Climate Change Predicted to Drive Trees Northward

"The most extensive and detailed study to date of North American tree species concludes that expected climate change this century could shift the trees’ climatic ranges northward by hundreds of kilometers and shrink the ranges by more than half. The study, by Daniel W. McKenney of the Canadian Forest Service and his colleagues, is reported in the December issue of BioScience." MORE

An Atlas of the Next Chicago Region

Maps in the Public Square, an online exhibit, part of Chicago's Festival of Maps, is an interactive map that shows the Chicago Region changing over time. It was put together by Openlands, the Center for Neighborhood Technology, and Chicago Metropolis 2020.

Thousands of Tree Species at Risk of Extinction

New Information Revealed About Danger To Oak, Maple Species

LISLE, IL (November 19, 2007) – Seventy-eight species of oak trees – cornerstones of natural and urban landscapes – are globally threatened with extinction, including 17 species that are under threat in the United States, according to an as-yet unpublished report from international experts. Additionally, 19 maple tree species are either “critically endangered” or “endangered.” Sara Oldfield, Secretary General of London-based Botanic Gardens Conservation International (BGCI), revealed the data when addressing conservationists and others at The Morton Arboretum.

“Ecosystems and species are under threat, there’s no doubt about it,” Oldfield said. “Plants are often overlooked in biodiversity debates. Often, animals are discussed, but what about the plants on which they depend?” she asked.

Oaks and maples join magnolias, conifers, ginkgo, and others on the “Red List.” This document, from the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN), lists species that are threatened with extinction in the wild – even rating the seriousness of each species’ situation with categories such as critically endangered, endangered, and vulnerable. MORE

Genetically Engineered Trees

Through Genetics, Tapping a Tree’s Potential as a Source of Energy
By Andrew Pollack
New York Times: Published November 20, 2007

"It might be true that “only God can make a tree,” as the poet Joyce Kilmer wrote. But genetic engineers can fundamentally redesign them.

Aiming to turn trees into new energy sources, scientists are using a controversial genetic engineering process to change the composition of the wood. A major goal is to reduce the amount of lignin, a chemical compound that interferes with efforts to turn the tree’s cellulose into biofuels like ethanol."

Pros:

• possible source for energy
• the trees also absorb carbon dioxide
• trees can be harvested as needed (versus other crops)
• could save at least 10 cents/gallon in ethanol costs
• increased interest and money for tree research
• domesticating trees would save natural forests from being cut down

Cons:

• decreased lignin may lead to weak trees vulnerable to pests and diseases
• the public may resist the attempt to turn trees into a row crop on the same level as corn or soybeans
• Forests are more visually appealing and better for wildlife than tree plantations
• transgenic trees could easily spread to the wild
• long term nature of trees makes it impossible to see the long term consequences

Village of Cary named Clean Air Community

Tree plantings help capture Clean Air honor

CARY – The Metropolitan Mayors Caucus and Clean Air Counts program has named the village a Clean Air Community.

The village has received bronze-level status, which recognizes communities that have undertaken four outreach efforts to promote clean-air initiatives and have a designated contact person for efforts.

“Cary has always been a leader in environmental stewardship, from award-winning recycling programs to award-winning tree-preservation efforts,” Village President Steve Lamal said.

“Becoming a member of the metropolitan region’s Clean Air Counts Campaign is a natural continuation of our ongoing environmental protection efforts.”

The village has supported the Clean Air Counts Campaign by including educational materials in the village newsletter. The village also uses blended fuels in some village vehicles and has an active tree-planting program, Village Administrator Cameron Davis said.

Officials expanded the village’s tree-preservation efforts by creating a program that allows residents to have trees planted in memory of lost loved ones.

In the first month of the program, two trees were planted at the Tom Vieweg Nature Area near Cary Creek, which was designated the first memorial grove tree-planting area.

– Jocelyn Allison
The Northwest Herald

Trends for 2008

"According to public relations firm Garden Media Group, the garden and landscape trends below will shape consumer choices next year." Landscape Design/Build Solutions
-The Environment -Eco-Chic
-Buying Locally -Water Features
-Low-Maintenance -Corresponding Color
-Shapely Landscapes -Landscape Lighting
-Give Me Shelter
Click here for full article...

The Carbon Calculus

By Matthew L. Wald, Published New York Times: November 7, 2007

"A CHANGE is in the works that could go a long way toward making alternative energy less alternative, and more attractive to consumers and businesses.

It’s not a technological fix from some solar-cell laboratory in Silicon Valley or wind-turbine researcher in Colorado or the development of some superbug to turn wood waste into ethanol.

Rather, the change would come from Washington, if Congress does what it has talked about and puts a price tag on greenhouse-gas emissions. Suddenly the carbon content of fuel, or how much carbon dioxide is produced per unit of energy, would be as important as what the fuel costs. In fact, it might largely define what the fuel cost." MORE

America Recycles Day- November 15

Recycling Facts and Figures from www.americarecyclesday.org

• Twenty years ago, only one curbside recycling program existed in the United States. Today, there are more than 10,000 curbside programs in the United States.
• Today, the U.S. recycles 33% of its waste, a rate that has almost doubled during the past 15 years.
• Recycling saves energy and reduces greenhouse gas emissions that cause global warming. If the recycling rate for aluminum and steel cans, plastic PET and glass containers, newsprint and corrugated packaging were to increase a mere 10%, an additional 3.9 million tons of materials would be recycled, saving enough energy to:
• Heat 1.5 million American homes in a moderate climate for one year.
  
• Provide the required electricity to 1.8 million Americans for one year.
• Save Americans about $957 million in avoided costs for barrels of crude oil.

Think Green

Another way to fight junk mail!
How many trees do you think it take to make the "19 billion catalogs" mailed in the United States each year?

"Now a new online service called Catalog Choice is facilitating attempts to unsubscribe. The site was developed by three nonprofit environmental groups — the National Wildlife Federation, the Natural Resources Defense Council and the Ecology Center — to relay requests en masse to specific retailers. Since it was introduced last Wednesday, more than 20,000 people have registered."
Deforest Your Mailbox By Eric Wilson, Published: NY Times- October 18, 2007

We are Thinking Green Too!

