Ways to Honor Our Planet

By Contributor to Cary Magazine

Contributed By Lynn Wilhelm

That first Earth Day in 1970 spawned the formation of the Environmental Protection Agency, cleaner air and water and the international environmental movement. We can honor this anniversary by making some simple choices that help keep our part of the world green.

Try just a few things in your landscape this month:

• Look up at your trees. Contact an arborist to check on your trees and do some corrective pruning, if needed. Trees are often neglected and before you know it, you find they are irreparably damaged. Learn how to train your young trees so they’ll become strong, beautiful specimens to be enjoyed for generations.
   
• Water efficiently. Be sure your watering regimen (manual or automatic) is not wasteful. Proper watering will keep your landscape healthy and conserve our resource. If you have an irrigation system, consider an audit to make sure it waters evenly. Adjust your controller weekly as the weather changes and make sure your rain sensor works. Consider changing your controller to a smart controller that uses weather data to schedule watering. Such a controller will allow you to nearly “set it and forget it.”
   
•  Renew mulch. Mulch to protect the soil, save water and keep weeds from germinating. Keep most mulch 2-4 inches deep. Bare soil can erode, polluting our streams and reservoirs, or allow light to reach dormant weed seeds. The weeds that would sprout are far better than the bare soil — at least the roots will keep the soil in place, but mulch could prevent both. Anything you put over the soil is mulch, organic or inorganic. Consider organic mulches as they tend to improve the soil as they degrade. Avoid plastics or landscape fabrics as they really don’t prevent most weeds any better than other mulches, they need to be covered with another mulch and they inhibit water infiltration (yes, even porous fabrics).
   
• Don’t overfertilize. Excess fertilizer runs off and may eventually end up in waterways. Use only what plants will need, water it in after applying and if possible cover it with mulch or work it into the soil. Keep fertilizer off hard surfaces where it will run off with stormwater.
   
•  Use Integrated Pest Management techniques. A little research about landscape problems can help save money on pesticides. Learn about diseases and insects before reaching for the sprayer. Maybe those Japanese beetles will be gone in a couple of weeks and your healthy plants will bounce back. Maybe you can just wash those aphids off your plants, and what are those funny little black and orange insects hanging around? (Hint: lady bug larvae love to eat aphids.) www.epa.gov/pesticides/factsheets/ipm.htm
   
• Start composting. Set up a composting area and try a ready-made composter to make it easier. Add some worms and call it vermicomposting.
   
• Plant a vegetable garden. Most of us are trying it these days. Choose the sunniest spot in your landscape — even if it’s your front yard. Prepare the soil well and plant. Mix in some cheery flowers. Many edibles can look great if well tended.

Lynn Wilhelm is the owner of Linden Landscape Design in Cary. Her specialty is landscape design and garden coaching. For more information about her services, visit www.lindenlandscapedesign.com. To learn more about Earth Day, visit www.epa.gov/earthday.