Environmental Gardening
by Catherine Kavassalis <c.kavassalis@gmail.com>
President Oakville Horticultural Society (2008)
Egardening is gardening for environmental health. Gardens are a transformation of the naturally occurring environment. While we work to create something of beauty, interest and or practical benefit, we should be aware that we are affecting natural processes.
Gardeners select specific plant species and eliminate others, tailoring plots of land to taste. The simple process of selection changes the biodiversity of an area. For good or bad, gardening results in irreversible changes in the evolution of the planet.
The use of resources, fertilizers, pesticides - all these choices have implications. Though it is not a simple matter to predict the overall impact of one's actions, each of us should be mindful that the choices we make affect the broader world - from the microbes in the soil, to the native plants in the nearby forests. As gardeners, we need to balance our desire for the perfect garden with the need to support a healthy environment.
The following are a series of articles, some prepared for the Oakville Horticultural Society, on environmentally friendly gardening. I hope they are helpful to you. Please email me with ideas, questions or corrections.
- Say it your way - a brief note on the pronunciation of weigela
- Emerald Ash Borer in Oakville (November 2008)
- Be soil aware (October 2008) (My quick soil texture experiment)
- September blooms (Sept 2008)
- Introduction to Plant Identification
- Part 1: What's in a name? (June 2008)
- Part 2: Some vocabulary for describing leaves and flowers (July 2008)
- Daffodils (April 2008)
- Oakville flora circa 1900s (March 2008)
- Arboriculture
- Part 2 Gardening with trees (January 2008)
- Part 3 Seed Collection (February 2008)
- Kentucky Coffee Trees (April 2008)
- Part 1Trees (December 2007)
- IPM Part 1 Weeds (Feb 2007)
- IPM Part 2 Fungal Disease (March 2007)
- IPM Part 2 cont Powdery Mildew (April 2007)
- IPM Part 2 cont Black Spot (May 2007)
- IPM Part 3 Insects and other pests
- Databases
- Nurseries
- Organizations
- Misc.
- List of Ontario Native Flowering Plants
- List of Ontario Native Ferns
- List of Ontario Native Trees and Shrubs
- List of Ontario Native Grasses, Reeds and Sedges
- NatureServe Explorer - an authoritative source for information on more than 65,000 plants, animals, and ecosystems of the United States and Canada.- http://www.natureserve.org/explorer/
- Flora Online - comprehensive (yet unfinished) information on the names, taxonomic relationships, continent-wide distributions, and morphological characteristics of all plants native and naturalized found in North America north of Mexico. - http://www.fna.org/FNA/
- USDA Plant Database - provides standardized information about the vascular plants, mosses, liverworts, hornworts, and lichens of the U.S. and its territories. Good quick reference - http://plants.usda.gov/
- Northern Ontario Plant Database - http://www.northernontarioflora.ca/index.cfm
- Nearctic Wildflowers - covers southeastern Canada, the northeastern United States to the Great Plains States, and southward through the mid-Atlantic region - http://www.nearctica.com/flowers/dtoh/geran/Gbick.htm
- Flora, Fauna of the North Woods - resource for visitors to the boreal forest and bogs of Minnesota and Ontario - http://www.rook.org/earl/bwca/nature/index.html
- Canadian Biodiversity Plant Database - http://www.canadianbiodiversity.mcgill.ca/english/species/plants/
- Evergreen Native Plant Database - http://www.evergreen.ca/nativeplants/index.php
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U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service:
Native Plants for Wildlife Habitat and Conservation Landscaping
Chesapeake Bay Watershed - http://www.nps.gov/plants/pubs/chesapeake/latinindex.htm - Lady Bird Johnson Native Plant Information Network - http://www.wildflower2.org/NPIN/Plants/plant.html
- Missouri Plants - http://www.missouriplants.com/Whiteopp/Species_list.html
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FLORA Ontario (University of Guelph) Ontario Invasive Plant Information System
- http://www.uoguelph.ca/foibis/oipis.htm
- Acorus Restoration http://www.ecologyart.com/
- Ontario Native Plant and Tree Sources prepared by the Canadian Wildlife Federation - http://www.wildaboutgardening.org/en/gab/section3/ontario/
- Nurseries which carry native plant species for Ontario prepared by EMAN - http://www.eman-rese.ca/partners/adoptapond/urbanoutback/part54.html
- Sources for Native Plants prepared by Carolinian Canada - http://www.carolinian.org/FactSheets_NativeStock2.htm
- Hortico, Waterdown, ON - http://www.hortico.com/ Hortico offers a rich selection of plants. They have a native section in their online plant guide, but as they market to North America, some species designated native such as Shooting Star - Dodecatheon are not native to Ontario.
