Search Results for: label/soil/2010/06/the-urban-homestead/2011/04/making-it

961 results

Can our landscapes model a vibrant future? Not according to the LA DWP.

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Garden Design, Gardening, Lawns, Water and Power
18 Comments
...to capture every drop of our rare rainfall and send it down to the thirsty soil. Show us how to use native and Mediterranean plants to make lush landscapes that call in the pollinators. Help us create landscapes we want to walk through and live in. Model this kind of smart landscaping for us, please. Water-wise and ugly do not have to be synonymous. Some of the views remind me of something that might appear in an LA art installation. Which, all in...

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Phytoremediation of Heavy Metals

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Gardening, Lead
13 Comments
...d sunflowers to remediate a contaminated garden. The results are promising with some metals down 50% in a year. Mugwort (Artimesia vulgaris) did an especially good job with a wide range of contaminants. I should note that Garm Wallace, who runs Wallace Labs, a soil testing service, says that phytoremediation can take many years to get heavy metals down to a safe level. That being said, breeding plants specifically for heavy metal hyperaccumulation...

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Growing Your Own Soapnut Tree

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Gardening, Trees
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...more room to plant our soapnut tree. Sapindus Mukorossi requires a fertile soil and a frost free climate. It’s a tall tree that can take as long as ten years to begin fruiting. A friend of mine has one growing in Altadena. Sapindus Mukorossi needs lots of water. Craig has pointed out the perfect permacultural pairing for our dry climate–use the greywater from your washing machine to water your soap nut tree. It can be a bit tough to get the seeds...

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Saturday Linkages: Speedos, Blue Eggs and the Rise of Rye

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Saturday Linkages
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...That Are More Than a Vehicle for Pastrami http://shar.es/i9wrV Let’s get (soil) physical… https://sharepoint.cahnrs.wsu.edu/blogs/urbanhort/Lists/Posts/ViewPost.aspx?ID=943 … The Cold War Bunker That Offered Subterranean Suburbia Below Las Vegas http://gizmodo.com/the-cold-war-bunker-that-offered-subterranean-suburbia-1258816518 … Speedos, Computers, and Robot Butlers: Rural Living in the Future http://paleofuture.gizmodo.com/speedos-computers-an...

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