Subject: Re: Black spot on roses
From: Anne Kilmer <viceroy@gate.net>
Organization: Frisky Enterprises
Date: Sun, 15 Nov 98 21:01:41
Message-ID: <MOD$981115.24671@rec.gardens.ecosystems>
References: <MOD$981109.4072@rec.gardens.ecosystems>
I'm agin copper ... or any fungicide ... if it can be avoided.
We used to have marvelous tree snails here in Florida, many-coloured as
sea shells. Here in my yard, 30 years ago, there were many of them.
I havent' seen one in years. They fed on the harmless lichens that grow
on tree bark. These lichens are not only harmless; they are beneficial,
serving to protect tender citrus bark from the hot sun.
Lichen (a organism formed of fungus and algae) is easily killed by air
pollution, so perhaps the snails and their food would be gone by now
anyway ... but the habit of spraying backyard trees and groves with
copper sure doesn't help.
I think "organic" gardening methods and rules were designed to preserve
our health, rather than the planetary biosphere. We are now hastily
having to rethink all that.
If you are concerned for the microflora and fauna that seethe through
your rich organic soil, you won't douse them with dilute sulfuric acid
either.
As long as we're farming instead of gardening, planting huge
monocultures and protecting them with chemicals ... but, with a
population like this, what else can we do?
But, from your little garden, you can reseed the planet with
beneficials.
Anne Kilmer
South Florida