What are Carbon Neutral Publications & Can They Save You Money?

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As a designer and teacher I care deeply about all aspect of my course and how I present myself and my school to the world.

We have been printing an annual prospectus for nearly 20 years which I believe serves 3 distinct purposes.

• The prospectus should be is well designed, after all; my students are signing up for a design course and will initially judge us, based on our presentation.
• The information contained is clear, comprehensive and well laid out. Again this demonstrates attributes necessary to make a good designer and so any educational establishment should set a good example.

• Potential students get to feel the weight and quality of the publication, This hopefully reflects the quality of the course itself, however it also probably only gets read a couple of times before being discarded.

This last point has been a concern to me particularly when we as designers, are dealing with environmental issues on a daily basis, but think I have found a solution in carbon neutral publication.

I pride myself on the fact that we as a college have always been a market leader in technology and innovation.

We were the first to introduce CAD and computer modelling into our curriculum and also to embrace internet technology and although not at the forefront, if compared to a .COM industry, we are light years ahead of our competition.

Since 2007 we have been using www.yudo.com an on-line publication service that gives you the look and feel of a magazine or book without the waste of paper and all the associated expenses.

It gives us the freedom to publish and update quickly, while virtually eliminating the need for publication budget.

2010/11 will be the first year we don't offer our customers a hard copy. We still produce a PDF version which is fast to download and hope that our public are ready to accept an electronic only option.

Your comments and thoughts would be much appreciated!
Technorati Tags: Carbon Neutral Publication,Yudu,Oxford College of Garden Design,Garden Design Courses,Online Publishing

Are You An Environmentally Responsible Designer?

I was recently involved in a discussion on LinkedIn regarding the specification of non locally sourced materials.

Is it just me? or does it strikes you as odd,  that some of us are specifying materials which have to be transported 1000’s miles across the globe,  just to satisfy a whim!

Ignoring the aesthetic argument of genius loci (spirit of place) for a moment, aren’t we as landscape architects, supposed to care about our environment and make responsible choices?

With oil prices again, heading towards the $100 a barrel and the kick starting of the global economy likely to drive prices to $200 within a few years, shouldn’t we setting an example?


I appreciate that container shipping is the most cost effective and environmentally friendly way of transporting any material. The problem  is, that despite this, many of us are beginning to see this transportation as unnecessary and morally wrong.

Should we use hardwoods which take 100’s of years to grow when a softwood would do the same job and be replaced in half the time. Should we be using stone brought from India just because it’s cheep and we like the colour?

There are also other hidden political, social and environment implications of imported products.
For example the child labour issues with Indian stone or the rape of environmentally sensitive landscape from non sustainable sources. The destruction of unique and valuable ecosystems in third world countries, and the pollution caused by unregulated quarrying and logging. 

More specifyers are making environmentally conscious decisions when choosing materials and this trend is only set to increase.  Leaving aside global warming, as oil prices continue to climb, we are all going need to make choices as to how that oil is best used.

Technorati Tags: Child labour,Indian Sandstone,Deforestation,Amazon,garden design,oxford College of Garden Design,Specifying,landscape,oil

Global Warming: Is it too Late to Save the Planet?

Global Warming is here to stay and there nothing we can do about it

Is it too late to save the planet? Should we stop trying to cut CO2 emissions and start planning for the worst?

Many scientist are quietly saying that we have past the tipping point and what ever we do now, the temperature is going to increase by 5-8 degrees. Leaving much of the planet in the next 100+ years as either desert or flooded by a 3-10m rise in sea level.

The worst drought ever, is currently hitting the USA.  Europe, Russia, China and other parts of Asia have; or are currently experiencing, some of the worst flooding in living memory.

Famine, drought, flooding, and unprecedented crop failures, could lead to 3rd world starvation on a never before seen scale, mass migration, and even world war. (see BBC Mass Migration)

Over the top? Alarmist?  Scaremongering?………… May be!

But already global food prices are set to rocket for the 3rd year in a row and if the USA, (the bread basket of the world) has two more similar years of failed harvests, then the developed countries could struggle to feed themselves, let alone the poorer nations.

