Author Archives: admin

Lawn Weed Tolerance Survey, Halifax, 25 May 2023

Posted on May 25, 2023 by admin

I conducted my sometimes annual lawn ecology survey yesterday (May 25), results shown in the image at right. The Ratio of Weed Intolerant to Weed Tolerant (& pollinator-friendly) front lawns is similar to that I have found in past years … Continue reading →

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Dal Prof Paul Manning: Beware of greenwashing in the pursuit of wildlife‑friendly gardens

Posted on May 4, 2023 by admin

So advises Dalhousie University Faculty of Agriculture Prof. Paul Manning in an article entitled “How greenwashing can lead us astray in the pursuit of wildlife-friendly gardens” published in The Conversation, a kind of academic blog whose byline is “Academic rigour, … Continue reading →

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When converting a lawn to a meadow is illegal

Posted on July 23, 2020 by admin

Couple battling municipality over ‘nuisance’ wildflower garden Stu Mills · CBC News · Posted: Jul 20, 2020 “La Pêche, Que., couple says their vegetation is a habitat for bees and butterflies”

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There are “guerilla gardeners” and now “guerilla plant namers”

Posted on May 2, 2020 by admin

View ‘Not just weeds’: how rebel botanists are using graffiti to name forgotten flora In the Guardian, May 1, 2020. A rising international force of rebel botanists armed with chalk has taken up street graffiti to highlight the names and importance … Continue reading →

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Early April is ideal time to overseed clover

Posted on April 9, 2020 by admin

There are many benefits to having clover in lawns: – Combined with mulch-mowing, the clover can supply most or all of the turf’s needs for nitrogen. Clover and other legumes are infected by soil bacteria which form nitrogen-fixing nodules on … Continue reading →

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What’s ripping up the lawns?

Posted on May 5, 2019 by admin

Crows are said to be the culprits. Well really it’s the grubs they are after that are the problem. I have noticed a lot more crows on peninsular Halifax this spring and am wondering if disruption of the roost at … Continue reading →

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Spreading clover seed on a Halifax lawn

Posted on April 23, 2019 by admin

My front lawn is particularly difficult, but not atypical of front lawns (or sometimes back lawns) in Halifax. It was established on shallow soil, there are tree roots through it and from late May on it is shaded by Norway … Continue reading →

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This fall, red maple matched Japanese maple for colour

Posted on November 12, 2018 by admin

The red maples were a match for the Japanese maples in Halifax on Oct 30, 2018

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Surette on bottled water and lawn chemicals

Posted on October 27, 2018 by admin

In “Let’s stop being such environmental dunces” (Chronicle Herald, Oct 2, 2018), columnist Ralph Surette cited bottled water and our use of lawn chemicals as prime examples of “low-hanging toxic fruit that is environmentally, economically and logically idiotic — and … Continue reading →

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Last days of Common Roots at the QE site

Posted on September 29, 2018 by admin

2018 was the 7th season for the Common Roots Urban Farm which was “set up as a pilot project at Robie Street and Bell Road in 2012”. However, it’s their last season at that site, and we haven’t heard yet … Continue reading →

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