How to Tackle Your Inheritance

Few people get the luxury of obtaining a piece of land "clean" of any existing planting or building scheme. Most businesses or home owners purchase property on which the previous owner has created some sort of planting scheme. Even those purchasing new homes must work with what the builder chooses to plant. There may be domineering trees or shrubs or veracious perennials or rampaging groundcovers with which to contend. There may be a horrific color scheme among the plants that clashes with the house. On the other hand, the plantings may be so new and inadequate that we wonder why the contractor bothered, and perhaps their plant choices are not exactly. . .what one would have selected if we had control of the design from the beginning.

I inherited an existing garden when I became the manager of Hershey Children’s Garden. The Garden was in its sixth season of existence and was handed down to me from a series of talented managers before me. They each shaped the Garden in wonderful ways during their tenure and I frankly felt daunted at keeping pace.

How could I improve upon such wonderful work? How was I supposed to approach my work with this garden with all its different facets from programming and signage to planting schemes and structural maintenance? Over the next series of posts I share the emerging approach to my work as I learned. When I reflect back on my journey thus far, I followed a similar path to the one my father took in renovating our yard during my college days.

A Garden BHAG

Gardening is centered on managing resources and working with the land one possess. Cleveland Botanical Garden believes zero waste is an important means of stewarding our gift of land. Responsible use of money makes a lot of sense to all because it hits home quickest, yet irresponsible use of water, air and earth creates a resource strain felt deeper than an empty wallet . . .just not now. Much can be said and has been written on this point so I will not thump the table too hard here. One other point, though, most do not think about is American waste disposal methods defy what other natural systems suggest. Individuals in natural systems like woodlands or coastal tidal zones create little waste. Their by-products are consumed in some other individuals activiity. Extracting resources, using energy to put in usable form and then burying it, sealed to never be used again makes no sense.

So what are doing to move toward eliminating our dumpsters? It is simple in concept and a tremendous challenge in practice. Everything we need to know in order to zero our waste, we learned in kindergarten. The Garden is following the four R’s: re-use, reduce, recycle and re-think. We are re-thinking our exhibits and horticultural practices to see if we need to purchase or use certain materials. We are, and have been, reusing materials from one exhibit to the next, and we are recycling our organic waste (as compost). We recently instituted a organizational wide staff composting collection system and all the materials from our roof reconstruction was re-used and recycled.

Sustainability is about starting where you are and being a better steward today. Cleveland Botanical Garden seeks progress in ways that are small and large. Most ideas staff implement are simple and quick and further our financial and mission bottom-lines. What are you doing?

The Breakdown on Winter Composting

Did you meet your 2009 New Year’s resolution to start or expand your composting efforts? No?  Well, perhaps you are feeling guilty for throwing away those perfectly good kitchen scraps, when they could be turning into great plant food. Perhaps you are one of those gardeners who thinks composting must end with the coming of winter. Please ease your conscience. You can consider a few rotten winter composting options. Here is the breakdown on a few ideas to get you started:

1. Continue to build your pile. Decomposition essentially ceases with snow fall, but that does not mean you can not continue to add to your pile. One method is to wait for a winter thaw to disturb your pile. Place a sizable tube in the middle of your pile at that time. The tube helps to funnel scraps into the pile and prevent scavenger access. Then, place your kitchen scraps in the bottom of the tube and cover with several inches of sawdust or leaves. The idea is to keep adding until the tube is full. The tube is then pulled in the spring so the pile can be watered and turned.

2. Store those scraps. You can also store your kitchen scraps in well sealed buckets outdoors for spring pile formation. Five gallon containers work well for this purpose. You can pick these up from hardware stores, many food preparation facilities or paint contractors. It is advisable to add a layer of sawdust or some other organic absorbent material to the bottom and top of your scrap bucket in case of warm winters.

3. Try some worming. Worm composting is another excellent option to consider. There are many helpful resources available to get you started. You will find excellent information on worm and other composting methods in Cleveland Botanical Garden’s own Eleanor Squire Library.

Do What Plants Do

People ask me what, as the manager of Hershey Children’s Garden, I do since I can’t work outside at this time of year. My answer is always the same: What do plants do in winter? Rest, reconnect and rejuvenate. I am never really done working outside. I still maintain water levels in the pond, skimming it and raking leaves when there is a thaw. I also spend time in January, February and March pruning woody plant material. The majority of my time, however, is spent doing exactly what perennial plants are doing right now.

Perennials rest and so do I. The winter is a less physically active time for me at the Garden. I sit at a desk, facing a computer. Does that sound exciting to you? It does to me after nine months of hyper-activity with little children. Temperate plants slow down biologically to rest and I take my cues from them.

