Town Branch Neighborhood—Fayetteville, Ark

Town Branch neighborhood loses another of its heroes

2012-01-16T23:26:00.003-06:00

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Short takes on Cox 218 and AT&T channel 99 something for today through the weekend

2012-01-16T01:38:00.002-06:00

Park board hears comments on value of preserving soil and native plants on proposed construction site on Rochier Hill west of Pinnacle Prairie and World Peace Wetland Prairie

2012-01-07T12:47:00.000-06:00

KUM & Go store official tells city council project has to be done their way or the plan to put a store at MLK Jr Blvd. and S. Hill Avenue will not be done

2012-01-05T16:51:00.002-06:00

December 20, 2011, meeting of Fayetteville AR city council draws comment on several important local issues on a 3-hour, 37-minute video

2012-01-01T02:36:00.002-06:00

Kaminsky family art and craft sale Saturday, December, 10, 2011,

2011-12-07T15:28:00.000-06:00

- When
  Saturday
- Time
  10:00am until 4:00pm
Where
Lalaland / Art Experience / studios, 641 Martin Luther King Jr Blvd, Fayetteville, AR

Description

Saturday, December 10 - drop by the studios behind The Art Experience (right by Brenda's Bigger Burger). A variety of works by JoAnn Kaminsky, Hank Kaminsky, Stephanie Pierce, Denise Rohr, Sam King, Sarah Norsworthy will be available. This is probably THE best time of year to buy work from most of these folks.

Also: musicians, feel free to stop by and try out Sam's rebuilt guitars. He might even be convinced to sell one or two of them.

ALSO: refreshments.

November 14, 2011, quarterly Mayor's Town Hall meeting video

2011-12-06T10:35:00.002-06:00

Nature photos on next week's video include frost flowers from this week and last year

2011-12-02T23:37:00.002-06:00

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Council of Neighborhoods' meeting November 17, 2011 video

2011-11-29T14:13:00.000-06:00

Planning Commission hears presentations on Kum & Go stores and Campus Crest (The Grove) apartment plans a well as proposed rezoning of Hollywood Prairie, a parcel listed on the Enduring Green Network endorsed by the City Council two years ago

2011-11-23T09:39:00.001-06:00

High water after rain in Northwest Arkansas as seen at confluence of West Fork of the White River and the Town Branch of the West Fork

2011-11-08T23:19:00.002-06:00

Breakfast burritos at Pop's Barbecue

2011-11-08T11:45:00.000-06:00

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October 27, 2011, meeting of Fayetteville Council of Neighborhoods includes election of 2012 officers and announcement of upcoming Veterans' Memorial 5K race on Nov. 12 starting and ending at the National Cemetery in the Town Branch Neighborhood

2011-11-07T10:14:00.000-06:00

University of Arkansas engineering students spend their 'Make a Difference Day' removing debris downstream from campus

2011-10-30T08:46:00.002-05:00

Please click on individual images to enlarge for easy reading and closer view. Please click on link below for many more images of students who waded the Town Branch and dragged out a pickup load of debris that had washed downstream from the UA campus and MLK Jr. Blvd. and Razorback Road.
"Make a Difference Day" at University of Arkansas brings engineering students and members of the UA chapter of the Society of Black Engineers to the Town Branch Neighborhood to remove debris from the Town Branch of the West Fork of the White River.
Permanent link to Flickr photo set on Town Branch Watershed.

Current and future service members in the National Cemetery deserve better than four-story apartments along the eastern edge

2011-10-23T19:25:00.000-05:00

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Fayetteville Council of Neighborhoods hears explanation of need to protect city services by voting for renewal of Fayetteville AR 1-percent sales tax on October 11, 2011

2011-10-07T09:13:00.003-05:00

J.T. Wampler's new restaurant at 15th Street and S. School Ave. anchoring the southeast corner of the Town Branch Neighborhood is a big hit with its unique recipes for food made with fresh ingredients daily

2011-10-02T18:13:00.002-05:00

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Tanglewood Branch is the stream that drains the southeastern portion of Old Main Lawn and Down Town and Dickson Street area all the way from Washington School and flows under S. School Avenue only four blocks north of the restaurant

Menu may vary from day to day depending on availability of fresh vegetables

Video of Ward Four meeting at 7 p.m. September 26 includes explanation of importance of renewing sales tax by vote on Oct. 11, 2011. See detail below

2011-09-28T09:05:00.000-05:00

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Monday, September 26, 2011

Ward 4 Meeting

City Clerk

Time: 7:00 PM

Location: Room 111

Biden's aristosa with interesting insect at Pinnacle wet prairie west side of World Peace Wetland Prairie

2011-09-28T09:01:00.002-05:00

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Two chances to comment on development set for east side of Fayetteville National Cemetery

2011-09-25T18:20:00.001-05:00

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Fayetteville Environmental Action Committee meeting of 15 September 2011

2011-09-24T08:58:00.000-05:00

All parts of August 30, 2011, Town Branch Neighborhood meeting are now linked below: Comments welcome

2011-08-31T08:20:00.017-05:00

Town Branch Neighborhood Association meeting at 6 p.m. Tuesday, August 30, 2011, welcomes everyone who chooses to attend at S. Hill Avenue

2011-08-25T15:38:00.001-05:00

Church of Christ to discuss plan for apartment complex adjacent to National Cemetery, streamside-protection ordinance, neighborhood watch, urban wildlife-habitat certification of private property, natural-yard option approved by City Council and anything of importance in our neighborhood and city

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Lioneld Jordan, mayor of Fayetteville, and Herman Swafford of the Town Branch Neighborhood talk about old times in Fayetteville at the downtown square on Saturday, August 20, 2011

2011-08-20T18:17:00.003-05:00

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« Welcome to The Native Plants in the Landscape Conference

The Future of Gardening by Neil Diboll

The Future of Gardening: Why Going Native is the Answer

Presented at the 20^th Millersville Native Plant Conference
Millersville, PA
June 4, 2010

