FFWD REW

Green your eco-friendly thumb this winter

Olds College offers environmentally sustainable yard courses

Chances are pretty good that the last thing you are thinking about right now is your lawn. Other than the mandatory shovelling needed to determine where it ends and the city sidewalk begins that is. We do know for sure however that at least 200 Calgarians are indeed looking ahead. They’ve enrolled in the City of Calgary’s Healthy Yards Program this year. In fact the program is fully booked until 2010. Lyndon Penner knows exactly what’s on their minds and finds it somewhat encouraging.

“People all around the world are becoming more aware of the toll lawns take on the environment” he says. Penner an instructor at Olds College’s Calgary Campus teaches its Environmentally Sustainable Yards courses which commence on January 27 (weekday evenings) and January 31 (weekends). Over the last few years he has helped an increasing number of people rethink traditional landscaping and what it does to our surroundings. “A lot of people want to ultimately create a landscape that is as friendly to the Earth as possible and will provide maximum enjoyment with minimum input.”

In Texas the Commission on Environmental Quality says that over 45 million metric tons of grass clippings clog the state’s landfills every year. Back here at home the city estimates that 20 per cent of the waste entering our landfills comes from yards. And when summer hits total Cowtown water usage can increase by 50 per cent due to yard watering. Penner says he can demonstrate several standard ways to minimize this impact; grass cycling sharpening mower blades so they cut instead of tear using your trimmings as mulch to increase soil quality and decrease the need for watering and landfill space and more. What he really wants us to do though is think outside the lawn.

“I really don’t have a great affection for lawns” says Penner. “I usually recommend that people remove their lawns and plant things in its place.” Examples of this can be seen around the city often manifesting themselves as the classic “English garden” a variety of shrubs flowers and other plants that are usually self-sustaining and require little in the way of time and natural resources.

“If you have a garden in your front yard instead of a lawn then flowers can offer nectar to butterflies and bees and you can do something for the environment not to mention saving a lot of money on lawncare. Lawns don’t actually occur in nature” Penner says. “This is better for biodiversity. Done correctly it attracts insects that keep away other unwanted pests and brings a wealth of other benefits. The whole idea is to have a landscape that is balanced.”

Penner says that to achieve that balance you should be mindful of several points. Step one he says is to know what kind of soil you have accept that fact and take care of it. Soil kits are available at numerous retail outlets around the city and are easy to use. “You can get away with a lot more if you have good soil” Penner says.

By that he means that you can exert greater choice over what kind of plants you can grow. And that’s important because typically people don’t put enough thought into whether or not the plants they choose really belong here. Some plants even if they are not native to Canada might be correct for our soil and climate. Others may barely cling to life requiring inordinate amounts of water and fertilizer to do so and still ultimately last about as long as a Hollywood marriage.

“If you go to the big-box stores in the spring you’ll see Rhododendrons Wisteria plants that really have no business being in our climate” says Penner. “They might survive but there’s a difference between surviving and flourishing.”

Among the many other things he teaches his students to consider there’s the amount of fossil fuels required to bring a non-native plant here as opposed to one grown in a local nursery how to choose varieties that bloom at different times for continuous yard appeal and how to determine what size is right for your area. “Too many people plant poplars or too-large trees by their houses and say ‘Oh we’ll only be here for three years so it won’t be our problem.” Or they think he adds that they can simply trim it back all the time unaware of the massive water-gulping root system that develops beneath the soil. “A tree genetically programmed to grow 70 feet tall isn’t going to be thwarted by you and your clippers” he says.

Of all the techniques he teaches the one Penner’s students are often happiest to walk away with is how to eliminate the need for chemicals — something that he relishes. “I’m waging a campaign to convince people we don’t have to solve everything with a chemical” he says. “I have a beautiful yard and garden that’s been photographed for magazines and I haven’t used a chemical in seven years.”

For more information on Olds College’s Calgary Campus Environmentally Sustainable Yards course visit www.oldscollege.ca/esy or call 1-403-556-8339. To register call 1-403-556-8339 or 1-800-661-6537 ext. 4677.

Rick Overwater is a long-time Calgary arts and entertainment writer and is currently the communications co-ordinator for the Olds College Office of Advancement.

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