Category: Landscaping

Green Landscape Technology Virtual Town Hall (Th 7/20)

As a manual reel mower and old-fashioned rake kind of guy, I’m keen to see non-polluting landscaping and yard care technology become a cutting-edge trend. (Get it? I know — lame dad joke.)

It’s not just that the loud noise and choking fumes from these infernal contraptions (mowers, week-whackers, and the worst of the worst, leaf blowers) are annoying if not intolerable, which they are. Consider the startling and sobering fact that gasoline-powered lawn and garden engines (GLGE), along with other non-road engines, account for 5% of GHG emissions in the US, according to the EPA. That 2015 study also noted that:

In 2011, approximately 26.7 million tons of pollutants were emitted by GLGE (VOC=461,800; CO=5,793,200; NOx=68,500, PM10=20,700; CO2=20,382,400), accounting for 24%−45% of all nonroad gasoline emissions. Gasoline-powered landscape maintenance equipment (GLME; leaf blowers/vacuums, and trimmers, edgers, brush cutters) accounted for 43% of VOCs and around 50% of fine PM.

We don’t have to accept this as the status quo, though. Join folks from the Urban Efficiency Group and the Cross Community Climate Collaborative for a virtual town hall this Th 7/20 to hear about green technology for landscape maintenance.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

GLT Virtual Town Hall Flyer 2023-07-20

Teale Woods in Joliet: Urban Nature Restoration

The announcement that the Forest Preserve District of Will County has begun work on developing a short trail through Teale Woods, a small nature preserve near where I live in Joliet, Illinois, got me thinking about this little essay I wrote about that patch of urban nature for the Joliet Herald-News back in March of 2010.

The advent of spring last week inspired me to visit one of my favorite quiet corners of Joliet — a place where time slows down and wild nature flourishes amidst the paved-over, gritty landscape of concrete, traffic noise, and hustling people.

My destination was Teale Woods, a 15-acre woodland along Theodore and Center Streets on Joliet’s near northwest side. With only one low-profile sign marking its existence as Will County Forest Preserve property, Teale Woods is still undeveloped and without official public access; but a couple of informal trails cut through the woodland and afford a quiet route away from the tumult of Theodore Street’s traffic.

This humble urban sanctuary is emblematic of wild spaces that exist, and sometimes flourish, against all odds within the built landscape of our cities. Homes, businesses, and busy roads are only steps away. The thoughtless litter of humans, newly revealed from the recent melting of winter’s snow cover, distracts the eye and disturbs the spirit.

Nevertheless, these scrappy, imperfect woods provide a natural haven where one can hear the plaintive tones of a white-throated sparrow and study the rugged form of a downed oak.

I suspect very few people in Joliet today know this place’s namesake, Edwin Way Teale. Born in 1899 in Joliet, Teale’s love of and fascination with nature were stoked in his formative years during visits to his grandparents’ farm near the Indiana Dunes. He later became one of the most celebrated American nature writers and photographers of the 20th century.

One of Teale’s most admired books was North with the Spring (1951), which chronicles a 17,000-mile journey following and celebrating the season’s arrival throughout the eastern US. While Teale visits several famous landscapes along the way, he also describes many virtually unknown spots of no particular significance — except that they provided a place for him to encounter a lively insect, find a native wildflower, or admire an old tree.

I like to think that Teale Woods in Joliet — about as low-profile and neglected as a nature preserve can get — is been one of those places he would’ve cherished.

The next time I visit the woods, I’ll pause a moment to reflect on Edwin Way Teale’s immeasurable impact upon Americans’ growing interest in preserving wild nature, even in cities. Then, I’ll grab my work gloves and trash bag, and get down to work picking up some litter.

This essay was published as “Teale Woods Hidden Joliet Gem” on 25 March 2010 in the Joliet Herald-News, p20. A few month’s after the article’s appearance, the Will County Forest Preserve District held public hearings on planned future developments of Teale Woods. The WCFPD plans to start restoring the woodland in 2011.

Killing Turfgrass at RU’s Schaumburg Campus

After April’s prescribed burn of the detention pond wetland, more changes in the Robin Campus landscape are in progress this May. The following update is from landscape architect Bill Bedrossian, of Bedrock Earthscapes, who is heading the campus redesign project in Schaumburg:

The month of May will be a transformational month for the Robin Campus landscape. Per our Sustainable Site campus landscape plan created over the last year, low input native plantings will be replacing much of the high input and resource intensive turf grass areas. Over the next few weeks, those who visit the Robin Campus will begin to see much of the turf grass in open areas and on the parking lot islands turning brown. Last Friday, eight of the thirteen acres of turfgrass were treated with a contact herbicide that will kill the grass. The open areas will then be seeded in mid to late May with native prairie mixes. The parking lot islands will be planted with native grasses using seed, plugs or plants. A few native flower beds will also be installed on the west parking lot islands. Native seedings take three years to fully establish as they build their root systems for the first few years before displaying their characteristic top growth.

