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Just one week into spring and there is already a noticeable buzz in our communities about an exciting initiative: creating Pollinator Pathways through Fairfield and Westchester counties. Many thanks to the organizers in each town who put together a staggering number of informative events across many towns (see the upcoming events calendar!!).

As an ecological landscape service, we thoroughly applaud and support this effort. We have installed hundreds of organic pollinator gardens, meadows, and Certified National Wildlife Habitats on behalf of our clients, but this initiative goes further.

[Above: Native Bee on Clethra alnifolia ‘Ruby Spice’.]

A Pollinator Pathway is designed to create a corridor for pollinators to link larger habitats together. These connected, streamlined habitats mitigate the current habitat fragmentation from urban and suburban development. With a focus on planting known nectar/pollen sources for adults AND host plants for larvae, the initiative increases plant biodiversity, reclaiming ubiquitous lawns for a more vibrant array of flora (and fauna!).

[Above: Monarch Butterfly on New York Ironweed]

In regards to habitat restoration, the sum is greater than its parts. Creating Pollinator Pathways mapped to include households with pollinator gardens is an important ecosystem-level expansion of the vision; more than any of our individual efforts could achieve. Westchester and Fairfield counties represent important flyways. To link preserved areas of Pound Ridge, Wilton, and Ridgefield with coastal areas of Westport, Darien and Rye, for example, is a huge improvement from current patchwork preservation efforts.

Pollinator Pathways are an exciting unifying force of homeowners, non-profits, municipalities and private sector businesses toward a like-minded goal of counteracting biodiversity loss, particularly of pollinators and native plants.

Why do we need Pollinator Pathways?

If you’ve been following the news (or our social media) you may have noticed the reports that insect populations are declining. The Insect Apocalypse Article in NY Times Magazine is a must read. Some startling summaries:

“The [2016] German study found that, measured simply by weight, the overall abundance of flying insects in German nature reserves had decreased by 75 percent over just 27 years. If you looked at midsummer population peaks, the drop was 82 percent.”

Habitat loss and fragmentation from climate change and development, plus an increase in the use of landscape pesticides are thought to be leading factors in the ‘insect apocalypse.’ Two large studies in Canada and Europe published in 2017 confirmed that neonicotinoids, found in many pesticides, fungicides and herbicides contribute to colony collapse in bees. Neonicotinoids were also found to persist in the environment long after the growing season and affect uptake from plants outside of the sprayed area.

[Above: Native Bee on New England Aster]

Joseph Wilson, of Utah State University, reported to The Atlantic that “Habitat connectivity at that scale [of Pollinator Pathways] could help these smaller bees disperse more efficiently, and contribute to a more diverse and healthy community of species,”

Why You Should Care About Bugs

Insects are the foundation of the food chain, and they require specific food sources as larvae and adults. Most native pollinator species have evolved alongside native plants for habitat and food sources.

[Above: Monarch Butterfly Caterpillar on Baptisia australis (right next to the Asclepias tuberosa!)]

Insect and animal pollinators play key roles in the ecosystem; they are responsible for 90% of plant pollination, and 30% of agricultural production! Insects also are a main food source for birds, demanding staggering quantities. As entomologist Dr. Doug Tallamy writes in Bringing Nature Home, it takes an amazing 6,000 – 9,000 caterpillars to raise one clutch of chickadees! (Each chick eats approximately 350 – 570 caterpillars PER DAY!). We must protect these foundational species before we see dire ecosystem consequences.

What About Organics?

Of course, planting the right plants has little effect if they are covered in synthetic pesticides! Stay tuned for our upcoming blog post on the Truth About Pollinator Pathways and Organics! And follow us on Instagram and Facebook for more photos & videos of pollinator friends in our gardens! @GreenJayLandscaping

Love the idea of the Pollinator Pathway? We can help you turn your yard or property into an organic pollinator habitat. Contact us for landscape design and installation services: (914)-560-6570.

—

Kathryn Saphire

VP of Landscape Development & Marketing

914-560-6570

Subsidence is a process by which the ground collapses. This often causes depressions or sink holes. It may be caused by decaying organic matter like tree stumps or ground water piping through the soil underground or creating voids below the surface of the ground. Not always easily identified or apparent. Probing may be necessary.

So what can you do about it?

First I recommend a little hand digging or excavating with a machine. It’s not unusual to find buried trash, construction debris, organic or inorganic material dumped underground, covered over and hidden.

Couple of examples:

1) While hand digging in backyard to install my small garden pond featuring a stream and waterfall, I discovered a truck-full of brick was buried during the construction of our home.

