Accent on Natural Landscaping

Donna VanBuecken

It’s Pollinator Week!

This week, June 22-28, 2020, is when we celebrate pollinators. This is the week we celebrate the special species in our lives – the bees, birds, butterflies, bats and beetles. It is a special time to pause, celebrate pollinators and focus on what we can do to help pollinators thrive in this world of global climate change and global warming.

Reprinted from my blog, here is Gardening for Pollinators.

Ecosystems

It all starts with ecosystems. The Earth is made up of naturally occurring geographical areas with similar climate, geology and soils. Typically, within each of these ecoregions, there are a number of ecological regions referred to as ecosystems made up of plants, animals, birds, butterflies, insects, organisms and the physical environment or habitat in which they live. Typically, all these elements in the ecosystem develop a mutually dependent relationship that becomes a Circle of Life.

Ecosystem
Ordway Prairie, Pope County, Minnesota. Photo by Peter Dziuk, Minnesota Wildflowers.

 

Pollination and the Circle of Life

Pollination is a very important element in the Circle of Life. Why? Because the Circle of Life starts with plants, and most plants depend upon pollination to reproduce.

  • Plants absorb sunlight energy through photosynthesis – solar power.
  • They use that energy to produce more plant material from water, carbon dioxide in the air, and nutrients from the soil.
  • In the process, they give off oxygen – thank goodness.
  • Herbivores (primary consumers) eat the plants and use the nutrients to produce more herbivores.
  • Predators (secondary consumers ) eat the herbivores and use the nutrients to produce more carnivores.
  • When death comes, a vast suite of soil organisms (bacteria and fungi) decompose the material, returning the nutrients to the soil.
  • This makes the nutrients available for plants to take up again, completing the Circle of Life.

Pollination is a reproductive process. Flowers offer food (nectar) to pollinators in exchange for reproduction. It occurs when pollen is transferred from the anther (male part of flower) to the stigma (female part of flower). And, it’s very important, because without pollination, we would not have vegetables and fruits to eat, and plants could not reproduce from season to season.

What Role Do Pollinators Play?

Although some pollen is dispersed by the wind, birds, butterflies, bees and other insects and animals are the main transporters of pollen between flowers, hence the term pollinators. They carry the pollen, which is a fine powdery dust found in the male part of the plant (anther) and contains the plant’s sperm, to the female part of the plant (stigma). Some pollinators have special structures by which they carry the pollen – like the native bees. Others, such as butterflies, bats and other insects carry the pollen from one flower to another when it affixes itself to their bodies, legs and wings.

Gardening for Pollinators

Flowers and pollinators co-evolved, developing features that make the exchange of pollen and nectar successful. To support native pollinators, we need to grow the native plants with which they evolved. Because they evolved together, native plants have the “right” features. Here are some examples.

Native habitat is disappearing rapidly as fencerows are being destroyed for crop farming, and land is being developed for residential, commercial and manufacturing use.* It is important to support pollinators by growing native plants to provide nectar and pollen throughout the seasons, and to make sure host plants are included that provide food and shelter for larval development. It is also important to provide access to clean water and to create variable heights for shelter and nesting. Most importantly, use insecticides sparingly, if at all.

Last, tolerate a little mess – leave dead snags and leaf litter, keep some areas bare for ground-nesting insects, and tolerate non-noxious, non-invasive weeds that provide food and shelter for pollinators.

*According to Doug Tallamy in the film Hometown Habitat, only 5 percent of our land remains as native habitat. 42 percent is being used for crop framing, and 53 percent for development.

See also A Naturally Landscaped Yard and A Living Landscape Mimics Nature. Although focusing on birds, these yard designs are appropriate for pollinators as well.

For more on the Gardening for Pollinators, see Part 2, Pollination continued.

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“S” Is for Soil!

A friend helping me with the blog has written a review of “S” Is for Soil!. In the book and the companion teacher’s guide, Digging into Soil: A Garden Practicum, we are to encouraged to see a perception of soil as a limitless resource. It is the most important natural resource on Earth. I read the book, and it was a good place to look – the soil beneath our feet.

By Kristin Kauth

I recently read and highly recommend the new book, “S” Is for Soil!, by ecologist Steven I. Apfelbaum, founder of Applied Ecological Services, Inc. The book explores the importance of soil to all life on Earth.