We are working hard to reduce our paper and energy consumption. Our first step was to publish our reference catalog online instead of having it printed. We also provide the option of receiving our Pricelists, availability, specials, proposals, orders, or invoices by email.
If you would like to receive future correspondence through email, Just fill out this form and click the submit button and we will add you to the ThinkGreen! service(s) of your choice.

Green Tech- October Report

Pest news reports this year in the Midwest focused on the 17-year Locust, the Gypsy Moth and Emerald Ash Borer. The Department of Agriculture, Morton Arboretum and Chicago Botanic Garden have done a superb job dispersing information on these pests. Work continues on potential controls and plant removal plans for the EAB, Park Districts continue to struggle to balance the myriad of Gypsy Moth controls and we don’t have to worry about the cicada for another 17 years!

Our Green Tech program is opening our eyes to the multitude of planting conditions our customers have to face. We are trying to learn more about where plants go, so we can do a better job growing plants to thrive in their transplant sites.

Insects and diseases are part of the landscape biology. We expect to see them and try to keep them below a plant-damaging threshold level. With the exceptions mentioned above, pests have not been a major issue this year. But, the weather? Well that’s another story!

In the past few years, weather extremes have been an increasing cause of plant susceptibility to disease and insect attacks. We are still seeing damage in the Midwest from last winter frost cracking in Techny Arborvitae—a very rare occurrence due to a warm winter followed by an extreme cold snap.

This summer had unseasonably high temperatures in July followed by record-breaking rainfall in August. Now, with the delayed hard frost, plants are slow to slow down. This is the greenest Fall season we remember in 25 years. In addition, the excess rain in August created waterlogged soils, smothering roots. You may have noticed some plants’ leaves turning brown and crisping up in the late season heat, indicating the feeder roots inability to keep up with the plant top water needs.

These symptoms of water logging vary with the plant types. Other things you might have noticed would be downward curling leaves, chlorosis, stem swelling, dieback, reduced growth, leaf drop and in extreme cases plant death. Some of these symptoms may take years to show, and will depend on the subsequent weather and additional environmental stresses.

OUR GREEN TECH TEAM
If you have a concern about plant needs, pests, siting or general plant health, we can help. We offer a site-visit service for any questions about how our plants are doing in their new location.
We provide Green Tech service at no charge. To make an appointment give us a call or fill out the online form for more information.

Environmental Blogs

October 15th was Blog Action Day

"bloggers around the web will unite to put a single important issue on everyone’s mind - the environment. Every blogger will post about the environment in their own way and relating to their own topic. Our aim is to get everyone talking towards a better future."

Use your search engine to find what bloggers had to say or check out some blogs on the Environment:
Cleantech Blog - Commentary on technologies, news, and issues relating to next generation energy and the environment.
The Conscious Earth - Earth-centered news for the health of air, water, habitat and the fight against global warming.
Earth Meanders - Earth essays placing environmental sustainability within the context of other contemporary issues.
Environmental Action Blog - Current environmental issues and green energy news.
The Future is Green - Thoughts on the coming of a society that is in balance with nature.
The Green Skeptic - Devoted to challenging assumptions about how we live on the earth and protect our environment.
Haute*Nature - Ecologically based creative ideas, art & green products for your children, home and lifestyle, blending style with sustainability.
Lights Out America - A grassroots community group organizing nationwide energy savings events.
Rachel Carson Centennial Book Club - Considering the legacy of Rachel Carson's literary and scientific contributions with a different book each month.
Sustainablog - News, information and personal meanderings related to environmental and economic sustainability, green and sustainable business, and environmental politics.
These Come From Trees - An experiment in environmentalism, viral marketing, and user interface design with the goal of reducing consumer waste paper.

Bringing Back Trees to North Riverside

The newly formed North Riverside Garden Club is working to bring back the village's tree replacement program. Over 150 trees in the village have been cut down and not replaced since the replacement program died out in 1999 due to budgetary constraints.

Rose Titus, Garden Club member and Horticulturist, brought attention to this issue and proposed that the village join the Suburban Tree Consortium. The Garden Club met with a Village Trustee that brought the proposal to the Village Board. The Village President agreed it was a wonderful idea and the Village had the funding due to sales tax referendums passed in recent years.

From:
'Tree replacement proposal making its way to officials' by Ellyn Ong Vea
Published October 2, 2007 in Suburban Life- Riverside, North Riverside, Riverside Lawn
www.mysuburbanlife.com

The Suburban Tree Consortium (STC) is a group of over 30 municipalities in the Chicago area that formed in 1985 to improved the urban forest. The program allows municipalities to get away from low-bid requirements and maintain their quality and diversity specifications for parkway trees. By merging orders and forming long term contracts with local nurseries, the group has costs and time savings due to buying power, economies of scale, and decreased mortality. The consortium also provides delivery and installation services and other technical assistance.

Beeson's McHenry County Nursery joined the STC as one of its Nursery Suppliers in 2005.

Green Roofs Decrease Runoff

Landscape Architects' Green Roof Kept Runoff Out of DC Sewers
Environment News Service 9/21/07

"In July 2006, The American Society of Landscape Architects, ASLA replaced the conventional roof on its downtown Washington, DC headquarters with a green roof, and in the process installed equipment to gather data on stormwater runoff, water quality, and temperature.

When the figures were tallied in May, the new green roof was found to have retained thousands of gallons of stormwater, reduced building energy costs by hundreds of dollars a month, and lowered outdoor air temperature.

An ASLA report released Thursday shows that between July 2006 and May 200, ASLA's green roof prevented 27,500 gallons of stormwater - nearly 75 percent of all precipitation on the roof - from flowing into the Capital District's overburdened sewer and stormwater system."

The full briefing report, the comprehensive water monitoring report and detailed planting information is online at www.asla.org/greenroof. MORE...

