100 or so American cities are now calling themselves GREEN CITIES. Unlike the Historically Black Colleges and Universities--
they often fail to put the Living Land 1st--and Ecological Technology 2nd.
In the course of my life--I have become an outdoors man of a different kind: I have tried to learn from the Native Americans --who believed the Mountains were sacred--and they stayed OFF of them--so do I.
Instead of climbing Mountains--I have an adventure reclaiming / rejuvenating Urban Land--in our age of over Urbanization.
Although many of us have imagined converting our houses and buildings to Solar/Earth
Architecture--Tear it ALL down and build again--creating new careers recycling ALL building materials--taking care of the Land--Urban, Suburban and Rural is more important.
In fact--the best pioneers OF Solar/Earth Architecture might tell us that the structures they build are only a by-product of their commitment to be A-1 Stewards of the Planet--in EVERY WAY. After Readers' Digest told us that Frank Lloyd Wright never designed sky scrapers--the (mafia) supermarkets cut Readers' Digest.
One half of ALL land--natural or man-managed--is composting. Any living land--Rural, Suburban or Urban, Natural, Agricultural or Horticultural--must have
AS MUCH COMPOSTING BACK INTO IT AS THERE IS
GROWING OUT OF IT.
poisoned--it is actually dead--because its microorganisms (which are what does the composting--
and outweigh the human race by a 1000 factor) have ALL been killed. Composting is more than a
chemical process--it is a LIVING process.
Look up the subject of COMPOSTING--online or at the library. Page 1 will tell you that you
need a Nitrogen / Carbon RATIO of 80 / 20. If you use Chips from a Chipper--in the Summer when the foliage is full--and you Chip only the outer 10 feet of a tree--80/20-- 80% Chopped Leaves 20% Wood Chips
is roughly the ratio you will get.
Until 1985--there was NO SUCH THING AS A WOOD CHIPPER--ONLY BRUSH CHIPPERS. At that point in history--there were more arborists--LESS MASS MURDERERS with monster chippers--who chip the whole tree.
I've been an arborist / tree worker most of my life. I only take down dead trees--and I'm a good barber. I trim, prune, cable, plant
and mill lumber. I'm not a logger--but I can only respect people like Native Americans--who do selective cutting--leaving the diversity of the forest intact. Diversity is what makes
a forest a LIVING ECOSYSTEM. Large timber companies are murderers--in every way. Clear cutting--then replanting rows and
columns of all the same species doesn't work. A tree farm--with no diversity--is dead--and if you visit one--you'll find that it smells like death.
We need LOCAL, 50 STATE AND FEDERAL LEGISLATION REQUIRING US ALL to get involved in compost agriculture and horticulture.
In Europe--you need to get approval from authorities to take down a tree on your own property. We should write similar laws. Many people from Urban deserts have been willing to pay a lot more for properties with trees, large trees and all kinds of good landscaping.
In recent years--where previous homeowners have cultivated / preserved wonderful landscapes which
complemented good buildings and houses--NEWER OWNERS WANT TO KILL IT ALL TO SHOW OFF THEIR NAKED HOUSE. The previous owners thought the land was worth a lot more than the building.
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● Tree Companies--if they do extra--they should be paid for something that is well worth paying for.
Big Trees take EVERYTHING out of the soil--it ALL needs to go back. Leaves--when they fall in the Autumn--need to be mower mulched--most years.
Every kind of composting must involve:
● Farmers
● Greenhouse Nurseries
● Landscapers
● Builders
● Arborists / Electric Utilities
● Corporations / Corporate Outlets ● Chambers of Commerce
● Public Schools ● Public Parks ● Public Housing
● Public Works & Highways
● Private Homeowners.
back up a century or 2 and recreate
A LOT MORE GREEN SPACE.
If we did our kids like we do our trees--
we'd expect them to stop growing--their
life is over--at the age of 5. Some trees
grow very large--and have a life span of
a century or more.
Tree have a Root system which is both
structural and draws nutrients and moisture from the soil--the soil needs to be well-drained, aerated and un-compacted. The rooting space area for a large tree must extend at least as far out as the tree's branch system--half the tree is underground.
A group of trees is a mini forest--the mini
forest should be diverse. In the mini forest--just like the real thing--everything that falls from the trees--mainly leaves--must compost back into the soil. A forest without a forest floor is not a forest. Pushing the LAWN INTO THE FOREST IS
TO KILL THE FOREST. ----------------------------------------------- Asphalt, Brick, Concrete, Stone and last but not least--dead wood chips which are dead because they've been poidoned.