Only 38 pages long, the book is written for the layperson and includes an easy-to-read narrative on a complex subject. The whimsical graphics by Rob Dunlavey kept me smiling with the turn of every page, and I found the book both educational and delightful.

“S” Is for Soil! is divided into two sections:

  • The Basics – What Is Soil? (Don’t Call It Dirt) and
  • Expanded Understanding – Digging a Little Deeper (Whole System Thinking).

I can’t do better than the press release, so here are some excerpts:

As this simple primer begins, “…It has been said that we know more about the moon than the soil under our feet.” Today, with growing concern for dwindling resources, there is a new sense of urgency to better understand and care for soil (what many of us misguidedly call “dirt”) and our very real connection to it. In fact, “our lives may depend on it.”

Written for high school and older students, and lay, business, and professional audiences, “S” Is for Soil! and its cast of soil characters guides readers with clarity and humor through the essential and often complex understandings of soil, employing a conversational narrative. The book reveals the remarkable story of the abundance of life – from billions of microscopic organisms to burrowing animals – that occupies the thin layer of soil on the planet, and that represents 95 percent of all terrestrial life on Earth.

It explains the role healthy soil can play in addressing the challenging problem of climate change.

  • Touching upon the historic role grasslands have
    The sketch was courtesy of Rob Dunlavey.

    played in storing large quantities of carbon deep in the ground – think of bison moving quickly over landscapes until it recovered.

  • Other soil-building practices like adding organic fertilizers, and innovative ranching and farming practices that are now being employed to “regenerate” or build-back soil health.
  • Building back to wetlands and the crucial role soil plays in the water cycle, and its importance in keeping our water supply clean.
  • By the putting all those “unemployed” soil microbes and deep-rooted grasses back to work, we help rebuild the lost carbon stores of the past and maintain healthy soil.

“S” Is for Soil! was produced in partnership with the Lower Sugar River Watershed Association (LSRWA). The book can be purchased individually or in larger discounted quantities online at LSRWA or by contacting at 608-897-8641.

A companion teacher’s guide titled Digging into Soil: A Garden Practicum has been created by KidsGardening in cooperation with the authors and LSRWA. It is available to download.

A good friend, Kristen Kauth is a member of the Wild Ones Fox Valley Area Chapter and Coordinator of the Toward Harmony With Nature Conference.

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Nature’s Best Hope

Introduction

I want to explain why it has been so long since I have written a blog post. The hospital was closed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and my therapy sessions were put on hold. Because my friends bought me an iPad, I was able to continue without a therapist. Recently, I have started therapy again at the Neuroscience Group with Nicole Shafran, along with the aid of the Google Duo video app.

Nicole said I could do my blog as part of my therapy, since it will be helpful to my recovery. I have Nicole for two days a week, and I think I will write a blog post about every other week.

The Blog

Nature’s Best Hope: A New Approach to Conservation That Starts in Your Yard

You have probably heard of the second book authored by Doug Tallamy. It would be too long for me to read it right now, but I hope you will read it. Here is a good review by Angela Tanner.

Angela explains, “In Nature’s Best Hope, Doug Tallamy takes topics from his popular book Bringing Nature Home (Workman Publishing, 2009) and expands upon them. He explains, with examples and statistics, what is happening to the ecological systems around us, and why we should care. This book is geared toward the private landowner – not one whose primary landscaping concern is how green their lawn is – but one who could also be convinced to be concerned about the alarming decline of birds, insects, and other wildlife.” Read more of the book review.

The NPCC Invites You to the “Nature’s Best Hope” Presentation

The Native Plant Conservation Campaign (NPCC) invites you to enjoy Doug Tallamy’s popular “Nature’s Best Hope” online presentation. Emily B. Roberson says, “Native plant gardens help local wildlife and support vital ecosystem services such as water purification, storm protection, and climate moderation. Tallamy has a new book and presentation, “Nature’s Best Hope,” which describe advances in our understanding of how individual homeowners can help fight the extinction and climate crises and save the planet…all by gardening with beautiful local natives!”

It is wonderful that we, as gardeners, place so much value on wildlife and the flowers we hold dear. Gardening makes me happy, and growing native plants makes me so very happy!

