Growing Greener

Will "volcano mulch" the landscaper piled around the bases of your trees kill them? And is a mulch made of ground-up shipping pallets really beneficial for your plants? You may be surprised by the science-based insights about common organic mulches that Dr. Linda Chalker-Scott of Washington State University shares in the most recent "Growing Greener."

Ecological gardening leader Larry Weaner details how you can get all the benefits of conventional mulch, plus boosting biodiversity and wildlife, with a well-designed and beautiful groundcover of native plants

Maya K. van Rossum discusses Green Amendments for the Generations, the movement she founded to bring an amendment to every state constitution guaranteeing residents' basic human right to clean air and water, and a healthy environment

John Walker, a horticulturist who trained at the Royal Botanic Gardens Kew and a multi award winner environmental writer, shares advice on Veganic Gardening, an approach that combines organic practices with plant-based nurturing of the soil with resources found or grown on-site for maximum sustainability.

Buying topsoil is a quick and popular fix for many garden problems – but buyer beware says Dawn Pettinelli, Director of the University of Connecticut's Soil & Nutrient Analysis Lab. There are no industry standards, not even a definition, of what makes a good topsoil. Dawn shares tips on making sure the topsoil you buy is non-toxic and of a quality that will benefit your plants.

"Gardeners are the worst threat to native plants." Hostility toward horticulturists is common within the ecological restoration community. But, John Gedraitis of Van Berkum Nursery says, it's an impediment to growers such as him who want to expand the availability of local ecotype plants, genetically adapted natives grown from locally collected wild seed.

Elizabeth Licata, a passionate promoter of Garden Walk Buffalo, the nation's largest free open garden tour, and a longtime contributor to the popular blog "Garden Rant" takes on gardener anthropomorphism, our appealing but destructive habit of ascribing human emotions and characteristics to plants.

Landscape architects Wolfgang Oehme and James van Sweden electrified the gardening world in 1975 when they introduced a new horticultural richness and a concern for sustainability with their "New American Garden Style." Eric Groft, current CEO of Oehme, van Sweden discusses the firm's new book, "Beyond Bold," describing how the successor generation has remained true to that legacy while pursuing new avenues of environmental sensitivity.

Dr. Douglas Tallamy, the University of Delaware entomologist who has been awakening homeowners to the need to plant natives and join our plots together in a giant "homegrown national park," has found a new audience. He has just released a young readers' edition of his best-selling book, "Nature's Best Hope." Learn how you can enlist your children in the campaign to save our ecosystems.

Founded in 2013 by internationally acclaimed garden designer Edwina von Gal, the Perfect Earth Project seeks to introduce landscape professionals to toxin-free, sustainable approaches to their craft, while reaching out to their customers to create a market for these skills. Listen to the Project's new Executive Director Matt Jeffery discuss the many new programs the organization is pursuing.