The Flowery Mead aka Our Lawn

We have more lawn than we would like, and more lawn than people like Susan Harris, one of the Lawn Reform instigators, recommend, we have been working to eliminate lawn. I have the Rose Bank and the Daylily Bank, to cut down on mowing and  therefore energy use. I am moving the pretty groundcover, barren strawberry (Waldenstenia), into an area along the edge of the lawn. And I am trying to turn the whole front lawn into a thyme lawn. For a couple of years we have been planting plugs of common thyme into the lawn and it is Taking Over! Less mowing.

Barren Strawberry

However, lawns are not going away anytime soon. Paul Tukey of Safe Lawns, has this advice for people who have waterlogged and damaged lawns after tropical storm Irene. http://www.safelawns.org/blog/index.php/2011/08/in-the-wake-of-irene-assess-overseed/

Paul Tukey’s website also passed on this horrifying news about Frenkenlawns. Many people can dismiss the news about Genetically Modified alfalfa and the problems it might cause. After all, who gives a lot of thought to alfalfa. However, even people who are concerned about the widespread use of GMO seed for corn, soybeans and alfalfa on farms, might not be aware that GMO lawn seed has been approved by the USDA.  Read this news story:  http://www.safelawns.org/blog/index.php/2011/08/the-frankenlawn-update-wheres-the-outcry-to-stop-gmo-grass-seed/

And one more piece of information from Safe Lawns:http://www.safelawns.org/blog/index.php/2011/08/guest-blog-doctors-favor-lawn-pesticide-bans/

I want children to be able to play on my lawn, weedy patch though it is. I want to walk barefoot on my lawn. I want to be safe and healthy on my own plot of land. Therefore I have never fertilized my lawn with anything other than grass clippings, and I have never used herbicides or pesticides on my lawn. All totally unnecessary. I have even added clover seed to my seed mix when I have had to plant new grass after construction. And of course, there is always common thyme.

Earth Oven at Katywil

There isn’t much to report about progress in the garden. This report is full of  rain, showers, downpour, drizzle, rain, spitz and fog.   Fortunately a showery day did not deter the Yestermorrow crew who came to Katywil to hold an Earth Oven Building workshop.  The stone foundation had been completed two weeks ago and Saturday was going to see building of a wood fired oven. The workshop participants had to get deep into the mud (earth) and muddy straw so a little water from the heavens was not a problem. I will have more about this project soon.

Pollen cloud

While I was watching the oven construction a great cry went out. “Look!”  And then we were all looking down and across the hills a a great wind blew up and sent clouds of green pollen across the valley. None of us had seen anything like it.  No wonder allergy sufferers are having such a bad year.

Yesterday was the first day in two weeks that we could do anything substantial out in the garden. The grass was still damp, but Henry mowed. Now I have to rake.  I will not put these clippings in the compost, because my pile never gets hot enough to kill all the dandelion seeds. So I guess this chore isn’t quite done.

My to-do list included pruning the roses and weeding along the Shed Bed, Rose Walk and the Rose Bank.  I collected two wheelbarrows full of prunings and weedings, but I think there is more to do. I don’t like to rush into pruning winterkill, in case a branch is just a lazy leaf and still alive. I can’t cross this off my list yet either.

However, before the bugs drove me inside to get busy roasting a chicken, and getting some blueberry muffins into the over,  I did do a bit of weeding in the front garden, and put in a second planting of spinach and Tango lettuce.  It is not often I get such a good photo of a completed job.  Actually, its not often I actually complete a job to photo-worthiness.

The club membership has shifted over the years, but all of us could look back over the river of time we each have swum and been generally happy – while admitting that there may have been dangerous rapids from time to time.  We are all women of  ”a certain age’, no one gets to this point without having experienced sorrows, but we are all fortunate to have many joys.

The Gazebo

I enjoyed the view of this charming gazebo from the window, but just before we left I got a tour of Audrey’s dripping garden and got to peek into the windows where other meetings of the book club have met.

The brook next to the gazebo was racing and tumbling over the stones.

Next to the screened gazebo was a little seating area. I loved the little side table made of pots and a board.

Audrey said she has seats all over the garden because she can’t work for very long without needing a respite.

I looked at all those seats and saw the reminder that we all should sit and enjoy the garden from time to time –  without a weeder clutched in our hand.

Every garden should have a touch of humor.

Did you miss a lawn?  I didn’t.

