(Shuttershock Photo)

The largest use of potable water in Arizona is for landscaping and as much as 70% of residential water use is outdoors, according to the Arizona Department of Water Resources. That is a point I cannot stress this enough.

Help control landscape water waste by choosing plants native to our climate through xeriscape. This kind of design focuses on water conservation through creative landscaping. It involves combining low-water plants with hard surfaces and encourages water-smart design and maintenance of your property.

Seven Basic Xeriscape Design Principles

1. Design your yard with water conservation in mind. Work with a landscaper who specializes in native plants and design.2. Choose low-water plants. That same landscaper can help you select the right plants for your yards soil condition and exposure.3. Limit your lawn. I get it. Sometimes you just want to wriggle your toes in the cool grass. But non-native grass needs lots of watering. Limit it to your childrens play area and pet run. See native options below.4. Irrigate efficiently. Replace whirly-bird sprinklers with an inexpensive drip irrigator, which drips water only on the plant that needs watering. Rig your sprinklers to timers. Invest in an irrigator with a controller that automatically senses when your plants need water.5. Harvest water. Collect rainwater by digging shallow ditches around flowerbeds and/or install a rain barrel at the end of your gutter downspout to irrigate landscape.6. Mulch your plants. Placing mulch on the soil under and around plants helps hold in soil moisture and lower the soils temperature during the summer plus, it keeps weeds away.7. Take care of your yard. A well-maintained plant needs less water. Proper fertilizing, pruning, and weed control can keep your plants healthier.

Xeriscape Plants

These plants, cacti, trees, and grasses as suggested by the Arizona Municipal Water Users Association are just a few that require low to very low watering to maintain their heartiness.

Shrubs

John Eisenhower, Integrity SaveATree, particularly favors the desert fern. As John noted during a podcast its fern-like leaves are elegant and beautiful, and as a native plant, they have fewer natural problems.

Though it is shrub-like, it will max out at 20 feet tall. Dont place it near the pool unless you want it covered with yellow puffballs.

Want to attract hummingbirds? Plant a few pink fairy duster plants. This three-foot, airy shrubs pink furry blooms pop from its evergreen foliage in the spring and fall.

The exotic flowers of the yellow bird of paradise attract hummingbirds and butterflies. Growing as high as six feet, this plant will add height to your landscape.

Trees

Though it grows slowly, the ironwood tree can mature to 25 feet high. With dusty lavender flowers that bloom in the spring, this evergreen tree thrives in the full sun. Its a relatively clean tree so it is okay to plant it near the pool.

A bold, tropical tree, the Mexican blue palm is well suited to containers and can reach 15 feet high. This slivery blue tree is a beautiful complement to place near the pool.

White thorn acacia is good for naturalistic landscapes. It is multi-trunked and can grow to 10 feet tall by 15 feet wide. It will bloom small yellow puffballs in the spring and attracts wildlife.

Cacti

The Argentine giant cactus boasts fragrant, white, striking flowers that bloom six to eight inches across. At maturity, this cactus will grow to two feet high by three feet wide.

With its spectacular red, fuchsia and deep orange flowers, the Argentine hedgehog is one of the most colorful cacti.

Spruce cones make a good container plant. It blooms small white flowers in the spring and resembles a deeper green cholla minus the thorns.

Grass

Native ornamental grasses add a softening element and motion to your landscape. The color and form of grasses change throughout the year, creating seasonal interest. Some ornamental grasses can reseed in landscapes. Watering ornamental grasses with drip irrigation will generally eliminate or minimize reseeding.

Deer grass features lush foliage with green flowers that dry to tan tall spikes. With a mature height of four feet, this grass can be planted near the pool.

Plant pink muhly for deep pink flower plumes that will be backlit by the sun. This fine grass can grow to three feet high.

Sideoats grama resembles green waves of grain and has seed stalks that attract birds.

Succulents

Before selecting succulents, the AMWUA suggests you check the plants mature size and presence of thorns before planting. Some larger succulents can overwhelm a small garden. For safety reasons, succulents with thorns or spines should not be located next to walkways, play areas, or traffic areas.