This year, you will see primarily cover grasses and a few showy natives late in the season. More native plants will be evident in the second summer, and then by the third year the seeded areas should start to look like a healthy native plant community. As the new seedings and plants are getting established, we ask that you begin to watch with interest to see if you can identify our new native plants as they begin to get emerge, and please, use care to avoid walking over the newly planted native areas.

Dramatic View of Today’s Burn at RU

Here’s a photo of this morning’s prescribed burn of the wetland detention pond at RU’s Schaumburg Campus. A historic day — the first such use of controlled burning as a ecological management tool at Roosevelt; but certainly not the last, given the plans underway for revamping the physical landscape of the university.

Image credit: Kenton Franklin, Sustainability Studies major at RU. Click here for a full slideshow of photos from the burn event.

Wetland Burn at RU’s Schaumburg Campus

On Wednesday, April 13, a controlled burn will be conducted at the wetland detention pond on the northwest corner of Roosevelt’s Schaumburg Campus. Burning is an important management tool in ecological restoration of woodlands, prairies, and forests in order to remove invasive plant species and encourage the growth of native plant communities.

This is the first burn conducted at RU’s campus since the university purchased the property in 1996 (the year I arrived at Roosevelt). It is scheduled to begin between 10:30 and 11am, weather conditions permitting. Check back here on Wednesday morning for an update.

Sustainable Landscape Design and RU’s Campus Plan

On Thursday, Feb. 17th, landscape architect Bill Bedrossian of Bedrock Earthscapes visited Mike Bryson’s SUST 210 The Sustainable Future class in Schaumburg and gave a special guest lecture on green landscaping practices. Bill is working with a faculty/staff/student green campus committee led by Paul Matthews, Asst. VP for Campus Planning/Operations, to design a new look and sustainable landscape plan for the Schaumburg Campus. This past Thursday, Bill updated us on this ongoing planning process as well as presented his knowledge about sustainable landscape design and maintenance, a topic that connects with a variety of themes in SUST 210 this semester. Also in attendance that night were members of Prof. Greg Buckley‘s seminar in natural science (who among other things are working on a project of identifying all the tree species on the Schaumburg Campus grounds), SUST major Alan Swartz, Paul Matthews, and a few other members of the Schaumburg Campus community.

Excellent discussion ensued about the advantages of various landscape design features for energy and water conservation, as well as about the in-progress ideas for the Schaumburg Campus redesign, which includes extensive native vegetation replacing the bulk of the current turf grass; a restored wetland at the detention pond site; native plant demonstration beds and a potential orchard; bioswales, a rain garden, a cistern, and pervious paving in the parking lots for on-site water retention; a composting site and possible “edible wall” vertical garden; and better outdoor recreational space, including a baseball field. Open areas near McConnor Parkway on the campus periphery will be planted in native grasses in the short-term, but could be re-developed later as a small-scale urban farming operation.  

A pdf version of Mr. Bedrossian’s presentation to SUST 210 is included here: Sustainable Site Practices and RU Concepts. Slides 46-49 address RU’s campus grounds planning process, and slide 48 is the current draft Sustainable Landscape Plan Map. Take a look at that map (zoom in on it to see details) and as you analyze it, ask yourself some questions:

  • Who are the various groups of people that would use and experience this landscape — students, staff, faculty, visitors, etc. — and what are their needs and interests? (Think about, for example, the value of a walking/biking trail that could wind through the campus.)
  • What kinds of learning and leisure activities should the campus landscape support and encourage? How can it connect the university to the surrounding community of Schaumburg?
  • What about the plan at present do you like, and why?
  • Is there anything missing that you’d like to see incorporated into the plan?

If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions about the plan, please post them here on this blog post (if you’d prefer to simply email me feedback privately, you may do so at mbryson@roosevelt.edu ). I’ll make sure your suggestions find their way to the Schaumburg Campus committee working on this plan. Thanks for your input!

Greening the Schaumburg Campus: A Presentation

A detention pond with native planting along its banks, one of the landscapes restored by Bedrock Earthscapes

 

During the Week 4 Thursday class session for my SUST 210 Sustainable Future class in Schaumburg, we will have a guest presentation by landscape architect Bill Bedrossian of Bedrock Earthscapes. Bill is working with a faculty/staff/student green campus committee to design a new look and sustainable landscape plan for the Schaumburg Campus. He will update us on this ongoing planning process as well as present his knowledge about sustainable landscape design and maintenance, a topic that connects with a variety of themes in SUST 210 this semester. 

All 210 students as well as Sustainability Studies majors are particularly encouraged to attend; RU students/faculty at large are also welcome. Light refreshments will be served. Please RSVP to me at mbryson@roosevelt.edu by Monday, Feb. 14th, if you plan to make it. 

When / Where:
Time: 6:30pm (45-min presentation followed by 20-min Q/A discussion)
Location: Schaumburg Campus, room 627
Travel Info: Check out the Shuttle Service from the Chicago Campus if you’re coming from downtown