Nature Wars: Possibilities for a Restoration

Or perhaps it is more like reparations, since even natural restoration is still a garden, with seed and plant selected and removed by human hands.

California native Clematis ligustifolia

One of the most difficult things about attempting to re-introduce native plants is the competition from exotics. But there are some plants that are so happy in their environment that they continue on blithely, natural survivors, like the poison oak growing under eucalyptus trees here in California. It doesn't seem to care that the Australian trees drop huge amounts of leaf litter and release herbicides to drown and kill off competition.

Restoration efforts often focus on the removal of exotic species, a time and labor intensive effort of chopping, hauling, and often applying herbicides and pre-emergents. Perhaps it is time to explore the potential of a native invasion. Overseeding and spot planting of short-lived, aggressive, native species have potential as a way of dealing with invasive exotics.

Virgin's Bower, Clematis ligustifolia, backlit fall seedheads and flowers

Vines such as the clematis featured here are engineered by nature to overcome obstacles. This virgin's bower is actually taking over a clump of ground claimed by english ivy, a rampant invader of shady creekside habitats in California. The pretty California morning glory (Calystegia macrostegia) has possibilities for climbing over and shading out the dune-covering exotic iceplant. From the lovely and informative California Native Plants for the Garden (Bornstein, Fross, and O'Brien): "This vigorous vine appears to engulf small houses when it is grown in favorable sites..."

It is worth exploring what native plants in your region will stand up to invasive species, if for no other reason than that their hardiness makes them eco-friendly contenders for the gardens of even the blackest thumbs.

Re:source, leaving the deadwood

Far from solely a source of boards or firewood, deadwood in the landscape can be beautiful, useful, and increase biodiversity.

Standing trunks in the landscape form natural columns, bare and strikingly vertical. Woodpeckers and sapsuckers turn them into tall drums. The naked shape remains even in green summer, memento mori, reminder of winter hush. Some graceful chainsawing can ensure that no rotten branches pose a danger.

Finding naturally expressive shapes is as important when working with wood as it is in shaping living plants. A large curving branch might be split and joined end-to-end to make a winding bench top, or hefty trunk sections shaped into rounded boulder-like seats. Using materials available on site is ecologically sustainable and adds to a sense of place.

graceful wooden railing at Santa Barbara Botanical Gardens

Downed trees can be used in garden ornament and architecture, forming railings, steps, seats, and arbors. Marc Nucera, a landscape artist working in Provence, shapes trees both living (pruning) and dead (sculpting). He describes the imaginative experience of working on an 100 year old pine thusly: "My body now feeds myriad forms of new life [...] I die and live again in so many different ways" (quoted from New Gardens in Provence, Louisa Jones).

sculptural trunks of Monterey cypress at Seaside Gardens

A number of species including invertebrates, cavity-nesting birds, salamanders, and bats use both standing and fallen dead trees for food and shelter.

There is even some indication that piles of deadwood set aside for habitat can increase the health of local ecosystems by encouraging a range of fungi. This suppresses the spread of honey fungus, a dangerous infection (see Noel Kingsbury, Natural Gardening in Small Spaces). City arborists and parks management personnel can feel encouraged to make use of this resource. Safety issues associated with deadwood should be carefully examined, but in many situations, the benefits of finding space for deadwood in the community outweigh the costs of hauling it away for chipping or disposal.

A beautiful bridge based on structural deadwood at inhabitat.

Host Analog, a public art piece/nurse log over at landscape + urbanism.

The National Wildlife Federation writes about deadwood (snags) as habitat.

Volunteerism in the Landscape

These volunteers are part of a garden league that tends a series of plots throughout the city of Monterey, growing historically correct ornamentals as well fruit trees and herbs.

Perhaps what America needs is to reference our old ways, not in the sense of returning to them; it is not practical or even desirable to make everything we use ourselves, but to rediscover a working sense of civic pride. Ideals of strong individualism, capability, and freedom went hand in hand with the American landscape throughout most of our social history.

The pioneer spirit belongs to the environment. The movement westward was based upon claim staking, but the real desire was to shape a better life. It is time to ask ourselves what the landscape of a better life looks like, and to refuse to have the answer dictated by market media.

Guerilla gardeners are in a sense channeling the spirit of the wild west. They are outlaws, but they are intimately involved with shaping their own environments and exercising personal freedom. Community gardens are a law-abiding counterpart, offering a higher use for vacant lots and public land created and maintained by volunteers.

When I was living in New Orleans, one of my favorite farmers market vendors was a community garden co-op that offered everything from papayas and dinosaur kale to fresh flowers. You can read about the Market Umbrella Initiative here. Produce and plant sales are an effective way to monetize volunteer efforts.

Community organizations have great potential to offer a place of belonging. An attractive and healthy environment, access to goods, and increased social interaction are quality of life issues that can be addressed in the landscape...

Check out this video of the program director for Community Services Unlimited to see how volunteers are changing foodways in South Central Los Angeles.

A beautiful little native garden tended by the community, over at lost in the landscape.

In urban areas craigslist is a solid resource for finding volunteers or volunteer opportunities. A google search of "how to start a community garden" offers organizational strategies.