It's Blooming Hot! - A Call to Plant

Blooming hell. It is one of those days when you want to utter every expletive under that yellow orb,  called the sun, and more, and that's because of the havoc being wrought by that all mighty self-combusting orb, and the low cloud cover!

Today it was 45 degrees celcius in parts of our state, and we are a hot continent, but this is blooming ridiculous.  It's meant to be only spring. Currently, it's still 36 degrees at the Tullamarine airport. (Okay, keep it nice, Nicolle. We know you can tone the language down.) So here we Melburnians sit, with our air-conditioners buzzing at top speed - hmm .. but not me of course, and as I walked back from my tram  stop, after a scorcher (as we call a hot day in Australia) in the city, I noticed there were not many houses with their air-con on.  It's probably because of the electricity prices soaring over recent years. But, money or  no money,  us greenies were put on this earth to suffer, and never use our ACs (well I rarely use it when my son is at his father's), because I'm such a blooming martyre like so many others.  I'm not a devout - dark green greenie, but there are a couple of green things I do well - I catch public transport, and I don't use my AC.

So out comes the large damp towell which gets draped over the shoulders, and then, if I can track down the spray bottle, out it comes too.

So what do we do? Sit here and complain? Yes, a lot of that.  We aussies, are a bit like our ancestors, the brits, we do so love a good whinge. But there is something else we can do, in addition to whingeing and that is :

- To Plant

Yes, I know you're going to say - but it's too late, it's almost summer, planting a deciduous tree the requisite distance from the house, isnt' going to help me this hot season. No, that's true.  But maybe, it's something we all need to think about with springs turning in to summer, and winters turning in to spring, and so forth.

Over the next day or so, I am going to post up some photos of a house near me, and how they have cleverly kept the lawn on their nature strip and planted fruit trees all around their garden, and along the nature strip as well. It's truly sensational, in every sense of the word.  Their home faces north and west, and this means they cut out a huge amount of the heat island effect, which would  exist if the trees and lawn weren't there. Sensibly, apart from the footpath, and road, which can't be avoided - really, there are no hard surfaces.  I will probably go overboard and photograph a gorgeous Crepe Myrtle and a few others.  All I can say is thank you - to the trees, and thank you to the people who plant them!

There is every reason, given looming 2 degree temperature increases across the globe, to be planting where ever possible.

Watch out for weed trees (cough splutter, as I have a very large desert ash in my midst which gives a lot of shade for which I'm grateful. Well, I never said I was perfect!) Here is a link to some old posts where I went on and on (as we greenies tend to do) about all the benefits of gardens -  but I think worthy of being revisited on a day when November temperatures broke the all time record, in Melbourne!

http://bloomingandbold.blogspot.com.au/search/label/Benefits%20of%20Gardens%20vs%20Outdoor%20Rooms

There are around 20 fruit trees in our midst, including owners yard!

Street Garden - Community Garden - Verge Garden Extraordinaire

Sustainability and the Economy

It's not all joyful news out there in the economy as we know right now. People are just not wanting to spend.

Times can be even tougher if you want to be a sustainable practitioner. But it all depends on the pitch we put on it.

The best we can say is keep it small and simple in terms of the hard scapes, as these are the dearer option.

Go for more complexity when it comes to the softscapes (different types of mulches, sticks, rocks, plants) to create more habitats. Have some low growing ground-covers, some medium bushes, some larger shrubs, and some prickly ones (the birds love these). My philosophy is that you can stagger your planting, so the expense doesn't have to be such a shock.  The benefit is that you let your larger plants get a bit of a 'kick-on'.

Look around for plants on-line, if you want to save some money.  Cuttings and propagating from seed can be another great way to save. Your local nursery will be able to give you help. Plus there's heaps of advice on-line.

Outdoors Rooms and Evicting the Upper Class

I was listening in on my Sustainable Produce Gardens class recording, and I found out something interesting. The microorganisms in our soil which break down organic matter and release nutrients in to the soil which are so important for plant growth tend to hang out in the "upper echelons" of the top-soil. Yes, indeed, they are truly refined,  high-class dudes.  Our teacher said that 75 per cent of these little critters hang about in the top 5 centimetres of our soil. This is why you hear people talking about the importance of protecting the top-soil.  

So when planning your Outdoor Room, consider keeping as much softscape as possible, to minimise the impact on these little fellas.

And let's not forget the Wind! ........ Hiss!

Last week, we had one of those blistering barnacles of a windy week, and people I know were cursing, that's climate change, and what's it going to do to our gardens etc.

This is another thing to consider when we take away the garden and start installing something akin to an outdoor room.  How well are screens, structures secured down? In a mighty storm, are we better off having a well pruned garden  and trees with deep roots that can bend and sway, or man-made structures that might, if not installed correctly, break apart and wreak havoc in peak storm events. Then there is the permeability and heat island benefits of having planted up gardens with large porous areas.

This is where arborists come in in advising us about suitable trees.  Methinks in years to come, this profession will earn a more hallowed reputation than before.

Bore Water not so boring after all

Being naughty blogging during my online classroom about sustainable water use. A lot of this we have covered in water sensitive urban design, aka WSUD.

My teacher is talking about bore water, golf courses (clear-felling of vegetation), high salinity in our soil, and all the things that interfere with our water table.  One of the things affecting our ground water, in Melbourne is surprise, surprise ... the increase in urban impervious surfaces.  And one of the culprits,  sorry to say,  is the building of extensive outdoor structures which often (though not always) consist of surfaces which repel storm- water (also known as non-permeable surfaces). What happens is rain-water gushes off concrete, paving and decking and in to drains, creeks, eventually polluting our seas (fats, acids, contaminants, pathogens, hydrocarbons, nutrient load. Oh, when will she stop bleeting on, I hear you reply!).   What our groundwater needs is more permeable surfaces : recharging or replenishing - not vast amounts of water being flushed down our drains!  A major ground water complaint is the problem with house cracking and doors shifting which I know so well in my house, with the attendant expenses and security problems which ensue (doors/windows not closing properly).

