Thursday, February 07, 2008
Follow these tips to battle climate change
John Arbogast
Landscape consultant John Arbogast answers your questions every Thursday. Send questions about your lawn, garden, plants, or insects to:
Dear John
5102 Greenfield St. SW
Roanoke, Va. 24018
Or send an e-mail. Answers will be given only in this column. Please don't send pictures or samples.
Recent columns
Q: I just found the article “Why You Can’t Ignore the Changing Climate” by Eugene Linden from the Sunday, June 25, 2006 Parade magazine. That information from almost 2 years ago sure was scary. Horticulture suggestions were not given at the end of the article. As a gardener and homeowner for many years, I know that there are things that we home horticulture people can do. What do you think?
A: First, my “disclaimer.” Folks here in Roanoke that know the John Arbogast family know that there are four of us, and we have four cars. One of our sons is in college and the other is far away in medical school, so his car sits in our garage most of the time. However, three of the Arbogasts’ cars have six-cylinder engines. Two of those six-cylinder vehicles are small to medium-sized SUVs, not the gas-guzzling, threat-to-the environment kind. We keep our engines tuned and tire pressure correct.
The following tips summarize my feelings, not in order of priority.
-- Help reduce the accumulation of carbon dioxide in our atmosphere by planting. Install plants with big leaves wherever there is space in the landscape. Leaves take in carbon dioxide during daylight hours and use it in photosynthesis along with water to produce energy in the form of carbohydrates, a “sugar.” It stands to reason that the bigger the leaves are, the more heat-holding carbon dioxide will be removed from the atmosphere.
All leaves in this mid-Atlantic, moderate-climate region work this way. Plant needles and grass blades do too, but big leaves have more surface area to take in carbon dioxide. So plant summer squash and pumpkins in the vegetable garden, Norway Maples and Southern Catalpa trees in the landscape, Southern Magnolias and many hollies in the leafy evergreen category.
-- Use more muscle power in maintaining the landscape instead of gasoline-powered tools. Think of those “reel” type push mowers that my grandmother and the lady across the street had. But even though I teach my lawn students at Virginia Western that reel mowers make a better cut to bluegrasses and fescues, those push-power reel mowers are scarce these days. That’s a shame, because a lot of Americans could use the exercise.
-- Americans need to start thinking about smaller yards that can be made gorgeous. Plant trees in unused lawn areas. Consider nicely landscaped “patio homes.”
An outstanding example in Roanoke of smaller grass areas with leafy landscapes is the Southwood development, including the new portion called The Coach Homes. People like me can’t afford these houses, but this horticultural example atop the hill above Kmart on Franklin Road shows what I’m talking about. I’m sure there are other, more moderately priced examples in the area of small yards with lots of plants.
-- Another horticultural lifestyle change would be to live closer to our schools, jobs, and friends. This way we won’t emit so much carbon dioxide driving from our prestigious homes and 2-acre lots to where we want and need to be.
-- My final suggestion to fight carbon dioxide accumulation is to stop standing in the way of “alternative” energy projects that don’t just emit less of it, but also preserve the natural settings of fields, mountains, and trees. An example of what we can support is wind farms.
None of these suggestions will solve global carbon dioxide accumulation by themselves, but they can help. We plant people can do our share.
Q: When is the best time to transplant an old climber rose?
A: Move the climber in the spring after the soil begins to warm up but before the rose’s leaves have come out.
Water the newly moved rose once a week during its first growing season in the new spot.
