Wonder-Flora Landscape Design

10/30/2023

​Wondering what guides Wonder-Flora Landscape Design in decision-making?

10/30/2023

Wonder what guides Wonder-Flora Landscape Design in decision-making? I would like to tell you!

​Wondering what guides Wonder-Flora Landscape Design in decision-making?

07/19/2022

Always more to learn about the benefits of no-till growing for soil life and food quality!

Researchers have just begun to show recently that soils managed according to the principles of regenerative agriculture—minimal tillage, crop rotation, and the use of cover crops—yield more nutritious harvests.

06/15/2022

Indigenous forest gardens - the original Permaculture in the PNW

Gardens persist for 150 years after those who planted them were removed.

04/16/2022

How plants create rain: Somewhat akin to us breathing in and out, plants move water from the roots through trunks, branches, and stems, and ultimately out via the stomata (tiny pores) in leaves. Through this process, plants move nutrients to where they are needed –either nutrients from the soil or the sugars and carbohydrates photosynthesized by leaves. The water transpired by the plants becomes a key source for the formation of clouds and rain.

Cabezon Peak after rain, Photo by John Fowler (CC BY 2.0) Although climate change is a global issue, it can and must be addressed locally. Our overall climate is shifting drastically, but local cli…

08/07/2021

I have been happy to allow white and red clover to grow where it popped up around shrubs and trees I planted. Not so keen on buttercup and invasive grasses, but I appreciate the perspective of seeing the natural value of weeds and selectively picking our battles.Instead of digging the weeds out I more often will cut them short, mulch over them and never let them set seed.

Weeding in your garden? Maybe you shouldn't. Contrary to our decades-long battle against weeds, such as in lawns and in gardens (and especially where I live in America)… …most weeds are around for a (natural) reason. No, I’m not saying you should let weeds crowd out and choke your plants! (Tha...

08/06/2021

Fascinating!

Peter Wohlleben, author of the best-selling The Hidden Life of Trees, discusses an experiment with Nautilus.

In the experiment, Venus flytraps are given an anesthetic that deactivates their electric activity and they can’t snap their traps shut.

When the plants “wake up,” all is well, and they are back to snatching flies.

But to wake up, writes Wohlleben, you need consciousness. So do plants have consciousness?

Click the link below to read more.
https://bit.ly/2WeWEA5

05/04/2021

Learning from Indigenous Coast Salish peoples about forest gardens:

A new study by Simon Fraser University historical ecologists finds that Indigenous-managed forests—cared for as “forest gardens”—contain more biologically and functionally diverse species than surrounding conifer-dominated forests and create important habitat for animals and pollinators. The...

03/08/2021

How can we restore and protect soil? “maintain constant ground cover, increase microbe populations, encourage biological diversity, reduce the use of agricultural chemicals and avoid tillage”.

Dr. Christine Jones shares her five most important principles in restoring health to your soil.

12/16/2020

Backyard biodiversity could make a difference!

Yard Futures Project is studying how small practices can add up to big results.
https://www.nativeplanttrust.org/yard-futures-project/

By Christopher Neill This article was first published in the fall edition of Native Plant News and is reprinted with the permission of the author. At dawn on a June morning in 2017, Megan Shave, a member of my summer field research team at the Woods Hole Research Center, parked on a residential stre...