Bridge of Flowers May 6, 2011

In addition to working on my own garden, I brought plants down to the Bridge of Flowers to be potted up for the big Plant Sale on May 14.  The explosion of spring bloom is truly magnificent.

Earlier in the week I joined two other member of the Bridge committee to buy annuals for the sale, and I also got a delivery from Bluestone Perennials.  I put three yellow Digitalis grandiflora ‘Ambigua’ and three little red Achillea ‘Paprika’ in the new bed by Miss Willmott lilac as well as a yellow strawflower from LaSalles. I will get more annuals at the Plant Sale to fill in!

The Front Garden is starting to settle in.  The spinach isn’t doing too well yet, but the tiny lettuce seedlings I put in a week ago are growing, as are the very tiny broccoli seedlings. On the other side of the path I also planted French Breakfast radishes, a mustard salad mix and beets.  That bed had beautiful broccoli last year and I think the soil will be really good for root crops. The photo does not do the growth justice, but I am very happy.

Of course, it was Mother’s Day weekend. We drove out to Tyngsboro for a barbecue with daughters Diane and Betsy and their kids. Son Chris also showed up. We had a wonderful visit!  Here is a rare photo of Diane with 16 year old Colleen, the youngest of Diane’s three daughters.

My 'flowery mead' aka my lawn

My lawn might not inspire anyone who demands fine turf, but it is safe for the children who play on it, and my water supply. It has lots of clover which is very green and beautiful. How did clover become a ‘weed’ in the garden? I do not know.

Canada has been more aware of the dangers of lawn care chemicals for longer than the U.S., but that is changing.  With organizations like Safe Lawns and the Lawn Reform Coalition spreading the word Americans are beginning to limit their lawn size and eliminating the poisons that can cause skin rashes and pollute our water systems.

“On Friday, May 6, more than 70 international organizations are aligning with a proclamation to honor the woman credited with instigating an international movement:

“We, the undersigned members of the North American health, environmental, landscape and farming community, hereby proclaim Friday, May 6, 2011 as Lawn Pesticide Awareness Day in honor of Dr. June Irwin’s leading role in passage of North America’s lawn first pesticide ban in Hudson, Quebec, on May 6, 1991.” To see this full story with all the signatories click on the link below.

http://www.safelawns.org/blog/index.php/2011/04/may-6-to-be-lawn-pesticide-awareness-day/

I hope you will all go out today and enjoy your healthy, pesticide-free lawn.

Battery Park NYC

We took the train into the city and set off to explore an array of Parks.  We began at Battery Park, South Ferry, where people can get ferries to Staten Island, or Ellis Island or the Statue of Liberty. This area has all been refurbished since we left New York in 1979.  The plantings were big and varied, with spring bloomers, foliage in every shade of green and red, ferns, grasses, and shrubs. The weather was mild, although rain threatened all day, and people were enjoying the promenades along the Hudson River.

Where to go? Castle Clinton? or off to the Islands?

Guide books are available with information about plantings. For the website click here.

Wagner Park

School children were enjoying Wagner Park, the first of the Parks for Battery Park City. Plantings for this Park were designed by Lynden B. Miller who I heard speak about her book, Parks, Plants and People: Beautifying the Urban Landscape. She was the inspiration for this tour. We saw our first roses in bloom here.

The Hudson as Water Feature

These gardens between the Hudson River and the building of Battery Park City look right down at the  tidal river. With its tides and moods the river becomes an amazing water feature.

A luncheon view

We had lunch at the South West Restaurant. We watched the boats on the river, the joggers, bicyclists, moms with strollers, and workers taking their lunch hour picnics.

The Wintergarden

I expected a lavish conservatory to be inside the Wintergarden, but the large skylit lobby had only eight very tall palm trees – and a wonderful photography exhibit of the faces of our Elders, Clint Eastwood, Bishop Tutu, Vanessa Redgrave, Madeline Albright and many others.

Wisteria

We set off  to find The Highline and saw that parks aren’t the only place to see magnificent plants. These wisteria are amazing.

The High Line

We walked uptown and over to 14th Street and ascended to the new High Line Gardens built on the old elevated freight train tracks.  We walked along up to West 23rd Street. The High Line is still being built and planted and will continue up to 34th Street.

Bryant Park

The beauty of the Battery Park City Gardens was an unexpected pleasure. They were so beautiful and were being enjoyed by so many people, even on this less than lovely day. But Bryant Park, the park behind the 42nd St. Public Library, was the highlight of the day. The park was restored and renovated in 1986 and it is a treasure. Seating, drinks, and so much more.

