Friday, January 28, 2011
Monday, March 22, 2010
A BRIEF INTRODUCTION TO DRIP IRRIGATION
Drip irrigation will solve every problem that you've ever had or will ever have in your garden. Ok, perhaps that's an overstatement, but the relatively new technology makes it easy an inexpensive to install an irrigation system that is perfect for the home garden. Drip irrigation is an above-ground system that uses non-toxic polyethene tubing. You can check them out here: http://www.dripirrigation.com/.
It is a very flexible sytems (literally and figuratively) and are very affordable. For instance, I designed a system for a 2600 sq ft garden at the Roxbury YMCA that will cost about $300 for materials. I bet your garden is much smaller than that and could benefit from the many advantages that drip irrigation offers. The base price for the faucet fittings and timer costs around $60. After that, the lines cost as little as $60 per 500 linear feet, which can cover 5000+ square feet of garden. Accessories can ad up a little bit, depending on how complicated the system is (number of zones, joints, etc.)
The Benefits
A customizable and precise watering-the system: The system is calibrated to deliver as much as your plants need and can be divided into two or more zones in the garden. Watering too much or too little is one of the top killers and causes of disorders and diseases in plants. One word of caution: if your site is excessively hot and prone to evaporation
Water savings and erosion prevention: Drip emitters deliver water very slowly, allowing it to seep into the ground and allowing plants to take up as much as 70 percent of the water and eliminating waste from runoff and evaporation if you cover the lines with mulch. Watering with a hose or overhead irrigation usually delivers water too quickly and carries away particles of soil as it runs off.
Time savings: If you are gardener who can never spend enough time in the garden, this system is for you. I always recommend including a timer that will automatically shut off after a specified period of time. For a little extra dough, you can even fully automate the system by installing moisture sensors that tell the timer when it’s time to water.
Deep watering: This a very difficult thing to do well as a gardener. Spraying your vegetable patch for 10 minutes with the hose will not do it. Slow watering over a long period of time (we’re talking hours, not minutes) allows the water to seep deep into the soil. Therefore, new plants establish deep, drought-resistant root systems that allow you to reduce irrigation over time.
Disease prevention: Watering with a traditional sprinkler or hose wets the leaves. Repeated wetting of foliage creates an environment that is conducive to fungal and bacterial growth, especially if you water frequently. Drip irrigation avoids wetting the leaves and puts the water precisely where the plant needs it. Remember last summer when late blight ate up all of the tomatoes that you looked forward to all summer? The blight was brought on in part by the frequent and voluminous rains that we received all summer. Traditional irrigation often makes landscapes extremely vulnerable to infections and disease. Installing a drip irrigation system is preventative-medicine for your plants and will save you money over time.
Durability and reliability: Soaker hoses get clogged more easily and do not deliver an even amount of watering over their length. Drip irrigation lines water evenly and last for at least 10 years if they are properly maintained. Plus, you can easily replace components that wear out or get damaged without having to replace the entire system.
Designing: Here’s where it gets a bit dense…
Designing a system requires a little bit of knowledge about how water behaves in soils. Capillary action moves water laterally and upward through soil horizons. The more organic matter in the soil, the further water will spread from a drip emitter. The best irrigation systems slowly emit water (.5 - 1GPH per emitter is generally recommended) and are allowed to run for as long as it takes to soak through the entire potential feeding zone of your plants. Testing the soil and making observations about its consistency allows you to distribute the lines and choose the correct spacing for drip emitters in the irrigation system.
You also need to figure out the rate of flow from your outdoor spigot. A drip irrigation system will not begin to emit water until it reaches a certain pressure. This way, the entire garden (or zone) can be watered evenly. The lines work within a range of pressures, but will not reach their capacity of flow unless your spigot can provide an adequate rate of flow to reach optimum pressure.
