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Showing posts from July, 2013

Then & Now: Schwartz Plaza Native Woodland Garden

2009 with Littleleaf lindens 2011 with newly planted American hornbeams Summer 2013 Read about the garden here .

Djurgarden, Stockholm

My friend U.D. has been conducting research in the Netherlands and spent several days in Stockholm.  She visited DjurgÃ¥rden, an island close to central Stockholm , and shared the following photographs with me.

Wild About: Pigeons

Wild About is a celebration of the flora and fauna commonly found in our cities. Instead of fact sheets, this space will showcase books, art, music, societies, and whimsical objects about urban-adaptable plants and animals.  If you would like to see your favorite urban-oriented plant or animal featured, please email us at info(at)localecology.org. It is fair to write that the pigeon, Columba livia , is the iconic urban bird. We have certainly flocked to this bird in a post about Project Pigeon Watch , fruit-eating pigeons , and a review of The Global Pigeon by Colin Jerolmack.  Also, view a short video of pigeons drinking water . We are not the only ones wild about this species.  Animal New York posts a pigeon photo daily .  Singer Rachel Trachtenburg of the Trachtenburg Family Slideshow Players performs the Pigeon Song which I found via the National Pigeon Day blog. Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus! cover image via Wikipedia ( source ) Mo Willems made pigeo

Then & Now: Carrots at Union Square Greenmarket

Carrots in 2009 (above) Carrots in 2013

Window Box Garden: Jared Braiterman of Tokyo Green Space

Window Box Gardens showcases other people's small gardens.  Gardeners share photographs and description of their gardens. Maybe we can hang window boxes off our window guards...! If you would like to see your garden here, please email us at info(at)localecology.org.   Today's garden belongs to Jared Braiterman, PhD, a design anthropologist, and editor of Tokyo Green Space . What to plant in my Tokyo summer window boxes? I have chosen some local plants and some exotics, all of them inexpensive and found at local flower shops . I chose a mix of flower, foliage, fruit, herb, and vine. Some I’d been planning to grow this year, others I chose because of surprise, price, and convenience. Most will be repotted into ceramics that I made myself at my in-laws craft studio, Kuge Crafts . Just last week I saw this gorgeous dwarf fig, full of fruit. For just 700 yen (about US$ 7.25), I couldn’t resist. I’ve seen that one of my neighbors has a mature fig tree growing in a plastic p

5 Picture Books about the Seasons

Yesterday we offered three seasonal activities for the summer.  Today we have a round-up of children's books about the seasons.  One is specific to summer, one is about spring, and the remainder are about all the seasons of the year. 1. The Village Garage , by G. Brian Karas This a recent favorite.  The plot cleverly discusses changes to the physical landscape while teaching children about the roles of the workers of the town garage. 2. A Child's Calendar , by John Updike with illustrations by Trina Schart Hyman We featured this book in 10 Children's books about nature . 3. Las Estaciones , by Iela Mari This title was also featured in 10 Children's books about nature . 4. And Then It's Spring , by Julie Fogliano Beautifully illustrated by Erin E. Stead, Julie Fogliano tells us about a boy eager to see the fruit of his labor. 5. Mama, Is It Summer Yet? , by Nikki McClure We have not read this book, yet.  Have you?  We saw it reco

Seasonal Nature Experiences: Three for Summer

We have planned a hike and berry picking trip to Long Island!  Berry picking is one of many seasonal activities that highlight the presence of nature in our cities and urbanized communities.  Here is our short list for summer. Berry picking The Mommy Poppins blog has an extensive guide to pick your own fruit and vegetable places in the tri-state area.  A wonderful book about berries and family is  Blueberies for Sal , by Robert McCloskey. Fishing You need a license to fish in the NY State .  The lakes in Prospect Park have the "largest concentration of largemouth bass" in NY State.  We have enjoyed the catch and release fishing for children at Hudson River Park operated by Big City Fishing. Insect watching If you missed the cicadas this year, you will have to wait another 13 or 17 years to see them again, depending on the brood.  But, you can watch fireflies after sunset.  A neighbor told us he has seen fireflies in a local greenspace.  Learn about firefl

3 simple ways to water a street tree

  Our street trees needs water.  Trees need approximately 10 gallons of water per diameter inch.  A new street tree, in most cities, is 2 inches in diameter, thus your newly planted street tree needs 20 gallons of water per week, especially during dry, summer months.  Casey Trees in Washington, DC recommends 25 gallons per week for new trees .  It is not necessary to water your tree if it rains at least 1 inch during the week , according to Million Trees NYC.  Otherwise, water weekly between May and October.  Casey Trees' minimum is 1.5 inches of rainfall.  1. Gator Gator bags slowly release water.  Learn about the Treegator's capacity .  A DIY alternative to the Treegator is to use a perforated bucket (I have read that you should make the holes in the bottom of the bucket but you could consider making the holes at lowest point on the sides of the bucket).  Yet another option is a DIY water bag ; instructions at Instructables. 2. Aeration loop Many street trees a

Flower to Fruit: Goldenrain tree

"After flowering comes fruit," wrote Harold William Pickett in 1957 in Botany for Gardeners . Three weeks ago we photographed the flowers on the goldenrain trees ( Koelreuteria paniculata ) on Bleecker Street near Broadway. The trees were buzzing with bees. Can you spot a bee in the photo? Last week, the flowers had been transformed into fruit. The seedpods are described as lantern-shaped and papery by Leslie Day in Field Guide to the Street Trees of New York City . The pods contain small, dark, round seeds. To see the fruits within the seed pod, look here . The goldenrain tree was the Urban Tree of the Year in 2011.

Goat Town grows its own salad

We ate at Goat Town a couple of weeks ago. The food and drinks were delicious. They make their own ginger beer. And their salads are made of greens grown in their backyard garden . It was lovely. Would you expect to find scene pictured above in a NYC garden?

Tree Walk: Downtown Los Angeles

Can it be that the most recent Tree Walk post was published almost six years ago?!  I have not stopped taking tree walks though.  I was in Santa Monica in April for the Sustainable Santa Monica tour which I organized for AAG 2013 with Sustainable Pacific Rim Cities and Yale Blue Green.  The tour was in Santa Monica but I stayed in downtown Los Angeles and spent one afternoon walking through the Civic Center, Little Tokyo, Toy District, and Central City East neighborhoods.  The photos below are not presented in chronological order. The tree art on Spring Street was co-created by multimedia artist Calder Greenwald "to get passersby to take notice of invisible spaces." Learn more at the Los Angeles Times Local. Biddy Mason Park is an example of a hidden downtown public open space.  It is between two streets and you access it from Spring via a mall.  African American slave "Bridget" (Biddy Mason) was granted her freedom by Los Angeles, California judge,