Contrary to popular belief, the ocotillo is a succulent, not a cactus. The ocotillo offers a striking silhouette and attracts hummingbirds. You really need a charcoal black thumb to kill this plant.

Patridge breast aloe is a great option for small spaces, narrow areas, and containers. Rabbit-resistant and pool-friendly, this one boasts striking markings.

The soaptree yucca has a tree-like quality with its white clusters on tall stalks. Tip: leave dead leaves on the trunk to avoid sunburn damage.

AMWUA offers tips additional plants for xeriscape consideration and caring for desert plants while conserving water.

For more do-it-yourself tips, go to rosieonthehouse.com. An Arizona home building and remodeling industry expert for 35 years, Rosie Romero is the host of the Rosie on the House radio program from 8 to 11 a.m. Saturdays on KTAR-FM (92.3) in Phoenix, 9 to 11 a.m. on KAFF-AM (930) in Flagstaff, and 10 to 11 a.m. on KNST-AM (790) in Tucson.

More:
Heres how to create a lush landscape without excessive water usage - KTAR.com

By Katie Mosher, NC Sea Grant

kmosher@ncsu.edu

It may be sultry now, but autumn isnt so far off. If youre looking for activities to keep you busy in the cooler months, consider sprucing up your yard. The Coastal Landscapes Initiative, or CLI, has produced several resources over the past year to inspire and assist those interested in nature-enhancing landscaping.

Most recently, a CLI team produced a set of 10 landscaping design templates featuring native N.C. plants, available here. Each design provides ideal site conditions; a detailed planting guide; seasonal bloom or berry color; an illustration of the plantings at maturity; and maintenance tips.

These templates can be adapted to fit various yards and gardens, from the coast to the piedmont, says North Carolina Sea Grants coastal resources and communities specialist Gloria Putnam, who oversaw the project.

Earlier this year, two CLI members North Carolina Sea Grants coastal economist Jane Harrison and sustainablewatersand communities coordinator Christy Perrin held awebinaroffering tips on creating coastal landscapes that will benefit both local ecology and the surrounding community.

You can think of the webinar like an introductory course to sustainable landscaping, Harrison says. Hopefully people will find our suggestions practical and doable.

We designed the webinar to be shared in various settings. For example, board members of homeowners associations could watch it and then screen it for their residents, Perrin adds.

Coastal Landscaping also was the topic of conversation during a recent N.C. Museum of Natural SciencesVirtual Science Caf, hosted by Chris Smith and featuring guests Harrison, Perrin and Putnam. The team described how several CLI design templates can be applied to a yard along a tidal creek in Carteret County, as well as ways to reduce stormwater runoff, among other topics.

Another CLI resource released this year was aninteractive mapmarking the location of various gardens along the coast that demonstrate environmentally friendly landscaping practices. These sites are generally accessible to the public, although visitors should check on COVID-19-related restrictions.

Places like the N.C. Aquarium at Roanoke Island and the New Hanover County Arboretum have pollinator gardens that are really inspiring, says Putnam, who led the project. Visiting sites like these, either online or in person, is a great way to find ideas for your own garden.

A companiondemonstration garden checklistalso is available for anyone interested in creating their own model site.

In addition to these resources, last year CLI published abookletfeaturing 34 native N.C. plants including trees, shrubs, grasses, vines and flowers that flourish along the coast. The booklet provides brief descriptions of each plant and its ideal conditions. A companion brochure offers plant snapshots for easy reference.

For anyone who wants to learn about more species that thrive in coastal sun and salty air, a comprehensive native plant guide is available. Published by North Carolina Sea Grant and the University of North Carolina Press,Seacoast Plants of the Carolinas: A New Guide for Plant Identification and Use in the Coastal Landscapecovers more than 200 species, with color photographs and details about their value to wildlife, relationship to natural communities, propagation and landscape use. Author Paul E. Hosier is a founding member of the CLI as well.

As you consider your landscaping options, bear in mind that updates can be done incrementally.

