Energyscapes’ Blog

This morning I awoke to clear skies, an orange sun peaking over the horizon, frozen slushy snow, lots of icy puddles, and dreaming about a design Heather and I are working on.  It is a tough site.  We need to accomplish quite a few goals in a small space.  In my dream it was simplified to a path crossing the garden from public walk to front door.  Decided to write some broader goals for paths and thought it might interest folks reading this blog.

Garden paths carry us through lush meadow, dark forest, over dangers to an ideal destination where we have time to relax, settle-in, enjoy the view, meditate, release our cares, appreciate the beauty of all the diversity of life surrounding us, leaving with the knowledge that we may return to this sacred spot again any time.

May you find just such a path in your travels today or sometime soon.  If you can’t find it, call us and perhaps we can work together to help you create one.

Our temperatures broke through the fifty degree barrier here yesterday. This seems revolutionary after three months of snow covered ground. Has been a great winter for keeping the ground insulated and for those who love cross country skiing. Yet, it did not seem possible spring would ever come last week with those arctic temperatures and even lower wind chill readings.

Today, we only have a week before the vernal equinox when day and night are equal. This is a time of great celebration, since we have had a countdown running in our office since the new year began.

We are busy finalizing designs and estimates for a number of clients, ordering plants for those who have committed their down payments, and scheduling stone deliveries. One of our first projects this spring is just over the St. Croix River near Danbury, Wisconsin. It is a recently remodeled cabin on a secluded lake. We are building new boulder retaining walls and step stone paths and stairs down to the lake shore. I will post some photos here, of our work in progress.

Yesterday I took a break to examine some of the trees we planted last Earth Day at the Bossen Peace Woods, just north of the Peace Garden on the northeast shore of Lake Harriet. It seems they have come through the winter just fine. Would expect more bud swelling, but these plants have been out there, living through this winter and are waiting for more than one day of warmth.

Trust that each of you will take time from your busy schedules to get out and welcome all the new life spring brings for us to enjoy.

Last evening I presented this talk “Moving Your Yard Toward Sustainability”at the Minneapolis Home and Garden Show. If you are free, I am presenting it again this evening at 5:00.

What is meant by sustainable? This is a way of living that does not use up the resources required by future generations. Our current modern lifestyle is not sustainable becuase it relies on so much fossil fuel. The gardens EnergyScapes designs and installs reduce your carbon footprint by reducing the amount of maintenance you must do. You save both time and money by relying on those plants best adapted for your site conditions.

I presented several projects we have done for our clients. First was a series of views covering just three growing seasons that demonstrate how we transformed a lawn on a sandy site. Next I showed the specific steps to move their lawn areas toward gardens of native species that support one another without needing much help from us. It worked well to go back to that introductory series after covering all the steps needed to achieve a garden that looks so beautiful and does not require irrigation, mowing, fertilizer or insecticides. Quite a dramatic contrast with the dependent turf we started with at that home.

Sustainable communities of native plants dramatically reduce our carbon footprint because no mowing is required, except every few years to reduce thatch. That can be burned off if you are able to obtain a fire permit. The other benefit is that we are creating habitat for all these increasingly rare native plants, as urbanization, climate change and invasive species wipe out natural areas. Not only are we saving these plant species, but all the creatures that depend on them, like butterflies and the soil microbes that exhance their root systems to obtain both water and nutrients. Intensively managed turf reduces diversity to to just one grass species and the soil microbes are destroyed by inorganic chemical fertilizers. EnergyScapes shows you how to bring all of this diverse life back to your yard.

One sample design was featured, including photos of another site we transformed from lawn to a native shade garden. I demonstrated how to find sample designs on our website for: Prairie, Native Shade, Evergreen Shade, Raingarden, and Lakeshore habitats.

A rousing discussion followed with some great questions from the audience about how they can make this happen in their own yard. First question was, “Where can I get the paper you showed for killing the lawn?” EnergyScapes does sell it by the roll (4 x 300′). Mother Earth Gardens in south Minneapolis has also carried this landscape paper. It is sold under the trade name “Clean Burn”, but orders from the supplier require a twenty roll minimum.

Now is a great time to be working with our design team to create a new sustainable look for your home, office or cabin.

Our spring installation schedule is filling up quickly, but we still have time to prepare a plan for you before the ground thaws. Happy gardening, though snow is in our forecast for later today!

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