Beautification

Beautification Department Mission Statement

The Beautification Department oversees the gardens, trees, shrubs, and barrel planters within the confines of the town owned properties. One exception being the barrels located on privately owned commercial property. The department also provides support to the senior's vegetable and herb garden that is located at the East Fishkill Community Center. It gets involved with indoor and outdoor seasonal decorating such as the display of flags and wreaths on utility poles. It also maintains this webpage for the public to share and stay informed on gardening and environmental issues. It is the wish of this department to improve the quality of others by providing pleasing visual stimuli.

Beautification Department Vision Statement

The department has a desire for the town to become a Tree City USA participant. It also would like to provide the community with superior gardens by developing four-season appeal in the perennial beds.

Disclaimer

Websites (links & PDF's) mentioned here are provided as a courtesy to our readers for educational purposes only. Mention of these websites does not imply endorsement by the Town of East Fishkill or by the author of this site.

Horticulture Hedge

A place to share and discuss horticulture, ecology, and environmental issues. Horticulture is the art and science of the cultivation or raising of plants. The Beautification Department is focusing on native ecology. When speaking of ecology, native or indigenous means species present by nature not introduced or foreign. The New England Wild Flower Society says, "native is broadly defined as a plant having occurred before European settlement in North America."

Quote from the Hedge

"There is no perfect gardening practice so keep practicing your gardening!"

Here is an interesting article written by Peter Del Tredici: Nature Abhors a Garden

Hedge Advice

What is up with volcano mulching?

While traveling around the area there have been several volcano-mulching sightings. The practice can eventually kill the plant that it is supposedly protecting. This is a review of safe mulching:

1. Know the source - mulch can be a cause of pests and diseases

2. Use soy based ink newspaper as first layer (around 5 sheets thick) for additional weed barrier - paper will eventually breakdown

3. Pile mulch 2 - 4 inches high - allows for better water retention so soil does not dry out so easily

4. Cover entire root ball or drip line surface whichever is wider, spread out evenly

5. Never let the mulch touch the trunk (stem), allow *3 - 4 inches of space (*depends on size - the smaller the plant the less room needed and visa versa) - touching allows the tree trunk or plant to rot or become diseased - it's just asking for trouble

Perdue University Picture of the Week Volcano Muclching

Proper mulching techniques from Trees Are Good Website

Test your soil

Help from the Hedge

Passing on a tip: when cutting ornamental grasses in early spring or late fall.Tie up the grass with a string or rope before cutting it. This will help with the clean-up.

Here is a link to help

Vegetable Gardening

Lori Bushway's Selected List of Vegetable Varieties for Gardeners in New York State 2011. She is from the Horticulture Department of the Cornell Univerisity

Click here for list (PDF)

Lawn Care

Below are a couple of methods for lawn care that lean towards being earth friendly from Cornell University or Cornell Cooperative Extension

Homeowners Lawn Care Water Quality Almanac

Article on recommended fertilizer for lawn

Crabgrass control

Hedge Discussion

Is native important?

Before answering this, here are some things to consider from the New England Wildflower Society:

NEWFS - Bring Native Plants Into Your Landscape

NEWFS - Why Grow Native Plants

Book: Bringing Nature Home: How Native Plants Sustain Wildlife in Our Gardens written by Douglas W. Tallamy

Why plant rain gardens?

One online source Wikepedia states that a rain garden is "a planted depression that is designed to absorb rainwater runoff from impervious urban areas like roofs, driveways, walkways, and compacted lawn areas." The source continues to tell us that, "this reduces rain runoff by allowing stormwater to soak into the ground as opposed to flowing into storm drains and surface waters which causes erosion, water pollution, flooding, and diminished groundwater."

Here is some information pertaining to rain gardening......

Link to Rain Gardens Across Maryland (PDF)

Link to Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources: Rain Garden

Link to Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources: Rain Garden Manual (PDF)

To receive a coy of their booklet go to:

UConn, Office of Communications: Rain Gardens in Connecticut (PDF)

New York State Stormwater Management scroll down & review pages 76-85 for Rain Gardens & pages 106-112 for Rain Barrels (PDF)

Please email comments about any of the above discussion topics and if noteworthy they will be posted.

