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Re: TH: Re: Bird-Tree-Digest: V97 #29



 Post-To: Tree-House@Majordomo.Flora.Com (Community Forestry) ----------
 -------
Mary Bedard wrote:
> 
>  Post-To: Tree-House@Majordomo.Flora.Com (Community Forestry) ----------
>  -------
> Thank you, Roberta!
> As a future landscape architect, I hope to encourage the use of less toxic
> garden spaces.  It will take some time to convince the public that the neat
> and tidy look is killing the planet in a hundred little ways.  Perhaps like
> the Hundred Monkeys syndrome, when enough of us have "imperfect" yards, it
> will become the norm. :-)  The images of Versailles and the English
> Romantic gardens are hard to let go -- they've been the standard for SO
> long!
> Thank you for your post.
> Mary Bedard
> Landscape Architecture Program
> University of California, Davis
> 
> (snip)
> >I have control over only what happens on MY property. I get on my soap-box
> >with some reasonably receptive people,  for chemical-free gardening, for
> >composting, for having bird and butterfly (and bat) -friendly  space.  But
> >it can be difficult to sell the idea that the larval forms of butterflies
> >will have made the buddleia  leaves look pretty tattered by the time the
> >blooms are out and the butterflies are swirling around the bush.
> >
> >Those who are in the business of applying toxins to the earth have a
> >philosophy that nature must be controlled, and perfected to some peculiar
> >standard.   They are short-sighted, of course.  But even if they
> >acknowledge that, they may still look askance at my garden.
> >
> >I don't have an answer to your question.  I know only that I work on the
> >stewardship of my small piece of land very hard indeed.
> >
> > Roberta Rivett
> > -----------------------------------------------------------------------
 
Hi Mary

The best way we as a Municipal Forestry Dept have found to retard pest
damage is to plant lots of unusual trees. Planting lots of unusual
things makes it harder for pests to find acceptable food. Our department
no longer uses pesticides on street trees.

Paul



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