Fall 2007 The Ecological Landscaper Newsletter

8/6/2019 Fall 2007 The Ecological Landscaper Newsletter

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Because land doesn’t come with a manual. . .Price $2.00

ISSN 1554-656X

The Newsletter o the Ecological Landscaping Association Vol. 14, No. 3 Fall 2007

Global Challenges, Local Solutions?

1 The Way is Cleared for New ELA Chapters

2 Fahrenheit 59

4 Some Clues to Global Warming in the

Landscape

6 Terra Preta Soils are Heating Up

8 Gleanings

10 Announcements

c o n t e n t s

“The era o procrastination, o hal measures, o soothing and bafing expedience, o

delays, is coming to a close. In its place, we are entering a period o consequences.“

– Winston Churchil The W ay is Cleared for

NeW ela ChapTers

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ELA Board of Directors

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EL A1257 Worcester Rd., #262Framingham, MA 01701(617) 436-5838www.ecolandscaping.org

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EL A

Newsletter Editor

1257 Worcester Rd., #262Framingham, MA 01701

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Mention of products is not intended to con-stitute endorsement. Opinions expressed inthis newsletter do not necessarily represent those of ELA’s directors, staff, or members.

Each author appearing herein retainsoriginal copyright. Right to reproduce or disseminate all material herein is other-wisely reserved by ELA. Please contact the Editor for permission to reprint.

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Members at Large

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f ahreNheiT 59

What a child ’s fever might tell us about climate change • Audrey Schulman

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— 3—

ELA Roundtable

Saturday, December 1, 2007

9:00am – Noon

Bio-control in the Garden:

New Research and Techniques for Invasives Co-sponsors: Arnold Arboretum and the Ecological Landscape Association

Fee: $35 member, $40 nonmember

Co-presenters: Lisa Tewksbury, Manager, Biological Control Laboratories,

University of Rhode Island; Bruce Wenning, Land Stewardship Manager

for Land’s Sake, Inc.

Invasive species are here to stay and their numbers will only rise with

increasing globalization. But this doesn’t mean defeat for landscapers and

gardeners. What it does require is considering the dynamics of ecosystems

and developing methods for keeping aliens in check.

In this program on problem insects and weeds of New England, Lisa

Tewksbury, an entomologist and manager of the University of Rhode Is-land’s Biological Control Laboratories, will present a variety of bio-control

techniques, including her lab’s current work with lily leaf beetle, birch leaf

miner, Cyprus spurge, purple loosestrife, common reed, swallow-wort, as

well as hemlock woolly adelgid. She’ll update us on success stories and

challenges and when we can expect to see the results of some of the

newly introduced “ghters.”

Bruce Wenning will present various methods used and the successes

and failures he experienced in removing invasive plants at an urban

wildlife sanctuary.

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— 4—

FAHRENHEIT continued from page 3

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some Clues To Global

W armiNG iN The l aNdsCape• Bruce Wenning

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Originally published in the January/February 2007 issue of Or magazine.

Audrey Schulman is the author of the nov-els Sg J, T Cg, and AH N Brz and has written for Gr and Ms. She lives in Cambridge, Mas-sachusetts.

www.NEGrows.org

A year’s worth of business-building opportunity

in three essential days.

One show. A million ideas.New England Grows!

$35 before January 15 – Register today.

February 6 – 8, 2008

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•Master Classes& Expo PreviewWednesdayFebruary 6, 2008

•Conference& Expo

Thursday & FridayFebruary 7 & 8, 2008

ExcitingNewFormat!

http://www.negrows.org/

http://www.negrows.org/



— 5—

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Bruce Wenning is Land Stewardship Man-ager for Land’s Sake, inc., Weston (www.landssake.org), and serves on the Board of Directors of the Ecological Landscaping

Association (www.ecolandscaping.org).

Woolly adelgids feeding on hemlock.

Yellowish orange and reddishcolors of faded spruce are

evidence of an intense sprucebeetle infestation in Alaska.

Photo: USDA Forest Service.



