Princeton University - Council of Science & Technology

POPE PRIZE

Essays 1 & 2
The Buzz on James Gould
Mission to Mars
Natalie R. Ram

Essays 3 & 4
Powering Princeton
Academics as Outlaws?
David Robinson

Essay 5
How Does Your Garden Grow?
Alexis Schulman

Essays 6, 7 & 8
Killing Cancer at its Root
Backpacking with Lee Silver
Avocado
Lauren C. Turner

Essay 9
Not with a Bang, but a Whimper
Joshua D. Younger

How Does Your Garden Grow?

In July of 2002, Amy Munich arrived home one evening to find a large notice plastered to her garage. Posted by her town’s code enforcer, it read: “ Owner must trim all shrubs, trees and other plants in the backyard or face fines.” If Amy did not comply within one week, she would be served a formal Notice of Violation. The yard to which the officer objected was exploding with a tangle of waist high prairie flowers, native to Amy’s Ohio suburb. Amid the buds, was a thick spread of wild grasses that had never encountered a mower, and from their recesses, creatures chirped, croaked, and buzzed. A cluster of trees and native shrubs flanked the overgrowth. The officer, accustomed to the manicured and chemical enhanced greenery of the neighborhood, did not realize that Amy’s garden was a carefully planned and cared for refuge. And what’s more, it was certified as such. Amy is one among thousands of other gardeners, stretching from Anchorage Alaska to Idlewood, Michigan, who has had her garden certified by the National Wildlife Refuge (NWF), as a “backyard wildlife habitat”. These gardeners, and many more who have not opted for certification, are growing and tending plant species that are indigenous to their region instead of imported, decorative ones. But they are not just trying to be different. They are hoping to help and interact with the environment through their gardening. According to the NWF, and other organizations and scientists, these gardens not only form natural homes that can be settled by native animals, which is the NWF’s primary goal, they also have significant environmental advantages over the more typical grass lawn. But along with the songbirds and butterflies, they can attract unwanted visitors, like the occasional Code Enforcer. After receiving the notice, Amy made an immediate call to the NWF to prepare for her meeting with the enforcer. The following day she went to his office and explained the nature and philosophy of her garden. Amy must have presented a very convincing case for native gardens; the enforcer didn’t just drop the charge against her, he asked her for more information. Amy Munich’s experience with her town’s code enforcer is a prime example of the challenges and the potential in native gardening. Supporters are convinced of the great pleasures and benefits of native gardening, and are quite successful in demonstrating this to others. However, long-standing social and legal garden codes that make native gardening difficult and even illegal have been tough to un-root. Rolling Hills of Lawn Long before native gardening was even a seedling of a movement, there was The Lawn— a spread of green turf grass that could cover any yard from Omaha to Orlando. Historically these sheets of emerald, dotted with the occasional ornamental shrub, were reflections of wealth and power; whoever had so much land that they could simply decorate the overflow, was unquestionably advantaged. In the early 1900s so-called “arbiters of taste” determined that America should have them. Everywhere. Organizations like the Garden Club of America and the United States Golf Association cropped up across the country, uniting in a campaign to cover the States in lawn. Then came the explosion of suburbia in the ‘50s. The added space, available to even middle class families, combined with the propaganda of the Garden Club of America and the United States Golf Association, began what has been termed the “lawn ethic”. Homeowners joined the golf and garden clubs and decreed lawns the only acceptable garden landscape. Laws were even enacted that prohibited yard “weeds” above a certain height, and prevented any type of gardening that might result in a more harmonious interaction between yard and nature. A1945 Chicago outlawed “any weeds in excess of an average height of 10 inches.” But what was a “weed”? The laws did not say. Presumably it was any plant that disrupted the manicured exterior of the city. But by the ‘70s a garden rebellion was growing. In 1973 the NWF ran a small article in the April 1973 National Wildlife magazine that encouraged a more holistic approach to garden planning. Reader interest was so immense that the NWF began the Backyard Wildlife Refuge project to educate and aid people in gardening for wildlife. They even began to offer certification to gardeners with native refuges. The project has since certified 33,000 gardens and offered aid to even more with web information and outreach members, aptly named “habitat stewards.” Then in 1977, a nucleus of nine women from Wisconsin took their interest in nature and gardening to the extreme. They began Wild Ones, a non-profit natural landscaping organization. Currently, Wild Ones has chapters in twelve states and regularly organizes nature walks, yard tours, seed exchanges, and how-to-do-it sessions. Lawyers have also started to combat the weed laws that have been on the books since the ‘50s. Attorney Brett Rappaport, past president of Wild Ones, is one of them. He has fought and amended many of the laws. The remaining laws cause problems, but things are getting better. “Back in the late ‘80s and early ‘90s maybe once a week, I would field a homeowner’s call, maybe from Sarasota, maybe Seattle, asking for assistance because a municipality was threatening to mow down what a village official or neighbor considered ‘weeds’,” Rappaport has written. “ The telephone calls don’t come as