When global scientist are said to have reach a consensus on climate change (when do scientist ever reach a consensus??? they either agree or disagree!!) we know we are in trouble!  The whole climate change/science debate, has allot more to do with politics than it does real science.

For example in 2009 it was revealed in the press that Sea levels were predicted to rise twice as fast as first predicted in 2007 (see Guardian and Independent report)

The IPCC's 2007 report ‘missed out’ the melting of the Greenland and West Antarctic ice sheets which would be the key drivers in dramatic sea level rises. And these figures today are still not included in the report.

Yet Greenland alone is loosing enough water per year, to cover a country the size of Germany 3 feet/1m deep in water.

This might not sound much in global terms, but ice and snow are incredibly reflective.  The less ice, the less reflective surface there is to reflect the suns heat.

This in turn, allows the oceans to heat up, and in the process expand in volume due to thermal expansion.

If that isn’t bad enough, as the artic tundra regions begins to thaw, they will release millions of tonnes of stored methane, which is significantly more dangerous than CO2

Scientist believe that the tipping point to a 5 degree temperature increase could be the discharging of this methane gas, as once released into the atmosphere, there will be an unstoppable bounce in global temperature.

Professor James Lovelock believes we should now be planning for the worst.  Small islands such as Britain, New Zealand, Ice land the parts of the artic circle and Canada could still support farming and therefore a viable human population. But mankind will be reduced from 8 billion to just 1 billion in a mater of a few 100 years.

Depressing indeed! Unfortunately most governments only have a 4-5 year political life before they need to get re-elected. Climate change is an in-precise science, so no one has the political will to deal with it.

Coal, gas and oil fired power stations all emit unacceptable levels of CO2.

Wind power is not cost effective and unreliable. Hydro and wave can't supply enough energy. Europe needs to build Nuclear power stations if we are not to be held ransom by less stable countries; at least until countries like Spain and Africa can build enough Solar farms and start selling electricity to there neighbours

Just as some of the greatest strides in science and human ingenuity happen during war time, governments have to come together and treat this issue as the worst global catastrophe in human existence.

Technorati Tags: CO2 Global warming,Solar Power,Climate change,Rising sea level,Gas,Oil Coal,Power Stations,James Lovelock,drought,USA,famin,Crop failure,famine

Rough Grass & Cut Grass:- What’s the difference and how are they used in landscape design?

As a working designer, it is easy to take for granted garden elements that designers use on a daily basis, but for the general public and my students  at the Oxford College of Garden Design the difference between rough grass and cut crass is a question that crops up year after year.

Grass is probably the cheapest surfacing materials we use in gardens, and just by varying its height it can be considered one of the most useful elements as well.

Cut grass is the same as lawn. It is grass that is kept regularly mown, usually on a weekly basis during the growing season. It is kept free of weeds and bulbs and can vary in use from bowling green to children's play area.

Rough grass is lawn that has been allowed to grow longer and is usually cut just twice a year. It can contain wild flowers for summer interest and bulbs for spring colour, because you do not mow it until July, after the bulbs have died down and the wild flowers have self seeded.

In design terms, it can just be ordinary lawn which is allowed to grow longer, so providing a ground pattern that helps the designer steer the visitor in a desired direction. (people will walk on cut grass but not on rough grass)

You can also use rough grass as a sculptural form, to provide patterns on the ground which are particularly effective, when viewed from above or  planted on sloping ground so the design pattern can be appreciated.
My garden taken this spring
I regularly use rough grass round trees as a way of protecting the tree from damage by lawn mowers and strimmers and to prevent that nasty piece of tufty grass round the trucks, that would otherwise be left after mowing.

If the designer is starting from scratch, I would recommend using a fine grass seed mixtures that spreads via underground rhizome i.e. Creeping Red Fescue and Brown Top rather than clump forming varieties like dwarf rye grass otherwise any existing lawn can be turned into rough grass areas.

Rough grass can dramatically reduce maintenance and irrigation costs, as it saves on mowing time and is never irrigated.