by Neil Diboll
Prairie Nursery, Inc.
P.O. Box 306
Westfield, WI 53964
www.prairienursery.com
800-476-9453 (800-GRO-WILD)
Traditional landscapes suck. They suck Energy, Water, and Money. These three “Future Factors” will determine to a large degree the shape and structure of our landscapes in the coming years.
The old whipping boy, the lawn, indeed deserves a good whipping. It is emblematic of an expensive, unsustainable, energy and chemical hungry landscape that supports few forms of life and consumes valuable resources that could be better invested elsewhere.
Size of the American Lawn
There are over 50 million acres of lawn in the United States, twice the size of the state of Pennsylvania.
The total American corn crop for 2009 was 86 million acres.
The total American soybean crop for 2009 was 77 million acres.
The total American wheat crop for 2009 was 65 million acres.
Lawn is the fourth largest crop grown in America today.
Water Use by the American Lawn
Thirty percent of the water consumed on the East Coast of the US goes to watering lawns. Sixty percent of the water used on the West Coast is dedicated to maintaining green lawns, in a region that is facing looming water shortages.
A 1000 square foot lawn requires an average of 10,000 gallons of water per year to maintain in good condition.
One acre of irrigated lawn requires nearly half a million gallons (435,000) of water every year!
Chemical Fertilizers and Pesticides Applied to the American Lawn
The average lawn receives 10 times as much chemical fertilizers, herbicides, and pesticides as the typical farm field, according to a Yale University graduate study.
Over 80 millions pounds of chemical pesticides are applied to American lawns each year according to the USEPA.
More than 70 million tons of chemical fertilizers are applied to American lawns per year.
The USEPA estimates that 40 to 60 percent of the Nitrogen fertilizer applied to lawns ends up in our surface water and groundwater.
Forty four percent of the Nitrogen and 28 percent of the Phosphorus applied in the Mississippi River watershed ends up in the Gulf of Mexico, greatly exacerbating the anoxic “dead zone” that preceded the BP oil spill of 2010.
Solid Waste Created by Lawns
The EPA also estimates that grass clippings and yard debris account for 20 to 40 percent of the landfill space consumed in America.
Energy Consumption by Lawns
The amount of energy required to mow and maintain manicured lawns is surprisingly large, and is used in every phase of lawn care:
Mowing: Gasoline or diesel fuel to is required to power riding mowers and most push type rotary mowers. Electricity that powers electric lawn mowers is produced primarily by fossil fuels such as coal and natural gas, and by nuclear power plants.
Pesticides: Most herbicides and insecticides are derived from or combined with petroleum-based compounds. Of the 80 million pounds of pesticides applied to lawns in American every year, most are synthesized from oil.
Fertilizers: Fertilizers are applied to lawns in staggering quantities. The energy required to mine and transport the 70 million tons of chemical fertilizers that are dumped on lawns every year is significant. Most Nitrogen fertilizers are produced using the Haber Process, in which Nitrogen in the air is converted into a solid or liquid form that can be readily handled and applied. The Haber Process is extremely energy intensive, and vast quantities of natural gas are consumed to produce nitrogen fertilizer for lawns.
Irrigation: Even watering the lawn consumes energy. Electricity is used to purify water at treatment plants, and to pump water to homes and businesses. The underground plastic pipes that are used in lawn irrigations systems are produced from petrochemicals derived from crude oil.
Carbon Footprint of Lawns
As an energy-dependent landscape, the carbon annual footprint consumption of lawns is high compared to prairies and other natural landscapes that require only occasional mowing, no fertilizers, no irrigation, and few if any pesticides. Prairies release carbon into the atmosphere when burned, and when dead organic matter such as leaves and stems decompose through microbial action. However, these releases are offset by new plant growth which absorbs carbon dioxide from the air and incorporates it into new leave, roots, and stems.
The incredibly rich prairie soils of the American Midwest are a result of the accumulation of organic matter in the soil over hundreds and thousands of years. Unlike most forest ecosystems, in which organic matter is sequestered in the upper 12- 18 inches of soil, prairie soils typically exhibit high organic matter content from three to six feet in depth. They also have significantly higher total organic matter content than forest soils. This would indicate that over time, prairies are one of the most efficient plant communities at removing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and providing long term carbon sequestration in the soil.
Economic Costs of Lawn
Americans spend over $25 billion per year on lawn care (USEPA).
Americans spend over $2 billion per year on lawn and garden chemicals.
A 4000 square foot lawn (1/10 acre) produces an average of 1200 pounds of grass clippings per year. The City of Philadelphia Streets Department reported in 2005 that it costs $75 per year to dispose of this material.
Wildlife and Lawns
The US EPA estimates that between 60 and 70 millions birds are poisoned annually due to the application of lawn pesticides.
On lawns that receive regular applications of pesticides, 60 to 90 percent of the earthworms in the soil are killed.
Air and Noise Pollution
In summer months, 5 percent of air pollution is attributable to gas powered lawn and garden equipment (National Vehicle and Fuel Assessment Lab, Ann Arbor, MI)
Per hour of operation, a typical lawnmower emits 10-12 times as much hydrocarbons as an automobile.
Health and Safety
Of the most commonly used lawn pesticides, 13 are known to cause cancer, 14 can cause birth defects, 11 can interfere with reproduction, and 21 can cause damage to the nervous system. (US EPA)
111,000 Americans are sickened every year due to exposure to pesticides. (US EPA)
Over 230,000 people are treated in the Emergency Room every year for accident related to lawn equipment. (US EPA)
Time
The average homeowner spends 40 hours a year mowing his or her lawn – the equivalent of a week’s vacation!
HOW DID WE ARRIVE AT OUR LAWN-DOMINATED LANDSCAPE MODEL?
AN HISTORICAL OVERVIEW
The New World of North America once appeared to be a seemingly inexhaustible resource that held immense promise for the early colonists and settlers. True to their culture, the northern Europeans that swarmed into the vast hinterlands of America created a landscape in the image of their forebears: cut, grazed, plowed, and fenced into submission. The newly broken land yielded great bounty for a growing nation. As the country expanded, the towns and villages took on the names and character of our former homes across the Atlantic: Amsterdam, Birmingham, Gloucester, Berlin, Warsaw, and Rome, to name but a few.
Our goal as a nation and a culture was to tame the wilderness and make it safe for civilization. In so doing, we re-created the Old Country in the New World. As we brought the wilderness under our heel, we took little time to appreciate its unique character and beauty. Most settlers sought bounty, not beauty. In the rush to convert forests and meadows into farms and fields, the flowers mostly went unnoticed. Unplowed, unproductive wild land was a sign of sloth, savagery, and the devil’s work. Indeed, our mandate was to subdue the earth. And subdue it we did.
When our work was finally done, we sat back to take stock of our immense labors, and it appeared that it was good. Mostly. What we had not considered were the terrible losses associated with our great gain. We had gained ascendancy over our young country. In the process, we lost the character of a continent.
Yea, even unto our gardens, we banished the wildflowers and wild things to the far reaches of the countryside and to the corners of our consciousness. And nothing suffered the utter demise and near-total destruction such as that which was visited upon the American Prairie.
The American Prairie: the once-vast kingdom of flowers, grasses, bison and butterflies. This unbelievably rich, unique ecosystem blanketed millions of acres of America’s heartland. These were the flower gardens of North America. Hidden deep underground, among the intertwined roots of a universe of prairie plants, lay the black gold that was to become the currency of the prairie farmer. Here was the inheritance of a million sunny days, hoarded away in the bank account of the prairie soil.
Agricultural, the Industrial Revolution, and the Rise of the American Middle Class
The farmers that tapped into this prairie trust fund found the dividends to be prodigious. No fertilizers were needed to grow bumper crops. The immense yields increased agricultural productivity to levels previously unheard-of, revolutionizing the farmer’s relationship with the land. Now one family could produce food for dozens of others. The day of the subsistence farm was over. Human labor was set free to tend the factory instead of the field. The dawn of the American Industrial Revolution was reflected in the glow of the forge that John Deere used to construct the first sod-busting steel plow in 1836. With the industrial dawn came the sunset of the American Prairie.
The Eastern Tallgrass Prairie of Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Missouri, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Oklahoma, Kansas, and Nebraska was all but obliterated in the span of a few short decades at the close of the nineteenth century. That which was not plowed under was closed in with fences and grazed to the ground by millions of cattle. What were once wide open spaces became food factories and feedlots. Still, we knew not what we had done.
A full century later, we are just beginning to grasp the scope of the loss. The Eastern Tallgrass Prairie is now one of the rarest plant communities in the entire world. Rainforests are commonplace by comparison. Less than 1/10th of 1% of the Tallgrass Prairie remains today. The small refuges where it can be found occur only in small tattered fragments, ripped from the original cloth. Only those pieces that could not be drained, plowed, grazed, or otherwise turned to the service of mankind remain. There was simply no place for wildness in this new American landscape.
The conversion of the New World into the Old Country was complete. All that remained now was to tend the fields and the gardens of plants brought over from Europe, and to make sure that the lawns that replaced that prairie were kept mown and in order.
Order. The watchword of a Puritanical culture that sought to carve structure from the chaos of wilderness. Everything in control. Nothing out of place. Even our gardens reflect this directive. Designs are precise, with each plant in its pre-ordained place, ensconced in a thick bed of bark mulch. The vegetable world must supplicate itself to our omnipotence. Those plants that fail to stay in their assigned seats are branded as weeds, and banished from the garden. And if they should grow wild in nature, how could such peasant plants of common breeding be sufficiently refined to have a place in our gardens?
If the garden is truly the place where people and nature meet, it is almost always the gardener who determines the terms of the meeting. Will the gardeners of the earth choose to work with Nature to create beauty in the landscape? Or will we attempt to overpower her with an arsenal of chemicals, machines, and “maintenance programs?”
We are finally coming to realize that the practice of paying homage to a uniform, idealized landscape of seamlessly interconnected lawns is an illusion. This becomes eminently clear when one realizes that the centerpoint of this landscape is a nearly lifeless, two dimensional expanse of turf, to which we slavishly devote much of our increasingly rare and precious free time. We pour on the chemicals, mow the grass to within an inch of its life, and kill any and all bugs that have the temerity to share the landscape with us. Perhaps most annoying, this national pastime called Lawn Care is really quite expensive.
For many, their lawns are like an addiction. They will pay almost any price to satisfy the cravings. The price is paid in money, time, environmental degradation, and in some cases, one’s health. We have so completely divorced ourselves from Nature that the only connection to the natural world is by watering and mowing their green carpets!
It is indeed a costly divorce from Nature. Enforcement of our unnatural landscapes consumes billions of dollars every year. Lawns, ornamental plantings, and even perennial gardens require constant attention if the desired order is to be maintained. Without intervention by the human hand on a regular basis, these landscapes soon fall victim to the invading hordes of weeds, trees, brambles and vines. Left unguarded, the walls of the domestic garden are stormed by the Vandals and Visigoths of the Vegetable Kingdom. Without the indulgences of their human benefactors, the meeker and fairer plants of the garden are quickly pillaged and displaced by the roving thugs of the plant world.
History of the American Lawn
The modern lawn has it origin in the country estates of landed gentry in England in the 16^th and 17^th centuries. It was a status symbol of the wealthy, for the working classes typically possessed no land, and could ill afford a lawn eve if they did. With our Anglo-American heritage, we looked to the mother country for our social cues in the 18^th century as the American middle class emerged during the industrial revolution. The newly wealthy purchased homes and estates and installed lawns as one of their symbols of having “made it.” Lawns quickly became one of the status symbols associated with the new middle and upper classes.
The great American landscape architect, Frederick Law Olmstead, referred to the lawn in the late 18^th century as “The Great Democratizer” of a newly ascendant nation. Rather than installing fences and barriers between neighboring properties as was common in Europe, Americans had a seamless carpet of green grass unifying their properties, all sharing in the new ethos of a mutual affluence.
The lawn quickly became a socio-economic symbol, denoting order and devotion to a non-economic crop that only those with expendable income could afford. As the middle class in America grew after World War II, the occupants of newly-built suburbs embraced the lawn as one of their icons of success and comfortable living.
The lawn was now cemented into American culture. Woe be unto he who violated the unspoken contract of “keeping up appearances” and allowing one’s turf to “go native” and grow beyond the socially acceptable four inches in height. An un-mowed, unkempt lawn was a sign of slovenliness and anti-social tendencies. Social breakdown and chaos could not be far behind.
This is why the lawn is so ardently defended by so many. It is a symbol of an entire social class and lifestyle. It is far more than a near-lifeless green expanse that requires an inordinate amount of time, money and chemicals to maintain. It embodies the hopes and dreams of average Americans, and symbolizes the triumph or order over entropy. It is a shared middle class bond that transcends politics, religion, and ethnicity. In many communities you are judged by your lawn first, and your character as a human being second. And do not for one minute believe that the first does not influence the second.
Why do we Persist with Our Addiction to Lawns? What About Wildlife?
1)    It’s simple and easy! We know how to do it: Fertilize it, spray it, and mow it!
2)    You don’t really have to know anything about plants or gardening to grow and manage a lawn – just follow the directions provided by the purveyors of fertilizers, herbicides, fungicides, and insecticides provide you!
3)    Lawn is a cheap fix. Although less costly to install than native landscapes, lawn has a high life cycle cost over a period of many years. Native landscapes typically have low long-term maintenance costs, with lower life cycle costs.
4)    Lawns don’t attract bugs or wildlife (except for geese), so you know you and your family will be safe from snakes, vermin, and those annoying insects! So what if insects are the foundation of the food chain, and support a myriad of birds and other desirable creatures. We’ve been brainwashed that bugs are bad, so we have to make sure they don’t inhabit our outdoor living spaces.
5)    NO BUGS, NO BIRDS!
6)    Everybody says they love Nature, but nobody ever invites her over to their yard.
7)    I knew my prairie was a success when I saw Meadow Jumping Mice (Zapus hudsonianus) and Hog Nosed Snakes (Heterodon platirhinos) in it. These creatures provided evidence that I now had a functioning ecosystem, not just a garden. If you like hawks and owls, you better be able to feed them: rodents and reptiles are some of their preferred foods.
WE ARE NOT A NATION OF GARDENERS:
WE ARE A NATION OF MOWERS!
WHY DO WE CARE WHAT WE PLANT IN OUR GARDENS
AND LANDSCAPES?
Many of us care deeply about the state of our planet and the loss of biodiversity that is occurring on a global scale. Although we all think globally, most of us can only act locally. Together, we can have an impact in our own gardens and landscapes, as well as those of our friends and neighbors. For those of us in the landscape design business, we can promote sustainable landscapes composed of native plants that require little or no fertilizers, pesticides, watering, or mowing (just burning!). This alone, when compounded over time as more people opt for sustainable landscapes, can have an impact.
The looming question for us today is the on-going loss of biodiversity. Restoring native ecosystems is one way we can help support not just native plants, but also invertebrates such as rare butterflies and moths, bees, wasps, and all manner of the generally unloved lower castes of bugs and creepy crawly things. Yet they are all important, and each has an important place in the web of life.
Homo sapiens, is presently presiding over what is believed to be the Sixth Great Extinction. Although we have yet to reach the catastrophic levels of past extinction events, we are well on our way and showing only a few signs of abatement in our drive to subdue and conquer the earth, as we serve our ever-expanding need for food, fuel, water, and living space.
But does it really matter what we do as individuals? A society is composed of all its individuals, and their actions determine the face of that society. Most of us are working to restore the integrity of native ecosystems because we believe it is the “right” and good thing to do, and that we are “doing it for the planet.” But does it really matter? Does the planet really respect our actions? Or is it all irrelevant?
The Earth has been subjected to massive extinctions in the past, some fairly recent in geological history. The planet has always recovered, with the development of new species and a wealth of new life forms. Nature does indeed abhor a vacuum, and she apparently fills it rapidly. All of the work I am doing on my property to control invasive species and restore native plants will someday be negated by the next advance of the glacier, as unlikely as that may seem at this point in geological and meteorolical history. Of course, my landscape will probably be invaded by garlic muster, buckthorn, honeysuckle and other non-native thugs soon after my demise, unless some equally deranged and determined individual picks up where I leave off.
SO WHY RESTORE THE PLANET? DOES IT REALLY MATTER?
If one takes a long-term geological perspective, it doesn’t really matter what we do. Even if we nuke the joint, something will survive and a whole new set of life forms will evolve. Maybe the next sentient beings will be smarter than us, and actually take care of the planet.
We Restore the Earth Because It Is Good for Us!
We need a quality of life that includes clean air, clean water, trees, flowers, ferns, birds, and all the wonderful life forms with which we share the planet. We aren’t just preserving habitat and restoring native plant communities out of the goodness of our hearts – Our very economic and psychic survival depend upon it!
We have yet to fully value the economics of a healthy environment. But as the planet is further degraded, the value of high quality living spaces only increases.
THE BOTTOM LINE: Ultimately, our future landscapes will be in large part determined more by economics than ecology. This is an unfortunate consequence of the human condition. As a quality living space becomes more valuable, more value will be placed upon it. We will protect it more diligently. It will sell for a higher price. People will begin to view the natural environment more as an asset, rather than as a resource to be exploited.
All of this will most likely be precipitated by shortages of water, rather than a shortage of oil or other energy source. You can live without oil, but you cannot live without water. As the price of water increases, the incentive to conserve it will increase. We will need landscapes that do not require huge inputs of water and chemicals to sustain them. We will need to overcome our cultural taboos of “messy” natural landscapes and move beyond viewing lawns as status symbols and a rite of passage into the middle and upper classes.
Someday pride of place will belong to those with the least lawn, lowest water bill, and no chemicals in their garages. Society will value those who work to preserve our environment, rather than those who can make the most money by despoiling it. I personally cannot wait much longer for that day to come.
AT A GLANCE:
TODAY: LAWN, an ecological and economic disaster

