Welcome to
September – the month of beginnings
We
acknowledge that January is the month of resolutions and renewed
efforts to change the world, but September is equally full of
promise. Do not the possibilities seem as endless today as they did
to the child who yearned for 64 glorious colors in the yellow box?
September means it is time to choose a tree for fall planting.
Do not ask me to
explain the math that produced this precise figure but one typical
tree that lives for 50 years gives us $196,250 in ecological
benefits such as oxygen, air pollution control, soil fertility,
erosion prevention, and recycled water. If conjuring up those
figures strikes us as peculiar it is because we have used a very
strange method for determining our gross national product.
We
count the value of our cheap and plentiful coal as a positive, a
plus in our economic life. However we do not deduct the costs
incurred by the poisoning of streams when mountaintops are blown
off, or the costs of lost wages when huge machines replace minors.
Curiously, there are more florists in the US today than miners, even
though coal mining flourishes. Let’s plant trees!
Since our dwindling fresh water supplies are directly related to
deforestation, it is good to know forests act like sponges,
absorbing 100,00 gallons of water per acre, compared to the figure
for bare soils of 5500 gallons per acre. Don’t even think about
parking lots!
In
searching for a new tree, you may be able to find an old historic
gem. A recent study done at Purdue University shows that a new
American chestnut hybrid is a viable choice. In testing this hybrid,
tree scientists found the chestnut grew faster and absorbed more
atmospheric carbon than the five other tested species. One of the
saddest consequences of the loss of the American chestnut was the
blow to the independent life of the people of Appalachia. Forests of
chestnut mast fattened the pigs that had enriched their diets for
generations.
There is also a new way to think about biofuels. Rather than use
organic wastes, algae, or switch grass for production of biofuel,
researchers are saying that it is more efficient to convert them
directly to electricity. It offers more reduction in greenhouse
gases as well. Somehow, even if few of these scientific experiments
become practical, the fact that there are hundreds of them
percolating all over the world is exhilarating.
Although most of us have a collection of shopping bags we try to
remember to carry into the store so that we do not carry so many
plastic bags out, we still seem to gather bundles of the plastic
ones. Lots of places are now charging for the use of plastic bags,
surely a spur to remember to take in your tote. In China where
plastic bags had become an additional environmental bad dream to a
country already suffering ecological nightmares, the government has
reduced use by two-thirds. The limit in bag production saved China
1.6 million tons of petroleum.
Finally in September we think about lawns. From my perch they look
fine after the August rains but if you wish to push good to great,
fall is the time to do it. First, have your soil tested. The box and
questionnaire along with directions for collecting soil samples are
available at your extension office. When Virginia Tech returns your
form you will know exactly what should be added to your soil for a
perfect lawn.
You will probably save many times the small fee by not having to buy
nutrients your lawn does not need. By having left the clipping to
decompose after mowing all summer, you have already fed your lawn.
Surely you do not want to suffer the guilt associated with using too
much fertilizer? We know overuse of nitrogen and phosphorus
fertilizers by homeowners contributes to those obnoxious red algae
blooms that are fouling our beaches and endangering the underwater
habitat for marine life. Area farmers are not wasteful: they are not
going to spend money for unneeded fertilizer. Eager for the best
lawn in the neighborhood homeowners, encouraged by seductive
advertising, tend to think if a little is good, more may be better.
GOOD NEWS: Saturday,
September 12, from 8 AM to 1PM the Gloucester Master Gardeners will
hold their annual Plant Extravaganza. It will be held in the area
next to the Gloucester Library. This year the focus is on plants
that grow well in local gardens but gently used gardening
accessories and books will be available as well. There will also be
baked goods and preserves from garden produce. Quantities of master
gardeners will be on hand to talk plants and help you with your
questions.