Subject: Re: [permaculture] Growing Along Highway Margins
Date: Fri, 26 Mar 2010 22:40:09 -0800
At 2:36 PM -0700 3/26/10, Christopher Randolph wrote:
Hello Everyone,
I recently had the opportunity to meet with a city official out here in
Portland, Oregon who is trying to use the land along city highways to grow
biofuels and/or building materials....>>
1. native plants. What can be more sustainable and appropriate than
native plants? They can then do a big campaign promoting the use of
native plants in home landscaping as well, for all the usual reasons
(native plants support native fauna, usually require fewer inputs,
are adapted to the climate, etc.). In Calif. some years ago, I heard
that a landscape architect was specifying natives for roadsides but
running into problems because the maintenance crews didn't know how
to maintain them, so ultimately natives were nixed. It does require
extra training to teach a different approach (little or no watering,
pruning, and fert once established), but worth it in the long run.
2. wood for special uses. One of the local nonprofits that's focused
on urban trees had a project for identifying useful woods so that
when street trees had to be cut, they could be used as specialty
lumber rather than as mulch. So you could ask local woodworkers, what
woods would you like to source locally? And then see what can be
grown locally. (Though I assume that most woodworking quality woods
come from slow-growing trees that might not grow fast enough for
roadside use or be healthy enough when harvested.) Boxwoods, for
instance, are prized for musical instruments but take a long, long
time to get substantial girth. I wonder if the native cherries have
good wood?
Re: [permaculture] Growing Along Highway Margins
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