For a while now, our landscaping aesthetic norms have largely been directly at odds with the mandate to mitigate heat and absorb stormwater.
A few years back, I coined a phrase “puffy landscaping,” to give a visual idea of what a more sustainable form of landscaping might look like. It should save money; save water, labor, and other resources; create more vibrant career paths for land-based professionals; and add beauty.
Following our notes from some recent presentations I’ve given. I’m going to be developing a little card or pamphlet with the various bullet-points of puffy landscaping. Feel free to use any of this that might be helpful to you in your similar endeavors.
BTW puffy landscaping can be native, edible, drought-tolerant, “adapted though not native,” or some mixture of any of these.
puffy landscaping mini-festo:
•Cut back on cutting
•Leave the leaves
•Back off blowing & edging; 80-20 rule
•Soften the shrubs
•Cherish the canopy
•Cease the ‘cides
•Wildflowers aren’t weeds; wean yourself off weeding
•Puffy can be tidy too
•Borders add beauty
•Secure the slopes
•Veto the volcanoes
•Lift livelihoods; preserve their pay
5 minutes
1 Army Corps of Engineers presentation last night at City Commission
background – childhood; enviro-/> permaculture; sust ed” umbrella
2 Big ambitions
— restore the water cycle (40% of rainfall in an area is from the small water cycle)
— We are trashing our soil and water, doesn’t matter if you believe in climate change or not
— Cool science fact number two, plants actually suck heat out of the air
— stop the flooding-drought, extreme heat
— sales funnel for existing eco businesses
— healthy career path incl from young kids to elders
— shift the aesthetic norms to respect natural vegetation; support code compliance
— help local govt optimize use of money, water, labor
— reduce noise pollution & ugliness
— quickly build up local expertise in critical areas: food, arborist, green infra
— Kill the entire evil landscaping industry. Just kidding, things work better if I’m not trying to push Niagara Falls uphill with a teaspoon. Keep from going banana-pants crazy, or at least if I’m going to be banana-pants crazy somebody’s & the planet going to get something out of it
— Local unique beauty
3 – What can your yard do for you! And what can your yard do for the planet? A lot!
4 — Local economy, rewarding careers.
ACE last night at City Comm, wants to address the flooding so ppl can live here. Also mentioned that big difficult problems can be fun to solve.
Create a vibrant ecosystem of landscaping related professionals in Daytona Beach and throughout the region. Including rainwater system setup, IT and app makers, design & planning, and yes digging in the dirt. We need armies and armies of people dedicated to landscaping & array of supporting cottage industries: tool sharpening, welding, mower repair etc.
1 Background “sustainability educator”
— childhood, environmentalist, hated yardwork
— food, permaculture
— no one was doing it
— later more urgent: noise, fumes
— Homegrown National Park
2 Carrots and sticks, big world problems and petty personal annoyances
2 Big ambitions
— restore the water cycle (40% of rainfall in an area is from the small water cycle)
— We are trashing our soil and water, doesn’t matter if you believe in climate change or not
— Cool science fact number two, plants actually suck heat out of the air
— stop the flooding-drought, extreme heat
— sales funnel for existing eco businesses
— healthy career path incl from young kids to elders
— shift the aesthetic norms to respect natural vegetation
— help local govt optimize use of money, water, labor
— reduce noise pollution & ugliness
— quickly build up local expertise in critical areas: food, arborist, green infra
— Kill the entire evil landscaping industry. Just kidding, things work better if I’m not trying to push Niagara Falls uphill with a teaspoon. Keep from going banana pants crazy, or at least if I’m going to be banana pants crazy somebody’s & the planet going to get something out of it
3 Permaculture
— unnecessary work is a form of pollution Public Works many years ago, we are fighting nature, well you are still fighting nature
— “sustainability educator” green umbrella
— franchises like papparrazzi ladies
— Extreme emotional annoyance, stupid lawns in the middle of the street, sandpaper on skin, if I’m going to go banana pants crazy somebody might as well get something out of it. When you can’t tell the difference between an edger & sawing concrete, you’ve got a problem.
4 Formation of the concept; high aspirations
— permaculture
— natives
— Florida-friendly
— art/sculpting
— “sustainability educator” umbrella
— Army Corps engineers flood study update presented last night at city commission, we have big work ahead
— Create a vibrant ecosystem of landscaping related professionals in Daytona Beach and throughout the region. Including rainwater system set up, IT and app makers, design, and yes digging in the dirt. We need armies and armies of people dedicated to landscaping.
5 Services, contact
— mini consult
— code compliance help
— coordinate w your existing service provider
— concierge/portal incl finding you arborists, landscape architects
A tiny, tiny business that is way bigger than me. Creating livelihoods and solving our main big problems, both locally and worldwide. Our little yards are a huge leverage point.