AED Foundation & SkillsUSA Illinois Support Skilled Trades
Jessica Schwartz
Tree Selection For Wind, Salt & Fire Risks
Climate extremes and storms seem to increasingly dominate headlines. Drought, forest fires, hurricanes, and flooding are just a few of the weather-related crises we saw in the U.S. in the last few years. Such weather impacts can wreak havoc on prized, irreplaceable, and otherwise long-lasting landscaping. While the simple solution is a return to natives, even natives or zone appropriate plants can suffer when the zone experiences extremes. The record breaking freeze in Texas and the blazing heat in Oregon last year damaged or killed otherwise healthy zone-appropriate plantings in just a matter of days. According to a 2018 Yale School of the Environment paper, U.S. plant hardiness zones are moving north at 13 miles per decade. When the map was last updated in 2012, nearly half the country was upgraded to half a zone warmer than it had been in 1990. The Arbor Day Foundation says this affects which trees are right for planting. In 2015 it completed an extensive updating of zones and documented the shifts since 1990. While maps shift, mature trees can’t shift with them. We can fertilize, prune, and keep them at optimum health to better weather adverse conditions, but ultimately our most valuable landscape elements must often just bear up. Which is why we need to give them a fighting chance. We need to pick the right trees for potentially wrong conditions. This is the era of the tough tree. What makes a tough tree? One that is proven to best withstand nature’s onslaught. ...
How Green Is Your Scene? A Pew Report On Climate Change Attitudes
Is climate change affecting the way you do business? Or client concerns and expectations? According to a report released November 25 by Pew Research Center, U.S. Public Views on Climate and Energy, most Americans today (62%) say that climate change is affecting their local community either a great deal or some. Specifically, 22% of Americans say climate change is affecting their local community “A great deal;” 39% feel it is affecting it “Some,” while 38% say “Not too much/not at all.” The local effects being seen among the 62% group include: • 79% say long periods of unusually hot weather; • 70% say severe weather, like floods or intense storms; • 69% say harm to animal wildlife and their habitats; • 67% say damage to forest and plant life; • 64% say droughts or water shortages; • 56% say more frequent wildfires; and • 56% say rising sea levels that erode beaches and shore lines. Other information in the Pew Research Report includes: The degree to which Americans report experiencing climate change effects in their local community varies by geographic region. Americans in Pacific states—which include California, Washington, Oregon, Hawaii, and Alaska—report seeing the most impacts, at 72%. By comparison, 54% of those living in Mountain states—Arizona, Colorado, Nevada, Utah, New Mexico, Idaho, Montana, and Wyoming—say climate change is affecting their local area at least some. Besides long periods of unusually hot weather, other impacts of climate change by those seeing effects tend to vary by region. As one might ...
Can I Still Plant? First Frost & Fall Establishment
Most regions of the U.S., with a few exceptions, have experienced their first frost of the season by now. And landscapers are among that select group of people for whom that first dip into freezing temperatures means more than just it’s going to be a chilly day. An avid gardener, I watch that daily high and low with an eagle eye every fall and spring. On more than one occasion, I’ve had to drop everything and make it a priority to move all my pots indoors for the season. As a result, I’ve come to view that 32 degrees F with a sort of mysticism. It seems a dark magic must be at work to transform a vibrant, huge coleus one day into a wilted mess the very next. So what does first frost actually mean and does it end the planting season? Fall Frost Forecasts According to the National Weather Service (NOAA), hitting 32 degrees and first frost in the fall aren’t necessarily synonymous. “Frost can occur when the temperature falls below 36°F, especially in rural areas. It is a localized phenomena and can be quite variable across a small area. While the National Weather Service does not keep track of ‘frost’ in observations per se, we do keep track of when temperatures hit the freezing mark or fall below. Frost becomes more widespread when the temperature falls below 32°F with some freeze possible. A hard freeze is possible when temperatures fall below 28°F.” Here’s a breakdown of NOAA ...