There are a few ways to divide the irrigation system into zones. This allows you to customize the amount of water delivered to the zones according to plant needs. Watering needs are affected by the amount of light or shade, differences in grade, the cardinal orientation of a slope, differences in soil texture and the types of plants. You can install T connections and connect smart timers to control each zone separately. If you want to save a little money, you can swap the smart timers for a simple manual valve that shuts off part of the system. You can also choose lines with different rates of flow or different spacing between emitters, which will deliver a different amount of water during a timed irrigation.
Installation
Drip irrigation is installed by hand and only requires the right components and a tubing cutter. You start by attaching the necessary components in the head assembly to your outdoor spigot. Then, attach the lines and stabilize them with landscape staples or plastic pins. Cover the lines with mulch to conceal them and conserve water.
Once the system is installed, take it for a test run. See if there are any places where water is running off or any dry spots in the soil. You can use a tensiometer or soil-moisture gauge to see when the soil reaches the proper moisture content. You need to make sure to test at a depth of 8 inches for a vegetable garden or 18 inches for trees and shrubs in order to determine whether the system is reaching the entire zone where the plants do most of their feeding.
Operation and maintenance
The irrigation system itself should last 10+ years if properly maintained. Lines can be left out in the garden over winter if they are properly winterized at the end of the season. Filters should be cleaned ahead of every season and the head assembly should be checked to make sure that it is working properly.
You’ve sold me…So now what?
Ready to tackle an installation yourself now? Here’s a more detailed tutorial OR, for all of you who are lucky enough to live near Boston, you can hire me to design it and install it with you (or for you). Send me an email!
It is a very flexible sytems (literally and figuratively) and are very affordable. For instance, I designed a system for a 2600 sq ft garden at the Roxbury YMCA that will cost about $300 for materials. I bet your garden is much smaller than that and could benefit from the many advantages that drip irrigation offers. The base price for the faucet fittings and timer costs around $60. After that, the lines cost as little as $60 per 500 linear feet, which can cover 5000+ square feet of garden. Accessories can ad up a little bit, depending on how complicated the system is (number of zones, joints, etc.)
The Benefits
A customizable and precise watering-the system: The system is calibrated to deliver as much as your plants need and can be divided into two or more zones in the garden. Watering too much or too little is one of the top killers and causes of disorders and diseases in plants. One word of caution: if your site is excessively hot and prone to evaporation
Water savings and erosion prevention: Drip emitters deliver water very slowly, allowing it to seep into the ground and allowing plants to take up as much as 70 percent of the water and eliminating waste from runoff and evaporation if you cover the lines with mulch. Watering with a hose or overhead irrigation usually delivers water too quickly and carries away particles of soil as it runs off.
Time savings: If you are gardener who can never spend enough time in the garden, this system is for you. I always recommend including a timer that will automatically shut off after a specified period of time. For a little extra dough, you can even fully automate the system by installing moisture sensors that tell the timer when it’s time to water.
Deep watering: This a very difficult thing to do well as a gardener. Spraying your vegetable patch for 10 minutes with the hose will not do it. Slow watering over a long period of time (we’re talking hours, not minutes) allows the water to seep deep into the soil. Therefore, new plants establish deep, drought-resistant root systems that allow you to reduce irrigation over time.
Disease prevention: Watering with a traditional sprinkler or hose wets the leaves. Repeated wetting of foliage creates an environment that is conducive to fungal and bacterial growth, especially if you water frequently. Drip irrigation avoids wetting the leaves and puts the water precisely where the plant needs it. Remember last summer when late blight ate up all of the tomatoes that you looked forward to all summer? The blight was brought on in part by the frequent and voluminous rains that we received all summer. Traditional irrigation often makes landscapes extremely vulnerable to infections and disease. Installing a drip irrigation system is preventative-medicine for your plants and will save you money over time.
Durability and reliability: Soaker hoses get clogged more easily and do not deliver an even amount of watering over their length. Drip irrigation lines water evenly and last for at least 10 years if they are properly maintained. Plus, you can easily replace components that wear out or get damaged without having to replace the entire system.
