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| ONE SOURCE - MANY SOLUTIONS, DELIVERED! |
| What is Sustainable Landscaping? |
According to the California Integrated Waste Management Board's (CIWMB) "Sustainable
Landscaping" publication, "Sustainable landscapes are managed by using practices that
preserve limited and costly natural resources, reduce waste generation, and help prevent air,
water, and soil pollution. The goal is to minimize environmental impacts and maximize value
received from dollars expended." - Click here to visit the CIWMB website
Landscaping" publication, "Sustainable landscapes are managed by using practices that
preserve limited and costly natural resources, reduce waste generation, and help prevent air,
water, and soil pollution. The goal is to minimize environmental impacts and maximize value
received from dollars expended." - Click here to visit the CIWMB website
At Capitol Wholesale Nursery, we are committed to finding ways to help our visitors and customers gain
access to not only the highest quality plant materials but also to the knowledge of how to plan, install and
care for the plants they purchase. To help you in your search for more information on Sustainable
Landscaping, we have created the "Sustainability Wheel" below to assist you in accessing various
websites we have found. Please e-mail us if you find any additional links we can add to our wheel!
Click here to view the complete Sustainability Wheel
access to not only the highest quality plant materials but also to the knowledge of how to plan, install and
care for the plants they purchase. To help you in your search for more information on Sustainable
Landscaping, we have created the "Sustainability Wheel" below to assist you in accessing various
websites we have found. Please e-mail us if you find any additional links we can add to our wheel!
Click here to view the complete Sustainability Wheel
| © 2004-2005, Capitol Wholesale Nursery, Inc. |
MEDITERRANEAN CLIMATE PLANTS:
We understand how important it is to provide plants that will thrive in our unique Bay Area climate. That's why we carry
Mediterranean climate plants year 'round, so you have access to the plants you want when you want them.
The region around the Mediterranean Sea has a climate of mild, rainy winters and hot, dry summers. This distinctive
climate pattern is also found in four other widely separated parts of the world: California, Chile, South Africa, and
Australia...The shared Mediterranean climate pattern of the five areas is now associated with fine wines and excellent
fruit. The native flora of each of these regions, however, is genetically distinctive. Nevertheless, plant species have
remarkably many features in common as a result of having survived the challenges of a similar climate.
Looking for some plants? Feel free to search our comprehensive plant list.
We understand how important it is to provide plants that will thrive in our unique Bay Area climate. That's why we carry
Mediterranean climate plants year 'round, so you have access to the plants you want when you want them.
The region around the Mediterranean Sea has a climate of mild, rainy winters and hot, dry summers. This distinctive
climate pattern is also found in four other widely separated parts of the world: California, Chile, South Africa, and
Australia...The shared Mediterranean climate pattern of the five areas is now associated with fine wines and excellent
fruit. The native flora of each of these regions, however, is genetically distinctive. Nevertheless, plant species have
remarkably many features in common as a result of having survived the challenges of a similar climate.
Looking for some plants? Feel free to search our comprehensive plant list.
DROUGHT-TOLERANT PLANTS:
Xeriscaping? "While xeriscape translates to mean "dry scene," in practice xeriscaping means simply landscaping with
slow-growing, drought tolerant plants to conserve water and reduce yard trimmings." (from CIWMB's xeriscape web page)
Limiting the use of California's natural resources like water is important in any situation, but the use of drought-tolerant
plants also allows a designer, landscaper and/or homeowner to use plants that are also many times native to California.
When the desire is to create a low-maintenance, drought-tolerant environment, xeriscaping is the perfect solution. Let us
help you find the plants for your next xeriscaped project!
Here are some links for more information about planning and working with drought-tolerant plants:
Santa Clara Valley Water District list of Water Wise Plants
Santa Clara Valley Water District Water-wise Gardening Guide (Requires Adobe Reader)
Bay Friendly Landscape Guidelines
Xeriscaping? "While xeriscape translates to mean "dry scene," in practice xeriscaping means simply landscaping with
slow-growing, drought tolerant plants to conserve water and reduce yard trimmings." (from CIWMB's xeriscape web page)
Limiting the use of California's natural resources like water is important in any situation, but the use of drought-tolerant
plants also allows a designer, landscaper and/or homeowner to use plants that are also many times native to California.
When the desire is to create a low-maintenance, drought-tolerant environment, xeriscaping is the perfect solution. Let us
help you find the plants for your next xeriscaped project!
