Reflection
by Mary Pipher
on Bill McKibben's
The Age of Missing Information
| Seventh Lake, Adirondacks  | | "...(I)n The Age of Missing Information, Bill McKibben has a clever idea that he executes beautifully: he compares what he learns from a week in the mountains to what he learns from watching a week's worth of cable television.
On the mountaintop, McKibben experiences himself as small yet connected to something large and awe-inspiring. He comes down from the mountain calm and clear-thinking.
Watching cable for a week, he hears over and over that he has unmet needs, that he is grossly inadequate, yet he still is the center of the universe, deserving of everything he wants. McKibben ended the week feeling unfocused, agitated, and alone."
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Wild Ones Annual Meeting
and Conference
| | Designing Your Home Grounds for Beauty and Sustainability
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| This meeting will be held in New London, CT at Connecticut College on Fri./Sat. Nov. 5-6. It's part of the 8th Annual SALT* Seminar for Homeowners
*Smaller American Lawns Today
SALT is a movement originating at Connecticut College. It is aimed at reversing the lawn mania in America by restoring home grounds to more harmonious productive ecologically sound naturalistic landscapes. SALT promotes the practice of using native plants and designing environmentally sound lawns that encourage biodiversity.
For more information and to register...
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Robert Pyle  | Robert Michael Pyle comes to Syracuse!
Robert Pyle is our nation's premier butterfly expert, as well as a scientist, writer, and open-space advocate. He will present the program "Eden in a Vacant Lot" on Thurs. Oct 7 at 5:30 pm at the Palace Theater in Eastwood. He'll also be leading butterfly hikes at Baltimore Woods on Oct. 7 and Oct. 8. Don't miss this opportunity! For more information, contact Baltimore Woods. |
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Greetings!
OCTOBER 31 PROGRAM: Dan Carroll
We're pleased to have Dan Carroll, one of the co-founders of HGCNY, share some of his practical tips for designing home landscapes with native plants. People have always learned so much from Dan as our expert commentator at our Show Me, Help Me tours. In the past, Dan's company won several awards at the Syracuse Home and Garden show and was in the forefront of integrating native plants into the home landscape. He is a NYS Certified Nursery Professional and has worked with several local school districts and municipalities to help initiate sustainable design and maintenance practices into their grounds care regimes.
We meet at the Le Moyne College Library (directions) on Sunday, October 31 at 2:00 pm. Please join us and bring a friend. Our meetings are free and open to the public!
ADDITIONAL PRESENTATIONS
On Tuesday, October 5 at 7:00 pm, I'll be giving a presentation on Habitat Gardening for Life at the Fayetteville Public Library, 300 Orchard St., Fayetteville. The program is sponsored by People for Animal Rights and is free and open to the public.
 On Monday, November 1 at 10:00 am I'll be giving a presentation on Habitat Gardening for Pollinators at the East Syracuse Library, 4990 James St., E. Syracuse, NY. This program is sponsored by the Syracuse Botany Club and is free and open to the public. The Club prefers that you RSVP if possible.
Janet Allen, President
Habitat Gardening in Central New York
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Now is the time to kill your lawn
If you want to increase your garden space, chances are you'll need to get rid of some lawn. Do it this fall so you'll be ready to plant next year!
Sod with topsoil,
rescued from the curb
when put out with the trash  | Of course, you can always use the brute force method: get a spade and dig it up. (NOTE: If you use this method, don't put the sod out to the curb - that's precious topsoil! Just dump it in a pile and wait a year or so, and you'll end up with gorgeous soil.)
But if you want to remove lawn the smarter, easier way, here are some suggestions.
From Rodale's Organic Gardening:
Sheet mulching is simply layering cardboard,
compost, and other organic material right over the turf to kill the grass, leaving behind beds with rich soil. Beds sheet-mulched this fall will be ready to plant next spring. See their illustrated directions...
From LessLawn.com:
This is a variation of the above method, but still useful to check out. Read more...
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Topsoil is precious
According to The National Academy of Sciences, cropland in the
U.S. is being eroded at least 10 times faster than the time it takes for
lost soil to be replaced. More on this issue in Lester Brown's post "Peak Soil is No Joke: Civilization's Foundation is Eroding."
We can help by taking care of our own topsoil by not spreading toxic chemicals, making sure our soil doesn't erode, and by composting our garden and kitchen wastes.
As FDR said in 1937, "The nation that destroys its soil destroys itself."
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Monarch nectaring at a
New England aster
since )  | New England asters
One of the glories of the fall landscape is New England aster (Aster novae-angliae, renamed Symphyotrichum novae-angliae)
--especially when accompanied by the brilliant gold of various goldenrods.
One interesting fact about asters is that the "flower" actually is composed of a group of small fertile disk flowers in the center and sterile ray flowers, which we think of as the "petals."
They're a bountiful source of nectar for butterflies and bees, and they're also a host plant for pearl crescent and checkerspot butterflies. They're good for birds, too. After the flowers die, they develop into nutritious seeds birds such as goldfinches and juncos love.
New England asters are very easy to grow, especially in good, moist soil in full or part sun. They'll grow in less than ideal conditions, too, though a little less enthusiastically perhaps. Their bottom leaves can be subject to mildew, but this doesn't hurt the plant. Just put them at the back of the garden bed where their straggly legs won't show.
They can get quite large when established, and they also self-sow abundantly. Here are some tips for growing them in a small suburban or urban garden.
* Prune them back in mid- to late-June. This will keep them shorter and bushier, though they'll bloom a little later.
* Learn to recognize the seedlings so you can weed out the surplus in the spring.
* If you have a lot of asters, you could deadhead some so they don't resow, but be sure to save enough for the birds!
* You can grow smaller cultivars, such as 'Purple Dome' or others.
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