— 6—

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Terra preTa soils are

heaTiNG up

• Dennis Collins

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Julie Major and a co-worker in a terra pretaresearch eld in Columbia.



— 7—

The ELA membership year runs from January 1st through

December 31st of each year. Soon you will be receiving your

ELA membership renewal package in the mail.

When your renewal package arrives, please consider renewing yourmembership at the same or higher level. Renewals at the Profes-

sional level and above are included in the online directory, Find an

Eco-Pro as well as in the printed Member Networking Directory.

Remember that ELA members are eligible for registration discounts

to the annual ELA Conference and Eco-Marketplace to be held

March 6th – 8th, 2008 in Springeld, MA.

If you have any questions, please call: (617) 436-5838 or

email: [email protected].

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Experimental elds with different rates of biochar applied to aColombian savanna soil (J. Major).

ELA 2008 Membership Renewals

Coming Soon To Your Mailbox

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Some useful sources of information:

Ron Larson, 2006: www.solartoday.org/2006/nov_dec06/Chairs_Cor -nerND06.pdf

Johannes Lehmann, Cornell University web-site, 2007: http://www.css.cornell.edu/facul-ty/lehmann/terra_preta/TerraPretahome.htm

BBC, 2007: http://www.bbc.co.uk/science/horizon/2002/eldorado.shtml

Glaser, B., J. Lehmann, W. Zech (2002).

Ameliorating physical and chemical proper-ties of highly weathered soils in the tropicswith charcoal - a review. Biology and Fertil-ity of Soils 35 (4): 219-230.

Casselman, A. (May 2007). Special Report:Inspired by Ancient Amazonians, a Plan toConvert Trash into Environmental Treasure.Scientic American.

Tennesen, M. (2007). Black Gold of the Amazon. Discover Magazine. Vol. 28 No. 04.

Benets Of Bio-Char. The Avant Gardener .Vol. 39, No. 10.

Julie Major will be speaking atthe ELA 2008 Conference on

Friday, March 7th.



— 8—

The eColoGiCal

l aNdsCapiNG

assoCiaTioN W aNTs

y ou!

Once again, we want to let youknow that we welcome mo-

tivated, energetic individuals

who support our mission and

purpose to join us in developing

and administering the programs

and initiatives o our organiza-

tion. Our past success and the

ability to improve and expand

ELA in the uture depend on

the support and involvement

o many people. Your interests,enthusiasm and talents may be

just what are needed. Dierent

opportunities or participation

are available:

Committees – Te various

committees play a vital role in

carrying out the

work o the organization. Partic-

ipation on standing committees

or helping with specifc projects

might be something you could

oer. Opportunities are available

in conerence planning, und-

raising, publications, national

governance, public relations,

board recruitment, membership

services, and on ad hoc com-

mittees. Creativity, enthusiasm,

writing/communication skills,

dedication, and o course, a little

ree time are what we need. Do

you have any to lend?

Getting involved is as simple as

calling us at (617) 436-5838, or

dropping us a line at ela.ino@

comcast.net. Let us know how

and when to reach you and we

will get in touch.

ð ELA Sightings

ELA displayed information and provided

materials to visitors of many regional

events this summer. Two recent eventsincluded:

Lincoln Invasive Plant Summit held Sep-

tember 29th at Bemis Hall in Lincoln. The

event was very well attended and the ELA

booth received a lot of attention. Frances

Clark provided the keynote address fol-

lowed by a panel of speakers representing

the Lincoln Conservation Commission,

The Lincoln Land Conservation Trust,

Mass Audubon and a local homeowner.

Local artists provided a unique featureto the Summit with many creative works

highlighting a variety of invasives. For

more on the artists see http://www.wick-

edlocal.com/lincoln/fun/entertainment/

arts/x1909892250

S

AltWheels Alternative Transportation

& Energy Festival – September 28-29.

Thousands of people turned out for this

gleanings

ð 2007-2008 ELA Roundtables

The rst of three roundtables has been

scheduled for December 1, 2007. Please

check the ELA website www.ecolan-

dscaping.org and the Winter newsletter

for information about the January and

February 2008 roundtables.

