Accent on Natural Landscaping

Donna VanBuecken

NASA GLOBE Observer App

NASA would like your help in measuring the Earth’s trees using the NASA GLOBE Observer app on your smart phone.

In September 2018, NASA launched an instrument, via the ICESat-2 satellite, called ATLAS which measures many ecological surfaces to determine the health of the world’s resources. This laser-like device measures the satellite’s position, the angle and how long it takes the laser beam to bounce back from the surface it is measuring. They’ve been measuring the elevation of the Earth’s ice, land, water, clouds, and now trees. Here’s where citizen scientists come in.

NASA would like citizen scientists to help validate the tree measurements they are taking from space. By knowing the height of trees, researchers can estimate the health of the Earth’s forests and calculate the amount of carbon dioxide they store.

NASA GLOBE Observer App

The NASA GLOBE Observer app is user-friendly. Besides measuring trees, among other things, it also measures the landscape around you and mosquito habitats. It has a tutorial and helpful hints.

Once you’ve selected your straight tree and staked out a spot about 25 to 75 feet away, you hold the phone in front of your face and angle it to measure the base and then to the tree’s top. Then you take a picture, count your steps to the tree, log your position at its base and the app will calculate the tree’s height. (Verge)

Thanks to the Ecological Landscape Alliance (ELA) for making me aware of this great app.

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Downspout Gardening

I was sitting in the doctor’s office the other day reading a magazine when I came across an article entitled “Downspout Gardening.” Huh! A new name for rain gardening? Well, sort of. It was an article about a flower garden placed around a downspout, using primarily non-native plants. There was no place in this garden to capture and hold the water from running off.

The article described how to make a flower garden which would be watered from the downspout when it rained. So what about when it doesn’t rain? How are the plants going to survive from day to day? Soil placed around the foundation of the house is typically sloped down and away, so water will run away from the foundation. Plants placed near the house will also need to be able to absorb the reflection of the sun and heat from the siding.  And lastly, plants under overhangs may not get sufficient water even when it rains simply because water doesn’t generally run up a slope.

So, I think I would rewrite the article to include all native species instead, choosing forbs and grasses which can tolerate the conditions described above. Further, I’d rewrite the article to include a rain garden to prevent runoff which will still occur with the Downspout Garden as described.

My friend Mandy bordered her rain garden with stones against the no mow grass which makes up her lawn, and added an ornamental dragonfly for just the right touch.
Bergamot is already going to seed this summer, while many other things are taller than usual because of all the rain. Note the Wild Petunia at the edge of the planting.

Building a Rain Garden

I haven’t talked about rain gardens for awhile, so I thought this was a good time for me to reiterate the importance of controlling runoff — especially because of the hard rains we’ve been having lately.

If you’re going to build a rain garden, be sure to locate it at least ten feet from the foundation of  your house. Because your rain garden basin will likely hold water for several days, you don’t want to create an opportunity for seepage into your basement.  See Rain Gardens – a How to manual for homeowners. This book also has some nice designs for your use.

For the basin itself, I’d recommend any of these sun-loving species. Placement would be by size according to the line of sight desired:

Bergamot
Blue Flag Iris
Blue Vervain
Boneset
Bottle Gentian
Cardinal Flower
Culver’s Root
Crooked Stem Aster
Dense Blazingstar
Golden Alexander
Great Blue Lobelia
Ironweed*
Marsh Phlox		 Meadow Blazingstar
Mountain Mint
Ohio Goldenrod
Prairie Blazingstar
Queen of the Prairie
Red Milkweed
Riddell’s Goldenrod
Smooth Penstemon
Sweet Black Eyed Susan*
White Turtlehead
Fox Sedge
Indiangrass
Palm Sedge

And around the outside of the Downspout Garden, I’d use any of these sun-loving native plants. Placement again would be by size according to the line of sight desired:

Black-Eyed Susan
Blue False Indigo*
Brown-Eyed Susan
Butterflyweed
Common Milkweed
Cream False Indigo*
Heath Aster
Hoary Vervain
Lanceleaf Coreopsis
Lavendar Hyssop
Leadplant
New England Aster
Nodding Pink Onion
Ohio Spiderwort
Pale Purple Coneflower
Prairie Smoke
Purple Coneflower		 Rattlesnake Master*
Rough Blazingstar
Royal Catchfly
Smooth Aster
Stiff Goldenrod
Sweet Black Eyed Susan*
White False Indigo*
Wild Columbine
Wild Geranium
Wild Petunia
Wild Quinine
Yellow Coneflower
Big Bluestem
Junegrass
Little Bluestem
Prairie Dropseed
Sideoats Grama

Links to species info provided by Prairie Nursery and Prairie Moon Nursery.

