What's the best way to go green? 1616 answers and counting

Most of us know about social networking. We use Twitter to share interesting news we find or to pass along short bits of info. We use Facebook in a similar way, with room for more details and more personal comments with friends and fans. But when it comes to serious discussions, I have to say that I really prefer LinkedIn. I cross-post some of my messages from this blog onto LinkedIn and I end up with very detailed, educated responses to my questions.

But the LinkedIn discussion that really has me interested lately is one in which Dave "The Wire Man" Maskin, owner of WireNames.com asked, "What is the one thing every single human being on the planet can do that's considered GREEN?" Dave posted that question five months ago to the "Green" discussion group on LinkedIn and as of this morning, there were 1616 replies!!! The Green Group, by the way, was started by John Horsley, who calls himself an Internet Evangelist, and is the founder of GreenProfs.com

I haven't been following the discussion from the beginning, and I certainly don't have room to list them all here, but if you are a member of LinkedIn, I encourage you to join the Green group and follow the discussion. Here are some of the answers I found this morning:

1) Recycle
2) Adopt
3) Give up your car
4) Give up meat
5) Buy locally produced products
6) Plant a tree
7) Install a dual-flush retro kit
8) Print less
9) Use organic coffee
10) Remember - there are no small actions!

Gardening Tips from the Smithsonian Butterfly Garden

I firmly believe that butterfly gardening can help save the planet. Why? For two reasons.   1) When you begin gardening for butterflies, and watch the miraculous transformation from egg to caterpillar to chrysalis to butterfly, you gain a whole new respect and appreciate for nature and you want to protect the environment more; and 2) when you garden for butterflies, you need to quit using pesticides.

If you don't already garden for butterflies, here is a great video from the Smithsonian Butterfly Garden to help inspire you.

Is artificial grass "eco-friendly"? What about the wildlife?

I was just reading an article that I found online called 12 Ways to Make Yard Care More Eco-Friendly. I was reading down the list of items, which included things like collect rainwater, use a lawn moisture meter, don't hose down your sidewalk, and thinking that it was a pretty good list, until I got to number 9) which said "consider using synthetic grass." That's the one that made me go "hmmmmmm".

I don't really know anything about synthetic grass, so I did a little research before I decided to form any opinion. The first sentence that I found about synthetic grass was all I needed. It said "no mowing, no weeding, no chemicals, no bugs, no birds......" Oh UGH, UGH and double and triple UGH!

To me, one of the wonderful things about gardens and landscapes is the life that they support: the birds, the butterflies, the insects, the worms. As someone who loves to garden for wildlife, I spend a lot of time encouraging people to choose plants that attract birds and insects. The thought of choosing something for a landscape that has NO value for wildlife just goes against SOOO much I believe in. If you are going to use artificial grass, you might as well use plastic and silk flowers. And perhaps you could have an outdoor sound system with music that "simulates" the sounds of birds and other garden wildlife.

But what do you think? Do the benefits of using something that requires no chemicals or water out-weigh the fact that it also provides nothing for the native wildlife? My opinion is a definite "NO!"

OTHER than the synthetic grass comment, the rest of the article had some pretty good advice. Check it out!

Takoma Area Green Homes and Gardens Tour, Oct 2

It stands to reason that those interested in adding solar power to their homes might also be interested in environmentally friendly gardening.

As part of the regional DC Solar Homes tour, the Takoma Area Green Homes and Garden Tourhas a handful of solar homes, but will have several additional homes and sites highlighting other green building features – from energy efficiency and conservation, to non-toxic and salvaged materials, to corn stoves, biodiesel furnaces and cars, to green roofs, rain gardens, storm water management and native landscaping.

Since many of these homes are within a 1-2 mile radius, it will be easy to see many of them by walking or bicycling all in one afternoon.

Download the guide for the DC Solar Homes tour at: http://www.solartour.org/

Virginia Native Plant Society Wildflower Sale, Oct. 2

The Virginia Native Plant Society will hold a wildflower sale on Saturday, October 2, from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. at Green Spring Gardens, 4603 Green Spring Road, Alexandria .

Visitors will be able to buy native plants and get free advice about the benefits of using native plants in a landscape.

Proceeds support education and conservation efforts of the Virginia Native Plant Society

Here are some nice resources from the Virginia Native Plant Society website

Wildflowers for Butterfly Gardens (pdf file)

Wildflowers for Woodland Gardens (pdf file)

Stopping stinkbugs without poisons

Every now and then, a bug will come along that is so annoying, that you are tempted to turn to toxins, no matter how eco-friendly you are trying to be. If stinkbugs have made it into your home, you may be ready to pick up the poison and let them have it.

But before you start filling your home with a bunch of unhealthy chemicals, here are some tips from the local extension services about how to handle stink bugs in a more environmentally friendly way.

