What kind of support would help you care for land better?
October 26, 2024 6:55 PM Subscribe
Asking anyone who is responsible for a piece of land (of any size, from windowbox to acreage and everything in-between). Would you like to improve how you take care of that land? If so, what information or support do you wish you had, that would help you do that?
I have diverse and extensive landscape-related expertise, and I'm building a consulting business that helps individuals improve how they care for land.
This is not to design, garden, or landscape for people. Rather, it is to help them develop uniquely-tailored awareness, knowledge, and skills so they can improve how they engage the site they are responsible for.
This could involve any number of things, depending on people and site. Such as teaching people how to visualize possible transformations; helping them learn about a site's ecology, geology topography, or hydrology; or doing historical research. Assisting someone to develop a plan for land care, or to follow through on it. Working with them to figure out how they can meaningfully respond to climate change on site.
Help me develop this idea! Do you have land care related questions that you could use help answering, or interests that you would like help pursuing? What are they? What kinds of information or support would enable you to develop them more?
I have diverse and extensive landscape-related expertise, and I'm building a consulting business that helps individuals improve how they care for land.
This is not to design, garden, or landscape for people. Rather, it is to help them develop uniquely-tailored awareness, knowledge, and skills so they can improve how they engage the site they are responsible for.
This could involve any number of things, depending on people and site. Such as teaching people how to visualize possible transformations; helping them learn about a site's ecology, geology topography, or hydrology; or doing historical research. Assisting someone to develop a plan for land care, or to follow through on it. Working with them to figure out how they can meaningfully respond to climate change on site.
Help me develop this idea! Do you have land care related questions that you could use help answering, or interests that you would like help pursuing? What are they? What kinds of information or support would enable you to develop them more?
I have a garden, and enjoy gardening. My questions tend to be about the fit between that garden and generic gardening advice - is this "a shady spot"? Is my soil here sufficiently acidic? Do these roses need pruning, and what will happen if I don't do it?
I enjoy figuring these things out for myself, but I'd certainly pay someone who arrived with a clear and interesting vision for some interesting, out-there things I could try to do, who could also teach me how to do them.
posted by wattle at 7:16 PM on October 26 [3 favorites]
I enjoy figuring these things out for myself, but I'd certainly pay someone who arrived with a clear and interesting vision for some interesting, out-there things I could try to do, who could also teach me how to do them.
posted by wattle at 7:16 PM on October 26 [3 favorites]
Often the people who have time to care for their outdoor space are disabled in some way, either due to being at an age for retirement or not doing full time work because of their challenges. A huge thing that I think is really overlooked is landscape care for disabled people. Not just mobility and strength, either, but stuff like depression, adhd, sensory processing issues, balance… I know there are many adaptive tools and techniques, but am very unaware of their specifics. I also don’t have the first clue how to prioritize something as complex as landscaping with such limited spoons or uneven focus. I’d love to be able to know also if, when developing plans with a landscaper, that the finished plans are accessible by friends and family members using canes or wheelchairs, what kind of materials are best and what are good compromises for sustainability and safety. It’s a whole complex issue that is rarely addressed on an individual level.
posted by Mizu at 7:29 PM on October 26 [15 favorites]
posted by Mizu at 7:29 PM on October 26 [15 favorites]
I think of myself as the steward for my acre of earth, but I also constantly feel as if I am groping blindly in the dark when I have questions about any of the actions I take on it. So what you say in your fourth paragraph is exactly what I’d be looking for. Teach me what you can about it, but also teach me how to find answers on my own, too.
posted by minervous at 7:56 PM on October 26 [1 favorite]
posted by minervous at 7:56 PM on October 26 [1 favorite]
When I lived in the Chicago area, I purchased a house in the suburbs from a couple that previously was in charge of the Chicago botanical garden. The property was a half acre. In the front of the house they had established a garden (for lack of me knowing a better term) that had all sorts of plantings such that they wanted it to represent what the prairie might have looked like before (100s of years before) the area was developed. We did our best to maintain it, but I am still not sure we did it right. I was the one cutting the grass in the other parts of the yard. I did look for a service that would care for the entire lawn, but none of them knew what some of the plants, grasses and flowers were much less how to best maintain it and let it thrive.
Anyway, while we loved that part of our property, I wish they had left us a map of what was there and a road map for how to maintain it and let it thrive. I do not recall the reason now, but the previous owners were not reachable (to us?) after the closing so we never got a chance to ask. If I knew there was a service that could have explained it to us and maybe even suggested ways to expand it, I would have definitely explored their services.