Chicago to Celebrate National NeighborWoods Month

Chicago, Ill. (October 1, 2007)- Openlands today announced that they will celebrate National NeighborWoods Month by hosting a series of green events. These events are some of more than 200 regreening, educational, and training efforts throughout the country being promoted during October as part of NeighborWoods Month. NeighborWoods Month is a national campaign of the Alliance for Community Trees (ACT). Openlands is a member of ACT's NeighborWoods Network.

"It's great to be focusing on the health and livability benefits of trees at a time when other organizations are doing so as well," said Pam Holly, of Openlands. "Part of our goal is to draw attention to the good work being done at the grassroots level all across the country to improve urban and community forests."

Openlands's celebration will take place as follows:
10/6/07- 9:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m.,
Habitat Restoration at 47th and Lake Shore Drive

10/13/07- 9:30 a.m. to 12:00 p.m.,
Bugs & GardenKeepers Workday at 1835 S. Carpenter in Pilsen

10/13/07- 9:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m.,
Prune and Mulch at Lincoln Park

10/19/07- 10:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m.,
Walk at Garfield Park Conservatory at 300 North Central Park

More information at: calendar.neighborwoodsmonth.org

October is National NeighborWoods Month

"National NeighborWoods Month was created by the Alliance for Community Trees to celebrate the benefits of trees in the places people live. We encourage tree planting events and tree care, creating tree canopies that increase the health and livability of neighborhoods for us all." www.neighborwoodsmonth.org

The NeighborWoods Month website has

• Tools for planning and promoting events
• Calendar of events scheduled
• Mini-Grants
• Photo Contest

Sustainable Landscape Design

"A rating system is being developed to measure the sustainability of landscape design. The American Society of Landscape Architects (ASLA), the University of Texas at Austin’s Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center, and the United States Botanic Garden are collaborating to develop a rating system for sustainable landscape design, called the Sustainable Sites Initiative.

Just as the U.S. Green Building Council’s Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (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 lending its support to this project and plans to adopt the Sustainable Sites metrics into its LEED system once they are finished." MORE

Sustainable Validation Sept 27, 2007 LDB Solutions

Green Tech Support Team

If you have a concern about plant needs, pests, siting or general plant health, we can help. We offer a site-visit service for any questions about how our plants are doing in their new location.

OUR GREEN TECH TEAM
Mary McClelland (horticulturist) and Terence McClelland (grower), have been making the rounds this year and helping our customers with their plants. Plants are often expected to grow in many harsh and hostile environments, and we would like to find out what you are dealing with so we can develop solutions. We provide Green Tech service at no charge. To make an appointment give us a call or fill out the online form for more information.

Watch for Mary and Terence's Monthly Green Tech Posts

Illinois Birds in Decline

Is this the swansong for Illinois’ songbirds?
Sep 11, 2007 @ 11:28 AM
By Clare Howard
GateHouse News Service

"America is dealing with new numbers showing the devastation of environmental degradation on common songbirds. One set of numbers comes from the National Audubon Society's recent report "Common Birds in Decline."

...Overall declines are 68 percent nationwide for 20 common birds. The list can be accessed at www.audubon.org...

...Illinois has changed over the 100 years of this survey, from 3 million acres in forest to 5.2 million now. Pasture, hay and grain fields went from 50 percent of the state to just 5 percent. The European starling is now the most common bird in Illinois cornfields, whereas it was totally absent 100 years ago...

...Dale Goodner, a naturalist with the Peoria Park District, said, "Birds are the canary in the coal mine." He said homeowners can do something to help bird populations by taking their yards out of turf and putting in perennials, trees, bushes and native grasses. Attracting insects will attract birds." Lawn has no habitat value. Lawn is a habitat desert"...

...John Mullen, naturalist at Forest Park Nature Center in Peoria Heights, said even small backyard conversions from turf to prairie plantings will attract birds. "If you build it, they will come," he said." Birds are our most cosmopolitan species. They travel great distances." He said declining bird populations say as much about human beings as they do about birds."

We have created an economic system not compatible with other species on the planet. Do we want to continue as we have and denude species other than ourselves? We have asked other species to adapt, but we are the single species with awareness of others and how they fare with the changes we have produced," he said. "Birds need less human impact on the world." MORE

Vatican Penance: Forgive Us Our Carbon Output

By Elisabeth Rosenthal
Published New York Times: September 17, 2007

"This summer the cardinals at the Vatican accepted an unusual donation from a Hungarian start-up called Klimafa: The company said it would plant trees to restore an ancient forest on a denuded stretch of land by the Tisza River to offset the Vatican’s carbon emissions.
The trees, on a 37-acre tract of land that will be renamed the Vatican climate forest, will in theory absorb as much carbon dioxide as the Vatican will produce in 2007: driving cars, heating offices, lighting St. Peter’s Basilica at night.
In so doing, the Vatican announced, it would become the world’s first carbon-neutral state...

...After the Vatican agreement was announced, Msgr. Melchor Sanchez de Toca Alameda, an official at the Council for Culture at the Vatican, told the Catholic News Service that buying credits was like doing penance. “One can emit less CO2 by not using heating and not driving a car, or one can do penance by intervening to offset emissions, in this case by planting trees,” he said." MORE

Loans could help replace trees

Northern Illinois communities could receive state funding to help replace trees destroyed by emerald ash borers.

Legislation signed Sunday by Gov. Rod Blagojevich created the Emerald Ash Borer Revolving Loan Program, which provides low-cost loans to municipalities for replanting trees on public land, according to information from the state. The land must be within the state’s emerald ash borer quarantine area, which includes Kane, DuPage and McHenry counties plus 15 other counties.

Trees on the Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory property and in the Batavia Industrial Park on Fabyan Parkway have been found to have emerald ash borers.

The Illinois Finance Authority will administer the program and issue loans to eligible communities based on Illinois Department of Agriculture recommendations. The loans must be paid in 20 years.