In warmer climates during the summer the rough grass should be allowed to turn golden brown and if smaller, softer varieties are used, can give the impression of prairie grasslands and look beautiful when blowing in the wind.
At the end of summer a final cut can be given in September/October so the lawn is short enough not to obscure spring bulbs the following season.

Technorati Tags: Lawn,Maitainance,grass,rough,meadow,wildflower,prairie,design

One Size Doesn’t Fit All: EU Legislation Could Ban the Sale of 100’s Common Garden Plants

Gardeners may be required to dig up and burn many of our favourite garden plants and Garden Centres and Nurseries, banned from selling 100’s of shrubs and herbaceous plants because of new EU legislation.

The EU has announced today that they are planning to ban the sale of 100’s of plants across Europe to stem to flow of invasive alien species (IAS).  A good idea in principal, however this proposal is poorly thought through and; like so many EU directives “one size doesn’t fit all”

One mans weed is another mans prize specimen and what might be considered invasive in one country, could be considered hard to grow in another.  The problem is that this legislation doesn’t take this into account. 100’s of our favourite garden plants, could be caught up in this blanket ban.

This would mean it would be illegal to sell for example rhododendrons because Rhododendron ponticum (a very invasive species) is in the parentage of as many as 300 garden plants. This doesn’t mean that all these are invasive, however the Royal Horticultural Society are very concerned about the lack of clarity around the new powers.

Back in September 2013 the European Commission outlined its plans to tackle the continent's invasive species. IAS are non-native plants or animals that have no natural predators, spread rapidly and overwhelm an area's native flora and fauna

The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). held a conference in Switzerland and as a result of this the EU came up with a ban on the possession, transport, selling or growing of species deemed as of "Union Concern".

The list was originally going to be restricted to 50, but will now have no limit. It is not clear which species will be banned.

Wednesday's report from the Environmental Audit Committee welcomes the strengthening of the rules. Committee chairwoman Joan Walley MP said: "The UK has to be ready to take on board the step changes that there will be as a result of the European decision.

Unfortunately for gardeners, Ms Walley who obviously isn’t a gardener herself, does appreciate the implications behind this legislation.

The Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) currently has its own guidelines on restricted species.So why do we need further legislation from the EU?

Nobody is denying that IAS are a problem, but If this is allowed to go ahead, gardeners could be sleep waling into a situation where their favourite garden plants are considered illegal to sell and grow.

 

Technorati Tags: invasive alien species,IAS,International Union for Conservation of Nature,IUCN,EU Legigislation,European Parliament,European Commission,Gardeners,garden plants,Ban,Illigal

ARCTIC ICE AT RECORD LOW

Last year NASA released these rather shocking satellite images of the polar ice caps. According to its scientists and researchers at the National Snow and Ice Data Center, the area of the arctic ice sheet fell to a record low in August . And it is expected to continue to retreat over the next few weeks.

The extent of the arctic ice sheet grows during the winter and shrinks during the summer. The first photo above shows the total extent of the ice sheet’s retreat in the summer of 1979. The second shows its retreat so far this summer. The orange line shows the average minimum ice cover from 1979 to 2010.

According to NASA, the seasonal minimum area of the arctic ice sheet has gotten 13 percent smaller each decade for the past three decades.

 

Technorati Tags: Climate Change,Melting ice caps,arctic ice,global warming

Plant Hardiness Zones for Europe, US, Canada, China, Japan & Australia

With the recently updated hardiness zones for the USA more than 80 million gardeners will find themself declared a half zone warmer this week.

This is the first update to the map since 1990 although the USDA (United States Department of Agriculture) has stopped short, of confirming this is a trend towards global warming.

Europe Hardiness Zones Map

 

USA Hardiness Zones Map

Canada Hardiness Zones Map

China Hardiness Zones Map

Japan Hardiness Zones Map

Australia hardiness Zones Map

Technorati Tags: Plant hardiness Zones, Zone Map, Plant, Zones, Europe, Canada, China, Japan, Australia, million, gardeners, USDA, States, Department, Agriculture, Global Warming, trend,