Designing: Here’s where it gets a bit dense…
Designing a system requires a little bit of knowledge about how water behaves in soils. Capillary action moves water laterally and upward through soil horizons. The more organic matter in the soil, the further water will spread from a drip emitter. The best irrigation systems slowly emit water (.5 - 1GPH per emitter is generally recommended) and are allowed to run for as long as it takes to soak through the entire potential feeding zone of your plants. Testing the soil and making observations about its consistency allows you to distribute the lines and choose the correct spacing for drip emitters in the irrigation system.
You also need to figure out the rate of flow from your outdoor spigot. A drip irrigation system will not begin to emit water until it reaches a certain pressure. This way, the entire garden (or zone) can be watered evenly. The lines work within a range of pressures, but will not reach their capacity of flow unless your spigot can provide an adequate rate of flow to reach optimum pressure.
There are a few ways to divide the irrigation system into zones. This allows you to customize the amount of water delivered to the zones according to plant needs. Watering needs are affected by the amount of light or shade, differences in grade, the cardinal orientation of a slope, differences in soil texture and the types of plants. You can install T connections and connect smart timers to control each zone separately. If you want to save a little money, you can swap the smart timers for a simple manual valve that shuts off part of the system. You can also choose lines with different rates of flow or different spacing between emitters, which will deliver a different amount of water during a timed irrigation.
Installation
Drip irrigation is installed by hand and only requires the right components and a tubing cutter. You start by attaching the necessary components in the head assembly to your outdoor spigot. Then, attach the lines and stabilize them with landscape staples or plastic pins. Cover the lines with mulch to conceal them and conserve water.
Once the system is installed, take it for a test run. See if there are any places where water is running off or any dry spots in the soil. You can use a tensiometer or soil-moisture gauge to see when the soil reaches the proper moisture content. You need to make sure to test at a depth of 8 inches for a vegetable garden or 18 inches for trees and shrubs in order to determine whether the system is reaching the entire zone where the plants do most of their feeding.
Operation and maintenance
The irrigation system itself should last 10+ years if properly maintained. Lines can be left out in the garden over winter if they are properly winterized at the end of the season. Filters should be cleaned ahead of every season and the head assembly should be checked to make sure that it is working properly.
You’ve sold me…So now what?
Ready to tackle an installation yourself now? Here’s a more detailed tutorial OR, for all of you who are lucky enough to live near Boston, you can hire me to design it and install it with you (or for you). Send me an email!
Saturday, January 2, 2010
Winter Work and the Snowy Path Ahead
I am pleased to report that fall work wrapped beautifully and I am ahead in my business projections. As I gaze out upon the snow-bound Jamaica Plain, I am grateful for the unexpectedly lucrative month of December and looking forward to the winter work to come. Maybe by next year I will be in a position to take December and January off, but for now the work continues. Thanks to my clients and my many friends who provided referrals, services, advice, and the advice to make my early successes possible. I look forward to hearing from you and working with you in 2010.
Here is a reminder for those of you whose thoughts of all things good and green are buried along with your gardens in the January snows. Winter is the best time for pruning many types of ornamental trees and shrubs. Most of the fruit trees that grow in this region benefit from structural pruning during this time of year, especially if they are still establishing. I was able to get a jump on some of this work for a southern NH client in late November.
The client owns 20 acres stretched across a scenic hilltop in the shadow of Mount Monadnock. I was hired to rehabilitate and expand a small fruit orchard mainly consisting of apple trees. The client was concerned that the trees were stressed due to deer browsing. They considered building a fence around the orchard, but found the cost to be prohibitive. Instead, we decided to prune the branches of the dwarf and semi-dwarf trees above the browse-line, where possible. As an added precaution, I drilled and hung Dial soap in the centers of all of the trees. This method is anectdotally reputed to be the one of the most effective deer browse deterrent, a claim which is supported by at least one case study (although the evidence is based on two trials on two trees). At less than $1 per tree and with a life span of at least six months, this is clearly the most cost effective method that you could choose.