Here are some links for more information about planning and working with drought-tolerant plants:
Santa Clara Valley Water District list of Water Wise Plants
Santa Clara Valley Water District Water-wise Gardening Guide (Requires Adobe Reader)
Bay Friendly Landscape Guidelines
CALIFORNIA NATIVE PLANTS & SEEDS:
Why Native Gardens? Here are a few of the many reasons from The California Native Garden Foundation's website:
· Natives are more resistant to local fungal diseases and pests.
· Natives save money by requiring less water, very little fertilizer, and a minimum of other maintenance chores.
· Natives are diverse and display a wide range of sizes, growth patterns, cultural requirements, and flowers.
· Many natives are beautiful and show their own unique floral design.
Call us if you're looking for California Natives and, if you're looking for more information, here are some more websites
where you can find more information about working with California Native Plants:
PlantNative
California Native Plant Society
Native Habitats
California Gardens
The Theodore Payne Foundation
When you're looking for erosion control or a natural looking landscape, using California Native Plant Seeds is a great
solution. Not only do you get a beautiful looking floral scape but also a typically durable and low-maintenance garden.
For availability of CA Native Seeds, the following websites can help:
Larner Seeds
S&S Seeds
Clyde Robin Seed Company
Anderson's Seed Co.
The Wildflower Seed Company of Napa Valley
Why Native Gardens? Here are a few of the many reasons from The California Native Garden Foundation's website:
· Natives are more resistant to local fungal diseases and pests.
· Natives save money by requiring less water, very little fertilizer, and a minimum of other maintenance chores.
· Natives are diverse and display a wide range of sizes, growth patterns, cultural requirements, and flowers.
· Many natives are beautiful and show their own unique floral design.
Call us if you're looking for California Natives and, if you're looking for more information, here are some more websites
where you can find more information about working with California Native Plants:
PlantNative
California Native Plant Society
Native Habitats
California Gardens
The Theodore Payne Foundation
When you're looking for erosion control or a natural looking landscape, using California Native Plant Seeds is a great
solution. Not only do you get a beautiful looking floral scape but also a typically durable and low-maintenance garden.
For availability of CA Native Seeds, the following websites can help:
Larner Seeds
S&S Seeds
Clyde Robin Seed Company
Anderson's Seed Co.
The Wildflower Seed Company of Napa Valley
MEDITERRANEAN TURFGRASSES:
If you drive through any suburban neighborhood today, you're more than likely to see several landscapes that include
some form of lawn or turfgrass. What you may not know is that all turfgrasses are not the same. In fact, there are
varieties for many different environments. From full sun to shade, from putting greens to hillsides, turfgrass has a large
diversity of applications. For more on the peat-grown versions we represent from Delta Bluegrass Company, please
visit our Delta Products web page.
How can turfgrass fit into sustainable landscaping? First of all, turfgrass, when planned for and installed properly, can
help curb erosion, be a vital part in filtering groundwater from rainfall run-off amongst other reasons (for more
information, visit Delta's website).
Here are some links for more information about planning and working with turfgrass:
Environmental Benefits of a Sustainable Lawn
Selecting a Turfgrass
The Northern California Turf and Landscape Council
If you drive through any suburban neighborhood today, you're more than likely to see several landscapes that include
some form of lawn or turfgrass. What you may not know is that all turfgrasses are not the same. In fact, there are
varieties for many different environments. From full sun to shade, from putting greens to hillsides, turfgrass has a large
diversity of applications. For more on the peat-grown versions we represent from Delta Bluegrass Company, please
visit our Delta Products web page.
How can turfgrass fit into sustainable landscaping? First of all, turfgrass, when planned for and installed properly, can
help curb erosion, be a vital part in filtering groundwater from rainfall run-off amongst other reasons (for more
information, visit Delta's website).
Here are some links for more information about planning and working with turfgrass:
Environmental Benefits of a Sustainable Lawn
Selecting a Turfgrass
The Northern California Turf and Landscape Council
ROOT INOCULANTS:
Want to avoid transplant shock? Concerned your new plants are ready to resist whatever diseases or pests might
attack them in their new home? The answer doesn't have to lie with chemical, non-organic fertilizers and pesticides.
There's a natural way to give your plants the head start they need even as they're being transplanted, through organic
fertilizing and with live beneficial microbes for root inoculation.
One example of a microbe living inside plant roots is Rhizobium, which lives inside the roots of plants such as peas and
clover. Another group of microbes living inside roots are mycorrhizal fungi. Rhizobia and the mycorrhizal fungi live with
plants in symbiotic relationships. Symbiosis is the living together of two or more organisms. Often, this association helps
both organisms. Call or e-mail us for more information on the root inoculants we can provide for all of your plants!