The emerald ash borer is a small, metallic-green insect from Asia that first was discovered in the United States near Detroit in 2002. The first beetle detection in Illinois occurred in June 2006 in a rural Kane County subdivision west of St. Charles. Since then, infestations have been identified along Lake Michigan in north Cook County, near Peru in LaSalle County and in Glendale Heights in DuPage County.

The legislation, Senate Bill 1617, is effective immediately.

-NorthWest News Group

The Value of Landscaping

Selling Houses by the Yard
Worried Owners Hope Landscaping Adds Value; Trucking In Mature Oaks
By JUNE FLETCHER August 17, 2007; Page W8, Wall Street Journal

"Most homeowners know that replacing the roof or upgrading siding can enhance a house's curb appeal and boost its sales price. Now, as the housing market continues to weaken, some people are considering what the payback will be if they invest in things that appraisers routinely overlook: flowers, shrubs and trees...

...Kathleen Wolf, a researcher at the University of Washington in Seattle, recently reviewed several regional studies that used appraisals or sales data to analyze the impact of trees on single-family home prices. She found that, overall, a lot with trees adds about 7% to a home's price. Nearly 20% of buyers say they consider landscaping to be a "very important" factor in their decision to buy a house, according to a new study by the National Association of Realtors...

...Although a guide for appraising plants has been established by the Council of Tree and Landscape Appraisers, a consortium of industry groups, "there are no official standards that are published as such," says Russell Carlson, an arborist in Bear, Del.
Even professionals with years of field experience are sometimes confused, according to Logan Nelson, an arborist in Dane County, Wis. She says a fellow arborist once told her that he calculated the worth of a diseased ash tree by figuring what he would charge to treat it for five years and then remove it when it died (which he thought was likely) -- a method that isn't mentioned in the council's guidelines. Homeowners need to ask arborists what sort of experience they've had in appraising trees before hiring them, Ms. Nelson says..." MORE

Urban Forestry Tree Mapping Resources

The Wisconsin Urban and Community Forests Newsletter published in their Summer 2007 Issue a list of Tree Inventory and Management Software (compiled by the Midwest Center for Urban & Community Forestry)

These resources can be used in to define the current urban forest, and aid in developing maintenance schedules or canopy goals. Many municipalities are putting an increased emphasis on tree inventories in order to prepare for the possible Emerald Ash Borer infestation.

The Illinois DNR Urban and Community Forest program recommends tree assessment and management plans as part of their EAB Community Readiness Plan

The Going Rate

From the NYTimes Business Section: July 24, 2007

HOW MUCH? Want to know the going rate for employees like yours? One incredibly easy way to find out is to visit www.payscale.com, which says it owns “the largest database of online employee salary data in the world.”

The way it gathers information is simple and ingenious. In exchange for a report detailing how his or her compensation compares with others in the market, people are asked to submit detailed, anonymous information about their jobs and workplaces.

You probably want to check out the site, if for no other reason than your employees probably are.

EAB and MCN in the News

Bug bores way into county By KEVIN P. CRAVER
Northwest Herald, July 20, 2007

McHenry County now is one of 18 that are quarantined to prevent the spread of the tree-killing emerald ash borer. The Illinois Department of Agriculture drastically expanded the quarantine on Thursday, after the recent discovery of infestations in LaSalle and DuPage counties, far outside the previous zone of Kane and northern Cook counties...

...Local tree experts said the problems the borer presented were twofold. Like many imported pests, it has no natural predators, said Brenda Dahlfors, master gardener coordinator for the McHenry County University of Illinois Extension office.

Furthermore, the borer has plenty to eat, said Joe Beeson, co-owner of Beeson’s McHenry County Nursery in Harvard. Not only is the ash tree a native plant in McHenry County, but also its appearance, fast growth and resistance to drought made it popular with developers and landscapers.

“This potentially could be very serious,” Dahlfors said. “It attacks healthy trees. That’s not true of many of the native [ash borers]. Native borers attack stressed, dead or dying trees.”

Illinois has an estimated 130 million ash trees, Squibb said. Ironically, he said, ash trees became a favorite to replace the Chicago-area elm population devastated in the 1950s and 1960s by Dutch elm disease.

Beeson, whose 400-acre nursery grows wholesale trees and plantings for builders and landscapers, stopped growing ash trees about three years ago, predicting that the borer would drop demand. The village of Cary last year banned planting new ash trees on public property as a result of the borer.

“The handwriting was pretty much on the wall that as long as they didn’t have a remedy or cure, that ash trees would be taken off the planting list,” Beeson said. “We were never a big grower of ash in the first place. There are a lot of trees we think are better anyway.” MORE

EAB Quarantine Map 7.19.pdf
EAB quarantine amendment.pdf

It’s a Consumer’s Market- It’s all about Choices

Remember when all you needed to find someone was an address or phone number? Now we have choices, and lots of them- Office phone, cell phone, nextel, fax, email, texting...
You would think will all these choices it would make it easier to communicate!

From the New York Times July 12, 2007 article ‘Let’s Talk. Let Me Outline the Ways’ By Lisa Belkin:

“Time was when making contact meant finding someone’s phone number and dialing. You might connect with your party; you might leave a message. But you had done all you could. Now contact means decoding the quirks of the person in question, the better to predict how to actually get your message through.”

• “I typically check this voice mail less frequently than I do my office number”
• “I don’t check messages here too often, so if you want to reach me in a timely fashion please e-mail me.”
• “I prefer to be contacted on my cellphone, It is immediate, and it is always with me.”
• “Don’t have [a cellphone], don’t want one, I would do everything by e-mail if I could.”
• E-mail “can be blocked by spam filters, Phone is the only way to go.”
• “It used to be e-mail, but thanks to spam filters, e-mail has gotten so unreliable”

To make it more complicated “...another unpredictable factor in the what’s-the-best-way-to-reach-you game: we all tend to change our minds“

Thankfully, we have a database program to keep track of our contacts and Communication Preferences. We want you to get what you want, when and how you want it, and it’s okay if you change your mind, just let us know!
You can call the office, or leave a voicemail, or send a fax, or drop a letter, or send an email, or fill out a form on our website, or stop by...

Emerald Ash Borer Discovered in DuPage County

Illinois Department of Agriculture finds the beetle in Glendale Heights

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. - DuPage is the fourth county in Illinois with a confirmed infestation of emerald ash borer (EAB). The Illinois Department of Agriculture today announced the tiny, tree-killing beetle has been discovered at a shopping center in Glendale Heights.

A department nursery inspector made the discovery. While returning from an inspection, he noticed distressed ash trees at the Concord Green Shopping Center and stopped to investigate. Larvae were collected from trees near the intersection of North Avenue and Bloomingdale Road and submitted to the USDA's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, which confirmed the specimens as EAB larvae late Friday... MORE

The Far Reaching Effects of EAB

EAB was found in Pennsylvania in late June, alarming the makers and users of baseball bats, most of which come from this region. Climate change is also an issue, with longer growing seasons making ash wood softer.
Ash has been historically the wood of choice for baseball bats, but has faced competition from aluminum and composite bats and sugar maple.

“Maple is all the rage with the young players coming up now,” said Tom Hellman, the clubhouse manager for the Chicago Cubs, whose responsibilities include ordering bats and keeping track of them. “But the older players still want their ash.”

Juan Uribe, Chicago White Sox shortstop, reportedly speaks to his ash bats every day.

With EAB and a warming climate, the future of the ash tree and "the complicated relationship of the baseball player to his bat" is uncertain.

"In the end, baseball players may be faced with switching to, and holding conversations with, bats made of maple or some new wood yet untested by the hardball."

From the NY Times July 11, 2007 article 'Balmy Weather May Bench a Baseball Staple' By Monica Davey

Download the LatestEABMap

Beautiful Boxwood

Our Boxwood are Green and Growing!

We have perfected propagation and container growing for Chicagoland Green® and Northern Charm™ Boxwood.
(both cultivars are in the Chicagoland Grows Program)
These excellent boxwood cultivars were selected for their cold hardiness and good winter color, as well as uniform compact habit.

We have many sizes of boxwood available from 2G to 10G, to fit into any project.

For more information see Thinking Outside The Box... The Many Uses of Boxwood

Renewable Energy Fair 2007

The Midwest Renewable Energy Association (MREA) is a non-profit organization that promotes renewable energy and sustainable living.

MREA's 8th annual Renewable Energy and Sustainable Living Fair was held June 15-17 at the ReNew the Earth Institute (MREA’s demonstration site and educational facility) in Custer, WI. With so much to see including a Clean Energy Car Show, and workshops, speakers and exhibits involving clean energy & sustainable living, it is the largest educational event of its kind. There was something for everyone from handmade soaps, organic pet treats, and a massage tent, to native plants, renewable building, and solar and wind energy equipment, and much much more.

The Renewable Energy Fair is also certified by Travel Green Wisconsin as a green tourist event.

Taking DIY to a New Level- Landscape Coaches

Plant! Water! Weed!
By JOANNE KAUFMAN Published in the New York Times: June 15, 2007

"A new addition to the landscape, gardening coaches — or gardening mentors as they are sometimes called — are the personal trainers of the prune-and-plant set. Their target audience — do-it-yourselfers in search of enlightenment — occupies a middle ground between the people who simply sit back and watch, while others do the planting and mulching, and amateur plant killers whose gardening strategy can best be summed up as trowel and error."

Smart Energy Design Assistance Center

"The Smart Energy Design Assistance Center (SEDAC) provides advice and analysis, enabling small businesses in the State of Illinois to increase their profitability through the efficient use of energy resources.
(SEDAC is sponsored by the Illinois Dept of Commerce and Economic Opportunity’s and managed by the University of Illinois School of Architecture)

Download SEDAC's June Newsletter for articles including

• 'Net Metering Legislation News'
• 'Chicago's Move Toward Becoming The Greenest City Of All'

Learn about Events, including Illinois Renewable Energy Fair August 11 -12, in Oregon Illinois.

Biological EAB Control

"Tiny, stingless parasitic wasps could be released in Michigan this summer as a biological control for the emerald ash borer, which has claimed more than 20 million ash trees here and in other states. The proposal is to use three kinds of insect parasitoids that kill the emerald ash borer in China, where it is native. It would be the first widespread use of biological controls for a wood-boring insect that, if unchecked, threatens the nation's 7.5 billion ash trees.Michigan might recruit wasps to destroy emerald ash borers."
Michigan might recruit wasps to destroy emerald ash borers May 24, 2007 BY MARTY HAIR FREE PRESS GARDEN WRITER

Virtual Open House

Welcome to our Summer 2007 Virtual Open House!
Open 24/7, day or night from anywhere

This month we will be walking through our Container Sales Yard

Making Lemonade

Illinois officials are finding alternative uses for infested ash trees:

• Wilmette Village President Chris Canning is turning two ash from his own yard into bats for Wilmette's youth baseball program. (Evanston is also working on a baseball bats project)
• Wilmette also plans to use some ash wood as flooring when they renovate the public works facility
• Other suggested uses- decorative bowls, stained counter tops, furniture, cabinets, picnic areas in forest preserves
• Turning wood chips into electricity- Robbins Community Power- by the end of the year will be IL's first wood-chip energy plant, and may use ash wood chips

From: Ash borers kill trees, but wood still has life Town officials get creative in uses for rescued lumber
By Dave Wischnowsky Tribune staff reporter, Published May 27, 2007
Click here to go to photos from the Tribune Article

Happy Birthday Linnaeus

Carl Linnaeus, the father of modern taxonomy, was born 300 years ago today. Linnaeus' contributions include Binomial Nomenclature (Latin Names), the modern centigrade thermometer, growing bananas in Europe, and the idea of plants having sex.

