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Sustainable Landscape, Sustainable World
We’ve heard the word permaculture percolating around lately. Some of us know what it means and perhaps even incorporate the principles into daily life. Many more of us have either a vague idea of what it means or no idea at all. The sustainable human environments that Mollison refers to aren’t just outdoor environments, but the whole structure of human life. Proponents believe that our society must adapt permaculture values in order to keep the planet healthy and to secure a long-term future for its inhabitants. The focus is on living in harmony with the natural world and building our systems to make the best of renewable resources. It’s a big concept, and yet there are small ways to support it in our own backyards. By designing sustainable landscapes we can support the interrelated relationships of water, plants, wildlife, ourselves and the other physical attributes of a site. Sustainable landscapes collect rainwater, prevent runoff and conserve water use. With stored and diverted water, we can create ponds, waterfalls and fountains, which attract birds, bees and other pollinators. Because ponds reflect the sun, they also support photosynthesis in nearby trees. Some sustainable landscapes feature a dry stream bed. Its ornamental use refreshes the spirit and evokes memories of remote, wild places. When it doubles as a water catchment system, a dry stream bed diverts rainwater to a pond or leads it over the soil, where it seeps into the ground and recharges the groundwater. Features like this help sustainable landscapes withstand both droughts and floods. With plants, there are many considerations. Well-placed deciduous trees will assist with energy conservation, shading the right areas in the summer and allowing the sun’s warmth through in the winter. Closely-spaced and “layered” planting methods produce fewer weeds than do conventional landscapes. With the right nutrients supplied from composting, plants thrive in the rich, healthy soil of a sustainable landscape, providing habitat and food for wildlife. In contrast, conventional landscapes guzzle water and depend on pesticides and chemical fertilizers. These may boost plants in the short-term, but they pollute ground water and deplete the soil over time. Doug Gosling, garden manager at Occidental Arts and Ecology Center, says, “People need to be considerate of what they’re putting in the soil.”
Guiding Principles Elder Creek’s “food forests”— fruit, edible mushrooms, artichokes, culinary herbs and nut trees— exemplify all three permaculture ethics. Envisioning neighbors trading Golden Delicious apples for Gravensteins, or berries for kiwis, Taylor says, “If everyone planted a couple of fruit trees, and if that collective planting were diverse, a community could take care of most of its fruit needs.” Patty Karlin, who owns Bodega Goat Cheese, is planting trees to protect her soil from heavy rains. “Trees create a viable root system that holds water and prevents bare soil from eroding,” she says. In fact, trees are so vital to planetary health that Wangari Maathai was honored as the Nobel Peace laureate in 2004, after planting 30,000,000 trees in Kenya. Inspired by this initiative, the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) launched a major worldwide tree planting campaign early this year. Hardscapes, such as patios and paths, can also be sustainable. When appropriate, Elder Creek uses Bend-a-Board recycled plastic edging material, which diverts plastic from the landfill and is locally available; 3/4-inch chunks of recycled concrete to replace river rock; low-cost, quick-growing willow as a whimsical substitute for fencing made of wood that’s less plentiful; and low-voltage bulbs for landscape lighting that conserve fossil fuels and save on energy costs. Taking a broad view of his profession, Taylor says, “Sustainable landscaping isn’t only about soil, water and plants. It’s also about the energy invested in creating and maintaining the landscape.” He views Elder Creek’s biodiesel trucks and solar trailer, which generates electricity at every job site, as integral to sustainability.
Design Process Other questions relate to physical conditions. Does the area get much sun? What are the average summer and winter temperatures? Is it often windy? Does water gather around the house when it rains? Is the soil sandy, or clay? What types of trees and plants are there now? Are there any native plants? Does it have special views or other features you’d like to highlight? With these things in mind, picture what you want: perhaps a pond, and a lawn that doesn’t use much water. You’d also like the landscape to have a pleasing aroma, provide spice for meals and attract honeybees to pollinate the plants. To meet these conditions, you picture a lawn that’s no bigger than 50 square feet and instead of grass, it’s drought-resistant thyme. You envision the lawn next to a fountain by a koi pond, and a strawberry bed outside the back door. “My agenda would be to make the landscape around my home a habitat for wildlife,” says Dolman. “It would be beautiful, have color and smell nice. There would be organic edible and medicinal plants that don’t use much water.” He’d build a bed outdoors so he could sleep under the stars. For shade, he’d plant one or two deciduous trees. Then he’d install a pond to reflect the sun, attract birds and honeybees, and provide habitat for the ducks that eat insects in the garden. This landscape is restorative and regenerative. It creates a cycle of sustainability by respecting the soil, water and air, rather than polluting and depleting them. The pond supports the trees and ducks, the tree roots hold the soil in place, the ducks support the garden, and the birds and honeybees pollinate the plants that feed them.
Recycling and Composting Most of the trees, flowers and vegetables growing at Davis Bynum are planted on contoured berms (banks) built up with mulch and clippings. The berms contribute to soil health, erosion prevention and groundwater recharge. Some host mandarin orange, plum, kiwi, pomegranate, avocado, fig, or guava trees, which shade the berries, strawberries and lettuces planted beneath them, reducing water usage. The winery’s gardener, Kim Garrett, applies the same practices at her suburban home. “I don’t need any pesticides,” she says. “It’s like a natural rhythm. The more plants you put in, the more weeds you suppress. I like flowers, lots of color.” “Insectaries”—plantings of drought-resistant olive trees, cosmos, alyssum and California poppies—grace several of the berms. A colorful, non-toxic approach to insect control, insectaries attract predatory insects that control destructive insects, such as the tiny wasps that eat the glassy-winged sharpshooter. An insectary doesn’t have to be large and it can help control pests around the home. “If each of us do the best we can with small daily acts that step towards sustainability, the collective results are phenomenal,” says Rick Taylor. “There’s no one solution to becoming a sustainable culture. It takes a diverse approach of large and small acts to do it.” Steps towards sustainable landscaping
Homes and Lifestyles Magazine |