Remember: it is the extensive garden with its vegetation and soils, which filters the rain-water, and replenishes the water table.

Our teacher reminded us that we have to be careful with how much water we harvest in rainwater tanks, and what water harvesting can do to our water table, especially if large volumes of water get stored over time, rather than being discharged back on to the soil.

So one day I will finish writing the A to Z of all the reasons not to build up our outdoor garden areas.
It appears we have most of the letters covered already.   (See previous blogs.)

And who would have thought ground water could be so interesting.   http://www.toplinenursery.com/images/sal_water_cy2.jpg This is an interesting link.

One more reason for the bee in the bonnet

Another reason for having a bee in my bonnet about outdoor rooms (especially those which occupy most of the garden!) is :

Their COST. An outdoor room can cost in the order of $50,000 to $80,000.

Bearing some resemblance to bee in bonnet

Now in these days of housing unaffordability in Australia where prices are at an all time high, we must consider whether it is economically sustainable to invest further in our homes.  How sustainable is it to to add value to house prices, when prices are levelling out and in some areas coming down? (And you can take it from me, as one of my jobs is a facilitator of financial literacy workshops!)

Householders need to look at whether they will ever recoup the investment of an outdoor room, especially in areas where prices are already overly-inflated.

For more reasons, for my 'bee in the bonnet' pardon the pun, go to my first blog of 22/6/11.

Recapping why Gardens vs extensive built structures

Summary of why gardens are golden:

• filtration function - ground-water, storm-water and CO2 sink
• oxygen giving benefits
• soil and environmental health -  gardens protect top-soil and ground water: help avoid compaction, erosion, contamination
• birds, beetles, bees, ants and bees play an important role in  the biosphere
• shade, urban heat island, wind-break benefits
• productive benefits (eggs via chooks, growing vegetables, fruit)
• reduced need for resources from old growth habitats, and reduced waste compared with outdoor structures  
• non C02 intensive, provided lawns and hedges are kept small  (large hedges require oil powered machinery to maintain).
• horticulture therapy - connectedness to nature, the cycle of life and the seasons
• fitness benefits and Vitamin D!
• cost-effectiveness - outdoor structures come at a high price

 These benefits are all potentially lost when extensive outdoor structures are built and substantially replace the garden.

 Tips for building Outdoor Spaces sustainably

•  Build small rather than big.  
• Ask yourself: Is your Outdoor Room going to substantially do away with a garden?  See first half of this blog as to why gardens are vital!
• Opt for permeable surfaces over non-permeables.  
• Don't build if the product is sourced from existing habitats, eg sourced from coupes illegally logged or active waterways
• Think about the economics, before you act.  Are you investing in a fad?   
• Chose plants that attract pollinators.
• Protect, nourish (with compost) and conserve the top-soil (sediment control/erosion/soil biota).      

to Honourable Joe Ludwig, Minister for Agriculture.

I sent off a generic letter to Hon. Joe Ludwig, the Minister for Agriculture (via one of the many environmental lobbying groups that come in to my Inbox) adding, one heading:   

Let's slow down the promotion of outdoor rooms which substantially replace gardens. 

When you visit those outdoor room sites, you have to ask yourself how much of the timberused is from a non-sustainable source (a stand of trees hundreds or even thousands of years old, habitat and bio-diversity rich (orangutans), which will take untold generations to regenerate). 

In 2007 and 2010 the Labour Govt made election promises to ban illegal timber imports. The Draft legislation before the Parliament includes 5 years jail for those who overstep the ban.

In a letter to Mr Ludwig, we ask him to include an obligation that importers declare information about the nature of their products.  (After all, without knowing more about the timber itself, how can these laws be enforced?)

Lack of legal chain of custody is the main problem.  The only statistics that we could find are from Wikipedia, which are mostly 7 years old.  ( It isn't surprising how difficult it is to get a figure, given that the activity is hidden!)

A joint UK-Indonesian study of the timber industry in Indonesia in 1998 suggested that about 40% of timber throughput was illegal, with a value in excess of $365 million. More recent estimates, comparing legal harvesting against known domestic consumption plus exports, suggest that 88% of logging in the country is illegal in some way. Malaysia is the key transit country for illegal wood products from Indonesia.  Profiting from plunder. How Malaysia Smuggles Endangered Wood,   2004

Source: Wikipedia, visited 1 August, 2011.

One more list

Wow, I'm really on a roll. This is my second blog for today! And this is another list to add to the last one. Oh dear, us greenies really love our lists don't we!

When keeping it real in the garden, I suggest you always bear in mind these dot points:

1. Air/Plant/Soil Protection (Contamination, Erosion, Compaction)
2. Stormwater (diverting away from drains to raingarden, standard garden, rainwater tank)
3. Biodegradability and reusability and recyclability of materials to avoid waste
4. Reduction in use of resources overall
5. Shade/Wind/Ventilation/Heat Island effect - permaculture aspects
6. Maintenance and overall social sustainability 
7. Companion planting (like conditions for like), appropriateness and longevity of plants
8. Do plants require fertilisation, pest treatment at regular intervals etc?
9. Habitats, habitats, habitats 
10. Watch out for environmental weeds which are our second most serious problem, aside from land-clearing. 

And that's all I can think of today.