) a European plant very well established in the United States. Grass-seed mixes used to include it. It is highly beneficial because it fixes nitrogen, thus enriching the soil. Newly developed herbicides killed clover, along with the undesirable broad-leaved weeds, so it was declared a weed by the gardening industry and removed from grass-seed mixes. A few species of clover are native to some regions of North America and it may be possible to grow them as grass companions
• Creeping thyme (Thymus serpyllum) has sometimes been used as ground cover
• Chickweed, also called starweed, winterweed, satin flower or tongue grass (Stellaria media), is not native. Its seeds are eaten by some birds, hence the name chickweed. It has very small, star shaped flowers
• Gill over the ground, or ground ivy (Glechoma hederacea), is rather pretty but it tends to become invasive
• Dandelion (Taraxacum officinale) is among the non-native invasives which you may not want to see around but it is so widespread that perhaps we can’t do much about it

Thanks to the above great grass companion list by BY BEATRIZ MOISSET. You can find her article at http://nativeplantwildlifegarden.com/pollinator-friendly-lawns/

Blogger Feature: Marginal Nature and Urban Wastelands

Check out this interesting blog on marginal nature. Its author, Kevin Anderson, states in the description: "marginal nature is found in urban wastelands such as neglected creeks, wastewater treatment ponds, vacant lots, road and rail waysides, brownfields, fencerows, dumps, and alleyways. What emerges in this wastespace is the unintended product of human activity and nature's unflagging expressiveness, which I call Marginal Nature." Kevin M. Anderson is a geographer and philosopher who is the coordinator of the AWU - Center for Environmental Research in Austin, Texas. Check out his blog at http://marginalnature.blogspot.com/