What is Land Stewardship?

Posted on August 21, 2019 by Scott Vogt

The other day, I was reading an interesting article about modeling sustainability in our landscapes. This particular article focused on botanical gardens and their importance as models for sustainable practices and stewardship of the land. Obviously, it made me think about our own landscapes here at the Arboretum, how we manage and maintain them and how we can help encourage conservation and stewardship of our lands, waters and wildlife. It also made me keenly aware of my own feelings toward stewardship. How do I share my empathy for the land or my belief that the land is worth saving?

*Tallgrass Prairie National Preserve in the Flint Hills.* *Photo by Brad Guhr.*

What’s your personal land ethic?

Certainly, a land ethic is a very personal thing. Stewardship is about a person’s relationship to the land. It’s about what you believe on the inside. What I am willing and able to do right now regarding stewardship of the land in my little corner of the world, is quite different from what my neighbor is able to do, or even what you, the reader, are able to do. We may feel driven to make drastic changes right now, but others may see those changes as excessive and unimportant in light of other issues they are currently dealing with.

I am reminded of a quote from Aldo Leopold from A Sand County Almanac:

“Examine each question in terms of what is ethically and aesthetically right, as well as what is economically expedient. A thing is right when it tends to preserve the integrity, stability, and beauty of the biotic community. It is wrong when it tends otherwise.”

Each of us has some sort of land ethic. Whether or not we can articulate it to someone else is another thing.

*Arboretum tallgrass prairie garden in the Kansas Wildflower Exhibit*

The stewardship spectrum

I like to think of stewardship on a horizontal plane. On the one end of the spectrum are those who hold a deep reverence for the land. They are compelled to actively incorporate practices into their lives, such as using native plants, harvesting rainwater, reducing/eliminating the use of pesticides and herbicides, mulching, creating habitat for wildlife, and other sustainable actions. They are caretakers of the land.

On the other end of the horizontal plane are the novices. These are the folks who want to do the right thing, but they don’t know how to get started. This end also includes someone with a pristine lawn and tidy flower beds. There is nothing wrong with this type of landscaping — remember that a land ethic is a very personal thing. This landscape reflects their beliefs about how a landscape should look.

Those of us who see the value and beauty of a native landscape have the opportunity to model a paradigm shift in landscape practices and show a different land ethic that can be beautiful in its own way.

Developing a connection to the land

So how do we move people along this horizontal plane from novice steward to sustainable steward of the land? Whether here at the Arboretum or in your own back yard, the more people who see and experience nature up close, and connect with the land, the more progress will be made.

This connection with the land is important. A deeper connection results in a deeper empathy for the world around us. Change starts at home in your own landscapes by modeling your convictions.

“Conservation can accomplish its objectives only when it springs from an impelling conviction on the part of private landowners.”
– Aldo Leopold, A Sand County Almanac

People will want to change when they see change is possible. If they see stewardship modeled for them, they will begin to embrace this change in their own feeling about the land. To care for the land, people must see that the land is worth saving.

Those of us who see that stewardship is possible need to: model it for others, share it with others, help others, and support others as they gain understanding and confidence on their own stewardship journey.

“ A land ethic, then, reflects the existence of an ecological conscience, and this in turn reflects a conviction of individual responsibility for the health of the land. Health is the capacity of the land for self-renewal. Conservation is our effort to understand and preserve this capacity.”
– Aldo Leopold, A Sand County Almanac

How to Increase the Value of Your Prairie Garden

Posted on January 23, 2019 by Scott Vogt

Prairie gardens have become increasingly popular over the past ten years as homeowners and businesses seek to directly reverse the trend of prairie degradation. Using prairie plants in the landscape is one way you can implement small-scale conservation and stewardship practices and become a part of a growing patchwork of prairie gardens in the Great Plains region.

These patchwork prairies will not replace what has already been lost, but can begin to help raise awareness about conserving any remaining prairie remnants. Hopefully, we will no longer take for granted the prairies around us and work toward managing and conserving this landscape that is quickly vanishing.

You may ask yourself, “Can a backyard prairie garden really make an impact? How do I increase the value of my prairie garden?” The value of a small prairie garden seems minuscule compared to the large prairie tracts that are being lost each year.

Here are a few things you can do to maximize the impact of your small patchwork prairie garden and further your backyard conservation efforts.

Plant a diverse prairie garden

As you design your garden, look to include as many different species as possible. It is important to have a succession of bloom from spring through fall. Include some of the native grasses to provide vertical elements and alternative textures. These elements will support and frame some of the native wildflowers. Your garden can become a conversation starter within your neighborhood. Your neighbors’ perspective may shift as your intentionally “wild” and slightly “messy” garden creates habitat for wildlife and pollinators. People will notice the difference. Your garden, along with many other prairie gardens throughout neighborhoods, will add value to the environment and broaden the conversations we can have.

