Sustainable Gardening News

In the news

• Swiss Ethicists consider the feelings of plants. No kidding. It's the GMO argument.
• Bottles made from plants? What will they think of next? The EarthBottle is from the ag guys at Clemson U., a "natural polymer-fiber bottle that's recyclable, biodegradable, petroleum-free and stronger, lighter than glass." The potential to replace plastic is huge! (Hat tip to Project Green Industry.)
• The Economist opines on the coming greening of gardening, especially in response to global climate change.
• Also via Project Green Industry, nursery websites like this one in Massachusetts are touting their sustainability efforts. Good idea!

Lawn substitution going mainstream?

Lawnless gardens are all together on one page: theory and practice, examples across the U.S., stories of meadows, contrary opinions, and where to go for more info. Here are just some of the new articles about this hot topic:

• Eight alternative plants at The Scott Arboretum are shown here.
• Two gorgeous lawnless native gardens by Pennsylvania designer Larry Weaner.
• Great delawning projects from LA designer Shirley Bovshow: "Front Lawn-to-Garden Makeover," next "Create a Neat Edible Front Yard with a Knot Garden"; plus "Extreme Lawn Makeover...Low-water Plants Take Over."
• California designer Michelle Derviss's cool minimalist lawnless design.
• A Chicago gardener creates a cottage garden where her front lawn used to be.

What to do with those leaves

• Slate weighs in on the great leaf debate.
• An article about an New York horticulturist's advice about leaves yields some great comments. And here's his article in Fine Gardening about leaves, in which he encourages less raking.

In my garden

• I'm gonna get me a 'Little Henry' Itea virginica come hell or high water. A nice Fothergilla, too.
• How planting a new batch of tulips each year can be easy-peasy.

More new stuff on Sustainable-Gardening.com

• Scott Arboretum Curator Andrew Bunting writes about "Peat-Free Potting Soil"
• And Liz Haegele, another Scott expert, covers Kitchen and Apartment Composting.
• New contributor Joe Lamp'l (joe gardener) offers "To Mow or Not to Mow" — a fun comparison of Joe's own lawn with a "wise Master Gardener's" conversion to all-Mondo grass — very cool! Also, the case for Grasscycling — going bagless for the environment. And about Integrated Pest Management or IPM.

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