SUSTAINABLE GARDENING NEWS - January 17, 2008

What's New?

• The Seattle Times reports on what's HOT in 2008 and it's all green - organic practices, low-maintenance plants, rain barrels - everything that's here on the site!  And OUT are big lawns and hiring contractors to do everything for you, though to that last item I say "Oh, really?".
  

• Then the San Diego Union-Tribune weighs in with their hot trends for the new year and guess what leads the list - sustainable gardening!  (I'm not making this up.)
  

• Now the bad news - the HeraldTribune says that gardening (as in digging in actual dirt) is down as a national trend, though upgrading the garden as a living area is a hot trend. You know, those fancy outdoor kitchens.
  

• The NWF released some Tip Sheets for Wildlife (in pdf) - about bird feeders, nesting boxes, attracting butterflies and more good stuff.  And here's more expert advice about feeding birds in the winter from HGTV's ornithologist.
  

• Slate.com poses the the question: What's the best tree for soaking up carbon?  

• Can tree protection laws go too far?  You bet.

• What's next? Climate-certified greenhouses in Sweden, so now flowers can be grown sustainably even in the frozen North.
  

On the Blogs

• Sure, we all love outdoor fires but gasp, squint, cough - that stuff's toxic, you know?  Smoke, that is. The American Right to Burn Stuff explores the issue and commenters weigh in.
  

• 21 Essential Skills of Gardeners is loaded with good ideas and links to more.  Thanks to Stuart, who's enjoying spring in Western Australia.
  

• The question was asked: Do cultivars of native plants "count" as native?  And readers had opinions.
  

• Firefly in Maine considers the question: What IS a native plant?
  

• Paradise Lost?  Thanks to global warming, there are more ticks and tick-borne diseases in our gardens.
  

New Plant Profiles

More evergreens for "winter interest":

• Canadian hemlocks are still gorgeous and one of very few choices we have for shady spots.  Now there's a very do-able treatment for the wooly adelgid insect that's threatening them. I wrote a blog post about them called "God Save the Canadian Hemlock" which prompted a contrary comment from a well-informed source.  I told him to keep 'em coming!
  

• Pieris japonica and floribunda are evergreen shrubs for shade. (Photo)
  

More New Stuff on Sustainable-Gardening

• Next up in the Tools and Stuff section are my favorite Tools for Pruning and Making Divisions, with lots of photos and favorite types and brands.
  

• After this post solicited "real-life experiences with rain barrels" it was all compiled here on the site. A shocking follow-up is this article about it being illegal to collect rainwater and from the comments it looks like it's not just in Bolivia.

• New combos are up and I'd LOVE to include photos of your favorites (with attribution, links, my first-born cat, whatever it takes).
  

• Check out this cool familiy project for attracting butterflies, found on The Mulch and added to my Butterfly resources.
  

• This meaty guide to beginning gardening on Slate.com has been added to the Getting Started section.
  

• Slate's article about How to Water has been added to the Water/NoWater section.
  

• More by Slate's Constance Casey: How to not be intimidated by roses.
  

On the Home Front

• Will this groundcover work? is about trialing creeping sedum as a replacement for turfgrass.  It's  like reality TV, only for plants.

• Where there once was lawn - a new fieldstone path is another installment in the transformation story, with a short rant about stoneyards.
  

• In Are we SURE we hate turfgrass? I admire my neighbor's beautiful garden and have doubts.
  

• For Gardenblogger Bloom Day this month I was desperate.
  

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