Adopting new landscaping practices might seem daunting at first, but you dont have to tackle everything at once. You can start by planting a native, for instance, or by top-dressing your grass with compost. Harrison says. Our various CLI resources can guide you on small and large projects alike.

For more information about the Coastal Landscapes Initiative and for additional resources, visit go.ncsu.edu/coastallandscapes.

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Magnolia Moses, who lived in Oglethorpe County, Georgia, is among several rural African American residents featured in Richard Westmacotts 1992 book and exhibition titled African-American Gardens and Yards in the Rural South.

It is on display and available for public viewing Aug. 20 through Oct. 15 at the College of Environment and Designs Circle Gallery, which is located in the Jackson Street Building. The gallery interior is currently closed, but the display may be seen through the interior glass windows. Please wear a mask and keep safe distance from others when visiting.

Until the 1990s, much of the study of gardens in the American South concentrated on those of the elite and powerfulleisure gardens of ornament that added grace to an estate or homestead. These gardens emphasized the visual impact of Anglo-European landscapesthink of the highly formal gardens of Versailles in France or Blenheim Palace gardens in Englandand conveyed the wealth of the owners.

Vernacular landscapesspaces created with only local materials available to the people who live on-siteare also part of the rich history of Southern gardens. Westmacotts groundbreaking study shone light not only on the fascinating uses of these vernacular spaces, but also on the values of the people who lived there and maintained the gardens: ingenuity, self-reliance, hospitality and generosity.

The gardens featured were actual living and working spaces where many activities take place, from family gatherings to shelling peas to long talks with neighbors. Their aesthetic was directly tied to the work and pleasure married in these outdoor rooms. One standout feature was the swept ground, which made it easier to see unwelcome guests, like copperheads and rattlesnakes, and aided in fire prevention by preventing dried plant materials from growing too near the foundations of a homes raised wooden structure. Not only was the cleared, sandy yard a practical characteristic, but it was a cultural connection to the past: the swept yard was a direct import from life in West Africa where many enslaved Americans came from originally.

Westmacotts book addresses three essential questions: How do rural African Americans manipulate space? What factors or conditions influence the use of these spaces? Why has the use of yard garden space changed through time?

The gardens, Westmacott argues, trace the conditions of enslavement, tenancy and land ownership. They are not simply outdoor sites of respite; they are evolving landscapes that tell important stories of a history that was largely ignored until the last decade of the 20th century.

Westmacott, who taught landscape architecture for many years at UGA, was born in Singapore and raised in England and received an MLA degree from the University of Pennsylvania before joining the faculty at the College of Environment and Design. He and his family settled on an early 19th century farm in Stephens, Georgia, in 1977, where he became friends with local people living off the land. Moses, who was part of the inspiration behind African-American Gardens, was an immediate neighbor who became a good friend and mentor.

For more information about the display or Westmacotts book, contact Melissa Tufts, director of the Owens Library and Circle Gallery at the College of Environment and Design, at mtufts@uga.edu. Learn more about the Circle Gallery at https://ced.uga.edu/resources/circle_gallery/.

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Circle Gallery exhibition sheds light on living, working gardens - University of Georgia

In 2018 I wrote several articles on some of the birds that were among the bathing beauties of the birdbath in our yard. Thinking back on who the visitors were, got me thinking about easy and/or interesting ways to provide water for our bird friends.

We know that water in motion attracts birds, so adding this aspect will likely bring more birds to the bath. One method I have used is to take a gallon milk jug, punch a small hole in the bottom, tie a string around the neck and hang it over the bath and let it drip. The jug could be hung from a tree branch if the bath is under a tree or it could be hung from something like a shepherds hook that is positioned over the birdbath.

Small birds such as chickadees and nuthatches are often aced out of using larger birdbaths so a small one suits them better because there is no competition from the bigger birds that cant use it. I use a piece of pottery which is designed for a small plant. I fill it daily, and it works well. Black-capped chickadees use it regularly for both drinking and bathing. They find it just the right size when it comes to taking a bath. Other small birds such a goldfinches and house finches can easily make use of it too. My miniature birdbath is about 5 inches in length, 4 inches wide across the middle and about 2 inches deep. I only fill it up to an inch and a bit to keep the depth of water relatively shallow. This ensures that it doesnt intimidate birds that dont like deep water. It is placed it on a pedestal about 3.5 feet high and close to cover, but in position to avoid droppings or other debris from falling into the water.

