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