*Fall Blooming Asters with Little bluestem*

Connect with where you live

For many of us, we take for granted the prairies around us. Even though we have some of the largest tracts of prairie like the Flint Hills at our doorsteps, we often don’t see the peril they face. So in light of these difficulties, it is imperative that we use native species from our region. Create a sense of place by incorporating as many plants of a local eco-type as possible. These plants are adapted to your climate and soil. Cultivated varieties and hybrids give us consistent characteristics and qualities. However, they often lack the same landscape value to pollinators as the true species and are most likely not from your region. Choose your plants wisely to maximize the impact they have to the garden aesthetic and the wildlife that need them.

Create an immersive experience

Layers of plants from different perspectives or vantage points will offer you the most enjoyment from your garden. As you are drawn through the landscape, surrounded by lush plantings, you can enjoy the changes from season to season. Sunlight, texture, color, and varying heights combine to provide unique encounters with your landscape. The value of these experiences for your body and soul cannot be measured. Quiet reflection can calm you after a hard day or bring you some perspective in your life.

*Early summer in the Kansas Wildflower Exhibit*

Most gardens will never be as perfect as we want them to be, but they still have value for us and our environment. They are valuable to wildlife and pollinators. Valuable for the broader conversation about stewardship of the land. Valuable to us as we become more aware of the role we can play in conservation and as we develop a relationship with the land.

Don’t sell short the importance of the prairie, no matter how big or how small. Every step taken, every wildflower or grass propagated, every patchwork prairie garden planted has value.

How to be a Good Steward? Start with One Thing

Posted on October 31, 2018 by Scott Vogt

Over the past year, we have been digging deeper into “Why” the Arboretum exists. There have been some lengthy conversations about events, classes, native plants, and relationships between people, plants and the land. One of the questions we kept coming back to was “What can one person do?” This idea that people change their perspective, build relationships, and/or develop empathy for the land one decision or choice at a time is an important concept for us to consider. So with that in mind, what is one thing you can do today to make our environment more sustainable?

These are just a few things we can change that will have a positive impact. There are hundreds more that are specific to your lives. Start with one thing.

Ride your bike or walk to the store.
Convert a portion of your lawn to native plants.

Plant a vegetable garden each year.
Turn the lights off when you leave the room
Pay attention to how much water you use both in your home and in your yard.
Recycle, recycle, recycle.
Create a compost pile and use the compost in your garden.
Maintain your car and properly inflate your tires.
Use LED bulbs in your home.

Make sure your house has the appropriate amount of insulation.
Realize you can make a difference.

We all have choices to make when it comes to helping the planet, but I believe environmental stewardship starts at home. If we choose to manage what we have in a way that saves us money and limits the negative impacts on the land, it is a win/win situation. This is my epiphany – small incremental changes in my lifestyle will do something good for the environment. I could always do more, but it starts to move the needle in a positive direction.

Maybe you are somewhat like me and find changing your behavior difficult, or you think stewardship is for someone else. That is not true. Small changes in the things we do combined with thousands of others making positive choices can make a profound difference in the long run. Don’t think of it as a compromise, but rather an investment in the future that allows future generations to live the same lives we now enjoy.

Start with one thing.

A Land Ethic is Alive and Well in Kansas

Posted on March 22, 2017 by Brad Guhr

On Saturday, March 18, we held our 11th annual spring education symposium entitled Living the Land Ethic in Kansas, and learned how much we have to celebrate in Kansas. This symposium was many months in the making and it went smoothly thanks to our four staff, help from a number of board members, the assistance of many volunteers, and underwriting support from Kansas Humanities Council.

The speakers were top-notch and their messages were filled with immense knowledge and passion. Those among the 85 registered attendees were literate, engaged, and full of great questions. The homemade baked goods for breakfast, Lorna Harder’s venison stew for lunch, and nice day outside to enjoy during breaks all helped round out a perfect day.

Rolfe Mandel

Craig Freeman

Michael Pearce

Jason Schmidt

Pete Ferrell

Brian Obermeyer

Erin Dowell

Wes Jackson

I gave a brief introduction of how this symposium developed as part of our year-long Dyck Arboretum 35th anniversary celebration with a focus on Aldo Leopold’s Land Ethic chapter in his famous book A Sand County Almanac. We then heard presentations about the essential Kansas natural elements of “The Land” from educators and writers, Rolfe Mandel (soils), Craig Freeman (vegetation), and Michael Pearce (wildlife) and how these elements are foundational to our Kansas natural history, agriculture/ranching-based economy, food systems, and land-based enjoyment and recreation. Land stewards Jason Schmidt, Pete Ferrell, and Brian Obermeyer told their stories of how being a land caretaker is not only a way to make a living but that it is part of a cherished way of life through which one strives to sustainably pass along stewardship responsibilities to future generations. Elementary school teacher, Erin Dowell explained how critical it is to instill a land ethic in our children that will be our future land stewards. And visionary, Wes Jackson, rounded out the day with a presentation about how we as agricultural agents must steward the land as part of a living ecosphere.

The day was filled with dialog and rich with a variety of science as well as humanities topics about the important interplay between the land and people. Thank you to all participants!