Here are some links for more information about some of the microbes used in root inoculants
Microbe Zoo
Benefits of Mycorrhizal Fungi
FAQ about Fungi and Mycorrhizae
(Also visit our Products Page for more information)
Want to avoid transplant shock? Concerned your new plants are ready to resist whatever diseases or pests might
attack them in their new home? The answer doesn't have to lie with chemical, non-organic fertilizers and pesticides.
There's a natural way to give your plants the head start they need even as they're being transplanted, through organic
fertilizing and with live beneficial microbes for root inoculation.
One example of a microbe living inside plant roots is Rhizobium, which lives inside the roots of plants such as peas and
clover. Another group of microbes living inside roots are mycorrhizal fungi. Rhizobia and the mycorrhizal fungi live with
plants in symbiotic relationships. Symbiosis is the living together of two or more organisms. Often, this association helps
both organisms. Call or e-mail us for more information on the root inoculants we can provide for all of your plants!
Here are some links for more information about some of the microbes used in root inoculants
Microbe Zoo
Benefits of Mycorrhizal Fungi
FAQ about Fungi and Mycorrhizae
(Also visit our Products Page for more information)
ORGANIC COMPOST:
Compost -- What Is It? Definition: Compost is the product resulting from the controlled biological decomposition of
organic material.
"More specifically, compost is the stable, humus-like product resulting from the biological decomposition of organic matter
under controlled conditions." - From the CIWMB website
Why use organic compost materials? "If a garden is failing, some people will pour more water on it or put chemicals
on it...This can waste water, and if chemicals are placed in the soil, those chemicals wash into our drains and water
sources...Compost is a natural alternative to chemical soil additives." - LCRA Feature Story
Your garden can't thrive unless the soil is capable of providing the basic nutrients needed for the plants to survive.
Adding organic compost as an amendment to your soil is an important part in creating a sustainable landscape. "When
you garden organically, you think of your plants as part of a whole system within Nature that starts in the soil and
includes the water supply, people, wildlife and even insects. An organic gardener strives to work in harmony with natural
systems and to minimize and continually replenish any resources the garden consumes." - From our supplier of fine
organic materials, E. B. Stone (Also visit our Products Page for more information)
(Also visit our Products Page for more information)
Compost -- What Is It? Definition: Compost is the product resulting from the controlled biological decomposition of
organic material.
"More specifically, compost is the stable, humus-like product resulting from the biological decomposition of organic matter
under controlled conditions." - From the CIWMB website
Why use organic compost materials? "If a garden is failing, some people will pour more water on it or put chemicals
on it...This can waste water, and if chemicals are placed in the soil, those chemicals wash into our drains and water
sources...Compost is a natural alternative to chemical soil additives." - LCRA Feature Story
Your garden can't thrive unless the soil is capable of providing the basic nutrients needed for the plants to survive.
Adding organic compost as an amendment to your soil is an important part in creating a sustainable landscape. "When
you garden organically, you think of your plants as part of a whole system within Nature that starts in the soil and
includes the water supply, people, wildlife and even insects. An organic gardener strives to work in harmony with natural
systems and to minimize and continually replenish any resources the garden consumes." - From our supplier of fine
organic materials, E. B. Stone (Also visit our Products Page for more information)
(Also visit our Products Page for more information)
ORGANIC FERTILIZER:
Why organic fertilizer?
"At the most basic level, organic fertilizer simply means a fertilizer derived from organic matter, such as cotton, bone,
kelp, or manure. <Whereas> Chemical fertilizers are often processed from things like petroleum, or some of the gases
that are found in places where petroleum exists." - From "Why Use Organic Fertilizers?" Written by Travis Saling on The
Westside Gardener website
"Plants demand a long list of minerals from the soil, even if only in such small amounts as are called "trace." If the soil is
not properly fertile, not teeming with microbes, the whole process goes out of kilter or grinds to a halt. To keep the
microbes alive, quantities of organic matter need to be added to the soil." From "Why Organics?" on the Global Organics
website.
Global Organics produces HUMEGA - A biologically enhanced humic acid and enzyme product. HUMEGA promotes
microbial soil aeration, buffers salts, inhibits pathogen growth, reduces nutrient loss by increasing CEC rates, enzymes
help release compounded nutrients and increases photosynthesis and other metabolic processes. HUMEGA is an OMRI
listed product.