Children's Wing of the Bryant Park Reading Room

A section of the park was designated as The Reading Room with a number of bookshelves filled with books and audio books, to be read and returned right there. If you aren’t reading those books you can’t sit in this area of the park.

Book Club Meeting!

Actually, I guess you were allowed to sit here, if you had read the books. A lively book club meeting was being held here.  Nearby were people playing chess and one gentleman was offering chess lessons.  This park is named for one of our great American poets, William Cullen Bryant. A statue of this poet who was born in Cummington, Mass, not far from us, watches over the gatherings in the park. I am sure he will be happy to know that tomorrow we will be celebrating Emily Dickinson at the New York Botanical Garden.

The main task for these past few beautiful days has been setting up the new garden in front of the house which gets protection from the wind,  and sun early in the season. I thought I could plant hardy vegetables here and start my harvest early.  Once again I used the lasagna method of starting a new garden.  First I put down old chick house cleanings in lieu of finished compost.  We did not get chicks last year and although we gave a major cleaning of the area, moving the chick bedding to the compost pile, the hens occasionally got in there and so there was a bit more bedding and manure.

I watered that material and then laid down cardboard over the area including what would be the path. On top of the cardboard I put down soil mixed with finished compost.

I got a couple of stationwagon loads of public wood chips, a benefit of the big ice storm in December 2008.  I put the chips on top of cardboard behind the planting bed, against the house, and then on the cardboard path.

On the other side of the path I spread unfinished compost from the pile I started last spring.  When I get more cardboard I will finish this planting bed.

I haven’t planted in the new bed yet, but I did plant a little block of spinach in the Herb Garden, again in front of the house where it is easy to keep watered. Down in the Potager I planted a 7 foot double row of sugar snap peas, a 6 foot row of Renee’s Saltwater Taffy Swirls sweet peas, and Renee’s larkspur.

I also got several little flats of seeds going in the house, zinnias, broccoli, cilantro, cosmos, stocks, and lettuce. One tray of seeds is on a heating mat which slightly speeds up germination.  Both trays sit on a southern windowsill. I can see spring looking more and more as though she is almost ready to stay.

Barren Strawberry and daffodil shoots

An evening stroll through the garden showed that daffodil shoots are coming up everywhere. Eventually I hope the native barren strawberry (Waldsteinia) will form a groundcover mat with the daffodils coming up through. I will get a few more barren strawberry plants from Nasami Farm when it opens in a couple of weeks. We are in the process of eliminating lawn in this area between the road and the peonies and hydrangeas.

Now that the gardening season has begun the Monday Record will be a regular feature. I keep a garden journal, but  the Monday Record has been a fun and helpful way for me to me to be able to check the weekly progression of chores and results.

My Flowery Mead

Now you know why I chose the name commonweeder. I love common weeds. Otherwise known as wild flowers. In some circles.  I call this wildflower garden my flowery mead. Others may call it my lawn.

Lawns have become controversial because they can take a toll on the environment.  Herbicides and pesticides can runoff into streams and other waterways causing pollution and killing wildlife. Many people water their lawns when the weather is hot and dry, using that precious resource, water.  Many people (like me, or more specifically my husband) use power mowers that use gas and pollute the air.

There are various ways to cut down on this environmental toll. We never use chemical fertilizer. My husband thinks the grass grows quite fast enough, thank you very much.  I do lime the lawn periodically. That make nutrients available to all the plants in the lawn. I want to encourage the microbial and animal life in my lawn, not kill it.

We never water the lawn. Should it go dormant and brown, it will green up again when the rains come.

We mow as infrequently as possible. My husband and I do have different opinions about that.

We are trying to eliminate lawn. Some lawn has been turned into The Lawn Beds. The Daylily Bank, The Rose Bank and The Early Garden are in process. I’m also removing the grass from a wide strip next to the road and planting hydrangeas and barren strawberry ground cover.

This is planning season. There are many ways to create a sustainable lawn and many resources to help you do this. Paul Tukey has written The Organic Lawn Care Manual, available and bookstores and libraries. You can also log in to is SafeLawns website.

The Lawn Reform website also has advice and resources. You’ll see some of the best and most influential gardeners have joined this movement. Your lawn can be beautiful – and healthy for you and the environment.