We seldom see songbirds bathe in such things as large, open swimming pools due to the deepness of the water. Thus, check out the depth of your birdbath. As mentioned above, tiny birds wont venture into deep water, but larger birds such as robins will. Another way to make a relatively deep birdbath more enticing for smaller birds is to put a large flat rock on the bottom to create a shallow end (about 1 inch of water) Small birds can happily use the shallow end for splashing, by sitting on the rock, while the larger birds can use the deep end.

Adding a water feature to the landscape is another way to have water in motion. A small pond with a waterfall works well if the water falls over large rocks that are relatively flat on top. Like the birdbath idea above, the flat rock provides a shallow place where small birds can splash. My pond was like this, but I recently replaced it with three basalt water towers. Fresh water splashes over each of the three, large, rock towers 24 hours a day. It is perfect for all of the birds that visit my yard, including cedar waxwings, American robins, house finches, house sparrows, and American crows. Yesterday, an orange-crowned warbler stopped by. The birds both drink and bathe. Larger birds, such as partridge or pheasant, are also drawn to the yard by the bubbling sounds of the water tumbling over the picturesque water feature. They present themselves at the base of the towers where they can easily sip from the cascading water.

A birdbath, no matter what its size or shape, especially if it includes water in motion, can encourage a greater variety of birds to stop there. Perhaps they will stay around long enough for you to see and enjoy them!

Common Birds of the Long Beach Peninsula, by Kalbach and Stauffer, is available from Bay Avenue Gallery, Time Enough Books and the Long Beach Peninsula Visitors Bureau.

Continue reading here:
Birding: To enjoy and help birds, give them places to bathe - Chinook Observer

Enhancing your backyard? Experts say that the sights and sounds of water features make them one of the most impactful additions to consider.

Water features not only increase visual interest, but the bubbling sounds add a sense of calm to any outdoor space, said landscape designer Doug Scott of Redeem Your Ground in Atlanta, Ga. They also attract birds, butterflies and more, literally bringing life into your backyard.

So how do you select the right water feature for your yard? According to Scott, here is what to consider:

Fountains:

Fountains create the sights and sounds my clients are looking for and they do it in a way that accommodates their potential space and budget constraints, Scott said.

Water gardens and fishponds:

The added bonus of fishponds is that youll be able to enjoy the beauty of koi and goldfish while providing them a home, Scott said.

Scott cautioned that when compared to other water features, fishponds do add expense and necessary periodic maintenance. Beyond stocking the pond, you will need a pump to aerate and circulate the water, as well as vegetation to create oxygen and provide a natural food source. Additionally, you must provide adequate protection for the fish from the land and air predators that likely will pay your pond a visit. On the plus side, fishponds will attract an abundance of non-predatory wildlife to your yard.

Although adding a pond or water garden is more involved than just buying a fountain and plugging it in, the life itll bring to your family outdoors is limitless, Scott said.

Waterfalls and streams:

To learn more, check out the new Exmark Original video, Done-In-A-Weekend Projects: Go With the Flow, in which Scott discusses the various benefits, maintenance needs and other considerations of each water feature type. The episode can be found by visiting Exmark.com/Backyard. Exmarks Backyard Life is part of a unique multimedia destination focused on helping homeowners make the most of their backyard. While visiting the site, you also can access other Exmark Original Series, including Prime Cuts, Done-In-A-Weekend Extreme Projects and Dream Yards.

Installing a water feature in your yard is an effective way to add vitality and beauty to the space. However, it is important to understand the long-term maintenance requirements of your specific project.

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Tips to enhance your backyard with water features - Rocky Mount Telegram

Leimone Waite, Master gardeners Published 5:00 a.m. PT Aug. 14, 2020

Make sure you follow these 3 tips for a healthy vegetable garden. USA TODAY

Q: What is wrong with my hydrangea? The outer part of the leaf has suddenly turned a lighter green while the middle part of the leaf is dark green. This is happening to most of the leaves on the shrub.

