#209433 - 05/17/08 05:41 AM
Re: A Question Of Greenspace -- All Opinions Wanted!
[Re: Joclyn]
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Merme
Grande Damme
Garden Helper
Registered: 10/30/04
Posts: 14747
Loc: Maine
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#209506 - 05/17/08 07:26 AM
Re: A Question Of Greenspace -- All Opinions Wanted!
[Re: Merme]
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cricket
Great Gardener
Registered: 04/03/08
Posts: 831
Loc: Texas
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someone mentioned the cost of watering in a desert like region. what about the cost of adding concrete and rock. concrete and rock are not cheap. I would think it'd be cheaper to have added native and adaptive plants, grasses, cacti. if they are native they wouldn't need extra watering. and when it did rain, water would drain better and feed the soil underneath. and isn't that the point of 'green'. disturbing as little of the natural enviornment as possible? don't think way-back-when there was naturally concrete in that spot.
Ive really been enjoying this topic!
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Cricket 
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#209509 - 05/17/08 07:50 AM
Re: A Question Of Greenspace -- All Opinions Wanted!
[Re: cricket]
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Merme
Grande Damme
Garden Helper
Registered: 10/30/04
Posts: 14747
Loc: Maine
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disturbing as little of the natural enviornment as possible? don't think way-back-when there was naturally concrete in that spot.
Cricket, that's how I think of the phrase in the definition of "xeriscape" I found... "sound horticultural principles/practices" (I forget which). That whatever we do in an area, we should try to enhance it, improve it, or leave it alone!
Many years ago, my aunt and uncle had a deep creek in a ravine along the edge of their property in NJ. It was a small bit of wilderness with lots of trees and wild growing things and animal life. My cousins and all the other famiy kids enjoyed that area so much! Well, at some point, the state decided what they HAD to do was dig out the creek and put in a cement culvert because they were planning to re-route a highway through the area and the site couldn't be left alone. All the protests and legal wrangling didn't stop the project and my then-teenage cousin nearly got arrested for trying to stop the bulldozers from taking out the beautiful trees. The project went through -- the state cleared the trees, poured all that concrete, the creek pretty much dried up and the wildlife moved away. It felt like SUCH a tragedy! And guess what? Later the state decided to NOT move the highway after all and so the newly built culvert was completely unnecessary but the damage was already done.
Decades later, it still breaks my heart to think of it. But that sort of story can be repeated many many times all over America concerning half-built but unused highways, bridges, etc etc.
Have any of you seen the TV ads for Planet Green about the town destroyed by a hurricane that is going to be rebuilt 100% green?
Merme
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  Compatible Parts"Somewhere my love, there will be songs to sing although the snow covers the hope of spring. Somewhere a hill blossoms in green and gold and there are dreams all that your heart can hold" ~Lara's Theme
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#209638 - 05/17/08 06:40 PM
Re: A Question Of Greenspace -- All Opinions Wanted!
[Re: hisgal2]
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plants 'n pots
Purl One
Garden Helper
Registered: 11/12/03
Posts: 23358
Loc: Rockland County, NY
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Here's what I've been wondering and pondering about...
We waste an awful lot of water (and pay through the nose for it too!) while waiting for the hot water to get up to our third level bed/2 full bathroom level from the hot water heater in the basement. In the winter it seems to take forever for it to turn even lukewarm. And this is with a new hot water heater too - it's just the distance that it has to travel.
There's too much water - heavy - to collect and carry downstairs and out to the gardens. It just seems so very wasteful... not to mention the dent it puts in our pocketbook!!!
_________________________
   ...  ...  ...  ...  ...  stated by a very wise friend... "well at least when you talk to yourself, you know the character of the person you are talking to!"
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#209648 - 05/17/08 06:54 PM
Re: A Question Of Greenspace -- All Opinions Wanted!
[Re: plants 'n pots]
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cricket
Great Gardener
Registered: 04/03/08
Posts: 831
Loc: Texas
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We waste an awful lot of water (and pay through the nose for it too!) while waiting for the hot water to get up to our third level bed/2 full bathroom level from the hot water heater in the basement. In the winter it seems to take forever for it to turn even lukewarm.
good point! so,what do we do that is convient?
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Cricket
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#209820 - 05/18/08 07:01 PM
Re: A Question Of Greenspace -- All Opinions Wanted!
[Re: cricket]
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cricket
Great Gardener
Registered: 04/03/08
Posts: 831
Loc: Texas
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We waste an awful lot of water (and pay through the nose for it too!) while waiting for the hot water to get up to our third level bed/2 full bathroom level from the hot water heater in the basement. In the winter it seems to take forever for it to turn even lukewarm. good point! so,what do we do that is convient?
COME ON GUYS...  ...I know there are some opionions out there.
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Cricket
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#210091 - 05/20/08 07:26 AM
Re: A Question Of Greenspace -- All Opinions Wanted!
[Re: loz]
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suzydaze
Daisy
Dream Gardener
Registered: 08/03/04
Posts: 3113
Loc: Arkansas
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Merme, do you know where that HGTV show was based? I mean a Xeriscape can be very beneficial to people that live in desert like climates like Vegas. I often see the grass ripped out in places like that---and then gravel and drought tolerant plants put in. In my mind I don't think of things like that really as "green", but it fits best sometimes with the climate. There is also a restauranteer/grocery owner who grows all his produce organically in greenhouses on the roof of his building in NYC. We have had some of his homemade soups, etc and they are very good and fresh. Martha Stewart featured him recently on a show - Eli Zabar.
I cannot fathom how concrete could be good for greening up the earth! I watched that show Lynne, really fascinating....and he grew them in water!!!
yes in desert areas it can be beneficial, not that I cared for it, but when we lived in New Mexico all the yards there were done in gravel, it helped not only in the dry season but in the rainy as well because the gravel held the dirt in place and kept it from washing away
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#210092 - 05/20/08 07:41 AM
Re: A Question Of Greenspace -- All Opinions Wanted!
[Re: suzydaze]
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cricket
Great Gardener
Registered: 04/03/08
Posts: 831
Loc: Texas
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no, I have not seen any equipment for using vegetable oil for home heating.
on saving on shower water waiting for it to heat up...I don't know if this is gonna make any sense, but I believe I have a reverse example of how one might save water. when we first moved into our new place the main line from the well to the house was on top of the ground. we did a lot of the things ourselves and that was one of them that just got 'do it this way for now and we'll fix it later' kinda things. anyway, it was in the heat of the summer. first thing i always did coming in from work was to put a load of laundry in. no matter what temp i'd set the washer on, the water would come out burning hot, for a long period of time. I learned to wash my whites ect first. or i'd do a load of dishes in the dishwasher first to use up that hot hot water.
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Cricket
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#210094 - 05/20/08 07:48 AM
Re: A Question Of Greenspace -- All Opinions Wanted!
[Re: cricket]
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suzydaze
Daisy
Dream Gardener
Registered: 08/03/04
Posts: 3113
Loc: Arkansas
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I saw that on a show once, don't remember what show it was but they were talking about it
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