TOMORROW: SUSTAINA LE ECOSYSTEMS, composed of native plant
communities that require little or no fertilizers, pesticides, or irrigation, o
TODAY: MONOCULTURES of mowed lawns

TOMORROW: DIVERSE ECOSYSTEMS that support a wide variety of life
TODAY: FEAR and mistrust of the natural world and its attendant organisms (bugs,
mice, snakes, etc)

TOMORROW: RE-INTEGRATION of people into nature and an understanding that
everything is connected and interdependent
WE MUST ENTER INTO A JOINT VENTURE WITH NATURE TO PRESERVE OUR PLANET AND THE SYSTEMS UPON WHICH ALL LIFE DEPENDS.

ONLY THEN WILL WE LIVE IN HARMONY WITH OUR FELLOW CREATURES ON THIS PLANET.

OUR QUALITY LIFE AND LONG-TERM SURVIVAL DEPENDS UPON THE SURVIVAL OF THE SYSTEMS AND ORGANISMS THAT SUPPORT US.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, April 26th, 2011 at 3:39 pm and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.

University of Vermont Extension
Department of Plant and Soil Science

Summer News Article
FUEL-EFFICIENT LAWNS AND LANDSCAPES
Dr. Leonard Perry, Extension Professor
University of Vermont
With the price of gasoline and natural gas on the rise, most are looking for ways to cut their costs and save energy. If you have a lawn or garden, you may not realize just how much fossil fuels you are using. By knowing where these are used, you can look for ways to reduce consumption. This will reduce your costs, and help the environment.
In a recent PPPro online newsletter Paul Tukey, editor of People, Places and Plants magazine, provides some sobering facts and helpful suggestions. Each year, a family with a one-third acre lawn will on average:
*consume five gallons of gas for mowing and trimming;
*apply the equivalent of seven gallons for fertilizing;
*burn up to five gallons for watering; and
*consume an additional gallon for cleanup.
That’s 18 gallons of fuel per household. With 120 million U.S. households, that’s the equivalent of almost 2.2 billion gallons of fuel used just for lawn care each year. This does not count other landscaping activities. So just how do we use so much?
Yale University has estimated that the United States uses more than 600 million gallons of gas to mow and trim lawns each year — about two gallons of gas for every man, woman and child, or five gallons per household. Mowers also consume engine oil in their crankcases, and two-stroke mowers consume oil in their fuel.
In addition to fuel consumption, mowers and outdoor power equipment contribute heavily to air pollution. Operating a typical (4 HP) gasoline-powered lawnmower for one hour produces as much smog-forming hydrocarbons as driving an average car between 100 and 200 miles under average conditions. Gasoline-powered string trimmers are actually more polluting than many lawn mowers. One estimate (mindfully.org) states that “the 20,000,000 small engines sold in the U.S. each year contribute about one tenth of the total U.S. mobile source hydrocarbon emissions, and are the largest single contributor to these non-road emissions.” These include power blowers, rakes, and brooms.
Creating synthetic nitrogen for fertilizers requires the heating of natural gas to combine atmospheric nitrogen and hydrogen into ammonia. The amount of natural gas required to make approximately 200 bags of lawn fertilizer would heat your home for a year. Each 40-pound bag contains the fossil-fuel equivalent of approximately 2.5 gallons of gasoline. Transporting these bags of fertilizer from the factory and to your home requires additional fuel.
According to a California study, in many areas — especially in the West, where water must be moved great distances from reservoirs — the amount of fuel needed to pump the water is at least equal to the fuel used in mowing.

So what can you do? Here are ten tips to have a “fuel-efficient” landscape.
*Use an electric or non-powered push mower. An electric mower maintaining one-third of an acre for a season consumes only $3 of electricity on average. Electric mowers are 75 percent quieter than gas mowers. Push mowers, of course, consume no fuel and make little noise.
*Similarly, use traditional hand rakes and brooms instead of power ones and blowers to save fuel, and at the same time reduce air and noise pollution. If you employ a landscape maintenance firm, encourage their use of these too. Minimize the need for string trimmers. Mulch along walks and around structures such as lamp posts to avoid having to trim weeds in these areas.
*If you have an old mower, consider replacing it. Newer small engines run much cleaner. EPA emission standards for such engines, to be in effect by 2007, are expected to reduce ground-level ozone emissions by 70 percent or 350,000 tons each year.
*Reduce the area mowed through use of groundcovers. This is especially true in areas with water shortages. Allow parts of large areas to grow, only mowing once or twice a season, creating a natural meadow. You can still mow areas near drives and homes to maintain the more formal manicured effects in such highly visible and high traffic areas.
*Save rainwater and gray water. Gray water is that water from home use, except from toilets, and can make up from 50 to 80 percent of home waste water. It comes from sinks, showers, and laundry and can be used for irrigating landscapes and lawns.
*Water deeply once per week on average, rather than frequently. Drip irrigation and mulches also conserve water. Using less water saves on energy use, whether you’re buying water that has to be pumped, or are paying an electric bill to pump your own.
*Use natural, organic fertilizers not derived from fossil fuels.
*Recycle grass clippings, mow higher and mix 5 percent clover into your lawn seed. All these help recycle nutrients back into the soil. Mulching-type mowers allow you to leave grass clippings on the lawn. If you don’t have such a mower, and remove the clippings, add them to compost or use them to mulch gardens.
*Compost all yard wastes, except for diseased plants and plant parts. They can go into compost piles, saving gasoline hauling such to landfills and recycle centers. If your landscape generates many twigs and other brush, consider buying or renting a home-size brush chipper.
*Finally, consider landscaping to reduce up to 25 percent of home energy consumption. Foundation plantings can lessen heat loss from buildings. Evergreen windbreaks can reduce heating costs in winter in windy areas. Deciduous shade trees can reduce energy needs for cooling in summer. According to the Department of Energy, only three properly placed trees may

Return to Perry's Perennial Pages, Articles

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		Gardening

		What to do with a Lawn

THIS ZONE
climate
cultivation
natural patterns
pests
lawns
seedsaving
soil
sprouting

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evolution

RESOURCES
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search

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"You can't learn much from a lawn,
but a garden has a whole world of wonders."

history

Lawns started out as grazing areas around the manors of the landed gentry. Having a nice lawn around the house was a sign of power as you owned sufficient land to raise sheep and cow.
As the industrial revolution took hold and animals were less a sign of wealth, the lawn itself became the status symbol. You could indulge yourself in sparing land and time to recreational grounds.
As people moved to the cities so did the grass, on ever smaller plots. First lawns were cut by hand and later with the mechanical lawnmower, (an automated, resource depleting, pointless cow.)
The 20th Century saw an explosion of lawn making as commercial interests produced endless grass seed, fertiliser, pesticides, mowers, spreaders and irrigation equipment whilst developers discovered they could pass off cheap ‘gardens’ by spreading 3 inches of soil over hard subsoil and laying turf on top.
Nowerdays, many lawns are rarely used and some are so covered with chemicals children have been permanently injured after walking barefoot on them.[1]

the modern lawn - a waste of resources

The modern pure grass lawn is artificial... you need effort and chemicals to maintain a monoculture.

