Arbor Day Foundation and Ecology Crossroads Settle Lawsuit

The only information this writer could acquire at this point is that of the record and through an interview with David Wright inthat; 1) the National Arbor Day Foundation acquired nine websites from Ecology Crossroads, 2) an agreement exists between them that settled the suit, 3) Arbor Day is now a legal trademark of the National Arbor Day Foundation, and 4) the public, business associates, the employees and the patrons of the organization have all suffered losses as a result of the settlement.

Charming.

Trees for Life Homepage

Trees for Life empowers people by demonstrating that in helping each other, we can unleash extraordinary power that impacts our lives.

We do this by helping people plant fruit trees in developing countries. Each tree protects the environment and provides a low-cost, self-renewing source of food for a large number of people.

Good idea. At the least we should be planting one tree for every one we cut down.

Maine Oks Topless Mowing

It all boiled over on Martin Stream Road a few months ago. During a visit to her mother's house, Desiree Davis, 34, cut the grass without a shirt. A neighbor, MaryThompson, called authorities and complained. Topless lawn mowing, she said, was indecent.

Let's just ban mowing instead & help stop the decline of American morals. [I'm sorry I just couldn't help it!] Or... we could just learn tolerance?

TO GROW THEIR OWN LONE PRAIRIE, HOMEOWNERS CAN STOP MOWING

Homeowners keen on attracting wildlife and maintaining native plants can stop clipping the grass and let their yards grow into meadows or prairies, says a wildlife expert in Penn State's College of Agricultural Sciences.

"In the United States there are more than 24 million acres of lawn surrounding homes," says Margaret Brittingham, associate professor of wildlife resources in the School of Forest Resources. "As suburban development spreads into open and forested land, more native vegetation and wildlife habitat is lost."

We are not alone:

Stop mowing; make your lawn a meadow

You've mowed the lawn. You've watered it. You've fertilized it. You've tossed on the lime. And the pesticides. You've yanked out the dandelions. And the crabgrass.

Tired?

Stop. Stop all of it -- the mowing, the watering, the fertilizing and, especially, stop with the pesticides.

Grow a meadow, or a forest, or whatever comes naturally.

One town's experience with natural lawns.

Leads to more information on this site.

Passaic County Office of Natural Resource Programs

The problems we face and steps we can take.

Cities are getting SERIOUS about recycling and conserving resources. This is one very good example of the kind of effort cities are putting into educating and encourageing their residents.

Emissionless Mowing - Passaic Copunty, NJ

Electric, battery-operated and solar powered mowers are in our future! The California Air Resources Board has estimated that mowing a lawn for just one half hour with a gasoline powered lawnmower can produce as much smog as driving a car 172 miles.

One company proposes a solution

The $4.5 billion outdoor power equipment industry is made up of more then 70 lawn and garden manufacturers. Tests show that running a gasoline lawnmower engine for just one hour emits as much pollution as driving a car for 50 to 60 miles. Lawn and garden equipment has been recognized as the second largest source of ozone-causing pollutants in at least one US county

Compost! Master Composter is the Premier Site for Home Composting, Build a Pile, Compost Information, and Local Composting Programs

Contents of the site are listed to the left. We are currently updating and rearranging material on the site, so bookmark this page which will be kept updated at all times. The Compost Search Engine is available to help you find what you are looking for if it is not evident by looking at the Contents. Ask Questions on our Message Board if you still need information. Or, just leave a note telling us how your composting efforts are going!

BUILD A COMPOST BIN INSTRUCTIONS

Think Before You Build Before you buy or build, review the list of factors to consider. If your time is more important than your money, buy a manufactured bin. It's so easy and most manufactured bins can be set up in well under 5 minutes.

the Compost Resource Page: General Information

An overview of composting http://www.oldgrowth.org/compost/compost.html

TODAY I'm looking at compost information

When the Outdoors is your Office

Over forty years ago, a young forester named Ben Meadows became increasingly frustrated with the difficulties forestry professionals encountered in obtaining field equipment. It was often necessary to go to a variety of sources to find what was needed.