The property manager planted several 4" caliper apple earlier in the fall, which could not be pruned. The Dial soap will be put to the test on these trees. It is best to wait two years after planting before pruning newly planted trees in order to encourage the establishment of a strong root system. Any damaged branches that we find will be pruned in the spring.
I completed pruning the 20+ mature dwarf trees and another 28 blueberry bushes in a marathon day that started at 6:30am and continued until the last bit of light faded from the sky around 5:45pm. In my preoccupation with the ever-ticking clock and limited November daylight, I failed to take any photos of the orchard that day, but here is a shot that the client took that is typical of the end result.
Because deer cannot freely stand on their hind legs, branches that are above 4' are clear of the browse line. This means that most of the fruit on the tree will be within reach of an adult harvester from the ground or small ladder. A pole picker is the safest solution for picking fruit at the tops of the trees while keeping your feet firmly planted upon the source of gravity, although pole pickers can be fatiguing and awkward to use. I would not recommend it if you have back problems.
In addition to the deer browse, I found that many of the trees were suffering from fireblight infections in their trunks and branches. Infected wood is incurable and, as the name suggests, resembles charring of the wood. The only treatment for the infection is amputation, so it is only a matter of time once the infection enters the trunk of a tree. I flagged several trees with trunk infection for removal and carefully pruned infections out of several other trees.
The best approach to the disease is prevention and the best approach to prevention is planting selection. There are many fireblight-resistant varieties of apples and pears available on the market, but many of the most popularly recognized cultivars (the grocery store varieties) are highly susceptible to the disease. For this and many other reasons (flavor being high among my priorities) I do not recommend planting most varieties of apples and pears that you typically find in the supermarket. Unfortunately, this means that most roadside nurseries do not sell disease-resistant stock. I will be giving the client a list of suitable varieties to expand the orchard once the soil test results come back from the UMass Extension lab. Fortunately, the client is interested in the idea of growing out bare-rooted specimens on her property, which means that selections will be plentiful and inexpensive. My favorite nurseries for disease-resistant dwarf and semi-dwarf fruit trees include Miller's Nurseries in New York State and Raintree Nursery in Washington State.
If you or someone you know in the Boston area is looking for pruning services (for trees up to 20' in height, including ornamentals and young canopy trees), consultations, lessons on their home orchard this winter, or planning ahead for spring planting please send me an email!
Here is a reminder for those of you whose thoughts of all things good and green are buried along with your gardens in the January snows. Winter is the best time for pruning many types of ornamental trees and shrubs. Most of the fruit trees that grow in this region benefit from structural pruning during this time of year, especially if they are still establishing. I was able to get a jump on some of this work for a southern NH client in late November.
The client owns 20 acres stretched across a scenic hilltop in the shadow of Mount Monadnock. I was hired to rehabilitate and expand a small fruit orchard mainly consisting of apple trees. The client was concerned that the trees were stressed due to deer browsing. They considered building a fence around the orchard, but found the cost to be prohibitive. Instead, we decided to prune the branches of the dwarf and semi-dwarf trees above the browse-line, where possible. As an added precaution, I drilled and hung Dial soap in the centers of all of the trees. This method is anectdotally reputed to be the one of the most effective deer browse deterrent, a claim which is supported by at least one case study (although the evidence is based on two trials on two trees). At less than $1 per tree and with a life span of at least six months, this is clearly the most cost effective method that you could choose.The property manager planted several 4" caliper apple earlier in the fall, which could not be pruned. The Dial soap will be put to the test on these trees. It is best to wait two years after planting before pruning newly planted trees in order to encourage the establishment of a strong root system. Any damaged branches that we find will be pruned in the spring.
I completed pruning the 20+ mature dwarf trees and another 28 blueberry bushes in a marathon day that started at 6:30am and continued until the last bit of light faded from the sky around 5:45pm. In my preoccupation with the ever-ticking clock and limited November daylight, I failed to take any photos of the orchard that day, but here is a shot that the client took that is typical of the end result.Because deer cannot freely stand on their hind legs, branches that are above 4' are clear of the browse line. This means that most of the fruit on the tree will be within reach of an adult harvester from the ground or small ladder. A pole picker is the safest solution for picking fruit at the tops of the trees while keeping your feet firmly planted upon the source of gravity, although pole pickers can be fatiguing and awkward to use. I would not recommend it if you have back problems.