Misuse and the inherent toxicity of standard pesticides cause short and long term poisoning, cancer and disease in people and wildlife. [a]

Extensive use and overuse of fertilisers (due to lack of restrictions) causes water pollution problems and wastes resources. [b]

Endless summer irrigation to keep lawns green wastes massive amounts of water and depletes water tables. [c]

Lawnmowers, strimmers and other lawn machinery unregulated for environmental emissions, use vast amounts of petrol and are a significant factor in urban air and noise pollution. [d]

The lawn is the worlds third agriculture. It is probable that westerners spend more person hours, energy and resources on their lawns than any agricultural resource of the third world.[8]

In the early 1990’s in the United States…

$ 25 billion a year was spent on lawn care products.
Of this,
$ 5,250 million was spent on fossil fuel-derived fertilisers and...
$ 700 million was spent on 28 million kgs of poisonous synthetic pesticides.

Meanwhile 20 million acres were planted in residential lawns
and the average city sprayed its lawns with 30 to 60 % of its fresh water supply.[2]

The lawn is a green desert. Adoption of a monoculture for a garden drastically reduces the habitats available for wildlife. Birds, bees, butterflies and other animals all begin to disappear. Often leaving an unstable ecosystem where common ‘pest’ species seem to flourish.

alternatives

Aside from keeping animals or ripping up the turf to plant trees and bushes, build vegetable beds, a pond or a greenhouse there are many things you can do to keep the same purpose of a lawn whilst adding diversity and removing chemical and mechanical dependence. (Unless the area you have is subject to heavy traffic and abuse, where turf is probably the most suitable thing to use.) If you just want somewhere to sit, try making a bench a focal point of your garden.
Lawns can be made more edible, medicinal, beautiful and nice smelling by adding low growing aromatic herbs and flowers. The plants below have been specially selected because they will tolerate at least infrequent mowings. For best results don’t cut as often or as short as a normal lawn and try to lay off for at least 3 weeks in the summer to let the taller plants flower and set seed. You could try sowing them into small gaps in the grass or better still plant them out. For low maintenance choose plants that will like your local conditions.

	lively lawns Apart from the obvious dandelions (Taraxacum officinale), daisy (Bellis perennis) and plantains (Plantago major, plantago media) which are all excellent in lawns, freely self seed, add variety and can also be eaten once you get past seeing them just as ‘weeds,’ try… White Clover, Trifolium repens: 10cm H, spreads, adds nitrogen to the soil, attracts bees and butterflies. You can eat the flowers and leaves, (bit fiddly though) Camomile, Chamaemelum nobile: 15cm H 30cm W, Plants for a future[9] recommend for smell but not for medicine, (no flowers), a cultivar called ‘Treneague’ which is low growing, spreads and will succeed if the grass is cut low and often, however you'll have to find a cutting, there are no seeds. Wild thyme, Thymus serpyllum: 10cm H 30cm W Forms spreading clumps, pink flowers attract bees in summer, drought tolerant, needs sun. High in antioxidants and an essential kitchen herb. Lemon thyme, Thymus x citiodorus: 10cm H 30cm W. Likes light well drained soil and full sun, can be planted by division. Coltsfoot, Tussilago farfara: 25cm H, spreads invasively. Tolerates shade, does well in all soils, flowers edible mar-apr, leaves appear afterwards, used for treatment of respiratory problems. Rough Hawkbit, Leontodon hispidus: 40cm H 30cm W. Similar to dandelion, prefers chalky soil, flowers all summer, attracts bees & butterflies, edible leaves most of the year.
	Salad burnet, Sanguisorba minor: 55cm H 30cm W. Prefers chalky soil and slightly longer grass, flowers May-Aug and provides edible young leaves all year round. Self Heal, Prunella vulgaris: 15cm H spreading to form clumps 30cm W. Prefers moist soil, tolerates low cutting and shade, flowers mid to late summer, attracts bees & butterflies, eaten in salads and an healing herb for cuts and wounds. Yarrow, Achillea millefolium: upto 60cm H spreads, hardy, drought resistant, good in poor soils, and a very useful medicinal herb. beautiful bulbs By lengthening the time between mowings you can also grow taller plants such as bulbs. Planted surreptitiously they are a nice surprise. All below are edible and most spread naturally. It is advisable to plant bulbs of similar flowering times together to make any lawn maintenance more straightforward. Field & Crow garlic, Allium oleraceum & A. vineale: 60cm H, 5cm W. Both almost invasive in grass if left to form bulbils in jul-aug, tolerant of mowing, leaves edible autumn to following summer. If cows eat them, their milk is tainted. Quamash, Camassia quamash: 50cm H 10cm W. Does well in short grass and under trees, flowers late spring, very edible bulbs when cooked.
	Dog's Tooth Violet, Erythronium den-canis: 15cm H 10cm W. appears in spring for a few months each year. bulbs edible raw or cooked, also try E. revoltum 'pagoda' for a bigger, version. Tassel Hyacinth, Muscari botryoides: 40cm H clumps 20cm W. Easy to grow, does well in short grass, almost invasive, 3.5cm bulbs edible, but a little bitter. Or for beauty, there are many other bulbs, such as daffodils, bluebells, crocus etc that can be planted into the lawn. wonderful wildflowers Perhaps you could turn some of your lawn into a ‘wildflower meadow’. This will attract butterflies and insects as well as bringing nature a bit closer to home. Choose a sunny position on poor soil to get the most flowers. Mow only after the seeds have set (around August) and remove the clippings to keep fertility low. Sow a mix of wild flowers into bare earth, or if grass is already established, grow in pots and plant out in Autumn or Spring, this is more work but gets better results. Most of the above taller lawn plants will do well as these edible ones below... Meadowsweet, Filipendula ulmaria: 120cm H. Likes moist rich soil non acid soils, a useful medicinal and culinary herb. Sheep sorrel, Rumex acetosella: 30cm H. prefers suny and moist spot, sharp edible salad leaves all year round. Red clover, Trifolium pratense: 60cm H. attracts butterflies, moths and bees, put round apple trees for better fruit, edible leaves, fixes nitrogen. Alternatively you could purchase a conservation wildflower mix from a local supplier, you won't be able to eat them though. For some more lawn fun see the guerrilla gardening pages. Notes [a] Many pesticides have never been adequately tested for toxicity to humans or wildlife. According to the National Coalition Against the Misuse of Pesticides, 13 of the most commonly used lawn care pesticides can cause cancer, 14 can cause birth defects, 21 can damage the nervous system, 15 can injure the liver or kidney, and 30 are sensitizers or irritants. [3] The pesticide MCPA, used as an ingredient is some lawn pesticides, has been found to damage the blood brain barrier which protects against neurological illness.[4] Organophosphate pesticides have been shown to cause memory loss and short attention spans.[5] Other studies have linked long term pesticide use with prostate[6], brain and lung cancer.[7] It is estimated that each year in the US, 67 million birds are poisoned by legally used pesticides.[3] Pesticides are often misused especially by homeowners, increasing the risks. [b] Fertiliser is often over applied, causing runoff problems in nearby watercourses, as well as the obvious waste of fossil fuels in its manufacture and transport. [c] It is estimated that 44% of domestic water consumption in California is used for lawns[8] In many areas ground water tables are being depleted. [d] The manufacture of garden machinery uses energy, depletes resources and creates pollution as do the engine fumes or the power plants producing the electricity they run on. In the early 90’s it was estimated that 580,000,000 gallons of petrol were used to run lawnmowers in the US every year.[2] References [1] The Pesticide Scandal, Sayan, Kathyrne, Family Circle 2 April 1991. [2] Redesigning the American Lawn, F. Herbert Bormann, Diana Balmori, Gordon T. Geballe, Yale University Press, 1993 [3] Spring, 1997 edition of The Arlington Environment, Volume Four, Number Four [4] Toxicology and Applied Pharmacology, 65:23, 1982 [5] Annual Reviews in Public Health, 7:461, 1986 [6] Occupational Environmental Medicine, 56(1):14-21, 1999 [7] Journal of the National Cancer Institute, 71(1), July 1983 [8] Permaculture a designers manual, Bill Mollison, Tagari publications, 1988. [9] Plants for a future- edible and useful plants for a healthier world, Ken Fern, Permanent publications, 1997.

home . sitemap . search . contact us . top

		Gardening

		What to do with a Lawn

THIS ZONE
climate
cultivation
natural patterns
pests
lawns
seedsaving
soil
sprouting

THE SITE
home
news
monocult
actions
evolution

RESOURCES
sitemap
books
links
search

US
contact us
our aims
logo/banner

"You can't learn much from a lawn,
but a garden has a whole world of wonders."

history

the modern lawn - a waste of resources

The modern pure grass lawn is artificial... you need effort and chemicals to maintain a monoculture.

Misuse and the inherent toxicity of standard pesticides cause short and long term poisoning, cancer and disease in people and wildlife. [a]

Extensive use and overuse of fertilisers (due to lack of restrictions) causes water pollution problems and wastes resources. [b]

Endless summer irrigation to keep lawns green wastes massive amounts of water and depletes water tables. [c]

Lawnmowers, strimmers and other lawn machinery unregulated for environmental emissions, use vast amounts of petrol and are a significant factor in urban air and noise pollution. [d]