Saturday Dec. 1, 2007

9:00am-12:00pm – Bio-control in the

Garden: New Research and Techniques

for Invasives

CHAPTERS continued from page 1

r pr rv r vr, ELABr Drr b r.Rprv v p-r rv b r by y r

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r .

gathering on City Hall Plaza. ELA was

one of 160 stalls and exhibits at the

highly touted event. The festival high-

lighted the latest advances in green

technology, including bio-diesel fuel and

prototype vehicles. For more visit http://

www.altwheels.org/

S

ð Eliminate Unwanted Catalogs

Simplify your life and save our natural

resources....

How many times in the past few years

have you received a catalog from a

company that you had previously done

business with but no longer require their

services? Catalog Choice is a free service

that lets you decline paper catalogs youno longer wish to receive. It enables

you to reduce the amount of unsolicited

mail in your mailbox, while helping to

preserve the environment. Just enter your

name and e-mail address and then the

company “Catalog Choice” sends you an

activation link to click on in an e-mail

and when you receive it you supply your

mailing address and click on what cata-

logs you no longer wish to receive. It’s

that simple!

Here’s the link http://catalogchoice.org

S



— 9—

Co-sponsors: Arnold Arboretum and the

Ecological Landscape Association

Fee: $35 member, $40 nonmember

Co-presenters: Lisa Tewksbury, Manager,

Biological Control Laboratories, University

of Rhode Island; Bruce Wenning, Land

Stewardship Manager for Land’s Sake, Inc.

Invasive species are here to stay and their

numbers will only rise with increasing

globalization. But this doesn’t mean defeat

for landscapers and gardeners. What it

does require is considering the dynamics

of ecosystems and developing methods for

keeping aliens in check. In this program

on problem insects and weeds of New

England, Lisa Tewksbury, an entomologist

and manager of the University of Rhode Is-

land’s Biological Control Laboratories, will

present a variety of bio-control techniques,

including her lab’s current work withlily leaf beetle, birch leaf miner, Cypress

spurge, purple loosestrife, common reed,

swallow-wort, as well as hemlock woolly

adelgid. She’ll update us on success stories

and challenges and when we can expect

to see the results of some of the newly

introduced “ghters”. Bruce Wenning

will present various methods used and the

successes and failures he experienced

in removing invasive plants at an urban

wildlife sanctuary. (0.5) MCA credits and

1 MCLP credit.

S

EPA Pushes Procurement of Materials

from Recovered Waste

Release date: 09/10/2007

Contact Information: Roxanne Smith,

(202) 564-4355 / [email protected].

(Washington, D.C. – Monday, Septem-

ber 10, 2007) The U.S. EnvironmentalProtection Agency is revising the list of

items designated in the Comprehensive

Procurement Guidelines’ landscaping

products category to promote the use of

materials recovered from solid waste. EPA

is expanding the description of “compost”

from yard trimmings and food waste to

include compost from biosolids and ma-

nure, but does not limit the designation

to specic types of organic materials. In

addition, EPA has added fertilizer made

from recovered materials as a designated

landscaping item.

The Resource Conservation and Recovery

Act requires procurement ofcials to buy

products containing recovered materi-

als when the agencies spend more than

$10,000 a year on that item. Procuring

agencies are federal, state, and local

agencies, and their contractors that use

appropriated federal funds.

For example, if a county agency spends

more than $10,000 a year on an EPA-

designated item and part of that money

is from appropriated federal funds, then

the agency must purchase that item made

Calling All Exhibitors

March 6-8th , 2008

Be a part of an extensive Eco-Marketplace, the onlyone of its kind in the Northeast.

Hundreds of interested gardeners and landscape

professionals attend.

Don’t miss out on an opportunity to reach otherlike-minded people who are eager to learn abut yourproduct or service.

Reserve your space today. Call M.L. Altobelli at

978-874-1373 to learn more or visit www.ecoland-

scaping.org to download a Vendor Promotion Package.