To try to summarize, I needed information on maintaining it. Watering, soil maintenance, even things like do we rake out the leaves from the neighbor's trees or let them be because no one was raking centuries ago. Identification of the plantings would have helped. Also suggestions for adding or removing plants or tree that were not native.
It sounds like what you are considering is exactly what I needed. Good luck.
posted by JohnnyGunn at 10:48 PM on October 26 [3 favorites]
Anyway, while we loved that part of our property, I wish they had left us a map of what was there and a road map for how to maintain it and let it thrive. I do not recall the reason now, but the previous owners were not reachable (to us?) after the closing so we never got a chance to ask. If I knew there was a service that could have explained it to us and maybe even suggested ways to expand it, I would have definitely explored their services.
To try to summarize, I needed information on maintaining it. Watering, soil maintenance, even things like do we rake out the leaves from the neighbor's trees or let them be because no one was raking centuries ago. Identification of the plantings would have helped. Also suggestions for adding or removing plants or tree that were not native.
It sounds like what you are considering is exactly what I needed. Good luck.
posted by JohnnyGunn at 10:48 PM on October 26 [3 favorites]
This is not a direct answer to your question, but The Urban Lumberjack in Los Angeles does exactly this but for trees. He charges by the hour and is basically a tree PhD. He comes to your house, walks around with you, tells you what you have and how to care for it and how healthy it looks and what it needs next and when it needs it, and has suggestions on who to hire to achieve that (he no longer does tree maintenance work himself). We love him and have hired him twice.
posted by samthemander at 12:12 AM on October 27 [2 favorites]
posted by samthemander at 12:12 AM on October 27 [2 favorites]
Is there a spikes-free groundcover species that will out-compete soliva sessilis on sand/silt soils subjected to ongoing compaction by horses? Alternatively, are there soil amendments that make sand/silt soils better resist compaction by hoofed beasts, so that something like a clover could get a chance to do better than the bindiis? I'm not at all keen on herbicides because I really like my broadleaf "weeds" as long as they're not trying to pierce my feet or the dog's.
posted by flabdablet at 3:52 AM on October 27
posted by flabdablet at 3:52 AM on October 27
Where I live in the southeastern US, we have many (many!) non-native invasive species that dominate people's yards and make it hard for us to care for the land properly and bring back native species. For us, it's things like Chinese/Japanese privet, English ivy, Liriope, Microstigium, etc. We have all of the above in our yard, and figuring out how to most effectively remove them is hard! Having expertise on your local most common non-native invasives and their best removal strategies could be really helpful.
posted by hydropsyche at 4:41 AM on October 27 [3 favorites]
posted by hydropsyche at 4:41 AM on October 27 [3 favorites]
I live in a suburban house in a wooded, older neighborhood with many surrounding trees and established homes. As a homeowner, I have limited time and do not desire to be out digging up earth, moving boulders, or planting. I see people in my neighborhood doing landscape projects or maintaining their land in ways I think are cool, interesting, beautiful, or exciting, making the neighborhood a better place to live.
To say I don't want to be outside digging in the yard is to say I don't want to be doing something that will be a waste of time, look poorly done, not last, or be invaded over time. I don't want to waste time and money inefficiently with poor results.
When we moved to our house, my partner had an initial burst of permaculture energy, resulting in a preponderance of fruit trees in front of our home and not much else except grass and invasive grass. The back is more intensively used with more privacy, some raised garden beds, sheds, chickens, workshops, etc.
When I consider my yard and how it is used, I wonder how you make a plot of land useful instead of just managing it. I mow the grass, trim back intrusive branches, weed whack, and rake up, and that's about it. It's as if 1/3 of your house went unlived in. If I want to put in pathways, how do you do that so they don't just get overrun? How do you run irrigation lines? How do you beat back invasive grass? How do you manage a suburban yard without pesticides while removing boring useless grass spaces?
How can I do some cool projects I see my neighbors doing? I'm not going to pay professionals thousands of dollars to do this, yet spending my time in fruitless endeavors that look mundane or fail over time is pretty useless. I want to rewild my lawn and have it work as a space I want to be in. I would love to have professional help with this as an advisory on ways to get it done without massive labor inputs.
posted by diode at 5:22 AM on October 27 [1 favorite]
To say I don't want to be outside digging in the yard is to say I don't want to be doing something that will be a waste of time, look poorly done, not last, or be invaded over time. I don't want to waste time and money inefficiently with poor results.
When we moved to our house, my partner had an initial burst of permaculture energy, resulting in a preponderance of fruit trees in front of our home and not much else except grass and invasive grass. The back is more intensively used with more privacy, some raised garden beds, sheds, chickens, workshops, etc.