The lawn is the worlds third agriculture. It is probable that westerners spend more person hours, energy and resources on their lawns than any agricultural resource of the third world.[8]

alternatives

	lively lawns Apart from the obvious dandelions (Taraxacum officinale), daisy (Bellis perennis) and plantains (Plantago major, plantago media) which are all excellent in lawns, freely self seed, add variety and can also be eaten once you get past seeing them just as ‘weeds,’ try… White Clover, Trifolium repens: 10cm H, spreads, adds nitrogen to the soil, attracts bees and butterflies. You can eat the flowers and leaves, (bit fiddly though) Camomile, Chamaemelum nobile: 15cm H 30cm W, Plants for a future[9] recommend for smell but not for medicine, (no flowers), a cultivar called ‘Treneague’ which is low growing, spreads and will succeed if the grass is cut low and often, however you'll have to find a cutting, there are no seeds. Wild thyme, Thymus serpyllum: 10cm H 30cm W Forms spreading clumps, pink flowers attract bees in summer, drought tolerant, needs sun. High in antioxidants and an essential kitchen herb. Lemon thyme, Thymus x citiodorus: 10cm H 30cm W. Likes light well drained soil and full sun, can be planted by division. Coltsfoot, Tussilago farfara: 25cm H, spreads invasively. Tolerates shade, does well in all soils, flowers edible mar-apr, leaves appear afterwards, used for treatment of respiratory problems. Rough Hawkbit, Leontodon hispidus: 40cm H 30cm W. Similar to dandelion, prefers chalky soil, flowers all summer, attracts bees & butterflies, edible leaves most of the year.
	Salad burnet, Sanguisorba minor: 55cm H 30cm W. Prefers chalky soil and slightly longer grass, flowers May-Aug and provides edible young leaves all year round. Self Heal, Prunella vulgaris: 15cm H spreading to form clumps 30cm W. Prefers moist soil, tolerates low cutting and shade, flowers mid to late summer, attracts bees & butterflies, eaten in salads and an healing herb for cuts and wounds. Yarrow, Achillea millefolium: upto 60cm H spreads, hardy, drought resistant, good in poor soils, and a very useful medicinal herb. beautiful bulbs By lengthening the time between mowings you can also grow taller plants such as bulbs. Planted surreptitiously they are a nice surprise. All below are edible and most spread naturally. It is advisable to plant bulbs of similar flowering times together to make any lawn maintenance more straightforward. Field & Crow garlic, Allium oleraceum & A. vineale: 60cm H, 5cm W. Both almost invasive in grass if left to form bulbils in jul-aug, tolerant of mowing, leaves edible autumn to following summer. If cows eat them, their milk is tainted. Quamash, Camassia quamash: 50cm H 10cm W. Does well in short grass and under trees, flowers late spring, very edible bulbs when cooked.
	Dog's Tooth Violet, Erythronium den-canis: 15cm H 10cm W. appears in spring for a few months each year. bulbs edible raw or cooked, also try E. revoltum 'pagoda' for a bigger, version. Tassel Hyacinth, Muscari botryoides: 40cm H clumps 20cm W. Easy to grow, does well in short grass, almost invasive, 3.5cm bulbs edible, but a little bitter. Or for beauty, there are many other bulbs, such as daffodils, bluebells, crocus etc that can be planted into the lawn. wonderful wildflowers Perhaps you could turn some of your lawn into a ‘wildflower meadow’. This will attract butterflies and insects as well as bringing nature a bit closer to home. Choose a sunny position on poor soil to get the most flowers. Mow only after the seeds have set (around August) and remove the clippings to keep fertility low. Sow a mix of wild flowers into bare earth, or if grass is already established, grow in pots and plant out in Autumn or Spring, this is more work but gets better results. Most of the above taller lawn plants will do well as these edible ones below... Meadowsweet, Filipendula ulmaria: 120cm H. Likes moist rich soil non acid soils, a useful medicinal and culinary herb. Sheep sorrel, Rumex acetosella: 30cm H. prefers suny and moist spot, sharp edible salad leaves all year round. Red clover, Trifolium pratense: 60cm H. attracts butterflies, moths and bees, put round apple trees for better fruit, edible leaves, fixes nitrogen. Alternatively you could purchase a conservation wildflower mix from a local supplier, you won't be able to eat them though. For some more lawn fun see the guerrilla gardening pages. Notes [a] Many pesticides have never been adequately tested for toxicity to humans or wildlife. According to the National Coalition Against the Misuse of Pesticides, 13 of the most commonly used lawn care pesticides can cause cancer, 14 can cause birth defects, 21 can damage the nervous system, 15 can injure the liver or kidney, and 30 are sensitizers or irritants. [3] The pesticide MCPA, used as an ingredient is some lawn pesticides, has been found to damage the blood brain barrier which protects against neurological illness.[4] Organophosphate pesticides have been shown to cause memory loss and short attention spans.[5] Other studies have linked long term pesticide use with prostate[6], brain and lung cancer.[7] It is estimated that each year in the US, 67 million birds are poisoned by legally used pesticides.[3] Pesticides are often misused especially by homeowners, increasing the risks. [b] Fertiliser is often over applied, causing runoff problems in nearby watercourses, as well as the obvious waste of fossil fuels in its manufacture and transport. [c] It is estimated that 44% of domestic water consumption in California is used for lawns[8] In many areas ground water tables are being depleted. [d] The manufacture of garden machinery uses energy, depletes resources and creates pollution as do the engine fumes or the power plants producing the electricity they run on. In the early 90’s it was estimated that 580,000,000 gallons of petrol were used to run lawnmowers in the US every year.[2] References [1] The Pesticide Scandal, Sayan, Kathyrne, Family Circle 2 April 1991. [2] Redesigning the American Lawn, F. Herbert Bormann, Diana Balmori, Gordon T. Geballe, Yale University Press, 1993 [3] Spring, 1997 edition of The Arlington Environment, Volume Four, Number Four [4] Toxicology and Applied Pharmacology, 65:23, 1982 [5] Annual Reviews in Public Health, 7:461, 1986 [6] Occupational Environmental Medicine, 56(1):14-21, 1999 [7] Journal of the National Cancer Institute, 71(1), July 1983 [8] Permaculture a designers manual, Bill Mollison, Tagari publications, 1988. [9] Plants for a future- edible and useful plants for a healthier world, Ken Fern, Permanent publications, 1997.

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Next week's shortakes on public-access television previewed on You Tube: See link below

2011-08-12T22:18:00.002-05:00

Mayor Lioneld Jordan of Fayetteville AR presents certificate of recognition to Doug Bryson, manager of Pinnacle Foods Inc., for years of protecting the neighborhood's largest remaining remnant of native wet prairie on August 5, 2011

2011-08-05T16:34:00.001-05:00

Please click on image to ENLARGE.

For thousands more photos from Pinnacle Wet Prairie, including some from this event at the bottom, please click Flickr link.
For more than 800 photos made July 4, 2011, at Pinnacle wet prairie, please see Flick set.
For direct links to You Tube videos from Aug. 5, 2011, at Pinnacle Foods, please click on You Tube link.

Please click on individual images to ENLARGE. Click on enlargement for even closer view.

Doug Bryson and Lioneld Jordan

Recognition of Pinnacle Foods Inc's. significance to Fayetteville

Fayetteville Council of Neighborhoods meeting July 28, 2011, video

2011-08-05T10:51:00.001-05:00

Watering at night keeps a few things blooming at World Peace Wetland Prairie

2011-08-02T11:51:00.003-05:00

Wasps enjoy blue fennel on August, 2, 2011

Please click on individual images to ENLARGE. Click on enlargement for even closer view.

Wasp on Blue Fennel at World Peace Wetland Prairie peace circle

Swallowtail on Phlox

Two species of skipper moths on basketflower

Swallowtail on Phlox

Clearwing moth resting before beginning day's work

Two five-minute nature videos recorded on 28 July 2011 to be run on Fayetteville Public Television from Monday, August 1, 2011, through Friday, August 5, 2011

2011-07-30T21:02:00.000-05:00

Neighbors of National Cemetery object to rezoning that will allow large buildings next to Fayetteville National Cemetery

2011-07-21T05:38:00.000-05:00

Council rezones sale-barn property: Iraqi students attend to see U.S. citizens participating in government

2011-07-20T14:35:00.002-05:00

Please click on individual images to ENLARGE. Click on enlargement for even closer view of people at the July 19, 2011, meeting of the Fayetteville City Council. Most of the people standing are Iraqi students from the University of Arkansas who are participating in the Spring International program at the UA.

Veteran speaks about threat of big buildings and dense population near Fayetteville National Cemetery

2011-07-16T18:29:00.002-05:00

Planning Commission passes the sale-barn rezoning to the City Council at June 27 meeting despite comments of neighbors and veterans

2011-07-08T11:39:00.000-05:00

Fayetteville Council of Neighborhoods meeting of June 30, 2011, includes discussion of some Town Branch Neighborhood issues such as sale-barn rezoning as well as those of several other neighborhoods in the city

2011-07-07T21:17:00.001-05:00

Video of slide show to run June 27-July 1, 2011, on Fayetteville Public Television

2011-06-24T21:25:00.000-05:00

Shortakes recorded Monday, June 13, 2011, to run June 20-24, 2011, on Public Access Television at 218 on Cox Cable and U-verse 99 on AT&T as well as simulcast on the Your Media Web site

2011-06-17T17:25:00.002-05:00

Threat to National Cemetery looms large again: Sale-barn owner requests rezoning to Community Services

2011-06-15T18:01:00.002-05:00

Please click on individual images to ENLARGE for easy reading. Click on first enlargement to show even larger view.

May 16, 2011, Ward 4 meeting in Fayetteville, Arkansas, includes discussion of upcoming City Council consideration of the 2030 master plan

2011-06-04T20:25:00.000-05:00

Council of Neighborhoods spearheads collection of a huge truckload of supplies for Joplin storm victims over the past week and meets to hear report on City Plan 2030 and hear comments on UA plan to cut a construction road through Old Main lawn and grove of old trees

2011-06-02T20:21:00.000-05:00

Old Main lawn threatened by construction road plus flooding photos from Town Branch neighborhood of Fayetteville, Arkansas

2011-06-01T20:04:00.002-05:00

Fayetteville city governent shares SEVERE WEATHER WARNING

2011-05-24T17:07:00.002-05:00

Hazardous Weather Expected in Northwest Arkansas Tonight

The National Weather Service out of Tulsa, Oklahoma, has issued a hazardous weather outlook for Northwest and West Central Arkansas, as well as much of Eastern Oklahoma. The City of Fayetteville asks that you consider these alerts seriously and make needed safety precautions.

A widespread severe weather episode is expected this afternoon and evening across eastern Oklahoma and Northwest Arkansas. The developing weather pattern is highly favorable for long track supercells capable of strong tornadoes, large hail, and winds in excess of 70 mph. These storms will develop across central Oklahoma late this afternoon and spread eastward during the evening. By late this afternoon a strong upper level system will be moving out of the southwest U.S. with an unstable airmass in place over much of Central and Eastern Oklahoma. Scattered thunderstorms are expected to develop along the dry line in Central Oklahoma late this afternoon and become severe very quickly.

Storms will increase in coverage through the evening as they move into Northwest Arkansas with the threat of widespread damaging severe weather continuing late into the evening. In addition, dangerous flooding remains ongoing over parts of Northeast Oklahoma and Northwest Arkansas due to heavy rainfall Monday. Any additional significant rain will only enhance the flooding issues. Below are emergency procedures in the event of a tornado:

If you are in a structure:
Go to a pre-designated shelter area such as a safe room, basement, storm cellar, or the lowest building level. If there is no basement, go to the center of an interior room on the lowest level (closet, interior hallway) away from corners, windows, doors, and outside walls. Put as many walls as possible between you and the outside. Get under a sturdy table and use your arms to protect your head and neck. Do not open windows.