This was probably done by the builder to save cost of carting and dumping. This significantly added cost to the project.

2) During site development involving excavation to install/construct a gunite/in-ground swimming pool, we unearthed a significant amount of stumps buried in a pit and covered with fill. This poses a serious environmental problem as buried stumps and decaying organic matter which is covered by soil, not exposed to the air, contaminates the ground water by trapping gases. This is a federal violation of the Clean Water Act. In this case the original builder was notified of their responsibility to restore the site to pre-construction condition. The State DEC agency was notified. A mitigation plan was required before any work could resume.

Once the process of excavation had begun several automobiles and auto parts were discovered to be buried as well. Once everything was removed from the proposed site/location for the pool it was determined that a stream was buried/diverted in that spot. This involved alteration in design, required full grade beam engineering, (to lift the pool above ground water table), expanding new permit and board approval etc. This project involved a real team effort in communication and cooperation between contractors, licensed professional services, local and state agencies as well as the client and family.

These issues affect cost, environmental impact, and timeline for construction, to say nothing about the disruption to the client’s emotional state!

You can never be completely sure to anticipate every contingency but conducting test excavating or a perk test in lieu of expensive ground penetrating radar services can save much time, money, headaches and disruption in the project. Identifying flow paths, locating existing drainage features, wetlands, overall watershed profile, historical land use, adjacent property impacts, all can contribute useful information for design, planning, cost estimating, budgeting etc.

Solutions may involve design, engineering, bioengineering, grading, terraforming, land-contouring, soil amending, structural soil work, biological enhancements with compost or biostimulants, landscape planting, rain gardens etc.

The fabulously exciting part of ecological landscaping and ecological restoration is employing creativity and imagination to utilize natural resources (as well as financial) to invent beautiful, ecologically productive and efficient landscape system which provide an atmosphere and environment beneficial to our human health, happiness and well being.

—

Jay Archer, President

914-560-6570

greenjaylandscapedesign.com

All our landscapes require maintenance. Yours and mine!

Plants aren’t furniture! We even replace or renew our furniture every 10-20 years, hopefully!

Things change, grow, evolve etc. that includes our taste and sensibilities. Keep it fresh! Don’t wait until everything is so overgrown or outdated that you don’t know where to start.

(See video at.bottom of post to see how we divided ornamental grasses and created new beds).

Renovating the landscape gives us an opportunity to go native, to go organic!

What can you do to improve the health of your landscape while also improving the appearance?

For myself, as a naturalist and landscape ecologist, wildlife is as important as plant life!

I couldn’t imagine a world without the birds and butterflies I see everyday in my gardens.

I love the California poolscape look. Ornamental grasses with fragrant perennial flowers with an evergreen shrub backdrop…love it!

Every season brings something new to the garden. Especially the birdlife!

The stunning natural scenery of tall trees in the far background makes the layered look in the foreground composition so much more attractive.

So each year we prune, divide the grasses and perennials as needed (when the time is right), test the soil and apply organic fertilizer. That’s gardening…professional gardening.

Sustainability and resilience are achieved by tender loving care and a continued commitment to both the original design as well as the development of succession and maturity.

For our client that means not worrying or stressing over care. Change happens, we work with it to achieve continued satisfaction and maximum pleasure.

It doesn’t take a lot… just showing up…before we are really needed!

—

Jay Archer

President, Landscape Ecologist & Designer

914-560-6570

This book is a great example of how we are losing ground in environmental literacy and education especially for children.

What kind of world are we exposing our children to if we are eliminating words like dandelion, otter, bramble, acorn etc.

[Above: Photo by Alex Smith]

We need to reconnect with the natural world and teach our children the value of the wonders and mysteries of nature so they may experience and connect to their own beauty within.

Studies show children who learn in outdoor classroom demonstrate better social skills and behavior as well as reaping lifelong benefits by their peaceful, stress free exposure and encounters with plants, trees, soil and fresh air in outdoor environment

Imagine a world without our beautiful trees! One of the huge natural advantages of living in Westchester or Fairfield counties is the tree dominant landscape. Our communities are not only rich in green spaces with forest matrix and secondary remnant forests but an abundance and variety of street trees. Our landscaped properties have an even more diverse collection of flowering and fruiting trees as well as mature natives inhabiting our landscape environment.

Let’s take a moment to remind ourselves of the value of the beautiful trees in our landscapes. I’ll use my own property as an example. The gorgeous mature elm tree in front of my house dominates the front landscape and looms over the ranch style house. Almost 100 years old, the high canopy stretches from over the street to the front yard and over the house itself! Considered a historic tree by the city of Rye, (which it so happens is a ’Tree City’), it lies within the curbside easement and it is considered the property of the city of Rye. As such, the town is responsible for maintenance of the tree (i.e. pruning, cabling etc.).

