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| Hard-working native trees are also beautiful and add value to your property. |
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| Marjorie Shropshire drawing to illustrate transpiration for an article I wrote in Palmetto. |
A day with an artist
I spent Arbor Day Friday on the road and then talking to Marjorie Shropshire, illustrator for Organic Methods for Vegetable Gardening in Florida, about the drawings for my third book "The Art of Maintaining a Native Landscape." I'm quite excited about this project because I think it will help to manage people's expectations when they convert their landscapes to include more natives. Marjorie's drawings will help illustrate the topics I cover. Not only is Marjorie an excellent artist, but she also has an innate understanding of plants and animals. It was a fun and productive meeting.Lake Worth's Festival of Trees
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| Lake Worth's Festival of Trees! |
On Saturday, I went to the Festival of Trees in Lake Worth Florida. The town had organized a great celebration with educational booths, speakers, native trees to purchase, a kids activity table, and music. Wouldn't it be great if more communities were like Lake Worth, which took the initiative to increase its tree canopy with indigenous trees.
As I explained in my Arbor Day post over on the Florida Native Plant Society blog, trees provide services to communities that translate to actual dollars saved. They purify the air, they soak up water,and the cool the environment.
"In 1991, Chicago's 51 million trees “removed an estimated 17 tons of carbon monoxide, 93 tons of sulfur dioxide, 98 tons of nitrogen dioxide, 210 tons of ozone, and 234 tons of particulate matter. They [also] sequestered about 155,000 tons of carbon.
"New York City's 592,000 street trees reduced stormwater runoff by nearly 900 million gallons each year, saving the city $35.6 million it would have had to spend to improve its stormwater systems. The average street tree intercepted 1,432 gallons, a service worth $61.
"In Sacramento, California a tree planted to the west of a house saved about three times more energy ($120 versus $39) in a year than the same kind of tree planted to the south.
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| Ideally, developers should leave a chunk of forest on every lot, but if it's too late for that, as landscapers, we can begin to recreate groves of native trees to help the birds & butterflies. |
Celebrate with Trees!
It's not too late to plant a few hard-working native trees in your landscape to celebrate our Arbor Day. In addtion to all the ecosystem services, mature trees will also increase the value of your home. So what are you waiting for?
Green Gardening Matters,
Ginny Stibolt
The author
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