• New York Times May 23, 2007 'The 300th Birthday of the Man Who Organized All of Nature' By JAMES BARRON

The benefit of being the father of modern taxonomy is that not only do you get to name plants after your family and friends, but you can name weeds after your critics.

For more on Carl Linnaeus and the meanings behind the Latin Names go to our article What’s in a Plant’s Name? or check out our Name Dictionary of some of the plants we grow.

Don’t make fun of trees with your lungs full

Recent “environmental studies” have committed the classic fallacy of reasoning- “not being able to tell the forest from the trees”. ‘Computer Models’ of the earth’s atmosphere have shown that darkening the earth’s surface in the temperate climes could lead to an increase in ‘global warming’. Therefore, they conclude planting trees with their dark leaves would increase the amount of sunlight that is absorbed and given off as heat. According to the models it would be better if the surface of the northern hemisphere was white -like snow covered or sand. The ‘studies’ say that they have taken into account the carbon sequestering and oxygen production of trees and still found that no trees are better. Giving them the benefit of the doubt the researchers may have been trying to make a point that ‘global warming’ studies and modeling can lead to such absurd results because the environment and its myriad of connections is too complex to be understood simply on a quantitative basis. Anyone who walks in a northern forest knows that the benefits to the earth far outweigh any detriment, but quantifying that equation will take a lot of assumptions, which are all in flux. In other words the forest is more than the sum of its parts. And that’s the truth.

The previous issue of the Wisconsin Urban Forestry Insider email newsletter had the following headlines and links:

Leafy, Green and Good Recent news stories suggest that there is one true answer to of global warming — transforming the way we produce energy, reducing carbon dioxide emissions at the source. Planting trees to combat climate change is a distraction from this solution, an "indulgence," "the morning-after pill for fossil fuel gluttons," a "dangerous illusion."

This article itself ends positively, stating the many benefits of urban trees, and describing planting trees as something any of us can do that does not require “the development of new technologies or massive investment in alternative energy sources”. The article states that the climate change issue is complicated, with no easy solution and requiring much time, thought and money, but “Meanwhile, we can all plant a tree.”

Trees to Offset the Carbon Footprint? How effective are new trees in offsetting the carbon footprint? A new study suggests that the location of new trees is an important factor when considering such carbon offset projects. Planting and preserving forests in the tropics is more likely to slow down global warming. But the study concludes that planting new trees in certain parts of the planet may actually warm the earth.

When Being Green Raises the Heat Carbon dioxide is heating up the earth. Ice caps are melting, ocean levels are rising, hurricanes are intensifying, tropical diseases are spreading and the threat of droughts, floods and famines looms large. Can planting a tree help stop all this from happening?

The authors of these articles end with a caution that they are not suggesting cutting down trees outside the tropics is the answer for slowing global warming. "Preservation of ecosystems is a primary goal of preventing global warming, and the destruction of ecosystems to prevent global warming would be a counterproductive and perverse strategy... Forests provide natural habitat to plants and animals, preserve the biodiversity, produce economically valuable timber and firewood, protect watersheds and indirectly prevent ocean acidification.”

Chicago Cicada Central Blog

Ron Wolford, the Extension Educator Urban Gardening/Environment at University of Illinois Extension put together a blog Chicago Cicada Central Blog with facts, links, and resources on the Periodical Cicadas.

New Name for INA!

After much debate and thought, the people voted and decided to change the name of the Illinois Nurseryman's Association (INA) to the Illinois Green Industry Association (IGIA). The new name "more accurately reflects the existing membership of the organization as well as the evolving complexion of the industry" and "welcomes and invites potential new members form every segment of the Green Industry". The new website is www.illinoisgreen.org

Polar Bear's Don't Lie

Lisa Haderlein, Executive Director of The Land Conservancy of McHenry County recently started the blog Polar Bears Don't Lie- One Family's Journey to Lower Carbon Living

The blog is a journal of her family’s efforts to reduce their carbon output during the month of May. The blog has links to information and resources about Global Climate Change.

Emerald Ash Borer Awareness Week

May 20-26 is Emerald Ash Borer Awareness Week in Illinois, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Indiana, Ohio, Michigan and Maryland.

For more information go to:

• Emerald Ash Borer in Illinois Blog
• Emerald Ash Borer Website
• Wisconsin Emerald Ash Borer web page
• Purdue EAB Website

The Ups and Downs of Global Warming

Feeling Warmth, Subtropical Plants Move North By SHAILA DEWAN
New York Times May 3, 2007

• “If global warming has any upside, it would seem to be for gardeners, who make up three-quarters of the population and spend $34 billion a year, according to the National Gardening Association. Many experts agree that climate change, which by some estimates has already nudged up large swaths of the country by one or more plant-hardiness zones, has meant a longer growing season and a more robust selection.”

(See our Previous Post on the Hardiness Zone Debate)

The Downside:
Warmer temperatures help pests as well-

• “Studies have shown that weeds and invasive species receive a greater boost from higher levels of carbon dioxide, a heat-trapping gas, than desirable plants do.”

Plants that are part of the identity of an area may not be able to adapt

• “By the end of the century, the climate will no longer be favorable for the official state tree or flower in 28 states, according to “The Gardener’s Guide to Global Warming,” a report released last month by the National Wildlife Federation.”

Another Upside:
Raising Awareness in products and practices that conserve water and energy including drought-resistant plants, xeriscaping, rain gardens, low maintenance plants, organic fertilizers, and greener equipment.

• “Some experts said global warming was affecting gardeners in another way, by raising awareness.”

Summer Flowering Shrubs

Download our pdf on Summer Flowering Shrubs

• 'Sweet' Summer Flowering Shrubs

• Summer Flowering Shrubs for Cut-Flowers

• Troubleshooting Summer Flowering Shrubs

Chicago is One of Top Cities in Sustainability

SustainLane's 2006 US City Sustainability Rankings
Ranks the 50 largest cities in the US on urban sustainability.