You can find almost anything on the web.

Want to buy tree equipment online?... here it is.

Planting Noah's Garden: Further Adventures in Backyard Ecology

Sara Stein's brilliant book, Noah's Garden, placed the author at the forefront of the new field of ecological gardening. In Planting Noah's Garden, she tells the even more fascinating story of the many ways people are redesigning their surroundings to welcome back the birds, butterflies, fireflies, and other creatures driven away by the sterility of the typical suburban landscape. 70 color photos. 100 illustrations.

This book is great. It is where I found out about Tree Pros.

A large part of the book is chatty, but don't let that mislead you there is much HOW TO information here. It gets more & more hands on oriented as it goes.

Tree Pro Tree Protectors and Supplies

Tree Pro offers an integrated state of the art plant and tree care system designed to optimize plant health, increase growth, and improve survival rates.

Wondering where to get those nifty little tree protector tubes? This is it. Prices are very reasonable, much to my surprise.

The links here led me to Nurseryman.com which has a great list of resources.

Tree Pro also sells root stimulator & similar chemicals to help with tree growth. Also weed skirts. Etc. There's just no end.

nursery supplies, nursery equipment, nursery tools @ Nurseryman.com

Equipment And Supplies Listings

Need equipment or supplies for your outdoor work. This is a great place to start looking on the internet. I have a couple more entries following this including the one that led me to it.

What Is An Ecology Lawn And Why Would I Want To Plant One, Anyway?

An ecology lawn is often described as an old-fashioned or an alternative lawn.... one that is self-sustaining and requiresvery little maintenance. It needs virtually no fertilizer or supplemental irrigation after the establishment period and contains a virtual tapestry of textures. A combination of low-growing grasses, tiny clover, and small herbaceous plants and flowers, our ecology lawns are drought tolerant and provide green cover during the heat of the summer when the grasses go dormant. Mowing is only required every 3-4 weeks to maintain the casual effect.

We're going to start digging and planting soon. Testing various items like this on our lawn.

As of 12 May 2000, Hobbs and Hopkins frangrant or floral lawn mixes cost about $30 per lb which they say will cover 700 sq feet.

This will be an interesting experiment.

Poison Ivy Tutorial - Index

There are a number of people who have no clue what poison ivy looks like. "Leaves of three leave it be." seems to be the rule of thumb, but even so, some people wouldn't be able to tell it from jewelweed (the plant whose juices cure poison ivy).

This is the only site I've found that has pictures of the "hairy vine" elderly stage of poison ivy.

Also this site has a self-teaching quiz on identifiying poison ivy.

Search on Poison Ivy Control <- CLICK

Click above to do a search for info on controlling the poison ivy plant.

POISON IVY

Poison ivy (Rhus radicans) can be found in nearly any part of Michigan. It is known by several different names, such asthree-leaved ivy, poison creeper, climbing sumac and poison oak. Its usual growth habit is as a slender vine running along the ground, or growing on shrubs and trees. The vines are capable of growing to several inches in diameter over a period of years. Poison ivy has three leaflets occurring alternately along the stem. Leaflets are usually smooth, but may be either a dull or glossy green. Leaf margins (edges) can be smooth, toothed, and/or lobed. Leaves on the same vine often have a number of color and leaf margin combinations. It is possible however, that all leaves on a vine will have the same general character. In general, however, there are no distinguishing characteristics to warn an unsuspecting individual that a vine is poison ivy.

I have found a patch of poison ivy up by the road. Now I'm pondering how to get rid of it. Were it elsewhere I'd leave it, but I don't want kids walking through it to get at the blackberries.

Picture: Poison Ivy in Summer, 59K

USEPA, GREEN ACRES: Green Landscaping with Native Plants

How to Get Started

Everyone can include native plants in their landscaping; from those with acres of land (e.g. corporations, universities), to those with small urban lots, to those protecting a pristine ecosystem during a construction project. There are some tips to know how to get started and what to expect while your wild plants are taking root. And while natural prairies require fire for maintenance, mowing the native plants in your yard, or next to buildings, works just as well. There is a toolkit for local governments to promote the use of native plants - individuals may also find it useful! Be sure to read the wonderful law review article on municipal weed laws.

