Urban Ecoist

Ok, so normally, I am not one to count on celebrities to either a) do something or anything important enough for me to care about or b) tell me how to think about things that I may already care about. However, as this is a site with a focus on all things sustainable, I have made an exception in Mr. Brad Pitt’s and Make It Right NOLA’s case.

So, in my first installment of “green” celebrity news…I bring you…Brad Pitt.

Enough about making grandchildren envious already, and nice shiny suit there, Brad. Oh, and you forgot that top button, too. Ok, I got that out of me…

Visiting D.C. within just a few weeks of his frequent co-star, George Clooney’s visit, Pitt’s star power was kept as secret as humanly possible in the cesspool of Washingtonian politics. But according to the AP story about the visiting “dignitary”, “The Power of Pitt drained entire congressional offices of their female employees and quite a few male aides as well, all of whom could be picked out by the way they suddenly appeared in the Senate’s doorways and halls, nonchalantly cupping cell phones and cameras at their sides and hanging around waiting news crews.”

Pitt was in Washington (Angie is also shooting a movie there, so he was in town already) to talk with the people in power about affordable, sustainable housing. If you didn’t know, Pitt is the starpower behind an effort in New Orleans called Make It Right NOLA (click on that link to read more about Make It Right). MIRNOLA is working to design and build green housing in the Lower Ninth Ward, an area devastated by Hurricane Katrina and an area home to a predominantly low-income minority population.

While on the Hill, Brad Pitt met with Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid about “nationalizing” Make It Right’s ideas and designs for more American cities that have been afflicted by disasters, both natural and man-made (hello, Detroit, Michigan).

Brad Pitt, NOLA, New Orleans, Make It Right, Capitol Hill, Washington DC, Harry Reid, Nancy Pelosi, Lower Ninth Ward, affordable housing, sustainable housing, George Clooney, green building, green design, low income

A very wet example of a rain garden...

I was just reading the City of Chicago’s Green Alleyways Handbook, and I came across the idea of building a rain garden to help with storm water runoff. Then I started thinking about it, and with Spring’s showers on the way, now would be a good time for us all to consider building a rain garden in our urban spaces.

Now, obviously, some urbanites will not have the option to construct a rain garden, large or small, as they may not have any yard space at their disposal. It’s not like you can build a container rain garden (or can you?) — but you can find a way to capture your own fair share of rainwater to save from the sewer (but make sure it’s not in a copper bowl like in that one episode of Different Strokes when Dana Plato’s hair turned green), for example, in a rain barrel. But that’s another topic, another day.

...And a very dry one.

Rain gardens are not rocket science, but you do have to do some planning and a little science will come into the project before it’s done. It is best for your back if you already have noticed a spot in your yard where there is a depression where rain water already collects during storms. If you have multiple low-spots, choose areas next to paved areas like patios or roadways or by downspouts. Although remember that you will not want the water too close to your house (within 10 feet) or large trees, either. Sure, a rain garden may be dry 85% of the time, but there is still that other 15% of the time.

A great place to start your planning is a site called Raingardens.org. appropriately enough. It’s a really comprehensive site, which I won’t do justice to by gleaning pertinent info and passing it off as my own, so check it out by clicking here. The organization is based in Western Michigan, but anyone living anywhere can learn from the site’s extensive information.

Whether you have a little space or a lot of space, you give a little something back to the groundwater that supports your life by letting a bit of your garden space work to recharge that groundwater. Rain is filtered naturally through your rain garden, where it finds its way down, down into the deep soil and into the groundwater supply. If it were not for your rain garden, that same storm water may instead find its way into a swollen roadway which picks up all the leaking fluids from cars young and old and then into the sewer system, where it will meet more microbial friends, before being treated at a facility and then returned to your groundwater supply.

Maybe I’m being overly dramatic, but with the inevitable Water Wars coming…start planning now.

rain garden, garden, gardening, rain water, storm water, rain, water management, sewer, treatment, groundwater, water supply

Ask any gardener and they will tell you that perennials make your life a lot easier when it comes to garden chores and plantings. In such, that perennials grow for many years, unlike those prima donna annuals that need to be added every year. If you are an urbanite looking to add perennials to your garden space, then you need take into account the fact that city plants must be able to tolerate city pollution. And considering the lifespan of perennials, shrubs and trees, urban gardeners should take extra care to find hardy species that can withstand air pollution to ensure a healthy garden for years to come.