I emailed the Home and Garden Information Center of the University of Maryland Extension and this was their reply:

You are so ahead of the game in looking for eco-friendly ways to deal with stink bugs and we are happy to help. Getting the word out on the environmentally friendly ways of control is important, as we are hearing from homeowners who are indiscriminately spraying all kinds of pesticides, and even herbicides, ignoring labels. 

As background, the stink bugs that you are bothered by are not native, but an invasive species which has arrived here from Asia. They are congregating in large numbers to try and find a warm place to overwinter, and our homes look pretty good to them for this purpose. Now would be the time to make sure that doors and windows are tightly fitted with good screens and sweeps. Look closely for gaps in your home, and fill any with caulk.

If they do get inside, using a vacuum to collect them (and then throwing away the bag) works, as well as fitting the hose end w/a rubber-banded piece of pantyhose to collect them. A shop vac with some soapy water in the bottom works well too. The shop vac is great outside as well. They tend to drop straight down when disturbed, so sweeping them from around doors with a bucket of soapy water underneath works. We have seen people fashion a 'catcher' with a rectangular container with an inch or two of soapy water in the bottom attached to a broom handle to pole. It should be mentioned that these bugs do not bite, and are not reproducing or feeding inside our homes, just resting.

Here is more information from our website: hgic.umd.edu/content/timelytips.cfm

The reply I received from the Virginia Cooperative Extension was very similar, but did contain this extra tidbit of advice:

Do not use any indoor house foggers. They will kill them but then you have just created food for all of the predators that are feeding on insect such as carpet beetles.

More about the Brown Marmorated Stinkbug can be found on the Invasive Species page from the University of Maryland Extension.

As always, I highly recommend contacting your local Extension System office for answers to your gardening question. Be sure and let them know if you are looking for an environmentally friendly option!

Where to find answers.

Top 10 Rookie Gardening Mistakes

Saw this great blog post on planetgreen.com called Top 10 Rookie Gardening Mistakes (and how to avoid them). The detailed list (with photos), which was written by Colleen Vanderlinden, lists things that a lot of gardeners do wrong.

Here's a brief synopsis of the list. Be sure to read her full blog post for the details of "How to Avoid them"

1) Clueless watering

2) Wrong plant, wrong place

3) Not giving plants enough space

4) Not knowing your zone

5) Haphazard fertilizing

6) Not mulching

7) Half-a**ed soil preparation

8 ) Sun/shade fairy tales

9) Not knowing your site

10) Listening to Experts

And visit my blog post, 12 Relationship Rules for Gardeners , to learn more ways to do things RIGHT in the garden.

Trade in Your Mower - Mow Greener!

Want to be a little more environmentally friendly when you mow? Trade in your gas mower for a battery powered one!

When: Saturday and Sunday, October 9 and 10, 11am to 3pm only.

Where: Front lot of the ABF Terminal, 6720 Washington Blvd, Elkridge, MD (follow the Neuton signs)

How: You must drop off a gas mower. You’ll receive a voucher for a new Neuton Battery-Powered Mower.

Hurry, only 300 vouchers are available!

Call the toll-free number on the voucher by October 31st to place your order. Your mower will be delivered to your door!

Details: No registration required. Proof of Maryland residency is required to participate (valid driver’s license or utility bill). Mowers must be drained of gas and oil before drop-off. Your gas mower will be scrapped and cannot be returned to you. Vouchers will be available for the first 300 participants only.

Questions: Please call the Maryland Department of the Environment at 410-537-4210.

September 26th is Johnny Appleseed Day - Share some garden love

On September 26, 1774, Johnny Appleseed was born.

Here are a few suggestions to celebrate the life, love and kindness of this generous fellow gardener.

1) Buy some locally grown apples. Maryland Apple Orchards, Virginia Apples

2) Play Johnny Appleseed with your own garden seeds (and cuttings) by sharing them with others. Northern Virginia Plant Exchange

3) Buy a decendent from a genuine Johnny Appleseed planted tree - If you have never visited the Historic Tree Program pages of American Forests, you are missing all sorts of fun. They sell trees that are direct decendents of trees owned by famous presidents, environmentalists, adventurers and others.

Rose's are read - reading about Rose's garden

I found this post about a neat woman named Rose when I was wandering around the internet today. The post is called Rose's Sustainable Gardening Tips and was written by Rachel Grad back in 2008.

Rose seems like such a neat person, that I encourage you to read the blog post about her, as well as the linked one to information about her solar home in McLean, Virginia.

Here are some of Rose's cool sustainable gardening tips from the post:

1) Garden organically , 2) Make sure the soil is good, 3) Choose appropriate plants, ....6) collect rainwater.

And this is one of my favorites:

7. Use your garden to build community, for example, plant a pumpkin patch in your front yard and then have the neighborhood children come to pick a pumpkin for Halloween.

Take a few minutes to read the whole post. You'll love it!