In addition to the deer browse, I found that many of the trees were suffering from fireblight infections in their trunks and branches. Infected wood is incurable and, as the name suggests, resembles charring of the wood. The only treatment for the infection is amputation, so it is only a matter of time once the infection enters the trunk of a tree. I flagged several trees with trunk infection for removal and carefully pruned infections out of several other trees.
The best approach to the disease is prevention and the best approach to prevention is planting selection. There are many fireblight-resistant varieties of apples and pears available on the market, but many of the most popularly recognized cultivars (the grocery store varieties) are highly susceptible to the disease. For this and many other reasons (flavor being high among my priorities) I do not recommend planting most varieties of apples and pears that you typically find in the supermarket. Unfortunately, this means that most roadside nurseries do not sell disease-resistant stock. I will be giving the client a list of suitable varieties to expand the orchard once the soil test results come back from the UMass Extension lab. Fortunately, the client is interested in the idea of growing out bare-rooted specimens on her property, which means that selections will be plentiful and inexpensive. My favorite nurseries for disease-resistant dwarf and semi-dwarf fruit trees include Miller's Nurseries in New York State and Raintree Nursery in Washington State.
If you or someone you know in the Boston area is looking for pruning services (for trees up to 20' in height, including ornamentals and young canopy trees), consultations, lessons on their home orchard this winter, or planning ahead for spring planting please send me an email!
Tuesday, September 29, 2009
Of Manure and Rhododendrons
Any day when you come home covered in composted manure is a great day. No time to change clothes. Gotta write about it well it's still fresh.
The product is Coast of Maine and it's great stuff for gardening of all kinds and it's easy on the earth. I used it to help add organic matter to a sandy woodland edge soil where I established a perennial garden from plants that needed to be moved from a bed where the hedge was threatening to overgrow them. Composted manure is safer to use than raw manure because most of the pathogens should have been gobbled up or pushed out by the decomposers in the composting process. It smells like dirt and feels a little heavier than your standard garden compost. Still, best to wash your hands before eating lunch, which I did.
It's day 1 of the first big project of the business. It's in a wooded housing development on the edge of Boston. When I first visited the client I felt like I was in a state park campground. Beautiful place to spend a sunny September Day and contemplate the good life.
Today, we transplant. Rhododendrons, a lilac, a littleleaf boxwood hedge and sundry herbaceous perennials. So here's a review of the Rhododendron transplant. The concept: leave no trace...except for the plants...and maybe a well placed boulder.
Revealing the hidden Rhodes:
Can't see it? It's hiding to the left, tucked behind a hydrangea. Another was situated nearby where the client could not see it and enjoy it.
Here's the other one. This shot faces the driveway.
Now you see it.
Now you don't.
I estimated the caliper of the two main trunks at the base of the shrub at 1" each for a total of 2". The root ball should be 1' in diameter for every inch of caliper. The size of the rootball that I dug was a little more than 2' in diameter.
I carefully slid the rootball onto a plastic tarp, keeping the soil around the roots. Then slide it across the ground to the transplant location. You have to keep the root ball together and protected from drying out. The tarp worked well for that purpose and for sliding the heavy rootball over the surface. I had to lift it over a few obstructions as this was a wooded area, studded with puddingstone and understory shrubs. It was just enough for a one man job where a cart couldn't be used.
The transplant location was in the same wooded buffer between the driveway and a parallel roadway. This is a naturalized man made landscape dominated by aspen and white pine. The leaves are allowed to molder on the land, which creates a self-fertilizing system. The goal is to maintain the natural look of the location. Leave no trace...