If you are in a vehicle or mobile home:
Get out immediately and go to the lowest floor of a sturdy, nearby building or a storm shelter. Mobile homes, even if tied down, offer little protection from tornadoes.

If you are outside with no shelter:

Lie flat in a nearby ditch or depression and cover your head with your hands. Be aware of the potential for flooding. Do not get under an overpass or bridge. You are safer in a low, flat location. Never try to outrun a tornado in urban or congested areas in a car or truck. Instead, leave the vehicle immediately for safer shelter. Watch out for flying debris. Flying debris from tornadoes causes most fatalities and injuries. For additional information, please see information from the Federal Emergency Management Association on tornadoes at http://www.fema.gov/hazard/tornado/index.shtm.

Fema workers walked Town Branch neighborhood on May 19, 2011, to invite residents to apply for federal help if their property was damaged by recent storms and flooding

2011-05-20T10:48:00.001-05:00

Please click on individual images to ENLARGE. And don't be shy about telling the FEMA folk as much as possible about any storm damage your property may have sustained. Your information also should be reported to city officials to help them plan for future similar disasters. See direct links to FEMA information site at bottom of this post.

Check Your Application Status

Are You Ready?

Download Are You Ready? (PDF) An In-depth Guide to Citizen Preparedness.
Download plug-in
Adobe Acrobat

What is DisasterAssistance.gov?

Provides disaster assistance information from the U.S. Government.
Details over 60 different forms of assistance from 17 federal agencies.
Reduces the number of forms to file and shortens the time to apply.

Karen Rollet-Crocker to present program on landscaping with native plants at 5:30 p.m. today at her home on Mount Sequoyah

2011-05-10T10:57:00.002-05:00

Landscaping with Native Plants

Native plants in a landscape help preserve our Ozark identity, provide food for our birds and insects and are well suited to our soils and climate. Karen Rollet Crocker, recently retired UA professor of landscape architecture, invites us to see how she is using native plants in her home landscape and to hear what she has learned during her years of designing gardens for others, including the native landscape for Compton Gardens and the heritage gardens at Peel Mansion, both in Bentonville.

Crocker’s talk and demonstration on landscaping with native plants is scheduled for Tuesday, May 10 at 5:30 p.m. at 951 N. Pembroke Road in Fayetteville . The rain date is Tuesday, May 17 at the same time.

Directions: from Mission Blvd (45) go up the hill on Rockwood Trail (.6 mi). At the top turn left on Pembroke and go to the first corner on the left side (west side).

Attendees who want starts of native plants are invited to bring a couple of small pots with soil in which to take them home.

The event is free and open to the public. It is sponsored by the Fayetteville Tree and Landscape Advisory Committee. For information, call 871-7023.

View Larger Map

Tuesday, May 10, 2011
Landscaping with Native Plants
Community Events
Time: 5:30 PM
Location: 951 N. Pembroke Road, Fayetteville
Landscape Architecture Professor Karen Rollet Crocker

Contact: Fayetteville Tree and Landscape Advisory Committee
Phone: 479-871-7023

Doug Tallamy tells us about 'Bringing Nature Home' to provide habitat for wildlife

2011-05-05T13:02:00.001-05:00

Please click on individual images too ENLARGE for easy reading.

Leif Kindberg posts flood photos around his house on South Ellis Avenue on his Facebook page

2011-04-26T12:22:00.000-05:00

Please click on image to ENLARGE.

Betty Boudrey walks her dog on the Pinnacle Prairie Trail

2011-04-20T09:39:00.000-05:00

Please click on individual images to ENLARGE.

Invitation to attend Earth Day 2011 at World Peace Wetland Prairie and share your information on environmental and natural-resource conservation

2011-04-15T23:36:00.002-05:00

Please click on image to ENLARGE view of Donna Stjerna and Kelly Mullholan's poster for Earth Day 2011 at World Peace Wetland Prairie.

World Peace Wetland Prairie EARTH DAY 2010 VIDEO
Flickr collection of sets of photos from World Peace Wetland Prairie
World Peace Wetland Prairie blog
World Peace Wetland Prairie.com
Aubrey's photos at flickr.com

2000-2005 archive of stories and photos related to creation of WPWP: www.aubunique.com

Please use link below the map to see larger view of the WPWP area, which also allows a person to travel the world by 'Google AIR' by simply using the cursor to move in any direction or search for other addresses.

View World Peace Wetland Prairie in a larger map

Shortakes to run April 11-15, 2011, on Fayetteville public-access television, channel 218 on Cox Cable

2011-04-10T15:48:00.003-05:00

Video running this week (11 a.m., 5 p.m. and 11 p.m. Monday through Friday on Fayetteville public-access television

2011-04-04T23:12:00.001-05:00

2008 late March video of kids at WPWP and box turtle rescued from water bowl and central flow area thicket of World Peace Wetland Area with valuable native honeysuckle

2011-04-01T20:26:00.004-05:00

2005 November 27 to December 4 video

2011-03-30T08:55:00.000-05:00

Tour Hank Kaminsky's studio open this afternoon and shop with 10 percent off on art of every kind: Classiest business in the Town Branch Neighborhood

2011-03-26T14:50:00.002-05:00

Please click on image to ENLARGE view of Village Sculptor studio and workshop on South Government Avenue near the Fayetteville National Cemetery.

Hank Kaminsky's art sale at his Village Sculptor studio workshop on Government Avenue between MLK and the Fayetteville National Cemetery late morning and most of the afternoon today. Bargains on extraordinary pieces of local sculpture and jewelry.
Free coffee and a free tour of the workshop where some of Fayetteville's finest public art has been created.

20-29 January 2006 video from South Fayetteville

2011-03-23T12:06:00.002-05:00

February 9-10, 2006, video of City Engineer visiting S. Duncan Avenue and listening to neighbors as stream of trucks manuevers between parked cars

2011-03-22T11:41:00.000-05:00

Daffodils varied and plentiful at World Peace Wetland Prairie this week

2011-03-21T10:49:00.002-05:00

Please click on image to ENLARGE.

Parade of dump trucks January 18-19, 2006

2011-03-19T09:07:00.000-05:00

March 17, 2011, video on Community Access Television with Aubrey Shepherd's photos from Fayetteville's two-river watershed

2011-03-18T20:53:00.004-05:00

2006 video features destruction to put a sewer line under 11th Street and through culvert and blockage of South Duncan Avenue by dump trucks and a small confrontation between neighbors and truckers

2011-03-18T15:26:00.000-05:00

Why we don't count on public education to save our world or even our neighborhood children and certainly not our streamsides

2011-03-16T22:18:00.002-05:00

Aspen Ridge developers have a party to sell condos or town houses that never would be built in the neighborhood

2011-03-11T23:07:00.003-06:00

Council of Neighborhoods has a quorum after 4 months with less than 6 neighborhood representatives attending: Town Branch represented and upcoming event noted

2011-03-05T22:10:00.000-06:00

Night before Streamside Ordinance was passed by City Council, it was discussed during Ward 4 meeting

2011-03-05T09:30:00.000-06:00

Help protect our watershed as the City Council considers the very ordinance our neighbors needed years ago!

2011-02-27T08:13:00.001-06:00

Support Streamside Protection!

See it through to the end! The Council still needs to hear from you.

Protecting streams makes economic sense!

Here is your chance to make a difference!

What?

Read about it here: http://www.accessfayetteville.org/government/strategic_planning/projects/Streamside_Protection_Ordinance.cfm

What is a riparian zone?

The Streamside Protection Ordinance establishes a list of land uses that help to establish riparian buffer zones. A riparian buffer zone is an area of trees, shrubs, and other vegetation adjoining and upgradient of streams and other surface water bodies. It intercepts surface runoff, subsurface flow, and deeper ground water flows and thereby buffers the effects of nutrients, sediment, organic matter, pesticides or other pollutants before they enter a stream (Welsch, 1991).

Actions you (and your friends) can take to make this succeed:

•Attend: 6:00pm on March 1^st at City Hall on Mountain Street in Fayetteville, AR. This will be the third reading!

•Email the City Council members. Use city_clerk@ci.fayetteville.ar.us and ask that your message be forwarded to the Council members and to Mayor Jordan. The mayor supports this and is a sponsor.

•Call the Council Members. A list of email and phone numbers is at; http://www.accessfayetteville.org/government/city_council/index.cfm

Reasons to act:

•Creates a vegetative buffer along streams which holds soil in place and reduces pollutants.

•Less expensive than mechanically stabilizing banks.

•It protects our drinking water and our recreational areas.

•Our vegetated streams are beautiful and preferable to cemented ditches that can result from not protecting streambanks with vegetation.

•Other communities around the country are doing this, as well, because they see the economic (social, environmental, and financial) value of protecting riparian zones.

Estimated increased property values as a result of riparian buffer vegetation on a property was $1,400 to $1,625 per property (Qui et al., 2006).
It costs $250/linear foot to restore streams and their banks (City of Fayetteville cost history).
Riparian areas can reduce the nitrogen concentration in water runoff and floodwater by up to 90 percent and reduce the phosphorous concentration by as much as 50 percent (NSF, 2006).

•There is opposition to this. The Council needs to hear your voices louder and clearer. This protects property. It limits activities in areas along streams in order to prevent pollution and erosion that we all pay for eventually.

This citizen-driven initiative is before us for the third time. We need to see it through to the finish! We've worked very hard together. Please help it succeed. If you have already contacted the Council it is acceptable and even ENCOURAGED to write, call, or come speak up again!

Thank you very much for all you have already done and for all you do for this community.

