DC Urban Gardeners

Should D.C.'s Public Rose Gardens Showcase Toxic Perfection?

Let's pay a visit to the Folger Rose Garden, the visual centerpiece at the front of the Smithsonian Institution's Arts and Industries Building.  I decided to check it out because a friend who works nearby had told me "It's sprayed so much, it glows at night." 

It's a Victorian-style garden comprised mainly of hybrid tea roses, which, particularly in this hot and humid climate, require the regular spraying of fungicides and pesticides to perform as required. After all, they're here to do a job - to enhance the aesthetics of this wonderful building using historically compatible plants and style.  But a mere 9 years after it was created, to my eyes the garden is already an anachronism because we've turned a corner (finally) in the U.S., and toxic landscaping practices are no longer acceptable.

Here's a terrific photo showing a larger view.

Next, I spoke with Shelley Gaskins, the horticultural curator in charge of making those gardens perform their job duties.  Very nice person. She confirmed the regular schedule of spraying for these roses, even the 'Knockouts' now included in the collection, and the reason for it: in such a high-traffic area, it's not acceptable to let the plants defoliate (lose their leaves and look crappy).

So of course I asked the obvious question: Has any thought been given at the Smithsonian to switching to plants that don't need such a toxic diet, like the new easy-care roses?  The answer: People don't have the same emotional reaction to shrub roses as they do to hybrid teas, which we associate with our grandmothers.  In other words, the Smithsonian believes or maybe even knows that this is what tourists want.  I have to say I think that's probably true, but should tourists get what they want in this case?  How about transitioning to a garden that would showcase a different kind of beauty, one that not only looks more natural, but IS more natural.  Not to mention toxin-free.

I didn't say all that, I just asked the final question:  What would it take to get the decision-makers to plant something different? Lobbying.  I should have guessed, this being Washington.

THE NATIONAL GARDEN'S TOXIN-FREE ROSES
Now just 3 blocks away is a very different kind of rose garden - an organic one.  It's a feature in the new National Garden, next door to the U.S. Botanic Garden.  Because most of the space is devoted to the sparse, ultra-native Regional Garden, which we hope will fill out and lose its sparseness in due time, the very formally-styled First Ladies Water Garden and  Rose Garden look a bit out of place here.  And the weird mix of styles probably reflects the various funding sources but hey, at least the roses don't get sprayed.  Margaret Atwell, the rosarian for this garden, tells me that unsuccessful plants ARE being ripped out.  That's the kind of tough love I give almost all of my plants. 

Both gardens - the National Garden's organic rose garden and the Smithsonian's stinky chemical garden - have plant labels, which is a good thing.  But if the chemically addicted roses are going to stay there, how about adding a sign telling the public the kind of care required for them to look so good?  At least educate.

GRANDMOTHER'S ROSES
Now can we please revisit the notion that our grandmothers grew hybrid teas?  I remember the Iowa garden of my own grandmother as a riotous mix of colorful plants that included roses of some kind, but what impressed me no end was the swarming mass of pollinators it attracted, especially hummingbirds. And the childhood memory that I DO have of hybrid tea roses is of a neighbor's large rose garden, which was always infested with Japanese beetles.  We kids loved grabbing them and dunking them in the many nearby insect traps. Helping to protect this man's plants from insects was a mission we totally bought into.  So, is that the kind of old-fashioned gardening we still want to teach?

Posted by Susan Harris. Credit for top photo. Others are mine.

 

Everything you ever wanted to know about Compost

Compost is THE most asked about topic on local gardening listservs, so we've compiled what we think is the very best thinking on the subject.  We're also putting it on our website for reference any time, so help us keep it accurate and up to date.  Just leave a comment below.

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Organic gardening experts are constantly telling us to improve our soils with organic matter, but what kind?  Fully decayed organic matter - compost - is, in the words of *one of my favorite gardening books, "the creme de la creme, the piece de resistance, the best in show, the big rock candy mountain of organic matter." Not convinced yet?