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It’s the 50th Anniversary of Earth Day

 

The Blue Marble: The View From Apollo 17 – Fifty years ago, on April 22, 1970, people around the world marked the first Earth Day. On this Earth Day (2020), as we physically separate ourselves by necessity, we can still collectively appreciate the wondrous beauty of our planet and the extraordinary science that helps us understand how it all works. (NASA)

Today is April 22, which marks the 50th anniversary of Earth Day. “Before 1970, pollution was rampant. Air pollution was widespread, toxic fumes billowed from factories and automobiles, and enormous fish die-offs occurred in the Great Lakes.” (Nature Scoop) After returning from World War II, people began using more chemically produced pesticides and fertilizers. This came at a cost to the environment, and posed great danger to the health of both animals and humans. This is a story about conservationists – especially CNRA and Lorrie Otto.

1942: DDT First Used
DDT was introduced during WWII to protect our troops from the mosquito-borne disease malaria. It is still being used selectively in some tropical countries.

1949: A Sand County Almanac
Aldo Leopold published his landmark book, A Sand County Almanac, calling for a “land ethic” connecting people and nature.

1950s: Citizen Activists Got Involved
Citizen activists started sending letters and confronting editors, WDNR, and local municipalities. These activists included not just conservationists, but also hunters, fishermen, professors, members of garden clubs and many others.

1951: Citizens Natural Resources Association of Wisconsin Formed
The new Wisconsin militant conservation organization called the Citizens Natural Resources Association of Wisconsin (CNRA) begins fighting for the preservation, management and restoration of Wisconsin’s natural resources. They follow the principles of Aldo Leopold and have remained committed conservationists to this day.

1957: Lorrie Otto Confronted Officials With Evidence
After Lorrie Otto, the High Priestess of the Natural Landscaping Movement, dropped off twenty-eight dead robins at their offices, Bayside, Wisconsin officials asked her, “What do you want, Mrs. Otto, birds or trees?” This wasn’t her first battle with Bayside officials.

1960s: Raising Awareness
CNRA focused on increasing awareness of misuse of chemicals. See the The First Decade.

1962: Silent Spring
The publication of Silent Spring by Rachel Carson made people aware of the disastrous environmental impact of DDT and other chemicals.

1966: A Ban on DDT
Attorney Victor Yannacone and his wife Carol, won a local ban on DDT on Long Island, New York.

1967: The Environmental Defense Fund (EFT)
Founded by Charles F Wurster, Victor Yannacone and others to defend the environment in a legal setting, the EDF‘s motto was “Sue the bastards!”

1968: Plotting Further Victories Over DDT
Wisconsin and New York (EDF) strategists began to plot their battle against DDT based on studies that showed DDT was present in virtually every body of water in Wisconsin.

1968: Hearing to Determine DDT’s Status as a Pollutant
The Wisconsin Administrative hearing to determine if DDT was a pollutant began. Strategists had gotten the City of Milwaukee to stop spraying DDT, but they wanted to present scientific evidence against DDT, and get a judgment against its use. The hearing dragged on for nearly six months, with Lorrie Otto attending every session, reporting back to CNRA, and working with the strategists to develop new tactics.

1968: Wisconsin’s DDT Hearing in the Spotlight
The Capital Times started sending news on the Wisconsin DDT hearing nationwide. Every afternoon Whitney Gould would file a story, putting Wisconsin’s DDT Hearing into the national news.

1969: Michigan Bans DDT
A major victory as Michigan quietly banned DDT.

1969: The USDA Regulates the use of DDT
Because of the nationwide news coverage, the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) regulates the use of DDT nationwide.

1970: Wisconsin Bans DDT
The Pesticide Review Board was established to update pesticide-control measures for use in Wisconsin’s very strong agriculture industry, and on January 15, 1970, Governor Warren Knowles signed the law banning the use of DDT.

1970: The First Earth Day
With assistance from Lorrie and the CNRA members and others associated with the Wisconsin Administrative hearing, Wisconsin Senator Gaylord Nelson founded the first Earth Day on April 22. As governor, Nelson had established a strong conservation record, and later, in the U.S. Senate, lobbied for a safer environment – proposing a ban on DDT as early as 1965.