Along with HUMEGA, there are other powerful organic fertilizers such as fish emulsion and liquid seaweed/kelp. These
fertilizers are some of the most powerful natural fertilizers in the world. One such product is E.B. Stone Organics Fish
Emulsion with Kelp. Fish products are excellent sources of N-P-K & trace minerals and are fast-acting. Kelp has been
confirmed to help in increasing crop yields, drought resistance, frost protection, and stress recovery. Kelp's value is more
as a growth stimulant than a fertilizer. When you combine fish emulsion with kelp, you then have a product that enhances
both the sustainability as well as the growth potential of your plants! Call us for more information on HUMEGA and
Fish Emulsion with Kelp!
Why organic fertilizer?
"At the most basic level, organic fertilizer simply means a fertilizer derived from organic matter, such as cotton, bone,
kelp, or manure. <Whereas> Chemical fertilizers are often processed from things like petroleum, or some of the gases
that are found in places where petroleum exists." - From "Why Use Organic Fertilizers?" Written by Travis Saling on The
Westside Gardener website
"Plants demand a long list of minerals from the soil, even if only in such small amounts as are called "trace." If the soil is
not properly fertile, not teeming with microbes, the whole process goes out of kilter or grinds to a halt. To keep the
microbes alive, quantities of organic matter need to be added to the soil." From "Why Organics?" on the Global Organics
website.
Global Organics produces HUMEGA - A biologically enhanced humic acid and enzyme product. HUMEGA promotes
microbial soil aeration, buffers salts, inhibits pathogen growth, reduces nutrient loss by increasing CEC rates, enzymes
help release compounded nutrients and increases photosynthesis and other metabolic processes. HUMEGA is an OMRI
listed product.
Along with HUMEGA, there are other powerful organic fertilizers such as fish emulsion and liquid seaweed/kelp. These
fertilizers are some of the most powerful natural fertilizers in the world. One such product is E.B. Stone Organics Fish
Emulsion with Kelp. Fish products are excellent sources of N-P-K & trace minerals and are fast-acting. Kelp has been
confirmed to help in increasing crop yields, drought resistance, frost protection, and stress recovery. Kelp's value is more
as a growth stimulant than a fertilizer. When you combine fish emulsion with kelp, you then have a product that enhances
both the sustainability as well as the growth potential of your plants! Call us for more information on HUMEGA and
Fish Emulsion with Kelp!
GREEN BUSINESS PRINCIPLES:
Why be a "Green" business? Because it:
Makes Good Business Sense!
A Green Business...
Get recognized for being Green—sign up to become a Green Business today!
"Green landscape design is a sub-discipline of landscape design. Like green building, it is setting a new, more
environmentally friendly standard for its parent field. The field generally emphasizes the use of native plants to restore
or maintain natural habitats and the healthy functioning of ecosystems. Because it is interested in maintaining or
enhancing the health of soils and plant and animal communities, it also avoids using harmful chemicals, such as
pesticides that will be detrimental to the flora and fauna locally, downwind, and downstream." From "Rise of Green
Business"
Being a Green Business in the 21st century is taking the best of the old and mixing it with the best of the new into our
everyday business environments. For more information on being a Green Business, please visit the following websites:
GreenBiz.com
Business and Sustainable Development: A Global Guide
Co-op America: Green Business
Article on Green Business
Why be a "Green" business? Because it:
Makes Good Business Sense!
A Green Business...
- Improves employee morale & the health of the workplace
- Holds a marketing edge over the competition
- Strengthens its bottom line through operating efficiencies
- Is recognized as an environmental leader
Get recognized for being Green—sign up to become a Green Business today!
"Green landscape design is a sub-discipline of landscape design. Like green building, it is setting a new, more
environmentally friendly standard for its parent field. The field generally emphasizes the use of native plants to restore
or maintain natural habitats and the healthy functioning of ecosystems. Because it is interested in maintaining or
enhancing the health of soils and plant and animal communities, it also avoids using harmful chemicals, such as
pesticides that will be detrimental to the flora and fauna locally, downwind, and downstream." From "Rise of Green
Business"
Being a Green Business in the 21st century is taking the best of the old and mixing it with the best of the new into our
everyday business environments. For more information on being a Green Business, please visit the following websites:
GreenBiz.com
Business and Sustainable Development: A Global Guide
Co-op America: Green Business
Article on Green Business
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| © 2004-2008, Capitol Wholesale Nursery, Inc. |
