You are here: Home / Archives for conservation

NC Botanical Garden: Pioneer in Conservation

May 11, 2012 | 3 Comments

North Carolina Botanical Garden - Chapel Hill

Today is National Public Gardens Day. Of all the gardens I’ve visited in North America, I believe none surpasses the North Carolina Botanical Garden in overall excellence.

Decades before “sustainable” and “eco-friendly”became buzzwords, this garden in Chapel Hill was setting the standard for conservation in public areas. Its buildings, education programs and exhibits, plant and ecological communities, and dedicated, knowledgeable staff all continue to exemplify the Garden’s mission:

To inspire understanding, appreciation and conservation of plants in gardens and natural areas and to advance a sustainable relationship between people and nature.

The North Carolina Botanical Garden (part of the University of North Carolina) has attained just the right balance of wild and cultivated. If you want showy displays of annuals, this is not the garden for you.  What you will find is a diversity of trees, interesting shrubs, perennials, and wildflowers, mixed with lots of art and human activity.

Path to Paul Green Cabin - North Carolina Botanical Garden

Various areas in the Garden represent the varying ecological and plant habitats of North Carolina. The pathway to the Paul Green Cabin, for example, is a peaceful, ferny glade in the mountain habitat section of the Botanical Garden. It’s easy to forget you’re in the much flatter, hotter Piedmont area of the state.

This botanical garden is the real deal, folks. If you’re coming to the Chapel Hill or Research Triangle Park area, I hope you’ll schedule some time here. Or, check out the Garden’s website for more information about invasive plants, water conservation, and related topics. I’m pretty sure you’ll leave with a renewed commitment to preserving your own garden’s ecology.

Filed Under: conservation, gardens, North Carolina, plants

Earth Day. What’s Your Footprint?

April 22, 2012 | Leave a Comment

Footprints: Next Generation

This morning I spent some time on Earth Day Network’s website, learning about their programs and using their interactive “footprint” calculator. The calculator is defined as a “resource accounting tool that measures how much biologically productive land and sea is used up by a given population or activity”. I entered information about my choices in food, lodging, and transportation and got a visual impression of how my lifestyle is impacting the ecological capacity of the earth. If you want to take the quiz, you’ll find the footprint calculator here, with a link to a FAQ page about why it’s important.

Filed Under: conservation, environment

Not for Postcard Use

April 11, 2012 | 1 Comment

Clearcut

I was driving east on I-40, singing along to the radio, then … this. Erosion and soil degradation, loss of trees and habitat, ugliness — this view has it all.

Filed Under: conservation, environment, North Carolina, road trip

Milemarker 10: Bring Back the Rhodies

February 24, 2012 | Leave a Comment

Eastbound on I-40, I sometimes stop at the North Carolina welcome center located just beyond the Tennessee line at milemarker 10. The staff is always gracious and generous with information, maps, and brochures. The building, renovated in the 1990s, is attractive, with a design that seems compatible with it’s mountain surroundings. The grounds are a different story, in my opinion.

Before, there were lush stands of rhododendron, set in natural-looking, gently-sloping mounds around the building. Now, the gentle contours are gone and the native plants have been replaced, mostly with exotic species. The winter view in back of the building is of spindly nandinas, mulch, and the obligatory boulder or two. I miss the old landscape.

For a true sense of the North Carolina mountains, you’d best go down the steps at the edge of the parking lot to a landing that overlooks a ravine. If you look beyond the invasive empress trees (Paulownia tomentosa), you’ll see the distinctive mix of evergreens and deciduous trees that make up this lovely area of the world.

Away from the car:

To this:

 

Filed Under: conservation, mountains, road trip

Keeping Watch

July 15, 2011 | Leave a Comment

Bluebird Nest Box

Over the years, this weathered box has provided shelter and a nesting site for numerous bluebird families. As I tried to get in closer to photograph this particular parent, I could hear the babies chirping inside. It was a sweltering, very humid day – over ninety degrees – and I wondered how the little birds could keep from suffocating.

I think there is no more uplifting, hopeful sight than a bluebird. I hope these babies fare well in the world.

Filed Under: birds, conservation, nature, wildlife Tagged With: