Grateful for the Beauty of Nature

Posted on November 23, 2022 by Scott Vogt

I am grateful for the beauty of nature which reminds me to slow down and take a deep breath.

*Tallgrass Prairie National Preserve. Photo by Brad Guhr.*

How was it possible, I asked myself, to walk for an hour through the woods and see nothing worthy of note? I who cannot see find hundreds of things to interest me through mere touch. I feel the delicate symmetry of a leaf. I pass my hands lovingly about the smooth skin of a silver birch, or the rough, shaggy bark of a pine. In spring I touch the branches of trees hopefully in search of a bud, the first sign of awakening Nature after her winter’s sleep. I feel the delightful, velvety texture of a flower, and discover its remarkable convolutions; and something of the miracle of Nature is revealed to me. Occasionally, if I am very fortunate, I place my hand gently on a small tree and feel the happy quiver of a bird in full song. I am delighted to have the cool waters of a brook rush through my open fingers. To me a lush carpet of pine needles or spongy grass is more welcome than the most luxurious Persian rug. To me the pageant of seasons is a thrilling and unending drama, the action of which streams through my fingertips.
At times my heart cries out with longing to see all these things. If I can get so much pleasure from mere touch, how much more beauty must be revealed by sight. Yet, those who have eyes apparently see little. The panorama of color and action which fills the world is taken for granted. It is human, perhaps, to appreciate little that which we have and to long for that which we have not, but it is a great pity that in the world of light the gift of sight is used only as a mere convenience rather than as a means of adding fullness to life.
Helen Keller, Three Days to See

In every walk with nature one receives far more than he seeks.
John Muir

*Pale purple coneflower. Photo by Brad Guhr.*

He will see the beauty, as well as the unity, of the whole, and know the two cannot be separated. We love (and make intelligent use of) what we have learned to understand.
Aldo Leopold

Follow down the leg past knee
on down where
world and body meet.

The sole you’ll find
amid the grime.
calloused pads that bruise and bleed.

Like Achilles
our strength will be
the same that makes us weak.

So descend your frame
and find your soul
hid on the bottom of your feet.
John Simmering

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

*Butterfly milkweed at CSFL. Photo by Brad Guhr.*

Leave The Leaves

Posted on November 17, 2022 by Katie Schmidt

Leaves are everywhere this time of year, and for good reason! Leaves have an important role in the ecosystem. Trees and the organisms living in and below them have evolved for millions of years together, working in sync to create vegetation and break it down in an efficient cycle. But most Americans don’t realize this, quickly raking the leaves away as soon as they fall on our precious lawns. Well, here are some facts that might change your mind and urge you to leave that rake in the garage!

*The leaves of ‘October Glory’ maple are beautiful but my do they fall everywhere!*

For the Love of Lawn

Most people rake leaves out of concern for their lawns. Rightly so, as a thick layer can damage turf grass. Leaves staying wet too long causes snow mold, and without enough airflow even grass smothering, leaving bald patches next spring. But a light layer of leaves shouldn’t be cause for alarm – remember, a few leaves here and there will feed the lawn the nutrients it needs. You may consider using a leaf blower to thin them out if they are piled too high in some areas, allowing the turf to breathe through the winter. And when you think about it, if your non-native turf grass is so fragile and takes so much special care to grow well outside it’s natural environment…*maybe the problem is the grass, not the leaves?

*Our obsession with a 1950’s American Dream Lawn (which actually harkens back to medieval castle-dwelling elitism) is a problem; its a multi-billion dollar industry that relies heavily on chemical inputs, replaces native habitat, and sucks up millions of gallons of drinkable freshwater, but produces no useful food crop. Ready to ditch that old fashioned thinking and consider downsizing your traditional lawn space? More info here, here and here on alternatives.

Oh Leaf Me a Home

Leaves are home to lots of overwintering insects. We may not notice them, but these tiny friends are there, clinging to the underside of leaves and crawling into the leaf piles that collect in garden beds. While the well known and well loved Monarch butterfly migrates, most of our native insects do not! They desperately need these natural places to hid in winter, often as an egg, chrysalis, or hibernating as an adult. Many gardeners work hard to support declining insect populations all summer, only to ruin all their hard work in the fall when they take all their leaves to the curb.

*Many butterflies and moths depend on leaf litter for shelter.*

Paper or Plastic

Too many folks spend their beautiful fall days bagging up leaves and sending them away. This creates a lot of plastic waste. Not only are we sending enormous amounts of plastic to the landfill, all the insects, eggs, and larvae already on those leaves will die inside the bag, never to take their place in the ecosystem! The nutrients in that foliage will not return to the soil, and instead stay trapped for hundreds of years in their plastic prison.

Free those leaves, folks! Let them decay and feed the soil microbiome. If you must haul them away, load them onto a tarp for transport, or opt for paper bags that can be composted with the leaves.

*Our student employee Rachel shows the size of a typical paper yard waste bag.*

I love a lush, green lawn as much as the next person, but we can all aim to achieve a useable lawn space while also being kind to the environment. If you have too many leaves in one area, spread them out, move them to your garden as free mulch, or start a neighborhood leaf compost pile. If you must haul them away, stick to compostable or reusable containers and consider taking them to a city compost area or even your local Arboretum! Doing your part to help the environment, in this case, means less work for once. So stay inside and watch that football game, the leaves in the yard can wait.