Perennials

Everyone likes flowers, so today, I’ll concentrate on perennials that produce lovely flowers, as opposed to perennials that are striking for their foliage. Although the three species I have listed below have lovely foliage as well.

Coreopsis: Also called Tickseed. Think of tickseed as a smaller cousin to the sunflower with a lot of small blooms. I had a couple of coreopsis plants and they provided me with a summer’s worth of cut flowers, that last for some time in the house. There are many varieties of Tickseed (the seeds kind of look like ticks, get it?) and some are annuals, so be sure what you are buying, although the annuals do self-seed and can even become invasive if left to their own devices. But we are talking perennials here. Some varieties grow taller than others, but all coreopsis is tolerant of poor soil and little water, a bonus to city gardeners. Although originally a native wildflower, cultivated coreopsis’ do better when divided every few years.

Phlox: I used to take my dogs for walks along this river and into a forest along side of it. We always had a certain destination in mid- to late-summer. There was a grove of wild phlox that created a truly magical atmosphere in this forest, in gently dappled summer sunlight. And the fragrance produced by these striking purple flowers that bloom in clumps is a nice addition to any city garden. If you have a spot that gets a light shade and good circulation, you may want to add phlox. Phlox attract butterflies to your garden as well as being a treat for rabbits, which you may not want, but hey, city rabbits need to eat too. Some varieties are better suited for xeriscaping than others, and some cultivars grow tall while others grow short in mats.

Yarrow: Named after Achilles (achillea) for it’s medicinal properties back in the Trojan War, this perennial is well-known for many good reasons. It grows in poor soil (preferring it even), attracts beneficial insects and seems to make other plants healthy when planted nearby. Yarrow leaves can be added to soups as a bitter green or cooked like spinach. It also just happens to have a lot of really good natural chemicals in it’s flowerheads to help with certain maladies like allergies and even the common cold. Yarrow blooms in the spring and early summer, producing umbrella-like blooms on stems that can be three feet tall in some varieties. The blooms dry really well for cut flowers, or you can try your hand at homeopathy.

perennials, air pollution, city pollution, pollution, city, urban, garden, plants, flowers, soil, herbal medicine, homeopathy, blooms, annuals, garden planning, xeriscaping, drought-tolerant

Ah, winter. Snow, ice, nothing green growing in most parts of the US. Winter may mean that we are not actively out working in our gardens, but it doesn’t mean that we cannot plan our gardens. Take advantage of being housebound to daydream about flowers, fruits and what parts of you garden need an overhaul. Lately, I have been thinking about a roadside garden, that is one between either a lawn and the street or between sidewalks and streets. Or you can situate your new garden plot between your lawn area and the sidewalk if the sidewalk abuts the street.

Urban gardening poses its own set of challenges and one of those is higher levels of air pollution. When planning on a new garden space, an overhaul or just a specimen planting or two, set yourself up for success by choosing wisely for you urban garden plot.

Shrubs

Lilac: If you have ever stood downwind from a lilac bush, it is quite the olfactory experience. Lilac can grow in most soils and even poor ones, as long as there is decent enough drainage. Blooms don’t last nearly as long as you’d wish, but if you get a few different varieties, you can extend the lilac season by choosing both early and late blooming varieties. The less you prune, the better, but if you do have to prune, prune right after flowering, as the flowers grow on old wood, so you want to be sure to give them enough time to grow some “old wood” during the summer. Lilac can grow taller than some shrubs, and almost as tall as some trees. Very full growth pattern as well.

Mock Orange: Another fragrant addition to the garden. This shrub blooms in the late spring-early summer into lovely white blossoms that look kind of like smaller camellias to me, or at least some varieties do. The mock orange is so-named as the blossoms almost look like citrus blossoms, and some varieties smell of oranges. Can grow to 8 feet high and six feet wide, and it can become tree-like in its growth pattern.

shrubs, urban garden, urban, gardening, garden design, planning, winter, lilac, air pollution, urban pollution, roadside garden, sidewalk garden

Yesterday, the idea of creating a small garden plot in an urban environment next to a road was introduced, and today, I’d like to expand on that roadside urban garden plot in terms of plants that you might consider adding to a garden plot that will have to tolerate air pollution.