A: This sounds like the classic symptoms of water stress, especially given the very hot temperatures we had this past week.On these hot days the soil dries out and plants wilt and then are watered and rehydrate;however the cells in the outer margin of the leaf have suffered too much damage to fully recover. Because the damage occurs so fast, plants are not able to relocate chlorophyll to other leaves so the damaged portion of the leaf retains a dull green color.

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Even if your yard is receiving regular irrigation, on really hot days the water requirements of plants can dramatically increase and you may need to increase watering accordingly. I have plants in potsI have to water twice per day on days when temperatures are over 105 degrees and it's windy. There are ways to help manage the need for extra watering, such as moving potted plants into the shade on hot days, or mulching around plants keep them from drying out as quickly.

The first signs of water stress in landscape plants and trees include wilted or drooping leaves that do not return to normal once temperatures cool at night, curled or yellow leaves that may fold or drop, leaves that change to a grayish or bluish green color, sunburned leavesand new leaves that are smaller than normal.

Ornamental grass or lawns may show water stress by changing to a bluish gray color rather than a vibrant green or have wilted blades of grass. As things dry out further, the tips of the grass may turn yellow and then eventually brown. Another quick check to see if the lawn is water stressed is tosee if the lawn grasses retain a footprint for several minutes. If theydo, the grass needs more water. If these hot temperatures persist and the lawn does not receive adequate water, it may gradually turn brown and go dormant.

Monica Ho, Mai'Ana Airport Plaza manager, takes pride in growing vegetables and succulents in a garden she created at the 78-unit apartment complex in Tamuning on July 29, 2020. Pacific Daily News

The good news for your hydrangea is that it should recover as long as it continues to get adequate water. You may want to remove leaves that are heavily damaged, being careful not to remove the leaf bud at the base of the leafas these will grow into new leaves. You can fertilize the plant to help with new leaf growth, but choose a low-nitrogen, slow-release fertilizer and use at the lowest recommended rate. Too much nitrogen fertilizer stimulates rapid growth and increases the need for more water, causing even more stress to the plant.

More master gardener columns:

Really ripe: Know when to pick your peppers, tomatoes

Home grown: Online program trains master gardeners at home

Once this heat spell is over, dont forget to dial back your irrigation timer, as overwatering can be just as stressful to plants as under watering. Signs of overwatering include drooping leaves or lower leaves becoming yellow and dropping, and lawns that feel spongy or turn yellow.

Master Gardeners(Photo: Master Gardeners)

You can find additional information for managing water stress in the University of Californiapublication Keeping Plants Alive under Drought or Water Restrictions. It's free to download at https://bit.ly/3akWnyp.

The Shasta Master Gardeners Program can be reached by phone at 242-2219 or email mastergardener@shastacollege.edu. The gardener office is staffed by volunteers trained by the University of California to answer gardeners' questions using information based on scientific research.

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How to tell if your plants are water-stressed out - Record Searchlight

You live in a beautiful house that has been your home, and you are planning to perhaps one day sell it off. This naturally makes you wonder whether there is something you can do now to increase the value of your property in the long run and that you can still enjoy while youre there. Construction and big renovations are noisy and disturb your peace, so what can you do? How about you start thinking green and plant some trees. Heres how planting a tree today can add so much value to your property tomorrow.

Nobody plants a 70-year-old oak. You plant it young, and then you nourish it and care for it while it grows, and over the years, it repays you for all the work youve put in. There is nothing that can replace that. You cant speed up time and make a tree grow faster, you just have to be patient. When potential buyers see a home with a few young saplings in the yard, they might think it will be nice in the future, but if they see a big, tall tree that casts a lovely shade and gives fruit they will fall in love immediately. If then dont want it for some reason, they can hire a tree service to take it down and perhaps turn it into a beautiful table but they can never go the other way and make it grow. Its an investment that is really like no other in that sense.