]

The Ecological Landscaping Association would like to thank the following for their generous help in

sustaining our mission through the Annual Appeal:

Janet Childs, Lucy Borodkin, Love’s Gardens

Thank you as well to our many valued ELA supporters who wish to remain anonymous.

http://www.neptuneharvest.com/



— 10—

announcements

Massachusetts Arborists AssociationCelebrates the 50th Anniversary of

the Massachusetts CertifedArborist (MCA) Program

The Massachusetts Arborists Association

(MAA) announces the 50th anniversary

of the Massachusetts Certied Arborist

(MCA) program. The oldest state-wide

voluntary certication program in the na-

tion, the MCA has become the symbol

of professionalism in arboriculture in the

Commonwealth of Massachusetts.

The MAA will celebrate a half century of the MCA program at its November 27 th

Annual Meeting and at New England

Grows in February 2008. The rst MCA

examination was administered on Febru-

ary 13, 1958 at the Waltham Field Station

of the University of Massachusetts. By

1960, a list of 25 MCA-certied arborists

was published. Since then, the ranks of

Massachusetts tree care professionals car-

rying the MCA designation have swelled

to more than 800.

For further information about the MCA

program, please visit www.certiedtree-

andlawn.org or call (508) 653-3220.

S

Peter Hinrichs and YouthBuild Boston

New Board member Peter Hinrichs

recently joined YouthBuild Boston as a

project manager for the Project Advan-

ELA 2008 Cr & E-Mrkp

Revisioning the Landscape: An Ecological Approach

M. M Cr, Sprg, MA

Don’t Miss Tis Tree-Day Event March 6-8, 2008

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Registration form and Conference Brochure

will be available on the ELA website

www.ecolandscaping.org in December.

from recovered materials. Agencies are

required to purchase the product with the

highest recovered material content level

practicable, given reasonable competition,

product price, performance, and avail-

ability. Through the CPG requirement, EPA

is harnessing the purchasing power of the

federal government to foster and support

markets for recycled-content products,

thereby reducing the need for raw materi-

als, consumption of energy, and the re-

lease of greenhouse gas emissions.

tage program. He will be developing this

program with an emphasis on providing

youth with training and exposure to the

green industry along with the acquisition

of their GED. The focus will be on land-

scaping and horticulture skills which they

can use to enter the work force or higher

education. YouthBuild Boston also has a

construction curriculum where they learn

the building trades, which has strong ties

to the LEEDS program and local architects

The organization already has some com-

pleted projects and more in the pipeline,

for which they hope to get LEEDS certi-

cation. For more information on Youth-

Build visit http://www.ybboston.org/

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— 11—

Newsletter EditorPosition Available

ELA is looking for an Editor for the

Ecological Landscaper ,

our quarterly publication

Duties: Sourcing and procuring•

articles, excerpts, and other contentthat may be of interest to our news-letter readers. Securing appropriatepermission to reprint articles whennecessary. Develop and procureother content including events list-ings and resources.

Work with Newsletter liaison to•

ensure all material is suitable forprinting in the areas of grammar,

coherence, style consistency, andcontent.

Salaried position. Position available•

immediately.

Send resume or contact ELA,

1257 Worcester Road, #262,

Framingham, MA 01701 or

call the ELA Message Center at

617-436-5838 or email us at ELA.

[email protected].

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

October 6, 2007

Contact: Jim Lapides, Manager

Public Relations American Society of

Landscape Architects

(202) 216-2371 / [email protected]

Saralee Tiede, Director

Communications Lady Bird JohnsonWildower Center

(512) 232-0104 / [email protected].

GREEN BUILDING MOVES OUTDOORS

New Rating System to Encourage

Sustainable Landscape Design

San Francisco, CA, October 6, 2007 — The

American Society of Landscape Architects

(ASLA), The University of Texas at Austin’s

Lady Bird Johnson Wildower Center,

and the United States Botanic Garden an-

nounced the development of a new ratingsystem for sustainable landscape design,

called the Sustainable Sites Initiative. The

announcement took place at the 2007

ASLA EXPO in San Francisco, California.

