We need more plants, how do we do it?

[Ganoderma]

Under the assumption that more plants are good, how can the everyday joe add more plants to their situation?

i thinking going with the "keep it simple stupid" theme is a good one, cause not everyone wants to water and keep up plants, move, clean etc (ie good lazy plants).

so how about some suggestions for good plants for certain areas.

so how about some ideas of plants for certain places we can add?

i have found these species to do well on window sills in southern canada and warmer places.
cactus
Aloe sp.
African Violets
Ivy
Coleus
Bromeliads
Fatsia
Oxalis
Zebrina (Wandering Jew)

i find these do quite well with really low light (or high light if available). places like desks, kitchens, bedrooms etc that only receive distant window light and whatever light bulbs that are occasionally used. many species will do well if rotated from sunny to shady spots on a couple week basis.

money trees
Bromeliads (some)
Zebrina (Wandering Jew)


more later.

[interval]

First step is to protect what we have.

[belovelife]

a million trees

Well succulents and ivy's are easy to take care of.
I have a friend who does bonzai, those are a bit harder.
But all in all, a neighborhood of nice green lawns usually make for
a nice sight. Birds of paridise are hearty even in the dessert where i live,
but i hear they are hard to root. Now if you just want a nice look for a while,
you could try morning glory, (heavenly blue is my favorate).
Shekwasha is a nice little
bush. And it has a fruit that goes really well with drinks.

[Michaelangelica]

Get kids and schools involved
Get kids growing plants like Ice Cream Bean, Peanut Butter Plant, Miracle Fruit, Venus Fly Trap, Mimosa
anything that gets them going

See this pilot programme

Go for your life – Kitchen Garden Project with Stephanie Alexander

* What are the Go for your life Kitchen Garden Project Grants?

Go for your life - Kitchen Garden Project - Financial - School Management - Department of Education and Early Childhood Development
https://secure.kitchengardenfoundati...onations.shtml
Victorian Association for Environmental Education
Gardening Australia - Fact Sheet: School Kitchen Garden
Gardening Australia - Video
Kitchen garden funding to go national - ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)

Some of the multicultural gardens/cooking have been especially brilliant
Stephanie Alexander is one of the top ten chefs in Australia.
I know years ago she used to pay kids 10c per snail for her very famous Victorian Restaurant.

All schools should have an interdisciplinary science/biology/chemistry/history/ maths/ English-folklore-debating-Shakespeare ( a great gardener)/ecology/politics?/cooking/business studies/economics//agriculture/ethics, conservation self reliance etc Gardening Department(In fact-what else do you need?)

There are over 20 of these programs running in schools around Victoria and the plan is to have nearly 200 running in schools Australia-wide by 2012. It proves that there’s nothing better - from garden to the stomach

This should be adequately resourced with Nursery propagation and gardening space

A garden is just a place where people learn about plants.-MA

[belovelife]

Being in the north, do you have thimbleberries?
I used to have fields of these In the UP of michigan.
Up in that part of the nation there wasn't much problems with getting plants to grow.
Hows it where you live?

[Moontanman]

I figure I've done my carbon offset for my entire life, when I was 12 i planted a small forest of pine trees, i went back to see them a few years ago and they were all more than two feet thick and a hundred fifty feet tall. I don't know how many tons of carbon they have pulled out of the atmosphere but it has to be a lot, there are at least one hundred of them.

[Ganoderma]

that must make you feel young lol!

Get kids and schools involved
Get kids growing plants like Ice Cream Bean, Peanut Butter Plant, Miracle Fruit, Venus Fly Trap, Mimosa
anything that gets them going

that is easier said than done man.....i have tried at my school many times.....and "these kids today" (grandma quote) just don't find dirt and plants as interesting as they used to.....video games and tv seem to occupy their time got any suggestions. all these cool plants like sensitive mimosa, miracle fruit etc all grow here and they are used to it like north americans are used to pine trees or moss lol.

winter vacation again here, maybe its time to try another plant project with one of the classes

[Turtle]

Other than my veggie garden I have cut back on plants in recent years. I did however do a couple beds of wildflowers last year to draw in some bees & butterflies and to get rid of some grass yard and replace with natives that need little water.

I see a couple mentions of ivy here and I can only say that it is a very damaging invasive species when it escapes into woodlands. With so many other choices, I recommend just saying no to ivy.

Go for plants native to your area and spread the word to the neighbors that they take less water & care, save money by replacing lawn, attract wildlife, and help the environment in many ways. Give them as gifts.

[belovelife]

One thing, if you are planting many trees, be sure to leave room for the roots.
To allow for maximum potential growth. Also try to get the sprouts from multiple sources.
We have had issues in recent years because of the lack of diversity in forests. Basically the forests
have been getting clear cut, then planted with all the same trees. We, need to add diversity.
Although just planting trees is really good, don't get me wrong. But taking these 2 varyables into account will make our forests much healthier in the future.

[Turtle]

Originally Posted by belovelife

One thing, if you are planting many trees, be sure to leave room for the roots.
To allow for maximum potential growth. Also try to get the sprouts from multiple sources.
...

Good points. Besides gathering shoots for rooting, another workable method of reproducing native plants is in gathering their seeds.