Kick the Habit: A Dirty Dozen of Common Gardening Bad Habits You Need to Kick

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Bad Habit #11

Landscape Fabric  

It’s a myth that landscape fabric prevents weeds.  Yes, they may initially, however, the fabric, once down, tends to stay in place season after season and that’s where trouble starts.  Issues include:

Weed seeds blow on top and germinate in the mulch layer sinking their roots down thru the fabric making it/them hard to remove. 

The roots of desired plants grow across and on top of the barrier.  Thus, they are not as deep in the soil as they should be.  The lack of deeply penetrating roots make the plant easily toppled by high winds and very susceptible to drought.  We want to encourage, not discourage, deep root growth. 

Landscape fabric prevents plants from spreading and naturalizing in your bed.  Worse, weed barriers are also sometimes impregnated with herbicides and fertilizers.

A major drawback of the practice is that it inhibits soil building.  When mulch is applied over the fabric it can’t decompose and contribute to building the health of the soil beneath it.  Many of the old weed fabrics aren’t water and gas permeable leaving the soil beneath dry and compacted.  This starves plants for water and nutrients and results in greatly reduced soil food web activity, noticeable by a lack of insect activity and earthworms.   When used on areas that hold on to excess water and become soggy, the weed barrier can trap water beneath it, creating a swampy mess, and a perfect breeding ground for some noxious weeds (e.g. field horsetail). 

A final observation is that many are plastic films, and you know what we think of plastic!!  They eventually break down and you find bits of plastic everywhere.  Landscape fabric is really hard to remove once it starts breaking down and depositing microplastics in the soil.  The long-term implications of the excess of microplastics in our ecosystems are yet to be fully defined, but we suspect that they are not good. 

Kick the Habit There is no magic solution that will eliminate weeds.  Apply mulch, more mulch, and more mulch still.  Wood chips, leaves, other organic materials such as pine straw and compost all will do a better job while eventually breaking down and building your soil.  Even stones and pea gravel are better.  Layer your mulch 2-3″ thick and very few weeds will get through.  Better yet, use a living mulch of native ground covers to outcompete the weeds and reduce the need to add brown mulch each season.  In summary, landscape fabric offers a short-term gain in return for a long-term problem.

Kick the Habit: A Dirty Dozen of Common Gardening Bad Habits You Need to Kick

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From the EGT’s Sustainable Landscaping Series, “The Ecological Benefits of the Not So Perfect Yard”

Bad Habit #10 – Tilling

  • Don’t till seasonally.  If the condition of the soil bed requires it, till once at the beginning of the bed set up and then let it do its thing naturally.
  • Tilling brings up weed seeds that are buried in the soil and setting them free to germinate and do their worst.
  • Tilling destroys soil structure and small microorganisms that are a part of the living soil structure.  This means they are unable to produce nitrogen that benefits your plants.
  • Tilling can create a thick, dense layer of compacted soil known as hardpan.  Hardpan can restrict the flow of nutrients and water through the soil. 
  • Tilling releases carbon into the atmosphere that you should keep in your soil.

Kick the Habit Cover your soil with layers of mulch. Wood chips in particular, placed ON TOP OF THE SOIL, are an invaluable resource.  They are generally available for free and are used by organic gardeners to mulch their gardens. The chips eventually break down and feed the soil increasing its fertility, water retention, and the beneficial organisms in the food web.  Green mulch (plants) is even better.

Kick the Habit: A Dirty Dozen of Common Gardening Bad Habits You Need to Kick

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From the EGT’s Sustainable Landscaping Series, “The Ecological Benefits of the Not So Perfect Yard”

Bad Habit #9 – Not Being Waterwise

As our drought across great swaths of our country last summer makes clear, water conservation efforts are critical.  We frequently go from one extreme to another: either too much or not enough.   Acres of water guzzling lawn, non-native plant species, inappropriate watering habits, all contribute to water scarcity issues.  Excessive impervious cover contributes to stormwater runoff which leads to water pollution and undercharged groundwater tables.
KICK THE HABIT

Reduce storm water runoff and keep our waters clean with the installation of green infrastructure including reducing impervious surfaces, grading all areas away from your house at a gentle slope, and capturing rainwater on site by installing rain gardens/barrels.  Your goal should be to keep as much rainwater on site as possible. 

Remove as much lawn as possible and replace it with gardens filled with native plants.  Irrigate only when necessary but do keep in mind that even native plants need supplemental water as they get established (during the first 2 years).  Be sure to mulch properly but remember that green mulch is the best mulch.   Choose the right plant for the right place, matching your planting choice with the site conditions.   

RESOURCES

Calling All Bicycle Enthusiasts!  Ewing Green Team To Host 9th Annual Fall Spin Bike Tour As A Part Of Ewing Community Fest

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Mayor Bert Steinmann, the Ewing Green Team, and the Ewing Recreation Department are pleased to announce that Ewing’s annual Fall Spin bike tour will be held on Saturday, September 30, 2023, starting at 8:15am.

We invite you to join your fellow Ewingites and pedal your way through town on a 12-mile leisurely ride with a guided Police escort, and enjoy a morning of exercise, fun and camaraderie.  There will be rest stops with refreshments and free bike inspections, provided by Hart’s Cyclery, will be available.