When I consider my yard and how it is used, I wonder how you make a plot of land useful instead of just managing it. I mow the grass, trim back intrusive branches, weed whack, and rake up, and that's about it. It's as if 1/3 of your house went unlived in. If I want to put in pathways, how do you do that so they don't just get overrun? How do you run irrigation lines? How do you beat back invasive grass? How do you manage a suburban yard without pesticides while removing boring useless grass spaces?
How can I do some cool projects I see my neighbors doing? I'm not going to pay professionals thousands of dollars to do this, yet spending my time in fruitless endeavors that look mundane or fail over time is pretty useless. I want to rewild my lawn and have it work as a space I want to be in. I would love to have professional help with this as an advisory on ways to get it done without massive labor inputs.
posted by diode at 5:22 AM on October 27 [1 favorite]
Having someone examine my soil on the spot, and then teach me about what will/won't grow well, and how to manage water, would be amaaaaazing.
I am in New England and I have been told that our house builder simply scraped off the topsoil and sold it, back in the 1980s. (WTAF, developers??) So I can't just imitate what my neighbors are doing.
After that, advice about flowering & fruit & decorative trees would be great, too.
posted by wenestvedt at 6:43 AM on October 27 [2 favorites]
I am in New England and I have been told that our house builder simply scraped off the topsoil and sold it, back in the 1980s. (WTAF, developers??) So I can't just imitate what my neighbors are doing.
After that, advice about flowering & fruit & decorative trees would be great, too.
posted by wenestvedt at 6:43 AM on October 27 [2 favorites]
We just engaged with this cool program that helps convert lawns to native plantings. An expert came out, looked around our property, helped us pick one area to prioritize, told us first steps we should do now to start converting away from lawn, will send us info about winter sowing, and will come back in the spring with native plugs for us to plant. This is all free(!), and to be honest, we probably wouldn’t have done it otherwise, but it’s really great. She took into account all the existing conditions and challenges of the property.
I’d love something similar for edible forest gardens, too. Something that would tell us stuff we could grow without too much effort, and without cutting trees or needing lots of water, rich soil, or light that we don’t have, but that would produce something useful to eat or trade in an apocalypse.
posted by daisyace at 6:50 AM on October 27
I’d love something similar for edible forest gardens, too. Something that would tell us stuff we could grow without too much effort, and without cutting trees or needing lots of water, rich soil, or light that we don’t have, but that would produce something useful to eat or trade in an apocalypse.
posted by daisyace at 6:50 AM on October 27
Twenty years ago we bought a small house on 4 acres of grass, small fields, brush, and woods. Here are some of the questions that have come up:
posted by baseballpajamas at 9:31 AM on October 27 [2 favorites]
- Which plants are invasives and what to do about them. Ditto insects like the Japanese Beetles I despise.
- How to keep fields from turning into shrub-brush and shrub-brush from turning into a sapling forest?
- If I get goats to keep my fields and shrub-brush from turning into forest, which of the plants that grow there will make them sick or kill them?
- Is that maple going to fall on my house eventually?
- Can I generate revenue from these woods?
- What is the most prudent way to manage my woods?
- How is my soil and how can I make it better for growing vegetables?
- Can I make syrup from these trees? How?
- What can I forage on my land?
- Can I be buried on my land, and how?
- How do I deal with this 57 Plymouth I found in my woods?
- Where to plant trees for winter windbreaks, summer cooling, etc.
- Is there something wrong with my well water?
- Can I just leave all these leaves where they fall, or do they need to be moved or removed somehow?
posted by baseballpajamas at 9:31 AM on October 27 [2 favorites]
I'm a landscape architect and something that would simplify my life is if clients knew to read covenants, land titles, permits and consent documents for land before they purchased* (or engaged myself or a lawyer where they do not understand every item)! I see many poorly written covenants forbidding;
• Grazing
• Clothesline in front yard
• Forbidding contractors vehicles parked overnight (classism basically)
• Forbidding any trees - even the shortest
Also items in property documents:
• infrastructure easements (for existing - and as yet unbuilt)
• Existence of required planting - not completed by previous owner
• Air rights, existing, or abandoned**
One of the grazing ones was two hectares of land too steep to tractor mow in a fire-prone area.
One of the required planting ones was 'interesting' for my client, as they had bought the land sight-unseen, and covenant specified planting before sale - they didn't read the covenant. I was asked to go and find the plants - and found none. Following up I found the original 'designer' and 'planter' had kept no records. Local planning law had moved to be more restrictive and no new consent was possible; the land was now worthless - well, okay for deer farming, but only worth 4.5% of what they paid.