Perennials reconnect and so do I. Plants may become inactive above ground, but deep down they return to their roots. Soil temperatures remain sufficient for cellular activity long after leaves drop. This allows plants to strategically use their resources. They focus direct resources above ground during the summer, and go below in spring and fall. I too, focus and return to my roots. I need the rest. I also need to repurpose myself to my personal vision. Winter is also a time to reconnect with co-workers and build relationships that strengthen my work during the season.

Perennials also rejuvenate and so do I. I identify shrubs every winter needing some rejuvenating. Many woody plants respond well to occasional severe pruning. Cutting back vegetative growth redirects overwintered resources coming from the roots into fewer growth points with the approach of spring. This means more food for less mouths, a greater grow potential. I need to rejuvenate as well. I re-examine programs, physical structures and planting schemes with an eye to enhance what we do in Hershey Children’s Garden. I prune out those aspects that do not work so I can refocus resources on new possibilities.

It may not seem like much is happening in the garden, but deep down something is still at work, getting ready to spring forward.

Posted by Josh Steffen
 

Bringing the Outside In

Many cultural celebrations center around natural cycles or events. Thanksgiving is no exception. Parents need to get their kids outside, and parents need to bring the outside indoors.

There are a number of ways to bring the outdoors in over the coming winter months. Here are a number of ideas: 

1.  Walk through the yard, neighborhood or nearby park, collecting whatever materials you find on the ground (you could do a litter hunt one day and a nature hunt another). Take the materials home and make fantastic creatures or Thanksgiving decorations. I like to ask kids to draw their creature first and then make with the materials what they just drew.

2.  You can find lots of other craft ideas on the internet.  

3.  Purchase different flowering spring bulbs and force them to bloom early, like, say, February.

4.  Purchase houseplants that can spend the summer outside in Ohio. When you return them to the indoor environment each fall they serve as a reminder of green summer days.

Posted by Josh Steffen

Other Garden Connections

Yes, Hershey Children’s Garden is closed for the season. This is true, but it does not mean the opportunities for family fun are over. Here are some things you can do while you are here, and some upcoming opportunities:

• Give your child a journal and encourage them to write or draw pictures of what they saw, heard, smelled or touched
• See if you can find fungus, rocks, leaves and branches of different colors, shapes and sizes; look at them with a magnifying glass
• Collect different types of fallen leaves and draw them in a journal or press them flat in a large book, the leaves can be arranged into different animals on seasonally appropriate greeting cards
• Attend our last Little Buds class for the season
• Come to one of our Nature Tales Story Time sessions
• Attend our America Recycles Day

There are endless opportunities to create lasting memories with your child no matter the season. Let us help you facilitate those moments.

Hershey Children’s Garden Cool Plants
(#10 in a series of 10)
Native Bird Food: Little Bluestem (Schizachyrium scoparium)

Some adults bring their children to Hershey Children’s Garden and become engrossed in exciting adventures and programs — and possibly miss some of the horticultural nuances of this great garden space. Hershey Children’s Garden is a sophisticated and — now in its 10th anniversary season — mature garden with many plantings that any adult gardener or garden enthusiast would love to have in their personal greenspace. Who can blame them?

Here is the final plant in our series of 10 of our staff’s favorite Hershey Children’s Garden plants, along with their special and unusual properties to appreciate with a child.  

Fall in Hershey Children’s Garden is full of different colored leaves. Fall is also time for flowers that many people overlook. I am speaking, of course, of the perennial grass flowers or flower inflorescence.
There are many different perennial grasses in the children’s garden. Little Bluestem, one particular favorite, originates from the eastern tall grass prairies of North America.

Little bluestem is a native bunch grass with summer blue-green leaves and pretty inflorescence. The leaves change to an attractive multi-colored pattern as the temperature cools. Right now, it is a great plant to examine closely with your children. You can note the purples and reds. See how many different colors you can see.

I highly recommend Little bluestem for children’s gardens. The two to four feet in height makes a great scale for children. They can walk in a prairie of Little Bluestem and not feel overwhelmed amongst extremely tall grass. It is tolerant of a wide range of soil and moisture conditions as well. Also, it has many seasons of interest capped with great fall color.
 

Come see this little seasonal wonder on your next visit. Also, check out our self-guided tour of the children’s garden prairie on our activity cart. It is full of all kinds of information and things to do in the prairie.
 

Hershey Children’s Garden Cool Plants
(#9 in a series of 10)

Edible/Fruit: Raspberry (Rubus idaeus)

Some adults bring their children to Hershey Children’s Garden and become engrossed in exciting adventures and programs — and possibly miss some of the horticultural nuances of this great garden space. Hershey Children’s Garden is a sophisticated and — now in its 10th anniversary season — mature garden with many plantings that any adult gardener or garden enthusiast would love to have in their personal greenspace. Who can blame them?