Stop sign finally put up to replace the one stolen weeks ago from the intersection of 11th Street and South Duncan Avenue where Bacardi Avenue exits the Hill Place student-apartment complex

2011-02-26T13:46:00.003-06:00

Please click on individual images to ENLARGE view east on 11th Street toward Hill Avenue with South Duncan Avenue at right in top photo and northwest on Bacardi Avenue in the second photo. The post standing in the median had a Bacardi Avenue sign for part of 2009 and 2010, but it was stolen many months ago. The sign company, assuming it was the same contractor that put up the stop sign in 2009, should have replaced the street-name sign as well. But the neighbors expected the privately built street through the development to be named Duncan all the way up to MLK Jr. Boulevard but the entry from MLK (formerly 6th Street) was named Royal Oak Drive in honor of the ancient oak in the median at MLK but removed because it died once its roots were damaged by the street construction, so no one has complained about the Bacardi sign being gone, apparently. The intersection remains dangerous and confusing to motorists. The third photo is from 2003, when S. Duncan Ave. led into Don Hoodenpyle's driveway entry where it offered a left turn into an offset extension of 11th Street into a mobile-home park from which the residents were being forced out in favor of the later-to-fail Aspen Ridge project. The fourth, bottom, photo shows same view today. Residents of the Town Branch Neighborhood objected to allowing the developers to build the streets in the Hill Place project to less-than-city standard and to remain private property. But the plan went ahead, which makes enforcing traffic rules inside the 28-acre site difficult for the police.

2011-02-10T23:41:00.004-06:00

Friends don't illegally tow friends on sleds

2011-02-09T15:37:00.000-06:00

April 20, 2010, video clip of passage of low-impact development ordinance by Fayetteville Council after public and council comments

2011-01-29T11:17:00.001-06:00

Excellent plan completed in 2005 could have reduced flooding in the Town Branch Neighborhood, but it was rejected by growth-oriented officials of the University of Arkansas and now school officials are expanding Fayetteville High School in a way that may make the problem worse

2011-01-23T11:34:00.002-06:00

Please click on individual images to ENLARGE view of sample pages of the plan prepared at considerable expense by cooperating organizations. Several good plans were drawn but ignored.

The main reason for the downstream flooding is apparent in the photos below illustrating how much water rushes down the campus tributary of the Town Branch of the West Fork of the White River.

The solution is to remove parking lot 56 and use the absorbent soil that, before paving and construction, allowed runoff to soak into the ground where is fell.

The total-marsh concept was the one that could have made the most difference. But restoring a large former prairie to something like its previous watershed-protecting state wasn't on the UA plan.

The UA provided much of the expertise that went into the planning process, but the UA athletic department destroyed the existing housing and built more athletic facilities and parking spaces in the area, preserving only a portion of the land for tailgating parties and protecting some absorbent soil but maintaining it as lawn rather than encouraging native wetland plants to help cleanse runoff and decrease runoff. Adjacent street and most surface runoff from the hills to the east, west and north continues to be piped directly into the Town Branch. Beaver Lake, Northwest Arkansas' main source of drinking water, is the final recipient of that unfiltered water.
For a copy of the whole plan as a book or on a CD, contact the University of Arkansas' Community Design Center.

Earth Day to May 2, 2005, video includes local-food advice from an expert, sponsored by OMNI Center

2011-01-22T23:59:00.001-06:00

Dick Bennett's review of American Wars follows Aubrey James Shepherd's nature photo video on You Tube

2011-01-21T21:58:00.000-06:00

13 January 2011, video featuring Aubrey James Shepherd 2010 summer tall-grass flowers and other native flowers from World Peace Wetland Prairie and Pinnacle Foods Inc. wet prairie

2011-01-21T19:57:00.000-06:00

3 Jan 2011, Aubrey James Shepherd video of a barred owl and poor construction stormwater management in Fayetteville, Arkansas

2011-01-21T18:41:00.001-06:00

Uncut native grass and wildflower seeds draw a variety of sparrows and many other seed-eating species to WPWP peace circle and butterfly gardens on snowy January 20, 2011

2011-01-20T18:58:00.003-06:00

Please click on individual images to enlarge view of scenes from WPWP on January 20, 2011.

March 30 to April 13, 2007 video of water & sewer work on South Duncan Avenue and other outdoor activities in Fayetteville, Arkansas

2011-01-20T15:25:00.000-06:00

March 22-26, 2006, video of life at the intersection of 11th Street and South Duncan Avenue

2011-01-16T17:23:00.000-06:00

WPWP dec21. 2007

2011-01-16T01:16:00.001-06:00

2007 Springfest and Earth Day video by Aubrey James Shepherd

2011-01-15T14:41:00.002-06:00

September 18, 2006, video of eroded fill dirt washing off the Aspen Ridge (now Hill Place) construction site at 11th Street and South Duncan Avenue

2011-01-14T18:46:00.001-06:00

August 1-3, 2005, video from the Town Branch Neighborhood

2011-01-10T23:18:00.000-06:00

Fayetteville's Environmental Action Committee working to encourage more people to improve urban wildlife habitat

2011-01-10T21:36:00.002-06:00

Fletcher Wildlife garden similar to World Peace Wetland Prairie: a model for people who want to improve urban wildlife habitat.

Video from January 2, 2005, featuring a walk on prairie and wooded wetland acreage now dredged and filled and paved and roofed over by Hill Place Apartment complex southwest of intersection of MLK Jr Blvd. and S. Hill Avenue in south Fayetteville, Arkansas

2011-01-09T17:40:00.000-06:00

27 August to 1 September 2006 video as rain slows on north lot that now is city parkland adjacent to World Peace Wetland Prairie

2011-01-08T16:41:00.000-06:00

2008 or 2009 Arkansas Highway and Transportation dredges native plants out of ditch on north edge of 15th Street (Arkansas 16) in Fayetteville AR

2011-01-07T22:17:00.002-06:00

August 24, 2007: Video of Town Branch neighbors meeting with city council members, Hank Broyles and others to walk the failed Aspen Ridge site and discuss Broyle's request to renew and extend time limit to complete the previously approved PZD

2011-01-07T18:31:00.001-06:00

January 3-4, 2005, video of changes on land adjacent to World Peace Wetland Prairie

2011-01-06T09:17:00.002-06:00

Title wrong on screen. This is actually from January 2005.

Pinnacle Prairie video from 2005, before wide swath was dredged out to accommodate road for developers of Aspen Ridge

2011-01-05T19:00:00.001-06:00

August 27, 2005, video includes land being cleared and leveled for construction of Aspen Ridge Townhouses, which never happened

2011-01-05T14:48:00.000-06:00

2006 video mostly from the neighborhood and a bit from senior center

2011-01-04T16:05:00.003-06:00

Minutes of November 2010 meeting of RNCIC plus announcement of upcoming meeting January 8, 2011

2011-01-02T14:35:00.002-06:00

REGIONAL NATIONAL CEMETERY IMPROVEMENT CORPORATION

PO Box 4221
Fayetteville, AR 72702

Vice-President Ron Butler called the meeting to order at 10:30.

Recited Pledge of Allegiance

Harold Crivello offered the prayer

OLD BUSINESS

1. Beverly Swaim moved, 2nd Harold Crivello the approval of the minutes. Minutes approved.

2. The Financial Statement was presented and an update on all donations given. Beverly Swaim moved 2nd Lorna Sterrett approval of the statement as presented. Motion passed.

3. Jeremy Johnson with UA student Veterans will be helping distribute brochures at Chili’s.

4. Discussed 5K run fundraiser. Beverly Swaim reported on donations for “goody bags”. Ron Butler reported recruiters are also donating items for the goody bags. Wesley Stites reviewed race day needs: registration help, 3-4 people, water point setup/support, 3 6’ tables and chairs for tables, driver for pickup of stragglers.

NEW BUSINESS

1. No new business presented.

ANNOUNCEMENTS

1. Everyone please take a few minutes to write a letter to the editor regarding the cemetery. Bring copies of your letter to the next meeting. IF WE DON’T DO THIS, WE WILL BE IN THE SAME SHAPE NEXT YEAR.

2. The VSO office is located on the County South Campus close to the jail. Everyone feel free to stop by and see the new location. They are there to help all veterans

3. Memorial Day 2011 planning meeting will be held Saturday, October 16th at 10:00 a.m. at the AL.

The meeting was adjourned at 11:35 a.m.

Respectfully submitted,

Peggy McClain, Secretary

NEXT MEETING Jan 8, 2011 10:30 a.m. at the Fayetteville American Legion Post 27

Bob Estes comes to Town Branch neighborhood meeting for second time in quest for approval of student apartments next to Fayetteville National Cemetery

2010-12-29T00:39:00.001-06:00

Trees cut down and burned behind house on S. Hill Avenue

2010-12-18T12:26:00.000-06:00

Please click on image to ENLARGE.

June 29, 2010, look back to instances of flooding of Town Branch over 11th Street between Hill Avenue and Duncan Avenue in slide show of nature photos on Cable Access Television in Fayetteville, Arkansas

2010-11-30T15:10:00.001-06:00

June 29 shortakes Aubrey James Shepherd for July 5-10 on CAT 18

Aubrey james | Myspace Video

A few faces from Hank Kaminsky's studio open house on November 27, 2010

2010-11-27T20:24:00.004-06:00

Please click on image to ENLARGE view of scenes from Hank Kaminisky's open-studio day. Kaminisky's studio is on South Government Avenue south of MLK JR. BLVD. and only a couple of hundred feet north of the Fayetteville National Cemetery. JoAnn Kamininski's Art Experience teaching studio is on the south side of MLK immediately east of Brenda's Bigger Burger.

Cox Cable changes of interest to viewers of Fayetteville's public channels

2010-11-21T20:07:00.002-06:00

aubunique: Fayetteville, Arkansas, and Charleston, South Caro...

2010-11-10T09:11:00.000-06:00

aubunique: Fayetteville, Arkansas, and Charleston, South Caro...: "The Home Depot Foundation Tackles Cities’ Sustainability Challenges with Innovative Program Two Cities Selected for $1 Million Invest..."

aubunique: Please fill out online survey of opinion of perfor...

2010-11-09T20:50:00.000-06:00

aubunique: Please fill out online survey of opinion of perfor...: "Greetings Everyone! CAT Performance Survey 2010 As we reach the end of 2010, Community Access Television (CAT) requests the favor of yo..."

Cox Cable pulls surprise on city of Fayetteville, Arkansas, with plan to move public-access, government channel and educational channel to EXPENSIVE digital tier of channels: So much for open government when thousands of people will not be able to afford access to the public channels

2010-11-08T20:55:00.002-06:00

Please click on image to ENLARGE view of Cox Cable advertisement in recent issue of The Northwest Arkansas Times.

For several years I have been able to turn away phone and online salesmen wanting me to take the satellite systems and later the Uverse TV system of AT&T.
But now Cox has set up a situation that will require me to drop their service and take the Uverse, which will automatically cut my cost because I have AT&T phone service already.
Cox has one thing the others don't have: The local public stations at minimal cost.
This is the time for the city administration to begin negotiating with COX. This is a draconian measure that will hurt COX in the long run.