* This is largely unteachable to the lay person (as too time-consuming) - it's a big part of surveying, landscape architecture, and architecture degrees - it takes ages to learn as it often involved physical sleuthing in old dusty records and knowing who to ask. So if they don't understand land teach them how to understand their ignorance.
** an abandoned air right can be immensely valuable.
Seconding wattle - how to find, and read old aerial images and maps (and find local news from the time, and to ask older locals) of what was before, before they bought the land as a field. I advertise that I want the land in its messy, abandoned state - at that point the mess is history for me, and many advantages to my client.
If it's literally been scraped with an earthmover knowing an old house site existed will have gone - along with proof or prior use - prior use usually makes building a new house easier, even in areas where that would not be permitted. Likewise patches of old trees can be legally useful - and far more legally valuable standing that sold to the local mill.
posted by unearthed at 1:00 PM on October 27 [3 favorites]
• Grazing
• Clothesline in front yard
• Forbidding contractors vehicles parked overnight (classism basically)
• Forbidding any trees - even the shortest
Also items in property documents:
• infrastructure easements (for existing - and as yet unbuilt)
• Existence of required planting - not completed by previous owner
• Air rights, existing, or abandoned**
One of the grazing ones was two hectares of land too steep to tractor mow in a fire-prone area.
One of the required planting ones was 'interesting' for my client, as they had bought the land sight-unseen, and covenant specified planting before sale - they didn't read the covenant. I was asked to go and find the plants - and found none. Following up I found the original 'designer' and 'planter' had kept no records. Local planning law had moved to be more restrictive and no new consent was possible; the land was now worthless - well, okay for deer farming, but only worth 4.5% of what they paid.
* This is largely unteachable to the lay person (as too time-consuming) - it's a big part of surveying, landscape architecture, and architecture degrees - it takes ages to learn as it often involved physical sleuthing in old dusty records and knowing who to ask. So if they don't understand land teach them how to understand their ignorance.
** an abandoned air right can be immensely valuable.
Seconding wattle - how to find, and read old aerial images and maps (and find local news from the time, and to ask older locals) of what was before, before they bought the land as a field. I advertise that I want the land in its messy, abandoned state - at that point the mess is history for me, and many advantages to my client.
If it's literally been scraped with an earthmover knowing an old house site existed will have gone - along with proof or prior use - prior use usually makes building a new house easier, even in areas where that would not be permitted. Likewise patches of old trees can be legally useful - and far more legally valuable standing that sold to the local mill.
posted by unearthed at 1:00 PM on October 27 [3 favorites]
How to test the site for contamination as a random homeowner who doesn't want to grow food in lead or God knows whatever given our proximity to a freeway. How to get rid of Bermuda grass. Plant selection and placement - in particular what it will look like as they grow over time. Personally I feel there needs to be encouragement towards tree planting, but I personally am daunted by the commitment and my inability to do any sort of pruning etc. It's hard to find good plant palettes for our local area especially with certain criteria (e.g. plants native to our area that are low water and not toxic to dogs).
posted by slidell at 6:17 PM on October 27 [3 favorites]
posted by slidell at 6:17 PM on October 27 [3 favorites]
How to understand anything about the soil - what type it is, whether it's safe to grow food in, what we should be amending, etc.
How to understand what the local ecosystem is missing. E.g. if adding some types of pollinator or butterfly plants will actually benefit the local ecosystem.
posted by lab.beetle at 6:52 PM on October 27 [1 favorite]
How to understand what the local ecosystem is missing. E.g. if adding some types of pollinator or butterfly plants will actually benefit the local ecosystem.
posted by lab.beetle at 6:52 PM on October 27 [1 favorite]
Response by poster: Thank you all for these answers! They are inspiring and oh so helpful as I think through how to articulate what I can offer (and how it is similar to or different from other ways of working).
I really appreciate hearing how you're engaging the land in your care.
posted by marlys at 6:18 AM on October 28
I really appreciate hearing how you're engaging the land in your care.
posted by marlys at 6:18 AM on October 28
I think a lot of people don't realize that many plants on their property are actually invasive, brought in by developers over the years.
Knowing how to identify & remediate these -- and why -- would be really helpful to the overall area as well as to the individual owners.
posted by wenestvedt at 7:32 AM on October 28 [1 favorite]
Knowing how to identify & remediate these -- and why -- would be really helpful to the overall area as well as to the individual owners.
posted by wenestvedt at 7:32 AM on October 28 [1 favorite]
As unearthed said above, see whether you can find sources of old maps and aerial photography. Sometimes this can be available for decades back. (Here in the UK I've made use of the NCAP and Aerofilms which have images back to the 1930s) This can tell you a great deal about land use change over time.