The small boulder on the bottom left was hauled out of the ground. I thought it made a nice accent. The siteline into the woods is maintained, offering a keyhole glimpse into the rhode in the rear. I redistributed the aspen leaves as mulch. Landscaping al naturale! It was a simple, low impact project that illustrates a key principle of environmentally-friendly landscaping: using materials found on site reduces the use of resources used to grow, manufacture, harvest, and transport landscaping materials.
The product is Coast of Maine and it's great stuff for gardening of all kinds and it's easy on the earth. I used it to help add organic matter to a sandy woodland edge soil where I established a perennial garden from plants that needed to be moved from a bed where the hedge was threatening to overgrow them. Composted manure is safer to use than raw manure because most of the pathogens should have been gobbled up or pushed out by the decomposers in the composting process. It smells like dirt and feels a little heavier than your standard garden compost. Still, best to wash your hands before eating lunch, which I did.
It's day 1 of the first big project of the business. It's in a wooded housing development on the edge of Boston. When I first visited the client I felt like I was in a state park campground. Beautiful place to spend a sunny September Day and contemplate the good life.
Today, we transplant. Rhododendrons, a lilac, a littleleaf boxwood hedge and sundry herbaceous perennials. So here's a review of the Rhododendron transplant. The concept: leave no trace...except for the plants...and maybe a well placed boulder.
Revealing the hidden Rhodes:
Can't see it? It's hiding to the left, tucked behind a hydrangea. Another was situated nearby where the client could not see it and enjoy it.
Here's the other one. This shot faces the driveway.
Now you see it.
Now you don't.
I estimated the caliper of the two main trunks at the base of the shrub at 1" each for a total of 2". The root ball should be 1' in diameter for every inch of caliper. The size of the rootball that I dug was a little more than 2' in diameter.
I carefully slid the rootball onto a plastic tarp, keeping the soil around the roots. Then slide it across the ground to the transplant location. You have to keep the root ball together and protected from drying out. The tarp worked well for that purpose and for sliding the heavy rootball over the surface. I had to lift it over a few obstructions as this was a wooded area, studded with puddingstone and understory shrubs. It was just enough for a one man job where a cart couldn't be used.
The transplant location was in the same wooded buffer between the driveway and a parallel roadway. This is a naturalized man made landscape dominated by aspen and white pine. The leaves are allowed to molder on the land, which creates a self-fertilizing system. The goal is to maintain the natural look of the location. Leave no trace...
Next, I cleared the debris from the surface leaving enough space to set soil aside as the hole was dug. You can see the shrub wrapped in the tarp at the upper left corner.
And now it's in the ground. The hole must be dug at twice the diameter of the rootball and at equal depth. Build a packed mound of soil in the middle of the hole that the rootball can rest on. Make sure to keep the shrub at it's original depth, unless it was burried too deep. On Rhodes, usually there is a flare where the stems come together. Just below this flare the root zone begins. Make sure to keep the flare just above grade, even if it was planted deeper previously. Prune any roots that are growing above grade after adjusting the depth of the plant.
Backfill the soil around the root ball about half way up. Then water to help the soil settle in and remove any air pockets. Air pockets can cause the plant to settle, or dry and kill roots. Fill in with the rest of the soil until the original grade is restored. Then, repeat with the second shrub.
Now let's compare before and after:
The small boulder on the bottom left was hauled out of the ground. I thought it made a nice accent. The siteline into the woods is maintained, offering a keyhole glimpse into the rhode in the rear. I redistributed the aspen leaves as mulch. Landscaping al naturale! It was a simple, low impact project that illustrates a key principle of environmentally-friendly landscaping: using materials found on site reduces the use of resources used to grow, manufacture, harvest, and transport landscaping materials.
Stay tuned for more project photo documentaries and walk-throughs of eco-friendly landscaping techniques.
Words of wisdom today from a local Boston band called Sand Machine, "It's hard to jump ship when you are the ship/It's easy to sink the ship when you are the ship." Good thought for the small business person to keep in mind. Great band with a great new album. Check 'em out.
Saturday, September 5, 2009
Organic Landscaping: For best results, go local!