Aerial photo of neighborhood shows pre-2009 reality with route of November 13, 2010, Veterans Memorial 5K Race marked

2010-11-07T16:04:00.001-06:00

Town Branch Neighborhood Aerial photo map from Google.
For information and online entry form for Veterans 5K, please see National Cemetery www.gmap-pedometer.com/?r=4088793.

Fran Deane Alexander says native plants important part of protection of Beaver Lake and Illinois River watersheds from pollution and for abatement of flooding of downstream property: Aubrey Shepherd agrees and stresses fact that riparian-zone protection ordinance will benefit all who own property or live near streams

2010-11-01T12:02:00.002-05:00

Classic mistakes of incumbent office-holders: Send out state road crew to block traffic to destroy road surface while preparing surface for repaving before winter and really irritate voters on way to work or to vote early

2010-10-27T22:59:00.001-05:00

Please click on image of road machine roughing the surface to prepare for new thin layers of blacktop to create illusion of doing something for politicians' constituents.

Please click on image above to see asphalt goop on verge of washing into 15th Street stormdrain and polluting the Town Branch of the West Fork of the White River.

Town Branch Neighborhood—Fayetteville, Ark

Town Branch neighborhood loses another of its heroes

Short takes on Cox 218 and AT&T channel 99 something for today through the weekend

Park board hears comments on value of preserving soil and native plants on proposed construction site on Rochier Hill west of Pinnacle Prairie and World Peace Wetland Prairie

KUM & Go store official tells city council project has to be done their way or the plan to put a store at MLK Jr Blvd. and S. Hill Avenue will not be done

December 20, 2011, meeting of Fayetteville AR city council draws comment on several important local issues on a 3-hour, 37-minute video

Kaminsky family art and craft sale Saturday, December, 10, 2011,

November 14, 2011, quarterly Mayor's Town Hall meeting video

Nature photos on next week's video include frost flowers from this week and last year

Council of Neighborhoods' meeting November 17, 2011 video

Planning Commission hears presentations on Kum & Go stores and Campus Crest (The Grove) apartment plans a well as proposed rezoning of Hollywood Prairie, a parcel listed on the Enduring Green Network endorsed by the City Council two years ago

High water after rain in Northwest Arkansas as seen at confluence of West Fork of the White River and the Town Branch of the West Fork

Breakfast burritos at Pop's Barbecue

October 27, 2011, meeting of Fayetteville Council of Neighborhoods includes election of 2012 officers and announcement of upcoming Veterans' Memorial 5K race on Nov. 12 starting and ending at the National Cemetery in the Town Branch Neighborhood

University of Arkansas engineering students spend their 'Make a Difference Day' removing debris downstream from campus

Current and future service members in the National Cemetery deserve better than four-story apartments along the eastern edge

Fayetteville Council of Neighborhoods hears explanation of need to protect city services by voting for renewal of Fayetteville AR 1-percent sales tax on October 11, 2011

J.T. Wampler's new restaurant at 15th Street and S. School Ave. anchoring the southeast corner of the Town Branch Neighborhood is a big hit with its unique recipes for food made with fresh ingredients daily

Video of Ward Four meeting at 7 p.m. September 26 includes explanation of importance of renewing sales tax by vote on Oct. 11, 2011. See detail below

Please click on image below to ENLARGE for reading. Click on the enlargement for even easier reading.Monday, September 26, 2011

Biden's aristosa with interesting insect at Pinnacle wet prairie west side of World Peace Wetland Prairie

Two chances to comment on development set for east side of Fayetteville National Cemetery

Fayetteville Environmental Action Committee meeting of 15 September 2011

All parts of August 30, 2011, Town Branch Neighborhood meeting are now linked below: Comments welcome

Town Branch Neighborhood Association meeting at 6 p.m. Tuesday, August 30, 2011, welcomes everyone who chooses to attend at S. Hill Avenue

Church of Christ to discuss plan for apartment complex adjacent to National Cemetery, streamside-protection ordinance, neighborhood watch, urban wildlife-habitat certification of private property, natural-yard option approved by City Council and anything of importance in our neighborhood and city

Lioneld Jordan, mayor of Fayetteville, and Herman Swafford of the Town Branch Neighborhood talk about old times in Fayetteville at the downtown square on Saturday, August 20, 2011

« Welcome to The Native Plants in the Landscape Conference

The Future of Gardening by Neil Diboll

University of Vermont ExtensionDepartment of Plant and Soil Science

Next week's shortakes on public-access television previewed on You Tube: See link below

Mayor Lioneld Jordan of Fayetteville AR presents certificate of recognition to Doug Bryson, manager of Pinnacle Foods Inc., for years of protecting the neighborhood's largest remaining remnant of native wet prairie on August 5, 2011

Fayetteville Council of Neighborhoods meeting July 28, 2011, video

Watering at night keeps a few things blooming at World Peace Wetland Prairie

Two five-minute nature videos recorded on 28 July 2011 to be run on Fayetteville Public Television from Monday, August 1, 2011, through Friday, August 5, 2011

Neighbors of National Cemetery object to rezoning that will allow large buildings next to Fayetteville National Cemetery

Council rezones sale-barn property: Iraqi students attend to see U.S. citizens participating in government

Veteran speaks about threat of big buildings and dense population near Fayetteville National Cemetery

Planning Commission passes the sale-barn rezoning to the City Council at June 27 meeting despite comments of neighbors and veterans

Fayetteville Council of Neighborhoods meeting of June 30, 2011, includes discussion of some Town Branch Neighborhood issues such as sale-barn rezoning as well as those of several other neighborhoods in the city

Video of slide show to run June 27-July 1, 2011, on Fayetteville Public Television

Shortakes recorded Monday, June 13, 2011, to run June 20-24, 2011, on Public Access Television at 218 on Cox Cable and U-verse 99 on AT&T as well as simulcast on the Your Media Web site

Threat to National Cemetery looms large again: Sale-barn owner requests rezoning to Community Services

May 16, 2011, Ward 4 meeting in Fayetteville, Arkansas, includes discussion of upcoming City Council consideration of the 2030 master plan

Council of Neighborhoods spearheads collection of a huge truckload of supplies for Joplin storm victims over the past week and meets to hear report on City Plan 2030 and hear comments on UA plan to cut a construction road through Old Main lawn and grove of old trees

Old Main lawn threatened by construction road plus flooding photos from Town Branch neighborhood of Fayetteville, Arkansas

Fayetteville city governent shares SEVERE WEATHER WARNING

Fema workers walked Town Branch neighborhood on May 19, 2011, to invite residents to apply for federal help if their property was damaged by recent storms and flooding

Karen Rollet-Crocker to present program on landscaping with native plants at 5:30 p.m. today at her home on Mount Sequoyah

Doug Tallamy tells us about 'Bringing Nature Home' to provide habitat for wildlife

Leif Kindberg posts flood photos around his house on South Ellis Avenue on his Facebook page

Betty Boudrey walks her dog on the Pinnacle Prairie Trail

Invitation to attend Earth Day 2011 at World Peace Wetland Prairie and share your information on environmental and natural-resource conservation

Shortakes to run April 11-15, 2011, on Fayetteville public-access television, channel 218 on Cox Cable

Video running this week (11 a.m., 5 p.m. and 11 p.m. Monday through Friday on Fayetteville public-access television

2008 late March video of kids at WPWP and box turtle rescued from water bowl and central flow area thicket of World Peace Wetland Area with valuable native honeysuckle

2005 November 27 to December 4 video

Tour Hank Kaminsky's studio open this afternoon and shop with 10 percent off on art of every kind: Classiest business in the Town Branch Neighborhood

20-29 January 2006 video from South Fayetteville

February 9-10, 2006, video of City Engineer visiting S. Duncan Avenue and listening to neighbors as stream of trucks manuevers between parked cars

Daffodils varied and plentiful at World Peace Wetland Prairie this week

Parade of dump trucks January 18-19, 2006

March 17, 2011, video on Community Access Television with Aubrey Shepherd's photos from Fayetteville's two-river watershed

2006 video features destruction to put a sewer line under 11th Street and through culvert and blockage of South Duncan Avenue by dump trucks and a small confrontation between neighbors and truckers

Why we don't count on public education to save our world or even our neighborhood children and certainly not our streamsides

Aspen Ridge developers have a party to sell condos or town houses that never would be built in the neighborhood

Council of Neighborhoods has a quorum after 4 months with less than 6 neighborhood representatives attending: Town Branch represented and upcoming event noted

Night before Streamside Ordinance was passed by City Council, it was discussed during Ward 4 meeting

Help protect our watershed as the City Council considers the very ordinance our neighbors needed years ago!

Stop sign finally put up to replace the one stolen weeks ago from the intersection of 11th Street and South Duncan Avenue where Bacardi Avenue exits the Hill Place student-apartment complex

Friends don't illegally tow friends on sleds

April 20, 2010, video clip of passage of low-impact development ordinance by Fayetteville Council after public and council comments

Excellent plan completed in 2005 could have reduced flooding in the Town Branch Neighborhood, but it was rejected by growth-oriented officials of the University of Arkansas and now school officials are expanding Fayetteville High School in a way that may make the problem worse

Earth Day to May 2, 2005, video includes local-food advice from an expert, sponsored by OMNI Center

Dick Bennett's review of American Wars follows Aubrey James Shepherd's nature photo video on You Tube

13 January 2011, video featuring Aubrey James Shepherd 2010 summer tall-grass flowers and other native flowers from World Peace Wetland Prairie and Pinnacle Foods Inc. wet prairie

3 Jan 2011, Aubrey James Shepherd video of a barred owl and poor construction stormwater management in Fayetteville, Arkansas

Uncut native grass and wildflower seeds draw a variety of sparrows and many other seed-eating species to WPWP peace circle and butterfly gardens on snowy January 20, 2011

March 30 to April 13, 2007 video of water & sewer work on South Duncan Avenue and other outdoor activities in Fayetteville, Arkansas

March 22-26, 2006, video of life at the intersection of 11th Street and South Duncan Avenue

Please click on image below to ENLARGE for reading. Click on the enlargement for even easier reading.

Monday, September 26, 2011

University of Vermont Extension
Department of Plant and Soil Science