Click below to listen to my 2 min Garden Bite radio show: A change of climate for gardening
As we continue to deal with climate change, record temps high and low, increased drought and floods, there’s a change of climate in the gardening world in several ways including how we view trees and the planting of them.
We’re well past simply beautification and are planting for their natural functions. The Minnesota DNR has proposed $13.3 million to replant seedlings lost in the drought. Read more about that from the link above.
Planting trees helps to reduce pollution and aids in carbon sequestration.
Carbon dioxide is a greenhouse gas. We need some but not as much as we produce through fossil fuels and such. That means we need something to counter it or our planet heats up too much, which is happening. Trees USE the carbon dioxide and release oxygen, pretty cool exchange for us!
More and more homeowners are looking at sustainable landscapes including xeriscaping which means using plants that can survive drought. That generally means native plants!
The point for those who are NOT experiencing drought means less watering.
Trees are not the only answer:
- Native plants and ground covers instead of typical lawn grass are also very popular changes just within the last 5 years.
- Backyard composting and collecting rainwater have also increased substantially as well as planting rain gardens.
- Organic farms and changes in traditional farming are also helping.
- Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) has been around for over a couple of decades but have really exploded within the last few years.
- Local produce is a boon and, according to the US Dept. of Agriculture, a survey taken in 2019 showed Wisconsin is 2nd in the nation for Certified Organic Farms while Minnesota is 9th in the nation. Pretty impressive for our cold climate!
Here’s more on USING wood products to also help mitigate climate change from the USDA. The Wonders of Wood Buildings.
Please note that planting trees alone will not end climate change! This article, Why planting tons of trees isn’t enough to solve climate change, is a good read from sciencenews.org.