US EPA page on conserving resources with native plants.

Wild Ones Home Page

Wild Ones -- Natural Landscapers, Ltd. is a non-profit organization with a mission to educate and shareinformation with members and community at the "plant-roots" level and to promote biodiversity and environmentally sound practices. We are a diverse membership interested in landscaping using native species in developing plant communities.

This is one of the links from the DISAPPEARING AOL STORY which is the next entry down.

I believe Wild Ones started as a Chicago area group.

My AOL.COM | News | Plant Threatens Midwest's Woods

``To someone like me who loves native plants, this is sort of a holocaust for plants,'' says Hedge, who works for the Indiana Department of Natural Resources.

Garlic mustard was only identified as a threat to the Midwest's woodlands in the late 1980s. But in the decade since, it has spread across the region.

This spring, a bumper crop of garlic mustard is in bloom across much of the Midwest, and next spring is likely to bring even more, he says.

I spent 3 years pulling up this stuff... now I see two more patches in the woods... but truly, the places where I pulled it are almost clean of it.

Your Healthy Lawn Could Be Killing Your Pet

Your pets may be exposed to toxic dangers that you are not aware of. Every year, an estimated thousands of pets are injured or killed by lawn carechemicals. The sprays and powders that kill weeds and insects can also hurt your pet. Cats and dogs cannot read the "keep off" warning signs on freshly sprayed lawns. Pets lick up volumes of lawn care poisons while cleaning themselves. Owners often cannot connect the cause of illness to lawn care products. Though many deny the dangers of lawn care chemicals, we should keep in mind the old adage, "Let the consumer beware!" Millions of dollars are made on these products every year. Evidence is mounting to demonstrate the health threat that lawn care chemicals pose to both people and animals.

I always wondered about that. On the other hand, we never used anything on the 'yard' out on the farm & it looked fine.

So... Miss Pretty will thank us.

Seeding A New Lawn - ICanGarden.com

Tom Cook, Oregon State University turf grass expert, has been working for nine years to develop an ÒecolawnÓ that produces a carpet of green that takes a minimum of care, water, weed control, and fertilization. In test plots, these lawns are watered once per month in summer, and mowed every three weeks during the growing season. They stay green, and for the most part they look like traditional lawns.

So... why not start right? Lets find this kind of thing for Illinois, Illinoians.

Weed Identification

WEB RESOURCES for PLANT 'WEED' IDENTIFICATION

WEED ID is something that many of us have an interest in and we are weak on resources to do this easily.

Plant Conservation Alliance - Alien Plant Working Group

Weeds Gone Wild: Alien Plant Invaders of Natural Areas is a web-based project of the Plant Conservation Alliance's Alien Plant Working Group, that provides information for the general public, land managers, researchers, and others on the serious threat and impacts of invasive alien (exotic, non-native) plants to the native flora, fauna, and natural ecosystems of the United States.

Prairie Nursery Wildflowers Home Page

Wildflowers & Native Grasses Native Plants and Seeds for Ecological Gardening "Helping People Help Nature Since 1972"

Developing a Residential Prairie

Provides two models for prairie landscaping a residence, then proceeds to give details in how to do it. Bibliography.

Yards for Kids.

"Learning to tolerate a few weeds is crucial. Remember, they won’t hurt anyone, but we know weed killers can."

Alternative Lawns.

"Here is some help to kill your grass, and references to help convince your neighbors that meadows and shrubs are not signs of sinful sloth."

Got the Lawnmower Blues? Go Native.

McHenry County, Illinois, Defenders... an article explaining how to create a native plant "lawn"

Converting a Traditional Yard to a Wildlife Habitat

An interesting article about a practical transition from a boring lawn to something good for the earth.