Why it's SO Great  

• Compost improves soil structure, no matter what kind of soil it is.  Got clay? It'll loosen it, letting water drawn from it and oxygen get down to the roots.  And in sandy soils, the ability to hold moisture is increased by compost.   
• Compost contains nutrients.
• Compost also feeds micro-organisms, thus increasing  plants' abiltiy to   USE the nutrients.
• Compost attracts earthworms, which further enrich the soil and improve its   structure.      
• Using homemade compost reduces the need for products you have to buy, especially the synthetic stuff. 
• Unlike those fast-acting synthetics that end up polluting our waters, compost releases its nutrients slowly.

On Falling Behind

One of my heroes was a journalist-turned-farmer named Ward Sinclair. Ward was a colleague--on the other side of the newsroom--at The Washington Post back in the 80s. He covered agriculture, but left the paper to buy a small farm in Warfordsburg, PA.

While Ward was busy farming, he also started writing a column in the Post's food section called "Truckpatch." The columns became a small book, and one of the chapters has remained with me ever since. It was called "A Farmer Can't Be Listliss," and in it Ward printed his "to do" list.

The list is too long to re-print here. It is mind boggling. There were fences to mend, cold frames to fix, equipment to paint, coolers to sanitize, greenhouse flats to scrub, irrigation parts to check, potting mix to procure--and on and on. Ward's "to do" list made a profound impression, and shaped my idea of what farming is about.

Organic lawn care on trial in D.C.

The nonprofit SafeLawns.org has planted a patch of lawn using organic growing techniques in that most public of spots - our National Mall.  So Metro or stroll on down to the 4rd to 7th Street section sometime in the next two growing seasons to see the results.  Compare organic versus traditional lawn care yourself, read the resources on their website, and remember that if organic lawn care can survive in this challenging spot, it's a good bet for our own yards, where it can replace the tons of synthetic fertilizers and herbicides we're instructed by certain corporations to dump on our property throughout the season.  Imagine: No more little flags warning neighbors that our lawns are toxic to them.  (Animals, not versed in flag-reading, are just out of luck.)

HOW IT'S DONE
According to SafeLawns' partnership agreement with the Park Service, the two lawn panels comprising the 4.3-acre test area have been either aerated or tilled to 8", had compost applied, then were seeded and watered in.  Next, a "liquid compost mulch" is applied.  I'm assuming that mean compost tea because the plan is to apply compost tea throughout the duration of the test, which ends in September of '09. SafeLawns is doing all this at no cost to the government.

FINDINGS TO BE FULLY REPORTED
Oh, and this is research, not a quick PR gimmick.  The EPA will be compiling and reporting findings on "soil compaction, moisture, organisms, fertility, as well as hours worked and type and amount of all machinery and products used."  Excellent!

The compaction findings will be particularly revealing, considering how much heavy traffic this strip of land gets.  All those demonstrations for or against every known cause really add up.  Then there's the huge 4th of July event, the yearly Folklife Festival, amateur sports, and even large, rowdy commercial events (thanks to a controversial new policy of the National Park Service).  So the folks at SafeLawns are really putting their talk to the test here.

DO WE REALLY HAVE TO BE BROWN TO BE GREEN?
After completing this turf-redo, the folks from Safe Lawns didn't just hung up their gardening clothes and go home; they stayed in town to teach us locals all about safe lawn care and the training they offered is described here. According to that, public officials (including the governor of North Carolina) are pleading with residents to let their lawns turn brown, trying to convince the public that brown lawns are a badge of honor, but Paul Tukey claims that brown isn't necessary:

The founder of SafeLawns.org, however, said that in most cases lawns and gardens could remain green and lush if homeowners and landscape professionals utilize organic methods. He’ll offer specifics when his organization participates in the DC Environmental Conference at the University of District of Columbia on Saturday, Oct. 20.

“If you avoid synthetic chemical fertilizers and switch to compost and organic fertilizers, you’ll reduce the need for watering by up to 75 percent,” said Paul Tukey, author of The Organic Lawn Care Manual. “These natural soil amendments help the soil store water and, therefore, help the grass stay green.”