often as before. That’s good.” Nature Versus Nurture “In most instances native gardening is not natural.” Architect Joe Powelka is talking to me from his office in Madison, Wisconsin. His statement may sound surprising, particularly coming from the current president of Wild Ones, “natural landscaping ltd.”, but it is true. Native gardening depends on human involvement. It’s native but not truly natural. Viewing these terms interchangeably is a mistake many first timers make. “I had always had an interest in wild gardening,” says executive director of Wild Ones, Donna VanBueken, describing her beginnings in native gardening. “But initially I had the mistaken notion, that most people have: that anything that grew naturally was appropriate.” It is impossible to know what really is “natural”. Landscapes are never stagnant. Over time, waters wax and wane. Wetlands change to forests. Forests become deserts. Animal and plant species like the Japanese kudzu vine and the zebra mussel, brought from over sea, invade and alter ecosystems. Then how does one decide what goes in a native garden? “We generally look back over the past few hundred years to understand what the landscape was like,” Powelka answers. The plants that were dominant then, before invasive plants took hold or humans made drastic changes, belong in a native garden. For people who want to attract animals to their garden, the NWF also lists four necessary garden elements: water, cover, food, and places to raise young. But that doesn’t mean there is a “right” way to create a native garden. “We don’t want to dictate how people use native plants.” Powehka stresses. “ We simply want to encourage their use. What is really important is curbing our use of precious resources. The conventional gardens and lawns are not sustainable.” Powehlka is referring specifically to Americans’ extravagant use of water, and in the average household, 50-70% of the water used is for lawn work. In only one hour, a sprinkler can use over 50% more water than ten toilet flushes, a ten-minute shower, two dishwasher loads and a full load of clothes. Native plants are accustomed to the climate in which they grow. “They simply don’t need to be watered,” says VanBueken. “Nor do they require pesticides or fertilizers which run straight into lakes and contaminate our water supply.” Furthermore, a native garden doesn’t need to be mowed. Mowing is not just a noisy and often tiring activity, it is also a dirty one. The US Environmental Protection Agency reports that a conventional, gas-powered mower pollutes as much an average 100-mile car ride. “All the species in the garden— the plants, the bugs and the bacteria in the soil— help maintain the ecosystem.” Explains Chad Laibly from the NWF. “Allowing the organisms to do the work themselves is more efficient than any human participation.” Larger creatures can also get involved in the action. Native gardens attract a collage of pollinators, such as bees and butterflies, as well as birds, and frogs. Struggling wildlife, once banished by the lawn, can make a rebound. The beauty of the gardens is an added bonus. “ I love the dimensions and height varieties.” Says VanBueken. “Seasonal changes are suddenly visible and the birds, butterflies and insects are fascinating to watch.” Something for Everyone But for the newcomer, some of the most exciting examples of native gardens can also be intimidating. “Our members tend to be purists.” Says Powelka. “They don’t want a small section of natives, they want their whole yard to be prairie.” In Appleton, Wisconsin, atop a cliff overlooking Lake Winnebago, a Wild Ones bird-lover built a six-sided house and systematically developed six sections of his yard with different native species. One side had tall prairie grass; one had short prairie grass, while another had a small woodland. Each side attracted different birds, which he could watch from his home. But to get extraordinary results, a native garden does not have to be extraordinarily ambitious. Doug Inkly’s garden was certified by the NWF in 1997, number 19,681. And he claims what drove him to begin his refuge was a little bit of interest and a lot of laziness. Several weeks after Doug purchased his first home, he decided to spruce up his shaggy lawn to match his new neighborhood’s décor. “ I eagerly stepped up to the mower,” He recalls. “And with a loud roar it took off amidst the smells of gasoline and burned hydrocarbons. Two exhausting hours later and drenched in sweat, I collapsed on the porch and swore I'd never do that again.“ That was the moment Doug decided to begin his native garden. He has since planted pines and oak for cover, tended irises and spearmint, allowed one section of his yard to grow into old-field habitat, and built small ponds. White throated sparrows and orioles sing in his trees, while a pair of bluebirds has made a nest in a box he put up. Dragonflies circle his ponds, and frogs sit solemnly in the water. Doug admits he has his problems— sometimes thing s don’t grow as planned— and he has learned to spare the neighbors stories about the snakes. “But, as I take all this in” he says. “The long hours on the job are forgotten and the mid-life crisis just doesn't seem very important anymore” Small urban gardens can also provide a home for wildlife. “We have even certified apartment balconies.” Says Laibly. “Think about it: If the deck has a number of potted native plants, a nice birdfeeder and the other such elements, it is doing just as much to help birds raise young as a more rural garden.” Nearly everyone with the will and interest can have the pleasure of working with nature, instead of against it. And one’s neighborhood won’t necessarily call in the code enforcer. Doug Inkley’s neighbor recently told him, “Since you quit that mowing it sounds like a menagerie over there; it’s wonderful.”