Give the environment your helping hand
I recently learned that only 20 per cent of us react to the news about global warming by actually doing something about it.
If you’d like to help, but don’t know how, I have a suggestion. And it’s as convenient as your backyard or condo balcony: simply plant a garden, in a yard bed or in containers. Here are the hows and whys: Bring back the birds: Many song birds, raptors (not the basketball team!) and butterflies are in decline in Canada. Try putting out some citrus fruit, cut in half, to attract the likes of Baltimore Orioles (not the baseball team!). Or mush up a banana into an old saucer and place it where butterflies can access it. Insectivore song birds like nesting boxes in open spaces where they will build nests, mate, lay eggs and have a family.
Raptors are a different matter — they prefer mice and (sadly) small birds as food. The mice and field rats we can do without. As for the other birds that raptors hunt, this is life in the wild. Jody Allair, biologist and science educator at Birds Studies Canada, tells me that the presence of raptors in your neighbourhood is a sign that there is a healthy rodent population. Nature has her own way of balancing these things out and if we have learned one thing, it is to not mess with her. Just ask the Australians whose land is overrun with rabbits because someone thought it would be a good idea to introduce them to the country, despite not having natural predators to keep their population in check. Soak up the rain: A lot of rain has fallen this past spring and early summer. When excess rain runs off your property, it takes a lot of toxins with it. Storm water causes all kinds of problems for our municipalities. You can help by building a rain garden.
Dig a deep depression in your yard where rainwater drains or divert rainwater to an existing depression in your yard. Plant this area with “marginal” plants that thrive in moist soil and tolerate periods of dryness come summer. Some of these plants include water iris, marsh marigold, many native ferns, bergenia and cimicifuga.
Check out these videos from Landscape Ontario — yes, that’s me narrating — to see how to do it: www.youtube.com/ watch?v=_W5CF7qoex0&list=PLBy URgHp4aTsnh2xkdVw7J28AQIYMIECF. Grow trees: The TD Bank group and Nature Conservancy Canada did a study recently that determined an acre of forest can provide up to $18,000 in important environmental services such as reducing floods, air pollution and sequestering carbon. As well:
Trees can create habitat for song birds and other wild life Trees produce oxygen Trees sequester carbon and filter toxins out of rain water Trees are our friends While you may not have an acre to plant, just planting one tree makes a difference environmentally. And mentally, for us, as we tend to relax more when we are in their company — it’s much nicer to have a picnic under the cooling shade of a tree than on your driveway. Leave it alone: Resist the temptation to sanitize your garden. Let leaves decay on the ground. Allow some firewood to rot and host beneficial insects in your yard. Build an insect hotel and a still-water garden to enhance the biodiversity in your neighbourhood. When you enhance the quality of the environment in your own yard, the whole community benefits.
Remember: rot and decay are your friends. When a tree dies cut it down and leave some of it on the ground to rot. Insects, microbes and even small rodents will help it to make a contribution to tomorrow’s garden by breaking down the organic substance that it is made of to help generate new soil. Convert your power: I hate leaf blowers. But I don’t hate them all equally. An 18-volt lithium ion rechargeable model is much easier on the nerves, the environment, our ears and neighbourly relations, than the screaming two-cycle blowers. Have you noticed how users of the gas-powered leaf blowers wear ear protection? What about the people within proximity? Just asking.
With recent advances in rechargeable battery technology, now is a good time to make the switch. Look for rechargeable lawn mowers, hedge trimmers and even chainsaws. Now this is what I call progress. And finally, while I am talking about power equipment, could we reserve just one day a week for a cleaner noise environment? I would prefer Sunday — but I’m not picky. Mark Cullen is an expert gardener, Order of Canada recipient, author and broadcaster. Get his free monthly newsletter at markcullen.com. Look for his new bestseller, The New Canadian Garden, published by Dundurn Press. Follow him on Twitter @MarkCullen4 and Facebook.