Chicago scores high in most categories
Including Knowledge Base, Metro Public Transit, City Innovation, Energy/Climate Change Policy and City CommutingOther Categories include Metro Congestion, Air Quality, Tap Water Quality, Solid Waste Diversion, Planning/Land Use, Housing Affordability, Natural Disaster Risk, Local Food and Agriculture, Green Economy, and LEED Buildings

EAB Makes Headlines

DATCP SECRETARY URGES WISCONSIN RESIDENTS TO BURN PURCHASED FIREWOOD THAT MAY CONTAIN DESTRUCTIVE ASH BEETLE April 26, 2007
"Firewood from Taylors Wood Products, Inc, an Illinois-based company, was not properly treated and it could potentially harbor the destructive emerald ash borer. This wood boring beetle hasn't been found in Wisconsin and burning this firewood quickly can aid in preventing the possible introduction of this insect into Wisconsin. A national recall on all Taylors wood is also in effect... "

Ash borer fight may trip over disposal issue By Dave Wischnowsky Tribune staff reporter Published April 13, 2007
"Last fall, all of Kane County and a swath of northern Cook County were quarantined by the state after the ash borer was confirmed in those areas. The quarantine zones are intended to stymie the spread of the metallic-green pest, which has killed 20 million ash trees in five states and Canada since 2002. But the quarantines are thwarting the work of brush collection companies as well..."

Suburb takes steps to save storied ash
As other trees are felled in response to the emerald ash borer, Wilmette's Bicentennial Ash is getting some preventive TLC
By Dave Wischnowsky Tribune staff reporter Published March 30, 2007

Fragrant Viburnums are a Feast for the Senses in all Seasons

Pink pearly buds open to blushing white snowballs in spring,perfuming the air with scents of clove and spicy chocolate.

Tiny fuzzy leaves expand to rich velvety green summer foliage.

Bundles of merlot teardrop fruits
hang from stiff branches in early fall.

Cool fall weather brings sorbet colored leaves in shades of tangerine, lemon, and raspberry.

Please call for more information or download our Current Availability to see Fragrant Viburnum sizes and availability.

More information on Fragrant Viburnums

• Burkwood, Mohawk, Koreanspice, Cayuga, Compact Koreanspice, Juddi

Plant Apathy

An article in the New York Times Science Section today explores in a fun way our blindness to plants despite their importance to our lives.

• "According to Peter H. Raven, director of the Missouri Botanical Garden, many of us suffer from an insidious condition called “plant blindness.” We barely notice plants, can rarely identify them and find them incomparably inert... But the antidote to plant apathy is at hand. As an unusually cool, sodden April edges toward May and spring’s cheeky blooms can be bridled no longer, botanists urge everyone to venture outside and check out the world through nature’s rose-colored glasses — and the daffodil, cherry blossom, dogwood and lupine ones, too. If this view doesn’t move you, you’re pushing up daisies. " -New York Times April 17, 2007 'Green, Life-Giving and Forever Young' By Natalie Angier

Green Festival in Chicago

Celebrate Earth Day in one of the Greenest Cities!

"Here, green means safe, healthy communities and strong, local economies. Green is the color of hope, of social and economic justice, of ecological balance."
The Chicago Green Festival is being held at McCormick Place
Saturday April 21st 10AM- 8PM and Sunday April 22nd 11AM- 6PM

• Green Business Exhibitors in the 'eco-mall'
• Speakers, Workshops, and Films
• Green Careers
• Organic Food and Drinks
• Live Music

The Green Business Conference is prior to the Green Festival April 17-20 at the Chicago Cultural Center
Learn about industry leaders embracing sustainability, greening your workplace, developing a successful green business from marketing to financing. Network with others interested in Green Business. See cutting-edge green technologies on the Green City Business Tour of Chicago.

What is a Carbon Offset?

“The typical American is responsible for 10 tons of CO2 emissions annually via their home, cars and air travel, and about 23 tons of CO2 via their purchases and activities. While most people can reduce their climate footprints by using energy more efficiently and buying high mileage cars, we strongly support taking the extra step of offsetting events. Carbon offsets are a simple, affordable way to reduce the remainder of your climate footprint.” -Earth Day Network

Carbon offsets provide ways for individuals or organizations to invest in green projects aimed at reducing, avoiding, or trapping CO2 in the atmosphere to counteract the carbon dioxide emissions they produce. Many programs have sprung up to allow people to reduce their climate impact and help slow global warming. Most offset companies have online programs to calculate your carbon emissions.

The programs are relatively new, and vary in quality and standards.
Sites that evaluate and rank Carbon Offset Companies:

• Tufts University
• Clean Air- Cool Planet

While carbon offsets can ease the guilt of our environmental impact, there is still much to do to reduce our energy use by changing our consumption habits.

• Illinois Recycles
• McHenry County Defenders

Resources:

• AP 'Column: What Are Carbon Offset Programs?" 3/27/07
• Sustainable Travel Info
• Native Engergy
• The Climate Trust
• Carbon Fund
• Earth Day Network

Abbrvs hv u cnfsd?

The Tree Care Association (formerly the National Arborist Association) has compiled an online list with definitions of the industry’s abbreviations and acronyms.

American Forests- Online Resources

‘American Forests works to protect, restore and enhance the natural capital of trees and forests.’

American Forests Website is an excellent place to find information on

• Global ReLeaf
• Urban Forests
• CITYgreen Software
• Forest Policy
• Environmental Education
• National Register of Big Trees

Members receive the quarterly magazine with great articles and pictures. Check it out (and save paper) by downloading a copy of American Forest’s magazine or join to get the real thing, every dollar plants a tree, either way you do it you are saving trees!
(Also be sure to check out the Nature and the Network Poster)

The Zone Debate

Until recently, the USDA put out a new Hardiness Zone Map every 15 years. In 2005, a new map was scheduled to be released from 16 years of climate data studied by the American Horticultural Society. The AHS draft was published in The American Gardener's May-June 2003 issue.