I live in Boston and where prices are high and land is hard to come by, so why launch a landscape business here? It's simple, after seven years of experience in managing urban orchards and urban wilds, planting thousands of trees, and instructing thousands of volunteers with EarthWorks in Boston, I know the territory!
I have extensive experience working with edible plants and natives, which give us a distinct look that is unmatched anywhere else in our country. I know how to use these plants in the City, where buildings and geography combine to create varying microclimates and growing conditions for plants. I also know where to find the best materials and which vendors to stay away from.
My interest in landscaping comes from a strong ethic for environmental stewardship. Landscapes should provide habitat for birds and beneficial insects and food and other materials for people. Landscapers should work create environmentally-sustainable gardens for home, commercial and public spaces. Doing it right not only means that you are protecting the planet, but you are also minimizing the costs of maintenance. Most importantly, even the smallest patch of dirt can offer a place for the individual to connect with nature through gardening. If you are hands-on, but feel like you need extra guidance or help, I want to work with you.
Are you looking to incorporate edible plants into your landscape? Are you looking to capture the unique beauty that Boston has to offer through landscaping your home or office area? I am here to help! For those who may not have the time, I offer services to meet your needs. Some of my services include, but are not limited to:
Soil testing and analysis;
Small garden plans and planting;
Tree and shrub planting (no large caliper);
Ornamental tree pruning;
Plant disease diagnosis and treatment; and
Subcontractor management.
Boston is also my home town and I have a vested interest in the place and its people. So, I am launching a blog and website to help inform people about the latest in local, organic landscaping and gardening. Check back for articles on local issues, events, and notes from the field.
Let’s make Boston more beautiful, together! You can reach me at bencrouchorganics@gmail.com.
Want to know more about my background? Here are some links:
http://www.organiclandcare.net/aolcp/
http://www.earthworksboston.org
http://www.linkedin.com/profile?viewProfile=&key=51976510&locale=en_US&trk=tab_pro
http://www.cultivatingcommunity.org/Greening%20Affordable%20Housing.pdf
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m9H9r8RtHRI
http://www.dorchesteratheneum.org/page.php?id=1505
I have extensive experience working with edible plants and natives, which give us a distinct look that is unmatched anywhere else in our country. I know how to use these plants in the City, where buildings and geography combine to create varying microclimates and growing conditions for plants. I also know where to find the best materials and which vendors to stay away from.
My interest in landscaping comes from a strong ethic for environmental stewardship. Landscapes should provide habitat for birds and beneficial insects and food and other materials for people. Landscapers should work create environmentally-sustainable gardens for home, commercial and public spaces. Doing it right not only means that you are protecting the planet, but you are also minimizing the costs of maintenance. Most importantly, even the smallest patch of dirt can offer a place for the individual to connect with nature through gardening. If you are hands-on, but feel like you need extra guidance or help, I want to work with you.
Are you looking to incorporate edible plants into your landscape? Are you looking to capture the unique beauty that Boston has to offer through landscaping your home or office area? I am here to help! For those who may not have the time, I offer services to meet your needs. Some of my services include, but are not limited to:
Soil testing and analysis;
Small garden plans and planting;
Tree and shrub planting (no large caliper);
Ornamental tree pruning;
Plant disease diagnosis and treatment; and
Subcontractor management.
Boston is also my home town and I have a vested interest in the place and its people. So, I am launching a blog and website to help inform people about the latest in local, organic landscaping and gardening. Check back for articles on local issues, events, and notes from the field.
Let’s make Boston more beautiful, together! You can reach me at bencrouchorganics@gmail.com.
Want to know more about my background? Here are some links:
http://www.organiclandcare.net/aolcp/
http://www.earthworksboston.org
http://www.linkedin.com/profile?viewProfile=&key=51976510&locale=en_US&trk=tab_pro
http://www.cultivatingcommunity.org/Greening%20Affordable%20Housing.pdf
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m9H9r8RtHRI
http://www.dorchesteratheneum.org/page.php?id=1505
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