Paul Tukey and me

Last week I attended a Garden Writers workshop in Boston to learn about new trends in the garden, and in the blogs. Paul Tukey of Safe Lawns fame was on hand, too.  Although we had never met I did interview him last spring when I was doing a radio show in Beverley. Phone interview are a necessity in this world we we are all so spread out, but nothing beats talking to someone in the flesh.

Paul is the author of the Organic Lawn Care Manual which gives us information about caring for our lawns so that they are a healthful playground, and all the reasons why this is so important to our own health and the health of the planet.

Recently he learned that Health Canada (like our EPA) plans to ban all Weed and Feed lawn products. This has already been done on local levels, but this regulation will go into effect nationwide at the end of 2012. We might have something to learn here.

I’ve never fertilized our lawn. My husband says it grows quite fast enough. Nor have I used herbicide. I’m perfectly happy with my ‘flowery mead,’ but I am adding more goundcovers.

My dandelion lawn in spring

Paul Tukey of Safe Lawns sent this moving letter:

“In the midst of planning movie premieres and national anti-chemical campaigns, our life as we knew it stopped suddenly when my wife went into labor at precisely 12:55 a.m. last Thursday. For the next several hours, I was either glued to a stopwatch or being gripped fiercely by my wife as her contractions grew closer and more powerful in succession.

Incredibly important questions came at us from all directions in those precious moments. We opted, for instance, to forego painkiller and intravenous tubes for my wife. We reasoned that an analgesic strong enough to sedate Katie might have unintended effects on our soon-to-be-born child. And we had long since decided to share the experience with only a nurse, Katie’s mom and a mid-wife. Medical doctors were probably only a pager away, but our goal was to replicate the simple, natural experience that had brought our older daughter, Aimee, into the world in 2006.

In the minutes after Angie Kathryn Boardway Tukey entered the world at 3:41 p.m. on Aug. 13, the profound decisions continued. We rejected the erythromycin ointment that the nurse might have applied to Angie’s eyes. We similarly turned away vaccination for Hepatitis B. We had studied these two practices ahead of time and decided that, based on our health history and risk factors, we just didn’t feel comfortable subjecting our daughter to potentially unnecessary chemicals in her first hour of life.

We live in a nation, fortunately, where parents can make those kinds of choices — and I’m not one to judge if and when parents make decisions about their children that are different from my own.  Health care is a personal and private and, by and large, we should probably all stay out of each other’s business.

As we exited the hospital two days later, however, I was immediately reminded of the health care choices that others make for us. Surrounding this beautiful facility — that attempts to fend off death just as it nurtures new life — acres of a weed-free green lawn stood as someone’s symbol of the hospital’s grandeur and excellence. With nary a dandelion, clover, plantain, bee or butterfly on site, the grass had recently been bathed in an imprecise coating of weed ‘n feed. At barely 10 a.m. on the 90-degree morning of our departure, laborers with no eye or ear protection were busily mowing and weed-whacking the grass that was already too short to withstand the heat of season.

I’m quite certain my wife and I were the only ones aware of the spectacular irony of this particular lawn. I’m sure it can be taken as a neon sign of my peculiar obsession that I was even thinking about toxic lawn chemicals on the day I was driving my daughter home for the first time.

For Angie’s sake, though, I feel the need to be more passionate than ever about this subject. Did you know that a recent study found traces of 287 different industrial chemicals in the umbilical cord blood of 10 random babies? Did you now that pediatricians are reaching near unanimity in their conclusion that these environmental exposures are the root cause of increases in childhood diseases ranging from autism to ADHD and leukemia? Did you know that lawn chemicals, in particular, are outrageously dangerous for developing minds and bodies?

So many toxic exposures cannot be controlled in this crazy world. Some that can, though, include lawn and garden chemicals. Two states, Connecticut and Illinois, have taken a look at the evidence and passed laws to eliminate lawn pesticides from schools and daycare centers. In Canada, courts have evoked the Precautionary Principle — otherwise known as better safe than sorry — as rationale for allowing lawn pesticide bans to sweep nationwide.

I’m sure the majority of the patients at our hospital saw that weed-free lawn as a sure sign they had come to the right place. I took that lawn as a symbol that — by and large in the United States — we have so much more work to do.

For Angie’s sake, the SafeLawns Foundation will keep at it. Thank you for being a part of this overwhelming, but attainable, challenge.”

Paul Tukey