The USDA reviewed the map and decided that it would not work, because, among other reasons, it was not based on a long enough time period. Some worry that the USDA rejection of the new map was influenced by the current administration and the politics surrounding global warming. The USDA is working on another update with 30 years of data, but there is as of yet no schedule for its release. The USDA map from 1990 is still the current “official” map

After much demand for a more current map, the National Arbor Day Foundation released their own update, the 2006 Hardiness Zone Map. Similar to the AHS update, and from the same US National Climatic Data, it shows much of the country moving a zone warmer. Their animation of the zone changes from 1990-2006 has quite an impact.

The Good and the Bad
A change in hardiness zone may seem like a good thing, in that we can grow a wider variety of plants, but with the plants we want to grow will come the ones we don’t want. There may be increased problems with invasive pests and weeds. Also, the climate warming is not limited to warmer winters. There is an increased potential for extreme heat. See the AHS Heat Zone Map

Any hardiness zone map should be used as a starting point, with plant decisions based on local experience. Know your local microclimates. Upset customers may result from trying borderline hardy plants that may not make it through the occasional hard winter.

Green Roofs Conference and Trade Show

International Greening Rooftops for Sustainable Communities,
Conference, Awards & Trade Show
April 29, 30 and May 1, 2007
Minneapolis, MN

By the Green Roofs for Healthy Cities (GRHC)
and the City of Minneapolis

Green Roof Policies, Programs, Design, Implementation, Research and
Performance

Search Urban Forestry Publications

UFind- the Urban Forestry Index: a searchable database of publications, videos, websites, and posters about urban forestry and arboriculture.

Resources for Trees: Benefits, Identification, Selection, Biology, Care and Maintenance, Planting, Preservation and Protection, and much more.

From the USDA Forest Service, University of Minnesota, and TreeLink

Urban Tree Benefits Webcast

Webcast - “An Urban Forest Pilot Project: Mapping & Calculating the Benefits of City Trees”
on Tuesday, March 13 at 1 p.m. CST.
Hosted by the WDNR and USFA

Topics Include

• Results from a recent mapping project in Middleton, WI
• The many benefits that urban trees provide
• CITYgreen software to calculate the dollar value that trees save your city
  

“Join us for this educational review demonstrating how the application of advanced technology can create simple, yet powerful information that any city can benefit from. Instructions for calling and logging into the webcast will be posted March 5, 2007. Contact Ian.Brown@Wisconsin.gov with questions.”
The Wisconsin Urban Forestry Insider

A Positive Perspective on EAB

The Winter 2006-2007 Issue of the Wisconsin Urban and Community Forests Newsletter has an article by Dick Rideout, The State Urban Forestry Coordinator for the WI DNR Division of Forestry, focused on what urban foresters can do to minimize the costs of EAB, and what the DNR is putting together to help.

“Emerald ash borer has given us a rare opportunity to show the world the value of urban forests and the need to properly manage them. Seize this opportunity. You won’t get a second chance.”

‘Emerald Ash Borer: The Opportunity of a Lifetime‘
by Dick Rideout, State Urban Forestry Coordinator DNR Division of Forestry

Wisconsin DNR- Urban and Community Forestry

New Publication from the WI DNR

'The Forest Where We Live, Growing a Legacy'

Wisconsin DNR- Urban and Community Forestry

Industry News

Congratulations to all the ILCA Excellence in Landscape Award Winners!
www.ilca.net

'Green Walls'

We have Green Roofs, why not Green Walls?
A French botanist, Patrick Blanc, designs Plant Walls for hotels and museums around the world.
His trademarked Plant Wall concept involves layers of plastic, metal, and air to for stability, temperature control, and circulation. The plants grow in small pockets and a hydroponic system of plastic pipes provides water and nutrients.

'Blanc attributes his growing success to a shift in thinking about cities and urban spaces. "We need to reconcile city dwellers' needs and nature's needs," he says. And with space increasingly at a premium in cities, gardens have to go vertical, he says. While high-profile commissions have made Blanc famous, he envisions far more modest applications for Plant Walls: in parking lots, housing projects, train stations, and even underneath bridges.'

'Redefining the Urban Jungle' by Amber Haq
October 4, 2006 BusinessWeek

NOAA admits that humans are having an influence on the climate

A statement was released from the NOAA that 2006 was the warmest year on record in the US and that the long term warming trend is linked to greenhouse gases from human activities. In past years the link between climate trends and human activities was played down, but now the NOAA and other government agencies are making an effort to be clearer with the findings.

‘Agency Affirms Human Influence on Climate’ by Andrew C. Revkin
New York Times 1/10/07


Go to American Forests Personal Climate Change Calculator and Find out Your impact on the Climate and How many trees you should plant each year to nuetralize your impact.

Green Buildings

The US Green Building Council certifies buildings as environmentally friendly with the LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) standards. The Green Building trend has been growing but mostly in new construction rather than renovation of existing buildings.

The Rose Smart Growth Investment Fund – an environmentally friendly investment fund- focuses on updating existing properties in areas close to mass transit. Projects are planned and targeted in Seattle, Baltimore, Boston to Washington, Rocky Mountain Region, and Chicago.
They found that renovations including updated heating/cooling systems, replacing old windows with double hung windows, removing carpeting, ‘light shelves’, and providing improvement manual for tenants reduces the operating costs over time and increase property value.

‘Finding the Green In Building Renovation’ by Lisa Chamberlain
New York Times 1/10/07

The Chicago Center For Green Technology is certified at the U.S. Green Building Council LEED Platinum level.
Christy Webber Landscapes "Rancho Verde" 12-acre former brownfield site is a LEED Gold-rated project.
Go to the US Green Building Council to find out more about the LEED certified projects in Illinois.

Green Technology Meets Digital

Dell computer is calling on the computer industry to foster the planting of trees. "Plant a tree for me" program will donate $2 for every notebook computer purchased and $6 for every desktop. The money will be given to the Conservation and Carbonfund to buy and plant trees.

January 10, 2007
"Dell Says Plant a Tree, Help the Environment" By DAMON DARLIN
New York Times 1/10/07