It is best to plan out the big plantings first, so let’s first talk about what is most likely going to be the biggest type of “plant” you could choose to plan your garden around.

Trees

Depending on your urban space, you may not have the option to plant trees. Trees can be very big and may block sidewalks or roads, or they may have to be trimmed to not touch power lines. This can become a headache for you, so be sure to check out to see not only how much space you have in the garden, but also what kind of space in which a tree will be able to grow.

With that in mind, I have a large space in my front yard, and it is currently a wasteful grassy lawn. I have garden spots along fences and walkways in addition to spaces around the house. But my yard just drops off down a slope (Portland, Oregon is rather hilly being situated between two mountain ranges), and is totally boring until it ends at the street.

However, just because I have lots of space in which to grow a tree, I must also be careful to not diminish any of the afternoon sun on my southwest facing yard. Luckily, due to the house and fences being up on a small hill, even a taller tree shouldn’t create too much shade until later in the evening.

But also once I commit to adding a taller and fuller (i.e. wider) tree, I will have to plan the remaining space as a shade garden.

If you still want to plant a tree or two in your roadside garden, here are some species you may want to consider. These trees tolerate air pollution rather well, so adding these trees will not only act as a shield for your yard from some of that pollution, but they can also dampen the sound of traffic (noise pollution if you think about it) from the road. And…if that weren’t enough, a tree can provide a little privacy for your front yard.

Holly : An evergreen (above and at left) that bears striking leaves and dramatic red berries in the autumn and into winter. The Highclere variety is a good one to pick as it grows in a narrow, compact shape so it won’t take up too much space or create a lot of shade for other plants. It grows to 25 feet tall and 10 feet wide. Holly also provides a good habitat for wildlife, as it keeps its leaves all year, and as those leaves are rigid and pointy, hollies are sought by birds for natural defense. Can also be grown as a hedge.

Serviceberry: Also called shadbush (named this because it would bloom around the time the shad, a fish, would make its annual run) and sarvisberry among other names, the serviceberry (at right) is a useful tree to have around. Some species grow shorter than others, but the trees produce pretty flowers and lots of them in the spring.

A nice added benefit is that the “service” berries are edible. Birds love the berries and if you want, there are lots of recipes out there for everything from serviceberry wine to jellies, jams and relishes. As an example, the Allegheny Serviceberry can grow to 20 feet tall and 20 feet wide, but if you look at the picture to the right, you see it is not compact in its growth pattern, so shade should be light.

Tomorrow, more trees…

trees, garden, urban garden, sidewalk garden, roadside garden, plants, garden design, air pollution, car pollution, noise, privacy, hedge, serviceberry, sarvisberry, shadbush, shad, shade garden, holly, berries, wildlife, birds

If you cannot tell what is on my mind lately by reading a recent post, then you should know that there is something about winter that brings out the dreamer in me in terms of what I will be doing in my small urban garden this next season. As a city dweller, I am a renter and as such, my dreams for my little garden will most likely never be realized as who knows how long I will live in this house, and hi, it’s not my house, so I don’t get to call the shots on major garden design and projects.

So, maybe someone out there can glean something from my grandiose plans for the grandiose problems that I have in “my” yard. I always believe in leaving a yard in better shape than that in which I found it, so my planning tends to go below the surface in many aspects of garden design. And if I were to undertake a major project this next spring, it would be to build and plant a raised bed garden along the roadside of my front yard. It would reduce noise from the street, increase privacy and add more plants that could be attractive to both wildlife and insects.

The first thing you should consider when building a roadside urban garden is that these plants are on the front lines of pollution from cars. I live on a quiet street that doesn’t not see much traffic, but many urbanites live on busy thoroughfares and should take pollution generated from traffic into consideration when choosing the plants you will use in your roadside garden.

And like the “garden” above, there is no reason that you cannot have a little roadside garden. It may have to be a container (or many, many containers), but hey, it’s still a garden.

urban garden, gardening, pollution, roadside garden, plants, design, planning

If you haven’t run across something about Guerrilla Gardening before now, let me introduce you to the concept and the group. There is a website, that is based in Britain, even though it has members from around the world. So if the site seems too British-y, the guy behind GG is a Brit, so many of the projects covered are London-based.