1970: DDT Ruled a Pollutant
Hearing Examiner Maurice Van Sustern ruled that, under the State’s water-quality standards, DDT was polluting Wisconsin waters.

1970: The United States Environmental Protection Agency Created
President Richard Nixon signed the Executive Order to create the EPA, which bought the responsibility for environmental health of the U.S. under one organization instead of several, each working for their own interests.

1970: The Clean Air Act
Growing public awareness and concern for controlling the Federal Water Pollution Control Act or the Clean Water Act led to sweeping amendments in 1972 by President Nixon and the Congress. As amended in 1972, the law became commonly known as the Clean Air Act.

1971: United Nations Celebrates Earth Day
U.N. Secretary-General U Thant signed a proclamation saying that the United Nations would celebrate Earth Day annually on the vernal equinox, thereby officially establishing the March date as the international Earth Day.

1972: USA Banned DDT
EPA Administrator William Ruckelshaus announced the ban on “virtually all interstate sales and shipments of DDT.”

1972: The Clean Water Act
The Amended Act provides for pollution-control programs and sets water-quality standards in surface waters. This includes regulating construction of sewage-treatment plants and discharge of contaminants by the manufacturing and agriculture industries.

1973: The Endangered Species Act
The Endangered Species Act, enacted with bi-partisan support, was designed to protect critically imperiled species from extinction as a “consequence of economic growth and development untempered by adequate concern and conservation.” It was to protect both the species and “the ecosystems on which endangered species and threatened species depend.”

1977: Wild Ones Garden Club
Ever the conservationists, Lorrie Otto set about healing the Earth by presenting workshops throughout the USA on native plants and natural landscaping. After listening to Lorrie’s workshops held at the Schlitz Audubon Center in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, a group of men and women continued to meet informally to discuss native plants, natural landscaping and biodiversity. They called themselves the Wild Ones. As knowledge of the group spread, others joined from not only the Milwaukee area, but throughout Wisconsin and adjoining states, leading to the eventual creation of the national environmental education and advocacy organization called Wild Ones Natural Landscapers Ltd in 1979.

1990: Earth Day goes Global
Earth Day went global, mobilizing 200 million people in 141 countries and lifting environmental issues onto the world stage and giving a huge boost for recycling efforts worldwide.

2007: Final Delisting Rule of Bald Eagle
After decades of conservation efforts, the Bald Eagle is nearly 10,000 nesting pairs today (low of 400 nesting pairs in 1963). The recovery and delisting of the nation’s symbol marks an overall achievement for the conservation movement.

NASA’s new three-dimensional portrait of methane, the world’s second-largest contributor to greenhouse warming, shows it arising from a diversity of sources on the ground and shows how it moves through the atmosphere. Combining multiple data sets from emissions inventories, including fossil fuel, agricultural, biomass burning and biofuels, and simulations of wetland sources into a high-resolution computer model, researchers now have an additional tool for understanding this complex gas and its role in Earth’s carbon cycle, atmospheric composition, and climate system. (NASA)

2016: International Paris Climate Agreement
The Paris Climate Agreement aimed to the replace Kyoto Protocol, an earlier international treaty designed to curb the release of greenhouse gases. It entered into force on November 4, 2016, and has been signed by 197 countries and ratified by 187 as of November 2019.

2017: Rusty Patched Bumble Bee Listed as Endangered
The Rusty Patched Bumble Bee (and six other bees) has declined by 87 percent. Disease, pesticides, effects of climate change, habitat loss and degradation and effects of small population dynamics have been to blame.

2020: Decision of List Monarch and Other Pollinators as Endangered will be determined in December

Today Is Where We Conservationists Must Continue Our Work
Today, much the rabble-rousing conservationist group CNRA has passed, and Lorrie Otto* has died, but the natural landscaping movement will live on. There are still those who deny the scientific basis for the banning of DDT and synthetic chemicals, considering the concerns and regulations politically motivated. It’s always about the personal responsibility we share. As environmental stewards of the Earth, this has never been more timely or important.

Use native plants. Include natural landscaping. Minimize pesticide and fertilizers.

 

*Lorrie Otto passed away May 29, 2010. Read about Lorrie’s considerable achievements through the Wisconsin Conservation Hall of Fame’s environmental legacy.

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