Now truth to tell, I didn't attend the training but then I'm already a convert.  I did pay a quick visit to the Mall this week and took this photo of the new lawn, which is looking darn good.  Kudos to Paul, Shep, and the whole gang at Safe Lawns!

Posted by Susan Harris

Top photo credit. Middle photo by SafeLawns.org. 

 

The nonprofit SafeLawns.org has planted a patch of lawn using organic growing techniques in that most public of spots - our National Mall.  So Metro or stroll on down to the 4rd to 7th Street section sometime in the next two growing seasons to see the results.  Compare organic versus traditional lawn care yourself, read the resources on their website, and remember that if organic lawn care can survive in this challenging spot, it's a good bet for our own yards, where it can replace the tons of synthetic fertilizers and herbicides we're instructed by certain corporations to dump on our property throughout the season.  Imagine: No more little flags warning neighbors that our lawns are toxic to them.  (Animals, not versed in flag-reading, are just out of luck.)

HOW IT'S DONE
According to SafeLawns' partnership agreement with the Park Service, the two lawn panels comprising the 4.3-acre test area have been either aerated or tilled to 8", had compost applied, then were seeded and watered in.  Next, a "liquid compost mulch" is applied.  I'm assuming that mean compost tea because the plan is to apply compost tea throughout the duration of the test, which ends in September of '09. SafeLawns is doing all this at no cost to the government.

FINDINGS TO BE FULLY REPORTED
Oh, and this is research, not a quick PR gimmick.  The EPA will be compiling and reporting findings on "soil compaction, moisture, organisms, fertility, as well as hours worked and type and amount of all machinery and products used."  Excellent!

The compaction findings will be particularly revealing, considering how much heavy traffic this strip of land gets.  All those demonstrations for or against every known cause really add up.  Then there's the huge 4th of July event, the yearly Folklife Festival, amateur sports, and even large, rowdy commercial events (thanks to a controversial new policy of the National Park Service).  So the folks at SafeLawns are really putting their talk to the test here.

DO WE REALLY HAVE TO BE BROWN TO BE GREEN?
After completing this turf-redo, the folks from Safe Lawns didn't just hung up their gardening clothes and go home; they stayed in town to teach us locals all about safe lawn care and the training they offered is described here. According to that, public officials (including the governor of North Carolina) are pleading with residents to let their lawns turn brown, trying to convince the public that brown lawns are a badge of honor, but Paul Tukey claims that brown isn't necessary:

The founder of SafeLawns.org, however, said that in most cases lawns and gardens could remain green and lush if homeowners and landscape professionals utilize organic methods. He’ll offer specifics when his organization participates in the DC Environmental Conference at the University of District of Columbia on Saturday, Oct. 20.

“If you avoid synthetic chemical fertilizers and switch to compost and organic fertilizers, you’ll reduce the need for watering by up to 75 percent,” said Paul Tukey, author of The Organic Lawn Care Manual. “These natural soil amendments help the soil store water and, therefore, help the grass stay green.”

Now truth to tell, I didn't attend the training but then I'm already a convert.  I did pay a quick visit to the Mall this week and took this photo of the new lawn, which is looking darn good.  Kudos to Paul, Shep, and the whole gang at Safe Lawns!

Posted by Susan Harris

Top photo credit. Middle photo by SafeLawns.org. 

The Unbearable Lightness of Pickled Green Tomatoes

A year ago around this time I was driving 30 miles to a farm supply in Annapolis to buy a jar of something called "pickling lime." It's not that I will go to any lengths to find the most obscure ingredients, but I had a peck of green tomatoes on my hands and a recipe for pickling them that called for "pickling lime." I'd called every food and kitchen purveyor, every hardware store-- everybody I could think of in the area--and the closest jar of "pickling lime" was in Annapolis.

Well, it was worth the trip, because those were some damn fine pickles--sweet pickles made with lots of vinegar, sugar, mustard seed, allspice, cinnamon. I gave many jars to friends but had many more green tomato pickles to munch on throughout the year. In fact, I still have one jar in the refrigerator to dip into. I just have to remember to keep it within eyeshot, not hidden behind a bag of cornmeal.