The Controversy Over Guerrilla Gardening

It’s a familiar sight to any urban city dweller. Vacant lots, abandoned commercial areas, and those random strips of land in between sidewalk and road. Usually bare, brown dirt or overrun with weeds. Who could disagree that a city looks better and happier with a lush little bit of landscaping in that place instead?

Taking a cue from Johnny Appleseed, hobbyist gardeners are throwing a few seeds around to revitalize these orphaned patches of land. First there’s Guerrilla Gardening, a blog urging readers to “pimp your pavement” through the use of “seed bombs.” According to WebEcoist, a typical seed bomb might be “a condom filled with fertilizer, water and wildflower seeds.” Imagine explaining this to your mother when she catches you making them in the kitchen sink.

It’s taking England by storm, even to the point of tending graveyards.

But, as noted by The Huffington Post, this really is illegal! In some cases it’s private property, and in others it’s just one of those gray areas where it’s a strip of public land that nobody’s going to care about… until somebody starts taking care of it, at which point it becomes a point of liability, or unauthorized use of government land, or something.

Tags: Guerrilla Gardening
Posted in Landscape News | No Comments »

It’s Come To This: Eco-Shaming Celebrities

Hey, here’s some hot gossip about a famous celebrity scandal. But if you thought this was going to be about her getting caught with illicit substances or the dish on who she’s landed between the sheets, think again! No, it’s just that Celene Dion’s house guzzles six-and-a-half-million gallons of water per year! Yes, we thought we heard some monocles popping out there.

But it makes ecological sense to call attention to matters like this. While the rest of us common plebes get nagged every time we hose down the driveway for wasting water, top-billed celebrities get to spray gallons over their lush gardens, flush tons through the pipes for their homemade waterfalls and fountains, and gurgle swimming pools full of water that just sits there unused. Water conservation applies to millionaire celebrities, too!

As this Stanford graduate study suggests, publicly shaming individuals and institutions who are wasteful with natural resources might be a pretty effective method to control it. Maybe Celine Dion isn’t really going to care about this, though. She might not even read landscaping blogs, right?

Tags: Eco-Shaming Celebrities
Posted in Landscape News | No Comments »

Landscaping Software: Good or Bad?

Landscaping software is a marvelous creation that enables you to make amazingly beautiful landscapes and gardens and actually see how they would look beforehand. Today, many software’s also enable the user to add, remove and shift various landscape features such as waterfalls, plants, pathways and even lighting in order to see what truly suits the landscape best. Landscaping is extremely expensive and therefore using software will not only save you the money for professionals but it will also save you a lot of time and effort of implementing something in your real landscape and then deciding it doesn’t really ‘work for you’ in that location.

Unfortunately though like all good things in this world, there is a downside to using landscaping software as well. Landscaping software too comes at a price. There are some claiming to be absolutely free, though they are usually demo versions that don’t let you alter certain features. Purchasing the full version upgrade is necessary for this. Downloading such software can be time consuming and sometimes house virus’s that could ruin your entire computer system. Some software’s also don’t allow the importation of pictures so make sure that when you consider getting landscaping software that you check if all the required features are present before purchasing it.

Tags: Landscaping Ideas, landscaping software
Posted in Landscape News | No Comments »

Landscaping and Global Warming

As we all know, rising of the earth’s near-surface temperature, is commonly referred to as global warming. Modifying the visual features of a plot of land is called landscaping. So what connection does landscaping have with global warming? – To be honest, a lot more than you think.

Deforestation is thought to be a major cause of global warming. Planting trees would directly contribute to minimize this effect, a thought to keep in mind when landscaping. Also, in hot summer months we all turn on the air-conditioning for our comfort. However, a simple, long term solution would be to grow some trees, if space permits. Trees will give you the much needed shade, but its uses stretch far beyond this, as trees directly help in the process of “evapotranspiration”.

When landscaping, you can consider the possibility of having your own kitchen/herb garden. This way, you can not only consume fresh home-grown vegetables, you can also reduce the need for transportation of items, some which are even brought down by air, thereby saving fuel and oil consumption; which is another indirect way of lessening global warming,

Global dimming too, has played its part in global warming, and one cause of this is pollutants. When landscaping, if you choose plants that are more pest-resistant and use an effective pest management technique, instead of turning to insecticides; you have proven yourself to be environmentally friendly and socially responsible. So hats off to you!

Tags: landscaping and global warming, landscaping discussions
Posted in Landscape News | No Comments »

How Landscaping can Benefit Your Health

Would you like to look good, feel good, and never site a gym in your area? Then landscaping your garden is an ideal pastime for you!

Having a landscaped garden will not only enhance your self esteem but your physical and emotional wellbeing as well. Though not apparent, a well landscaped garden is an ideal past time and physical exercise for most. This is because a landscaped garden requires time and effort to maintain. So when you’re bending down to plant something, stretching to weed out the unwanted or concentrating on pruning that stubborn shrub in to the exact shape you want it to be, you’re actually getting a full mind and body work out in your very own front yard.

Flora is an important factor for any landscape. It must be noted though that having attractive plants, flowers and vegetation growing in your landscape will not only enhance its scenic beauty but also supply not only the home owner but the entire neighborhood with pure untainted fresh air. This topped off with the beauty of a well maintained landscape will truly put even the grouchiest person in to a serene and laidback mood after a hectic day. Therefore your landscape will not only have a materialistic value for your property but also have a profound impact on your way of life and your health.

Tags: advantages of landscaping, landscaping and health, landscaping benefits
Posted in Landscape News | No Comments »