Just as the U.S. Green Building Council’s

LEED® rating system measures a building’s

environmental impact, the Sites Initiative

will measure the sustainability of designed

landscapes of all types, including public,

commercial, and residential projects. The

U.S. Green Building Council is lendingits support to this project and plans to

adopt the Sustainable Sites metrics into its

LEED® system once they are nished.

“This will provide the missing link for

green building standards,” said Nancy

Somerville, Executive Vice President and

CEO of ASLA. “Developers, designers,

owners, and public ofcials will now have

the tools at hand to signicantly increase

sustainability in the built environment,

from interiors to landscapes.”

“We are acutely aware that the best guide-

lines and standards in the world will not

be adopted if they are not cost-effective for

builders and landowners,” said Frederick

R. Steiner, FASLA, Dean of The University

of Texas at Austin School of Architecture

and a member of the Wildower Center

Advisory Council. “Sustainable landscapes

have enormous environmental benets,

and any additional costs should be easily

recovered over the life of the project in

energy, water, and other savings.”

“The U.S. Botanic Garden is extremely

excited to be a part of the Sustainable

Sites Initiative”, said Holly Shimizu,

Executive Director of the Garden. “We

recognize that through partnerships and

collaborations we can make a much

greater impact on promoting and guiding

sustainable design, implementation, and

management of gardens, landscapes, and

all outdoor spaces. This initiative will help

balance the built and natural environ-

ments for the long-term health of commu-

nities nationwide.”

Additional program partners include the

U.S. Green Building Council, the Environ-

mental Protection Agency’s GreenScapesProgram, the National Recreation and

Parks Association, the American Society of

Civil Engineers’ Environment and Water

Resources Institute, the National Associa-

tion of County and City Health Ofcials,

the Nature Conservancy’s Global Invasive

Species Initiative, and The Center for Sus-

tainable Development at the University of

Texas at Austin. For more information, visit

www.sustainablesites.org.

About ASLA: Founded in 1899, ASLA isthe national professional association for

landscape architects, representing more

than 18,000 members in 48 professional

chapters and 68 student chapters. Land-

scape architecture is a comprehensive

discipline of land analysis, planning,

design, management, preservation,

and rehabilitation. ASLA promotes the

landscape architecture profession and

advances the practice through advocacy,

education, communication, and fellow-

ship. Members of the Society use their“ASLA” sufx after their names to denote

membership and their commitment to the

highest ethical standards of the profes-

sion. Learn more about landscape archi-

tecture online at www.asla.org.

About the Lady Bird Johnson Wildower

Center: The Lady Bird Johnson Wildower

Center at The University of Texas at Austin

is dedicated to increasing the sustainable

use and conservation of native plants and

landscapes. Founded in 1982 by Lady

Bird Johnson, the former rst lady, the

Wildower Center maintains an extensive

native plant botanic garden and offers

professional and adult education. The

Wildower Center also conducts research

on landscape restoration and plant con-

servation at its 279-acre site, promoting

the role of native plants in addressing

ecological problems. Recent research ini-

tiatives focus on native turf grasses, green

roof technology in a sub-tropical climate,

prairie restoration methods including

prescribed re, the control of invasive

species, and ways in which native plants

can aid in combating climate change in

urban landscapes. Learn more at www.

wildower.org.

About the United States Botanic Gar-den: Dating from 1820, the United States

Botanic Garden (USBG) is one of the

oldest botanic gardens in North America.

The Garden informs visitors about the



NOAA National Environmental Satellite,

Data and Information Service

U.S. National Overview

October 2007

For the contiguous United States, the av-

erage temperature for October was 56.9°F(13.8°C), which was 2.1°F (1.2°C) above

the 20th century mean and tied with three

years as the ninth warmest October on

record, based on preliminary data.

Temperatures were generally warmer than

average across the Lower 48 states, with

the exception of cooler than average con-

ditions in the states of the West Coast.

The states of Delaware, Maryland, New

importance and fundamental value of

plants to the well-being of humans and

our planet. It also highlights the diversity

of plants worldwide, particularly their

aesthetic, cultural, economic, therapeu-

tic, and ecological signicance. Formally

placed under the jurisdiction of the Joint

Committee on the Library of Congress in

1856, the U.S. Botanic Garden is admin-

istered through the Ofce of the Architect

of the Capitol in the Legislative Branch

since 1934. With nearly a million visitors

annually and located on the National

Mall, the USBG strives to demonstrate

and promote sustainable practices for in-

dividuals, organizations, and institutions.