- Lost Horizons, Acton, ON http://www.losthorizons.ca/ Huge 74 page catalog includes many natives - neat stuff but pricey.
- Sweet Grass Gardens, Six Nations Reserve near Brantford, ON - http://www.sweetgrassgardens.com/ (Natives not necessarily native to Ontario)
- Baker Tree Farm - Georgetown, ON - bakertreefarm@castle.on.ca Trees
- Grow Wild, Bobcaygeon, ON - http://www.grow-wild.com/ Good selection of real natives
- Garden's North, Ottawa area - http://gardensnorth.com/site/ Helpful illustrated online catalog (not all native to Ontario, but they generally specify origin of wildflowers)
- Ontario Native Plants, Claremont, ON - http://www.nativeplants.ca/cat/index.htm Illustrated online catalog
- Wild Canada, Collingwood, ON - http://www.wildcanada.ca/MainPage/Main.html
- Wild Ginger Nursery, Port Hope, ON - http://www.wildgingernursery.ca/
- Wild Things Plant Farm, Clifford, ON - http://www.wild-things.ca/ (Natives not necessarily native to Ontario)
- Wildflower Farm, Coldwater, ON - http://www.wildflowerfarm.com/ Seed collections (Natives not necessarily native to Ontario)
- Galeta Nurseries - Galetta, ON - http://www3.sympatico.ca/galetta/index.html Native roses
- Wildflowers from Seedland, Wellborn, FL - http://www.wildflowermix.com/info/apple/wildflowers-common.html
- Major nurseries and garden centers are identifying native plants more frequently, but again not all native to North America are native to Ontario or your particular region.
- North American Native Plant Society - www.nanps.org/index.shtml
- Canadian Botanical Conservation Network - http://www.rbg.ca/cbcn/en/index.html
- Canadian Wildlife Federation Backyard Habitat Program and Wild About Gardening Program - www.cwf-fcf.org
- Ontario Nature - http://www.ontarionature.org
- Evergreen - http://www.evergreen.ca/en/index.html
- Tallgrass Ontario - http://www.tallgrassontario.org
- Field Botanists of Ontario - www.trentu.ca/fbo/
- Ontario Society for Ecological Restoration (SER) - http://www.serontario.org/
- Hamilton Naturalists http://www.deanswildflowers.com/Links.html
- Conservation Ontario - http://conservation-ontario.on.ca
- LEAF -- Local Enhancement & Appreciation of Forests (Toronto) - http://www.leaftoronto.org/index.htm
- Ontario Natural Heritage Information Centre - http://nhic.mnr.gov.on.ca/nhic_.cfm
- Royal Botanical Gardens - http://www.rbg.ca Rare plants of Ontario - http://www.rbg.ca/rare
- Waterloo-Wellington Wildflower Society - www.uoguelph.ca/~botcal
- New England Wildflower Society - http://www.newfs.org/
- Dave's Garden http://davesgarden.com/pf/search.php
- Perry Perennial Pages http://pss.uvm.edu/ppp/articleS.htm Dr. Leonard Perry provides a wealth of info and fun for gardeners - check out his wildflower article for the Vermont Extension service http://pss.uvm.edu/ppp/articleS.htm
- Canada Gardening - General List of Seed Resources http://canada-gardens.com/1shopping.html
- Horticulture Society Photos
A Note on Organic Gardening:
Organic gardening arose as a response to advances in organic chemistry - the study of substances made up of carbon and hydrogen (found in all living organism). As chemists learned to synthesize new organic compounds such things as organochloride pesticides (including DDT) were developed. The extensive use of synthetic pesticides and fertilizers resulted in poor environmental health. Thus the movement to avoid the use of synthetic fertilizers and pesticides arose. The name organic gardening ironically refers to gardening which excludes synthesized organic compounds.
Standards that govern what can be called organic gardening and farming specifically exclude the use of compounds or processes (e.g. genetic modification) which are not naturally occurring. Pesticides derived from botanicals, like nicotine sulfate from Nicotinia, or minerals, like sulfur, are permitted. (Some Pesticides Permitted in Organic Gardening). Unfortunately many do not realize that these chemicals can be just as deadly as synthetic ones. Because something is naturally occurring does not make it safe. Nor is something synthesized necessarily unsafe. Identical chemicals will have identical action regardless of their source. Thus organic gardening may or may not lead to a healthy environment. It very much depends on the practitioner.
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Often species designated as native are native to North America, but not necessarily native to Ontario (if in doubt run them through Natureserve or the USDA plant database).
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