Guerrilla gardening is kind of like squatting, except that it will be plants, not yourself, in a seemingly abandoned urban space, that is not a building. Let’s say your neighborhood has a curb space that no one looks after, or an oddly placed and unused planter by an older school that is no longer in use. Well, do you think anyone would mind if you put in a few marigolds?

For the most part, people don’t mind.

It is a pleasant way to vandalize someone else’s property. I’d recommend finding a spot to adopt. I live in Portland, Oregon and it is hard to find an abandoned plot of land that doesn’t have something cool growing in it already, but while living in Chicago, I could find spaces with no problem. Choose drought-resistant varieties of plants, so that you don’t have to water it constantly. You should not expect the neighbors to look after your plot — some may, but don’t rely on that resource to keep the plants alive.

Obviously, check out the spot for how much sunlight it receives, because some plants like shade and some like sun. Think easy gardening. There is no reason to put in finicky places. These spaces may have poor, compacted soil, so find those species that don’t mind poor or average soil. Think food, too, and put in easy to grow veggies here and there. Check out ideas in companion planting for ideas. But again, this is not your space, so if you cannot get there everyday, don’t set your plot up for failure. That will make people sad, not happy, and the whole point of putting in flowers is to make people happy. They may not know it, but it will.

Sneak out in the middle of the night with spade and plants. Maybe dress up like a ninja…

Oh, yeah, and it is technically illegal, so don’t get caught.

guerrilla gardening, urban spaces, abandoned, land, garden plot, soil, plants, Portland, Oregon, Chicago

I ran across this on the Care2 network. I don’t think I am going out on a limb by assuming that many Urban Ecoists out there have gardens or at least a few pots of things growing. Why not help out in the Great Sunflower Project and count bees this next growing season?

It’s really quite simple, or so the website claims. This will be my first year participating, so if anyone participated last season, leave a comment or two describing your own experience if you are so inclined.

The Great Sunflower Project is meant to study the health of the urban bee. It is well documented that bees are disappearing in the wild and in agricultural areas, and as bees are a very valuable resource for pollinating many of the things we eat and use in our daily lives, the health of bee populations could not be more important. Studies focus on the wild bees, but fewer studies have looked at the health of urban bee populations.

We know that pollinators are declining in certain wild and many agricultural landscapes. However, little is known about urban pollinators. Our recent data on bumble bees in an urban setting suggests that urban bees may also be declining (McFrederick & LeBuhn 2006, Fenter and LeBuhn submitted). While the loss of these pollinators is important, it is more important to understand what effect these losses have had on pollinator services.

We do not know much about how healthy bee populations are maintained in an urban environment. Because natural habitats are uncommon in urban landscapes, they may not provide enough resources to support viable pollinator communities. However, if other habitats, such as urban gardens and restored areas, are sufficiently connected to natural habitat, then native populations may thrive. — The Great Sunflower Project

I tend to advocate making your urban garden a home to all things wild and helpful, so putting in a sunflower or two, in addition to the beauty they bring, will also bring bees to your garden. The bees will pollinate everything else you grow or let grow, and in return you get vegetables, fruit, and seeds for your next season.

If you join the Great Sunflower Project, you will receive seeds for a wild, native sunflower variety called the lemon queen. Plant the seeds (sunflowers are notoriously easy to grow from seed) and sit back. You can plant the sunflower in pots if you don’t have traditional garden space. While sitting back enjoying your garden, write down how many bees come to the flowers on your sunflowers. Make a note of what time of day, the temperature, and the date. That’s all there is to it. You enter the data on the website under your account. The Project is specifically interested in how long it takes five bees to visit a single plant. And if you can identify the type of bee, even better.

So get the kids involved in this one. The website offers lot of interesting info on bees of all shapes and sizes, as well as how to attract more bees to your garden. There is also resources for teachers and students.

urban garden, city garden, bees, honeybees, pollination, colony collapse disorder, wild bees, bee health, flowers, vegetables, seeds, sunflower, great sunflower project, kids, gardening