“Ecologically sound land management, environmentally friendly landscaping” and “organic gardening” are just a few of the new buzz phrases in the green industry and for good reason. With the trend for a cleaner environment, and with spring ready to burst at the bud, now would be a great time to work more environmentally friendly garden practices into your property. Here area a few tips to get you started in the right direction.

Let’s start with the lawn. If possible, cut down the size of the lawn. For instance, if you’re mowing five acres break it down to two and turn the rest into a meadow. You’ll save money, gas and time and you will be doing your part in making your property more wild life friendly. When mowing, you should raise the height of the cut grass from two inches to four inches; it’s healthier for the lawn. This practice will shade out many broad leaf weeds and help the lawn tolerate dry, hot summers, which seem to be a trend. Stay away from synthetic fertilizers and pesticides that can pollute and cause adverse health effects.

Mulch your garden beds with a local composted leaf mold and bark mulch. This combination will add body to the soil. The slow decomposition will keep the plants healthy and the garden will not require heavy watering, fertilizing and keep weed at bay.

Use native plants over exotic plants. Native plants have adapted to out soil and climate. They require less care and maintenance are more deer resistant and wild-life friendly.

By adapting these environmentally friendly practices into your yard, you will help create a cleaner, healthier, more wild life friendly yard.

Pete Muroski

For more information about ecological gardening log onto the Native Landscapes Garden Center website at www.NativeLandscaping.net.

And tune in to hear "The Living Landscape" with Pete Muroski throughout the day on LIME Radio, Sirius Satellite channel 114. Thanks for visiting "The Living Landscape".

by Pete | Permalink

The main reason to prune trees and shrubs is to keep them healthy. Dead, diseased and damaged branches should be removed as quickly as possible. A good rule of thumb is to prune just after the tree or shrub flowers. Generally, this is the time when the plant is setting buds for next year’s flower so we are less likely to disrupt the plant’s cycle.

It is a good idea to prune overly bushy branches on trees and shrubs in order to give the plants more air and light, making them less susceptible to insect pests and diseases. Wait at least one year before removing any larger limbs or shaping the structure of the tree or shrub.

Pruning after planting should be limited to dead, rubbing, or broken branches only. Remember, pruning encourages new growth, and try to maintain the natural shape of the plant.

For more information about ecological gardening log onto the Native Landscapes Garden Center website at www.NativeLandscaping.net.

And tune in to hear "The Living Landscape" with Pete Muroski throughout the day on LIME Radio, Sirius Satellite channel 114. Thanks for visiting "The Living Landscape".

by Pete | Permalink

What should we do if one of our plants looks sick? Start by examining it closely to properly identify the cause of the problem. If we don’t see any particular insect pests or diseases with the naked eye or our newly purchased magnifying glass, we need to make sure the plant isn’t just suffering from inadequate growing conditions such as nutrient deficiency, over-fertilizing, pH too high or low, frost or wind damage.

If an insect pest or disease is to blame, first assess the scope of the problem and decide whether we actually need to do something about it. Given the right conditions, strong plants can withstand a few insects on pathogens. If we decide to act, we should start by using cultural, physical, mechanical and biological methods.

If we’re not satisfied with the results of natural methods and we decide we have to use pesticides, we should be sure to choose ones with a low impact. They should not be very toxic in the short or long term for human health or the environment. Low impact pesticides break down quickly and most of them destroy harmful organisms without interfering much with useful organisms.

Read and follow the instructions on the label before getting started. Pay careful attention to dosages, application methods, safety instructions and treatment intervals. Finally, keep an eye on the plant afterward and adjust your cultural methods accordingly. Use natural methods whenever possible.

For more information about ecological gardening log onto the Native Landscapes Garden Center website at www.NativeLandscaping.net.

And tune in to hear "The Living Landscape" with Pete Muroski throughout the day on LIME Radio, Sirius Satellite channel 114. Thanks for visiting "The Living Landscape".

by Pete | Permalink

Have you ever listened to your lawn? If you’re one of those 56 million Americans with a home lawn, you’ll agree it’s a pretty quiet place. But there is more going on down there than meets the eye. The lawn is a miniature forest and within that short canopy, there are 900 billion organisms for each pound of soil. Pretty wild for that little lawn of ours. Building a healthy lawn depends on the presence and activity of these billions of plants and animals that are part of the lawn’s ecology.

More time and money goes into our lawn than any other part of the landscape. So, it’s important to follow these simple cultural practices to create a healthier lawn environment:

-- Mow the lawn high, high being two and a half to four inches. High grass shades the ground and creates less exposed soil, which in turn creates less weed germination. Higher grass will also require less watering.

-- Seed the lawn heavily each fall and spring to create a thick cover and use many different varieties of grasses. In the Northern states, use a blend of Rye, Fescue and Bluegrass. Also, adding clover will help shade the lawn, keeping it greener by fixing nitrogen into the soil.

-- In the south, Bermuda grass, Zoisia, Carpet grass, Centipede grass and St. Augustine grass works best depending on soil and climate conditions.

-- Cool season lawns will go dormant during dry summers. When this happens raise the height of cut and water deeply, if at all.

-- The soil is the basic building block of the lawn. So the more organic material in the lawn the healthier it will be and the less maintenance it will require. If needed, use natural lawn fertilizers.

-- Use pest control that is environmentally friendly. If an infestation occurs, like grubs for instance, then natural controls such as milky spore when properly applied can last in your soil as a preventative measure for up to ten years.

If proper cultural practices are followed, little or no fertilizing will be required and pests will be controlled naturally.

For more information about ecological gardening log onto the Native Landscapes Garden Center website at www.NativeLandscaping.net.

And tune in to hear "The Living Landscape" with Pete Muroski throughout the day on LIME Radio, Sirius Satellite channel 114. Thanks for visiting "The Living Landscape".

by Pete | Permalink