Class session #10

Long one, but a good one.

Joan Cabreza gave an informative presentation on Native and Invasive plants. 
How about this for an opening statement?

"If you are a property owner, you're a habitat manager". 

Kinda gives it a new perspective doesn't it?  We're not just home owners with lawns to mow, leaves to rake in the fall and weeding, weeding, weeding to tend to..... we really influence the landscape around us, and if we do it right we can be great stewards of it AND enjoy it for ourselves.  



Joan told us about 11 naturescaping principles..... good things to ponder.  Stay tuned for a blog on this one..... it'll be a worthy read, I promise!

After hearing about Natives, we got an ear full about Invasives.  Yikes!  Not a fun topic, but one we needed to hear.  Suffice to say, it's a real problem and not likely to get better anytime soon.  Invasives are the #2 threat to biodiversity (#1 is habitat loss due to development/de-forestation and the like).  Both terrestrial AND aquatic ecosystems are being affected.  
When my husband and I lived in Florida we were avid SCUBA divers and spent a lot of time involved with environmental-based groups doing work to protect marine ecosystems..... the Lionfish was just starting to become a known problem in the Caribbean.  Lionfish are not native to the Caribbean.... they were probably introduced when someone emptied their aquarium collection into the sea after they got tired of dealing with it.



Lionfish live up to their name.... they're aggressive and territorial and are transforming the make up of the reef systems.  
Invasive plants are doing something similar things on land....altering ecosystems and disrupting food chains.  Aggressive growers, proflific seeders, they bully their way into a landscape and literally take over, smothering everything else and pushing it out.  The landscape looses its diversity, and the fauna that came with it.  Not a good thing.  Stay tuned for an enlightening blog on the topic - I'll share more of what I learned.

After a quick lunch, Cass Turnbull gave us a humorous 3 hour presentation on pruning.  Yes, pruning can be humorous!  Her stories about mal-pruning got the point home about what NOT to do and the consequences if one does.......

........ namely, we'll probably be left with a tree/shrub that rots out and weakens, making it more prone to falling in a strong wind, and unnecessary time/$$ wasted.  She had a great line that I'll share with you....... "the truth will set you free, but at first it will piss you off!".  So, when an MG politely advises you that your pruning efforts are not appropriate, remember this line and know, our intentions mean well..... we really do want you to have a healthy, happy tree/shrub, a beautiful landscape, more money in your pocket and time to spend doing more fun things!

Class dismissed.