*Because of their size, consider using these plants as a specimen or showcase plant. Use only one as an attention-getter (unless you are building a very large garden space).

The Article

I wasn’t able to find the actual article I read on the Internet, but I did find a similar article from Better Homes and Gardens. Go to Downspout Gardening.

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Dogwoods – Part 2

I love the contrasting colors of the Red Twig Dogwood (Cornus sericea) against a dark green evergreen tree. Red and green is my favorite color combination.

Red Osier Dogwood (Cornus sericea)

Red Osier Dogwood (Cornus sericea), often referred to as Red Twig Dogwood is another striking shrub because of the red highlights in its growth. This multi-stemmed shrub has red stems which are at their most brilliant in the late winter when the sun begins to shine longer in anticipation of spring. [Read more…]

Dogwoods – Part 1

The other day my husband John and I were having breakfast on the deck, overlooking the prairie, and he asked “are those red things on the dogwood  berries?” Nope, they were not, but from a distance the bright red stems left from the Pagoda Dogwood (Cornus alternifolia) fruits sure did stand out.

Pagoda Dogwood (Cornus alternifolia)

I love the distinctive branching pattern of the Pagoda Dogwood. It branches horizontally in a distinct tiered appearance, growing much wider than it is tall. It reminds me of a Japanese Garden.

Like all dogwoods, it has clusters or panicles of four-petaled flowers in the spring which form berries or drupes. Its berries are bluish-black in color with red flower stalks or peduncles. It’s clusters of creamy white flowers are flat-topped. They ripen in July. Later in the fall, the dark green oval leaves, which alternate on the stem (unlike other dogwoods), turn a lovely shade of reddish burgundy. It can handle full sun, but also likes part shade.

Gray Dogwood (Cornus racemosa)

The white blossoms of the Gray Dogwood (Cornus racemosa) are dome-shaped rather than flat like the other dogwoods. Photo courtesy of The Morton Arboretum.

I love all the dogwoods, but I think Gray Dogwood is my favorite. It’s white, dome-shaped clusters of flowers in the spring, followed by white berries on those beautiful red stems in summer are so striking. Unfortunately, the berries don’t last long once the birds find out they’re ready for harvesting!

That grayish bark stands out amidst its lance-shaped leaves which grow opposite each other on the branch. Like all dogwoods, each leaf will have three or four curved veins per side which are slightly parallel to the curved edges of the leaf. They are dark green on top and lighter green and hairy on the bottom. In the fall, the Gray Dogwood leaves will turn a sort of purplish red in color.

A Great Border Shrub

Gray Dogwood (Cornus racemosa) is a good shrub for a border or a hedgerow.

We have Gray Dogwood growing at the back (south boundary) of our prairie, where it gets lots of sun. It makes a great border and as I’ve already mentioned in a previous post, is an important element of any hedgerow. It is striking mixed in with American Highbush Cranberry (Viburnum tirlobum), Wild Plum, Red Twig Dogwood (Cornus sericea) and some Cupplant (Silphium perfoliatum) for good measure. All these native plants seem to do well in the sometimes soggy soil of the back boundary of our prairie.

Fauna

Any of the dogwoods are a great nectar and pollen source for a huge variety of insects, as well as a food source for many more insects, larvae and caterpillars. Birds nest in their dense branches which are opposite branching. Their berries are eaten by a variety of birds and small animals and its leaves and branches are eaten by Cottontail Rabbit and White-Tailed Deer. It is very definitely a highly desirable plant for any well-intentioned habit.

If the conditions are just right, sometimes the dogwoods have blossomed twice for us during the year. That’s an extra treat for both us and the birds.

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