Valley Center Public Library Pollinator Garden

Posted on November 9, 2022 by Scott Vogt

Earlier this year, I created a native plant design for the Valley Center Public Library. After a group of volunteers helped get it planted, they have diligently weeded and watered it through the summer. Thankfully, they have an automatic sprinkler system. But they established the plants by hand watering, which was no small task.

*Sumac next to small foot bridge over the drainage swale*

Focal Points

Last week I took a field trip to check out the progress of their garden. It survived the summer and really filled in nicely. Some of the highlights were the Raydon’s Favorite aster, Twilight Zone little bluestem, American beautyberry, and switchgrass. The solar powered bubbling fountain and large butterfly bench donated by a local resident add a nice spot to sit and enjoy the garden.

Opportunities for Education

The garden is just north of the new library. It has walking paths and a small bridge over a wet area. It has a diverse selection of plants to create habitat for pollinators. We included several types of milkweed scattered throughout the garden, which will attract monarch butterflies. The adult monarchs laid eggs on the milkweed, which hatched into caterpillars, which then turned into adults. The garden stewards were able to share this lifecycle with the children and adults who visited the library.

*Bubbling fountain perfect for supplying water to pollinators*

It was a warm sunny day when I visited. There were dozens of pollinators working on the asters, which were in full bloom. The garden has been a tremendous success. The ladies who manage the site have done a wonderful job. They are connecting people of all ages, but particularly children, to the outside world and showing them different pollinators that can be attracted to a garden using native plants.

As the garden matures, the educational opportunities will become more numerous. These connections with nature are important formative experiences that will impact people for years to come. Keep up the good work!

*It’s hard to see but this Aster ‘Raydon’s Favorite’ was covered with all sorts of pollinators.*

Final update: Buffalograss Experiment

Posted on November 2, 2022 by Scott Vogt

As the growing season comes to a close, I like to take account of the garden before it goes completely dormant. Certainly, this has been a challenging year in the garden. The plants I installed last May in front of my house are still alive, but it took daily watering through the summer to keep them going. It is safe to say that without regular attention and water, I would have lost all of those tiny plants. I am still watering them twice a week.

**Aster oblongifolius** ‘Raydon’s Favorite’

Here at the Arboretum, I find the resiliency of the prairie and certain display beds encouraging. While they are under stress, these plants adapt well to the high and lows along with wet and dry conditions. I have also been monitoring the buffalograss experiment I started over two years ago in the fall of 2020.

Our Experiment

As a reminder, in the fall of 2020, we tried a new seeding technique with buffalograss. We had our area prepared and ready for planting. That November, we seeded the area with annual ryegrass and buffalograss seed. The ryegrass is a cool season grass that prefers cooler weather. Once it germinated, it held the soil through the winter while the buffalograss seed naturally planted itself with the freezing and thawing of the soil. The round buffalograss seeds did not germinate because soil temperatures were below 60 degrees.

*Annual ryegrass mowed for the second time in the spring of 2021*

The Next Year

In the spring of 2021, the buffalograss seed germinated as the soil temperatures warmed. By May, the new seedlings had started to spread under the canopy of the ryegrass growing from the previous fall. As the temperatures warmed into the summer, the annual ryegrass faded since it is a cool season grass and the buffalograss became more prominent. By the end of the summer, new small clumps of buffalograss established, slowly spreading but healthy.

Since Germination

We mowed the annual ryegrass weekly that first year. It is important to keep the canopy open so the sun could warm the soil allowing the buffalograss seeds to continue to germinate. Buffalograss takes two to three weeks to germinate. The seeded annual ryegrass expired on its own with warmer summer temperatures. As the ryegrass died, the roots of the ryegrass continue to hold the soil as the buffalograss spread slowly the rest of the summer.

*Buffalograss clump will benefit from a pre-emergent herbicide application next spring.*

UPDATE: Analysis and what I would do differently

I would deem this buffalograss experiment a success. Honestly, I thought the buffalograss would spread more over the past year, but there are many clumps sprinkled throughout the area that are getting larger. The additional costs to purchase annual ryegrass seed are offset by the time and water saved compared to the traditional seeding method.

We will be putting down a pre-emergent next spring to keep the crabgrass and other summer annuals from germinating. Some pre-emergent herbicides safe for use in buffalograss are Barricade (prodiamine), Pendulum Aquacap (pendimethalin), Dimension (dithiopyr), and Specticle (indaziflam). There are some nice clumps of buffalograss, but they are hampered by intense weed competition. Weed competition was aided by tillage (soil disturbance), and the backfill soil added along the new sidewalk, which was full of weed seeds.

I would only use this seeding method on smaller areas of less than 1000 sq/ft. In my opinion, larger areas that are properly prepared should be planted from seed in the summer before August 15th. We seeded a larger area this past summer to buffalograss using the traditional method and had good germination and coverage. Here are some other things I would do differently:

Reduce the seeding rate of the annual ryegrass: Though the packaging recommends that you plant 3-4 lbs./1000 sq. ft. I would only seed 2-3 lbs./1000 sq. ft. The seeds will still germinate to hold the soil through the winter, but not be so dense that they shade out the buffalograss seeds in the spring.

Plant buffalograss seed first and slightly cover it: I had some buffalograss seed float off the soil as I established the annual ryegrass seed last fall.

Start the process earlier in the fall after the first freeze (October 15): It is better to establish annual ryegrass with slightly warmer temperatures, but not so warm that the buffalograss seed germinates.