Learn more online at www.usbg.gov.

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IPCC Fourth Assessment Report

On November 16, 2007 the much antici-

pated “Climate Change 2007”, the 4th

(and nal) Assessment Report from the In-

tergovernmental Panel on Climate Change

(IPCC) was due to be released. On No-

vember 17th, the Synthesis Report, which

summarizes all four individual reports and

presents the ndings in a user-friendly

way, comes out. You can nd out more

information at: http://wwww.ipcc.ch/

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Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Rhode Island set

record high average temperatures during

October, and the Northeast as a whole

was the 2nd warmest on record. Readings

on October 8th reached levels more com-

mon in the summer months, breaking dai-

ly and monthly high temperature records

in the New York City metro area.

The unusually warm conditions reduced

energy demand for heating in the heavily

populated Northeast, and, for the nation

as a whole, temperature related energy

demand was 15% below average based

on NOAA’s Residential Energy Demand

Temperature Index.

No new low precipitation records were

set; this was the twenty-sixth wettest Oc-

tober in the 1895—2007 record. An aver-

age of 2.56 inches (65.0 mm) fell across

the contiguous U.S. this month, which is0.5 inches (11 mm) above average.

Although above normal rainfall in Oc-

tober led to a reduction of the drought

in parts of western Tennessee, much of

Kentucky, and parts of Virginia and North

Carolina, much of the Southeast remained

in an exceptional drought. Many cities in

the region have instituted mandatory wa-

ter restrictions, with some locations hav-

ing only a three-month supply remaining.

In North Carolina, Gov. Easley has said,“If we do not get signicant rain, some ar-

eas face the once unthinkable possibility

of water rationing and potentially running

out of water entirely.”

More than six inches (150 mm) of rain fell

in many drought affected areas of western

Tennessee in October, much of it in the

last week of the month, but year-to-date

precipitation decits ranging from 10 to

20 inches (250-500 mm) remained wide-

spread. Several communities were al-ready under mandatory water restrictions.

Heavy rain brought some drought relief to

parts of Virginia and North Carolina, but

near the end of October, drought covered

67% of the Southeast.

Drought also continued to affect more

than half of the western U.S. In late Oc-

tober, ongoing drought and strong Santa

Ana winds brought devastating res to

parts of Southern California. According to

preliminary estimates, over 900,000 acres

(3600 km²) had burned during the month

across the southern portion of the state,

burning more than 2000 homes and af-

fecting hundreds of thousands of people.

Based on preliminary estimates from the

National Interagency Fire Center (NIFC),

over 9.2 million acres (37000 km²) had

burned across the U.S. as of the end of

October. Drought, which has affected the

West since the late 1990s, has contrib-

uted to extremely active wildre seasons

in recent years.

The past four years have been the most

active on record in terms of acreage

burned in the U.S. As of the end of Oc-

tober, the 2007 re season was the sec-

ond worst on record, exceeded only by

the 2006 season when 9.8 million acres

(39700 km²) burned.

A dry cold front swept through Southern

California on the 16th, kicking up strong

winds in the Mojave Desert of Califor-

nia. Winds gusting to 60 mph (96 km/hr)

reduced visibility to zero from blowing

dust. Four deaths were attributed to the

sandstorms with dozens of vehicles in-

volved in at least four separate wrecks.

October 2007 was a very busy month

for severe weather across the Midwest.Tornadoes occurred during every week

except the last, with the peak of the activ-

ity occurring during October 17-18, when

67 twisters occurred in the Midwest.

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Member’s web page linksare now “live” on the ELA

website in the Find an Eco-

Pro section. Please be sure

to provide your most cur-

rent website address when

sending in your member-

ship renewal.

Fall 2007 The Ecological Landscaper Newsletter

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Transcript of Fall 2007 The Ecological Landscaper Newsletter