This tree alone provides tremendous shade during half the year. This significantly helps with cooling and reducing energy cost. Same is true when the leaves are off the tree by allowing more sunlight to warm the house in winter. In fact I am surrounded by beautiful trees including a large Japanese maple, two weeping ginkgoes over the back patio, a grove of river birch at the edge of the wetland border, several stately pine, an array of native flowering shrubs.

The trees themselves not only define the aesthetic landscape design but serve even more important ecological functions including cooling and stabilizing the soil, cleaning the air, giving precious oxygen to our breathable atmosphere, protecting against severe weather, wind etc..

We are only beginning to understand the significant biological workings of the fungus network which support our plant and animal life. Everyday science uncovers more and more valuable connections between soil biology, plants, human health & microbiomes.

Trees and forests are biologically fungal dominant. More and more we are coming to understand the value of the natural benefits that our landscape ecosystems derive from healthy woodland species including native trees and shrubs. We are just becoming aware of the abilities of trees to communicate through their root systems and fungal networks (see ‘The Hidden Life of Trees’).

There is so much mystery to our beautiful natural world !

This is why I think it is so important to take care of our trees and landscapes. There is so much good we can do for ourselves by nurturing nature!

Plants are not completely unlike ourselves. They need love too! Even mature trees need to have an occasional drink. They need to eat! Their environment is no longer pristine. They may not get everything they need from our less green and more urban environment. They are part of a wonderfully intricate ecosystem including a tremendous diversity of life including insect and animal life. They will grow happily and sustainably where the resources and possibilities for life exist. We ask a lot from our landscapes…to clean the water, soil and air, provide their resources to nourish us, provide building material etc.

We can make the world a better place…a healthier, happier place by increasing the ecological functions of our landscapes, to imagine and create ‘Landscapes for Better Living’. We can start by eliminating toxic pesticides and increasing the natural immune systems of our plants to insure a resilient landscape with enduring longevity. If we don’t care enough to invest in the wholistic health of our environment, if we don’t set an example for our children who do we expect will?

Be a Voice for Nature. Act Today. Care for your Plants and Trees…for all of us !

—

Jay Archer

President, Landscape Ecologist

914-560-6570

Will increased rainfall, more frequent and severe storms wash our sins away?

Mother nature has a way, a process for correcting and restoring the natural balance of resources in our landscape environment.

Consider the positive aspects of stormwater including flooding: recharging groundwater, hydrating and nourishing trees and plants, flushing contaminates such as gas, oil, pesticide residue, particulate deposits etc. from ground surfaces.

Another consideration is the effect this increased volume, flow, weight and velocity impacts infrastructure and landscape features.

In addition to overflowing ground water storage systems including but not limited to septics, dry-wells, french, curtain and perimeter drains, stormwater also often causes overflow discharge of untreated waste from water treatment facilities.

Many of our streams, brooks, creeks, ponds, lakes and waterways are contaminated by manmade point-source pollution as well as naturally occurring pollutants that are produced in our environment due to conditions resulting from changes in climate, topography and hydrology, as well as development of the landscape, displacing and altering surface and subsurface flow.

We can work together to significantly improve the ability of our naturally resilient landscape ecosystems to provide ecosystem services in terms of resource conservation and management. If not, we risk not doing enough, which will inevitably result in degrading of essential land, air and water quality which in turn will eventually lead to catastrophic failure of our ecosystems by under estimating damage to our natural resources.

What can we do to reduce the impact of climate change, mitigate greenhouse gases, reduce carbon emissions and create a healthier, more productive environment for human health and well being?

We can start at home. Analysis of flow paths and site conditions would suggest locations for ecologically valuable and more attractive landscape features. This can be as simple as planting a rain garden or a tree. What about a water garden or water feature to attract birds and clean the air? Any landscape can be ecologically improved to achieve not only carbon neutral but carbon positive!

We can improve our own human health by making our landscapes more attractive. It wouldn’t hurt to bring in more wild elements!

Are we not bored by our heavily manicured lawns and shrubs sheared into meatballs!

Everything is dependent and reliant upon the functionality of the soil and the plants. By increasing the biomass of planting including the root to shoot mass/ratio, we can improve the ability of each and every landscape to clean the air and water while sequestering carbon and contributing life giving oxygen to our atmosphere.

Start today to reconnect with nature and redesign your landscape for health and beauty!

—

Jay Archer, President
914-560-6570
greenjaylandscapedesign.com

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