The event, now in its 9th year, has been a hit with area residents who enjoy taking a leisurely tour of the town with their friends and family members. It’s also a great opportunity to meet fellow residents from across Ewing.

This event kicks off Ewing’s annual Community Fest Celebration at TCNJ, starting and ending at Campus Town. 

Each year the proceeds are donated to a different charity.  The selected charity for 2023 is Meals on Wheels of Mercer County, a local nonprofit dedicated to providing nutritious meals and related services, while easing the social isolation of our senior and homebound participants.  The goal of the services is to assist participants, who wish to remain in their homes, maintain independence, dignity, health, and well-being.

The Ewing Fall Spin is open to individuals or teams, ages 18 years and older.  You are encouraged to register early as there is a maximum number of 60 riders allowed. “We would love participants to sign up as individuals or come as a team of friends, family members or co-workers,” says EGT Member and Bike Tour Chairperson, Garry Keel. The Fall Spin registration fee is $25 prior to September 23rd and $30 thereafter. All persons registering by September 23rd will receive a T-shirt. Day-of-event registration will begin at 7:45am.

Ride Details

Date: September 30th (Rain or shine). In case of really inclement weather and the event has to be cancelled, we will try to contact you by phone and/or email. (So please fill out the form with your computer or sign up using CommunityPass)
Meet Up: 7:45 a.m. at Campus Town
Ride Start: 8:15 a.m.
Cost: $25 per person (includes a free tee shirt if your registration is received by September 17th.) $30 per person if received after Sept 23rd.
Police Escort: The Ewing police will once again escort us through intersections.

Registration

  • Online: You must create a user account (a one-time requirement for all Ewing programs) and fill out all required information.  This will populate our registration form and waiver.  There is an additional $3 fee to cover processing costs.  Do not use this system if you are being comped for the ride.
  • In Person: Register and pay at the ESCC Recreation Department Office, temporarily located at the Hollowbrook Community Center, 320 Hollowbrook Drive, Ewing, NJ 08638.
  • Phone in registration by Credit Card Call 609-883-1776 Ext. 2
  • By mail Fill out the registration form and mail it along with your check made out to the Ewing Twp. Recreation Department to:

Ted Forst (Director)
Ewing Recreation Department
Hollowbrook Community Center
320 Hollowbrook Drive
Ewing, NJ 08638

More Things Biking at Community Fest!

Bike Rodeo

Kids ages 4 -12 are invited to the 2023 Community Fest Bike Rodeo.  Aimed at teaching the rules of the road, as well as some safety tips for both the rider and their cycle, the event is still in the planning stages but will be held in conjunction with Community Fest, Saturday, September 30th at the parking lot near the Food Trucks.  More information to come.

Recycle Your Bicycle! 

Help put a smile on the face of a child when you donate your used bicycle to help kids from low-income families enjoy the freedom and delight of biking! Drop off your used bicycle at the Bike Rodeo.  This Bike Drive is being held in collaboration with the Boys and Girls Club Bike Exchange located at Capitol Plaza. 

Kick the Habit: A Dirty Dozen of Common Gardening Bad Habits You Need to Kick

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From the EGT’s Sustainable Landscaping Series, “The Ecological Benefits of the Not So Perfect Yard”

Bad Habit #8 – Chemical Fertilizers, Herbicides, Pesticides

When you spray pesticides or add inorganic fertilizer to your beds, you kill the microorganisms in the soil. You might give your plants a temporary boost or “save” them from insect infestations but having killed your soil biology, you will need to keep adding chemical inputs. All those chemical inputs are then carried by storm waters into our waterways, poisoning the animal life, the drinking water, and lead to conditions that increase the sterility of the soil.  Research also shows that amending the planting hole with compost or topsoil is not necessarily beneficial.  Most plants, particularly natives, do better when planted in native, unamended soil.  It seems that the amendments encourage roots to stay in the vicinity of their planting holes and not grow out into the un-amended soil, leading to stunted root systems. 

Look Out for Neonicotinoids

Neonics, or neonicotinoids, are a class of pesticide widely used by growers which are a leading cause of bee and pollinator die-offs. They are a synthetic insecticide which affect the central nervous system of insects leading to “difficulty in navigating, learning, and foraging, suppressed immune response, lower sperm viability, shortened lifespans of queens, and reduced numbers of new queens produced.1“

They are, unfortunately, widely used on agricultural crops, lawns, ornamentals and other home garden plants. Seeds that you purchase may also be coated with them and seedlings may also be treated with them. They are absorbed throughout the entire plant from the roots to the flowers, even the pollen and the seeds. Everything that feeds on a treated plant would be affected, so it has a devastating effect on insect populations, birds, and subsequently, the whole ecosystem.

Being so widely used, you need to beware of plant purchases from big box stores and chain garden centers. Their stock most likely has been treated with them. Make it a best practice to inquire if they are selling uncontaminated seeds or plants. Buy only USDA Certified Organic plants or buy from a native plant nursery.

KICK THE HABIT Let the roots grow in the native soil and use organic matter on the surface as a mulch. Don’t use dyed mulch.

When you spray pesticides or add inorganic fertilizer to your beds, you kill the microorganisms in the soil.

  1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neonicotinoid