Reduce your energy bill while increasing the beauty of your landscape.Adding a few well placed trees to your landscape can decrease your energy bills.Adding as few as three properly placed shade trees can lower air conditioning costs by as much as 30%. Plant shade trees on the east and west side of your home for the greatest energy savings.Trees shading the roof from the afternoon sun can reduce your home’s temperature by as much as 8 to 10 degrees.
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In Hampshire with a morning free, I paid my first visit to Longstock Park, the residential and agricultural estate owned by the John Lewis Partnership.
I went for a rummage in the nursery, but bumped into Peter Moore, the plant breeder (Choisya 'Aztec Pearl’, Buddleja 'Silver Anniversary’ and Cotinus 'Dusky Maiden’), who, after a career at Hillier Nurseries, is now on the staff. He invited me to see the famous Water Garden, normally open only on periodic Sundays.
The presentation is immaculate – seven acres of crystal-clear lakes and waterways, perfect lawns and drifts of bog plants, woven around little bridges and islands, and a thatched summer house, equipped with phone, from where the partnership’s founder John Spedan Lewis, who developed the garden from 1946, could keep an ear to the business.
What particularly caught my eye were the sweeps of hostas: not a slug or snail hole to be seen. Clearly, some serious chemical warfare was going on.
Absolutely not, head gardener Rob Ballard assured me. The whole garden is run organically and, as for the hostas, nothing is used on them at all. His secret is to allow no leaf debris to accumulate around them, and therefore no hiding places, and should any holes appear, the plant is searched until the culprit is found.
It is partly because of the slug issue that hostas have fallen out of fashion with garden designers, who don’t want to make their planting dependent on pest control. Also, the more ornamental hostas are now considered an embarrassment popping out of the grassy, naturalistic style prevailing today.
Happily, home gardeners have remained loyal. Hosta sales figures remain buoyant, according to Bowden Hostas, nursery by appointment to HRH the Prince of Wales, who leads the hosta fan club with a National Collection at Highgrove. As for slugs, we all devise our own methods of dealing with the blighters – sharp grit, coffee grounds, beer traps, barrier sprays, nematodes… or slug pellets.
One way to sidestep the problem is to grow hostas in tubs and pots – which can make stunning features. In the borders at home, I use organic pellets like Growing Success, widely available in shops, which are harmless to other wildlife.
I scatter them around the emerging hosta snouts in early spring and then a few more times until midsummer, when I stop, which leaves me with the odd munched leaf, but I can live with that. But with my stone and brick walls, and leafy understorey, planting hostas in sweeps as at Longstock would be reckless. So, I have them as solitary punctuation points and a means of maintaining interest among plants that finish flowering early.
It is the blue-leaved hostas I like the best. There are few other plants with that leaf colour (Berberis temolaica, Fothergilla gardenii 'Blue Mist’ and some rhododendrons among shrubs; Thalictrum flavum subsp. glaucum, Macleaya cordata and Kniphofia caulescens among perennials), and they are terrific in shade with purple cimicifuga, blue and pink-flowered geraniums, alliums and much else.
There are lots of newer varieties but mid-sized 'Halcyon’ and its variegated sport 'June’ – a superb lime-green and blue in shade – and the large-leaved H. sieboldiana 'Elegans’ and its lime-edged counterpart 'Frances Williams’ – are still hard to beat. Revitalise every five years or so by lifting, dividing and replanting the outer segments. Happily, their thick textured leaves are less attractive to slugs.
Welcome to season two of Growing a Greener World. We have come a long way since the pilot episode and we’ve (literally) covered a lot of ground. In bringing you 26 episodes in the first year, we traveled to 36 cities across 18 states in eight months. During our time on the road, we met some pretty incredible people. If you’re new to our series, allow us to give you taste of what it’s all about through the people we meet and their incredible stories. If you’re an old friend, you’ll enjoy revisiting four of our fan favorites. They typify the people we feature making a real difference in growing a greener world!
Mary Seton Corboy – Greensgrow Farms, Philadelphia, PA
Greensgrow opens its doors for their Fall Festival sponsored by Subaru
For some, urban agriculture might seem like a new idea. But for the people at Greensgrow Farm, it’s been their work and way of life for over 10 years. What was once a thriving galvanized steel plant, was eventually abandoned as an industrial brown field—hardly the kind of place you’d imagine for growing edible plants— But then again, most people don’t have the entrepreneurial vision of Greensgrow’s co-founder, Mary Seaton Corboy!
About 3 miles north from the Downtown skyscrapers of Philadelphia and tucked within densely packed row houses lies this pioneering urban farm. It provides locally grown food for a community that often has little while managing to survive as a profitable business in the process. In the 10 short years Corboy has poured her life into this place, her impact now reaches far beyond this one-acre lot.
This is an inspiring story one person’s vision, determination and dedication to sustainability that shows just how much can be accomplished on such a small plot of land. From the nursery to the Farm Market, the community supported agriculture co-op program and even the Community Kitchen, Mary and her small but dedicated staff at Greensgrow touch the lives of so many. Along the way they have become the national model of urban farming.
Daron introduces Joe to very tasty radish seed pods at Serenbe Farms in GA
Whatever image comes to mind when I say farmer – you can forget it. This segment showcases one individual that represents a new generation of farmer, with a thumb far greener than any of its predecessors. These new farmers live to make a difference in the world through their passion for the earth and the natural methods that can save it. Their work applies to gardens of any size but the goal is the same—to save resources, reduce chemicals, promote sustainability and create a healthier planet for all.
But who are the people bringing these progressive ideas from revolutionary dream into reality? Known everywhere as Farmer D, in this segment, we feature Darren Joffe; a new face on an old practice.
Conceived to provide teens with jobs, Growing Power also feeds the community
Less than half a mile from Milwaukee’s largest public housing project lies a small two acre urban farm that’s cultivating a lot more than edible plants. Known as Growing Power, this farm has blossomed into a national nonprofit organization with global acclaim and a commitment to sustainable food systems. The co-founder and man behind this idea factory is Will Allen. Today, his low cost farming methods produce year-round food, while dishing out ideas to people around the world.
Growing Power’s story came to life in 1993 on this small plot of land less than half a mile from Milwaukee’s largest public housing project. Along came Will Allen; a man returning to his farming roots, who happened to be looking for a place to grow food indoors during the winter and sell it closer intown. With no formal plan, he told the city he’d hire kids in need of work and teach them about food systems, and to grow food for their community. The rest is history. Today, Growing Power is considered to be the leading urban agricultural project in the United States and Will Allen, the hottest go-to guy in urban farming.
Maria Rodale – The Rodale Institute and Rodale, Inc.
Maria Rodale with Joe Lamp'l
Thanks to more interest in taking care of the health of our planet and ourselves, the term “organic” has become a lot more common, even chic in many cases. Consumers are waking up to the potential hazards of using synthetic chemicals as a shortcut to growing that perfect-looking vegetable or plant. Unfortunately, the impact to our environment and our health is now more clearly understood and those consequences have us taking a second look at how we farm and garden…and even at the decisions we make in our everyday lives.
For the Rodale family in rural Pennsylvania, the writing was already on the wall back in the early 1940s. One man’s devotion to organic agriculture and healthy living has evolved into the world’s leading multimedia company with a focus on his dedication to restoring a healthy planet. Almost 70 years later, granddaughter and CEO, Maria Rodale, along with her daughter Maya, are working harder than ever to advance that mission. This segment showcases part of Maria’s story and inspires us all to make a difference.
On the next episode of Growing a Greener World (#202), we bring you a similar format sharing some of the most inspiring and memorable places of season one. You won’t want to miss it!
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