Rain Barrels

Rain barrels can be used to catch the water run-off from buldings. For an example put one under a leader pipe of a house or shed to store water for later use. This way when a vegetable garden needs watering you will have some on hand. Check out the following websites for proper installation and more information. The following links are for educational purposes only.

Aquabarrel

ArlingtonEcho Outdoor Education Center

GardenSupermart

SpruceCreek Rain Saver

Pest Management: Invasive Species

This is a partial list of highly invasive species. These species are foreign and take away vital space from our native plants. Some have the capacity to take over and smoother very large areas. These invasive's lack the support that our native plants can offer our native insects and wildlife.

Invasive plants to watch out for are Kudzu (Pueraria montana var. lobata), Mile-A-Minute Vine (Persicaria perfoliata), Garlic Mustard (Alliaria petiolata), Multiflora Rose (Rosa multiflora), Oriental Bittersweet (Celastrus orbiculatus), and Japanese Honeysuckle (Lonicera japonica).

Click here to read an interesting article about a bug eating the Kudzu plant.

The next three listed are commonly sold and planted in our area: Japanese Barberry Bush (Berberis thunbergii), Burning Bush (Euonymus alatus), Norway Maple Tree (Acer platanoides).

Please consider using alternative native plants instead. Click Here (PDF) for some choices.

The following link explains the invasive behavior of these three plants:

New Hampshire Agriculture Document (PDF)

Here is another foreign plant species that exhibits highly invasive behavior the Pyrus calleryana. Better know as the cultivar Bradford Pear. This tree has invaded the wild and is currently being studied. Please consider planting a native plant in its place. Such as, Allegheny Serviceberry (Amelanchier laevis), Fringe Tree (Chionanthus virginicus), Green Hawthorn (Crataegus viridis) or Two-Winged Silverbell (Halesia diptera var. magniflora).

Mile-a-Minute vine was found in Lagrange in the summer (2007) so there is a threat that it will be creeping into East Fishkill. This invasive plant spreads by seeds. Animals eat the berries from the plants that contain the seeds. The seeds pass through the animal's body so he deposits them while traveling. Another way this plant invades other areas is via water. Seeds flow with the current of the streams, creeks and rivers so there is no telling how far they will journey.

Mile-a-Minute-vine, Persicaria perfoliata, previously known as Polygonum perfoliatum is in the Buckwheat family (Polygonaceae)

Click here for a Mile-a-Minute Fact Sheet (PDF)

Mile-a-Minute Cornell Cooperative Extension Dutchess County

Pest Management: Invasive Insects

These invasive insects or plant diseases are already in the Hudson Valley (click on the links for more information:

Hemlock Woolly Adelgid US Forest Service

Elongate Hemlock Scale feeds on spruces, firs, and Taxus. US Dept of Agriculture

Viburnum Leaf Beetle Cornell University

Brown Marmorated Stink Bug feeds on corn, peppers, tomatoes, apples and peaches. (PDF) Cornell University

These invasive insects or plant diseases are headed towards the Hudson Valley:

Boxwood Blight (Cylindrocladium pseudonaviculatum) has been ID'd in Connecticut (Fairfield County), North Carolina, New York (Long Island) and Virginia (PDF)

The symptoms include leaf-spots and blight (wither), rapid defoliation, black cankers on stem and severe dieback.

Here is a list of alternative shrubs for the boxwood. Look for dwarf cultivars of: Ilex crenata, Pieris japonica, Rhododendron spp., and Taxus baccata.

Emerald Ash Borer was found in Westchester County and the Lower Hudson Valley Region

Granulate Ambrosia Beetle North Carolina Sate University Coop Ext

Lessons from the American Chestnut Cornell University

Hedge Calendar & Events

Gathering:

The EF Garden Club meets at the EF Library either Saturday mornings 10:30 AM or Tuesday evenings 7:30 PM. Check the library's webpage for the up to date web calendar.

Check out these links

For Gardening & Environmental Links Click Here

Link to PDF's from UConn Office of Communications (many helpful gardening tips)

For Gardening & Environmental Book List Click Here

Arbor Day 2011 Pics by Brent Feldweg

See Pictures of EFCommunity Center Senior's Garden Event

See Pictures of a Community Service Project

See Pictures of Arbor Day & GS Silver Award Service Project

Invasive plant control from New England Wildflower Society

Start an herb garden

How to videos

Cornell gardening website