Here is the ninth plant in our series of 10 of our staff’s favorite Hershey Children’s Garden plants, along with their special and unusual properties to appreciate with a child.

One memorable late summer and early Autumn sensation is the delightful burst of sweetness one experiences with every raspberry freshly picked from Hershey Children’s Garden. Every September, visitors of every age are treated to an abundant crop of red delicious aggregrate fruits. Staff have grown Rubus ’Latham,’ R. ‘Heritage,’ and R. ‘Illini Hardy.’ It is a fun discovery to come upon such an inviting treat.

Raspberries are fairly easy to grow in your back yard, and planting them give kids something to look forward to all summer long. There is nothing like fresh raspberries on one’s cereal to cheer little faces bound for school. I like to interact with kids who want to pick the fruit early about what ripe means and teach them proper harvest time. Raspberries are best harvested when they turn the richest red or gold. If they do not come easily off the plant then little fingers are best taught to wait.

Raspberries are best planted in moisture-retentive (yet well-drained) soil with lots of organic matter. An addition of compost in late spring or balanced organic fertilizer works well for me. Summer-fruiting varieties should be cut to ground level after fruiting. For summer varieties, only cut down the canes that produced fruit that year. Unfruited canes I then cut in half in spring. Fall-fruiting varieties should be completely cut back in late winter and then cut to six inches above any training wire.

Do these simple tasks and this low maintenance fruit will give more than it takes. Enjoy your cereal.

Fall Little Buds Unfolds Next Week

Kids this fall can go on a little trip, a trip with many twists and turns . This trip starts in darkness and ends in darkness, from soil to stomach! Why, it’s journey of their lunch! The Garden will offer a new program, "The Journey of Your Lunch," a new series of "Little Buds" classes about how and where their food originates.  

"Little Buds" is a popular program series offering families with children between the ages of 3 and 5 the opportunity to engage the Garden on many different topics such as habitats, insects and plant parts and cycles. Children learn developmentally important concepts through art, dance, stories and hands-on exploration. Come explore the farm in September, how food is processed in October, and the kitchen in November.

The Other White Meat?

Go ahead. Get it out of your system. Scream, yell, rant, or write me a nasty note for what I am about to state: water hyacinth is amazing! What, never heard of it? One of the most amazing plants in Hershey Children’s Garden is an aquatic plant called water hyacinth (Eichhornia crassipes). My southeastern neighbors know all about this incredible exotic invasive plant. Originally of the Brazilian Amazon river basin, this amazing aquatic performer creates dense, thick mats of floating photosynthetic surface and impenetrable over two feet thick root systems. One plant can produce over 5,000 seeds and some populations are known to double vegetative growth in six to eighteen days!

Water hyacinth is considered a noxious weed and severe environmental hazard in well over sixty countries around the world. The dense floating mats out compete native fauna for sun, oxygen and nutrients. The absolute dominating blanket of foliage absorbs solar rays and water movement, thus the heating and mixing of water necessary for native fish is prevented. Water craft are also unable to transverse the surface in plant infested areas as the plant material clogs boat props and the list of issues goes on and on.

Some individuals find this information objectionable; however there is more to the story. This environmental hazard has another side (because you know there is always another side): water hyacinth might help to sustain the earth’s future. Though it is one of the world’s most noxious weeds, threatening many fragile habits, this species has great potential. One of its greatest utilities is pollution and water treatment. NASA began researching the use of water hyacinth for sewage treatment in 1975 and over the years more municipalities are taking an interest in treating portions of their daily water flow with hyacinth. Walt Disney World’s EPCOT center treats 100,000 gallons-a-day and San Diego recently approved a million-gallon-a-day facility pilot plant using water hyacinth. The plant absorbs such pollutants such as heavy metals, phosphates and nitrates. Other applications in use or under examination include:

• Hyacinth fiber mixed with jute to create paper,
• Fibers used in rope and yarn,
• Natural gas source for heat or electrical energy production,
• Organic waste turned to fertilizer
• Possible source for livestock feed,
• And could there be more?

Now, how does staff manage this plant? Our cold winters in Cleveland prevent kill water hyacinth at this time. Staff overwinter a bucket’s worth of plants in a greenhouse to return them to the pond in mid-May. The remainder is composted, introducing a rich source of nitrogen to the pile. Please note, if global warming trends continue, this Ohio gardener may change his tune.

So the next time there is a cry about horrible this plant or that plant may be. . .try to look for another side. After all, are plants not gifts to all?