It looks like Google Earth has imagery for Ithaca, NY available back to 1985 and they have a Timelapse feature that will animate the changes over time.
posted by snarfois at 9:35 AM on October 28
It looks like Google Earth has imagery for Ithaca, NY available back to 1985 and they have a Timelapse feature that will animate the changes over time.
posted by snarfois at 9:35 AM on October 28
In my (U.S.) state there are many cost share programs for things like invasive control, native plantings and other sustainable practices that I am only aware of because my wife is in the industry. I often wonder how people with less insight into these programs are able to use these benefits because they often seem opaque and obscure. A local expert-to-hire on these types of things would be a useful service I think.
Great question and answers. Thanks to all!
posted by Press Butt.on to Check at 5:11 AM on October 29 [1 favorite]
Great question and answers. Thanks to all!
posted by Press Butt.on to Check at 5:11 AM on October 29 [1 favorite]
Lets start with the basics - tell me how to fix my drainage issues, how to keep my lawn looking decent with as little effort as possible, limit damage from pets and kiddos, and a basic schedule of what needs to be done when including what is the most important and what can i get away with not doing when life gets crazy.
posted by cgg at 7:05 AM on October 29 [1 favorite]
posted by cgg at 7:05 AM on October 29 [1 favorite]
Can I be buried on my land, and how?
How do I deal with this 57 Plymouth I found in my woods?
Is there something wrong with my well water?
The first one, being buried on your land won't affect your well water, but whomever owns the house after you are gone might have an issue.
I am also pretty sure that the fluids and rust coming from that 57 Plymouth is not helping your well water.
(Depending on why it was parked for many years, you may be able to get it running and drive it to the street and have it towed (or restored).)
posted by JohnnyGunn at 10:47 AM on October 29
How do I deal with this 57 Plymouth I found in my woods?
Is there something wrong with my well water?
The first one, being buried on your land won't affect your well water, but whomever owns the house after you are gone might have an issue.
I am also pretty sure that the fluids and rust coming from that 57 Plymouth is not helping your well water.
(Depending on why it was parked for many years, you may be able to get it running and drive it to the street and have it towed (or restored).)
posted by JohnnyGunn at 10:47 AM on October 29
Can I be buried on my land, and how?
As a side-remark, some groups have used this to "permanently" protect blocks of land -- they register as a cemetery, and then do "natural" burials (no embalming, all medical devices removed) on unmarked plots, so nobody knows where they can and cannot dig without disturbing a grave.
...anyway, look into that perhaps? I think it's a paperwork nightmare to start out, but once it's gotten going it's reasonably straightforward.
posted by aramaic at 10:55 AM on October 29
As a side-remark, some groups have used this to "permanently" protect blocks of land -- they register as a cemetery, and then do "natural" burials (no embalming, all medical devices removed) on unmarked plots, so nobody knows where they can and cannot dig without disturbing a grave.
...anyway, look into that perhaps? I think it's a paperwork nightmare to start out, but once it's gotten going it's reasonably straightforward.
posted by aramaic at 10:55 AM on October 29
Timing and phenology charts about invasives.
Like it's more useful to pull oriental bittersweet in July, because that's when it sets fruit. It's more useful to pull garlic mustard in its first year than its second. These are the impactful invasives that have two year cycles about growing roots versus seeds (get them first year).
Basically--tools and plans that help the steward to move from handwringing and feeling overwhelmed to "gonna deal with this in April [or October] and rest my weary head the rest of the time" because we live in an era that seems aligned to near constant panic attacks and anything that resets that into an 'I can handle this but I will handle this only at this time frame' is just lovely for emotional regulation and that sweet spot of feeling self-agency.
posted by A Terrible Llama at 11:34 AM on October 29 [3 favorites]
Like it's more useful to pull oriental bittersweet in July, because that's when it sets fruit. It's more useful to pull garlic mustard in its first year than its second. These are the impactful invasives that have two year cycles about growing roots versus seeds (get them first year).
Basically--tools and plans that help the steward to move from handwringing and feeling overwhelmed to "gonna deal with this in April [or October] and rest my weary head the rest of the time" because we live in an era that seems aligned to near constant panic attacks and anything that resets that into an 'I can handle this but I will handle this only at this time frame' is just lovely for emotional regulation and that sweet spot of feeling self-agency.
posted by A Terrible Llama at 11:34 AM on October 29 [3 favorites]
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...followed, of course, by thoughts on how to reintroduce those things and get them growing again (without incurring the wrath of the city) despite the hardpack that lies just below the lawns.
posted by aramaic at 7:02 PM on October 26 [7 favorites]