If youve ever paid the bills during a hot summer when the AC is running all the time you start to appreciate every little degree you can lower naturally. And trees provide exactly that: a shade that prevents the suns rays from heating up your windows and walls and every inch of your house. The less direct sunlight, the less your AC needs to work to keep the place cool, which will lower the bills always a good sign for buyers. In addition to that, if you have a beautiful lawn, it might get absolutely scorched by the sun in the summer heat, and youll have to invest a lot of water and power into sprinklers to keep it alive. But if theres some shade that moves around and covers the grass throughout the day, you can lower the water usage.

Unlike other types of plants that you might want to plan in order to raise value (and many plants do, in fact, raise value), trees dont require much maintenance. They dont need to be watered, trimmed weekly, or kept safe from pests. The older a tree is, the deeper the roots go the more resilient it is. And people love things that give benefits without them putting work in, so unlike a full garden where they would either really have to get their hands dirty or hire a gardener, a tree will always just be there, majestic and beautiful.

A big, perfectly trimmed back yard with just endless grass to host BBQs on and play fetch with your dog is nice but a tree adds interest. It keeps the eye moving, especially if there are several trees. Not only when its at a standstill, but when the wind blows, it becomes so much more dynamic and gives life to space. Theres really nothing that can even come close to mimicking what a tree provides to the landscape of your home.

As people, we dont get attached to things, we get attached to emotions. A photo is just a photo, and a watch is just a watch, but the stories behind the two are what gives it so much value every time we look at them. The same goes for trees: Buying a property that has a number on it is fine, but when you show potential buyers your home, and you talk about the tree under which your child took their first steps, the swing that was put there decades ago that you played on and the hammock in which your late grandfather took his afternoon naps now youre selling a story. And the story will add so much value. Not only that but when you add the story, the new tenants will be much more inclined to take care of the tree after they inherit it.

There are many ways you can add value to your home, but few have as good of a cost-benefit as a tree. Make a fun activity out of it with your family, take a weekend to pick out some trees, plan where to put them, dig up some dirt, and watch the value of your home grow.

Link:
Why Having Trees in Your Property Increases Its Overall Value - E/The Environmental Magazine

Jenna Brandl, For USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin Published 8:16 a.m. CT Aug. 15, 2020

UW-Manitowoc professor emeritus Chuck Sontag has been birding the Manitowoc lakeshore for decades. HTR News

Honeysuckle, horrendous? I wouldnt have believed it a month ago, either.

As a Woodland Dunes land management intern, I often interact with honeysuckle. The Tartarian and Bush honeysuckle, aka Lonicera sibirica tatarica and Lonicera sibirica latifolia, are two of the most common subspecies found in Wisconsin. These shrubs can range from 3 to 15 feet tall, which can make them look more like a tree than a shrub.

How can you identify honeysuckle? Look to see if the leaves are 1 to 2-1/2inches long with an oval shape at the stem that leads to an abrupt pointed end. Their stems and branches aregrayish brown, have broad groovesand are thorn-less.

Honeysuckle at Woodland Dunes Nature Center and Preserve in Two Rivers.(Photo: Jenna Brandl)

May through June, these shrubs produce white or pink flowers that start to yellow as they age. In September and October, they produce red juicy berries in groups that usually occur at the leaf axil (where the leaf meets the twig). These elegant flowers are what some may say easy on the eyes, so why are these intricate shrubs so dangerous to our delicate ecosystems?

Surprisingly, they are actually an invasive species that cover a broad range of habitats including roadsides, lakeshores, open woods, forest edgesand old fields. Countless people continue to plant these invasive shrubs, especially the Eurasian Bush honeysuckle, as ornamentals in their yards, which leads to the spread.

Birds are no help, either. By eating the berries and flying from place to place, numerous species of birds spread honeysuckle twice as quickly. This makes the process of controlling their spread extremely difficult and why we typically find these plants at the bottom of trees that birds perch in.

Honeysuckle is also hazardous for plants such as tree seedlings and wildflowers because they are known to alter the habitat around them by decreasing light sources, soil moistureand nutrients. According to the Wisconsin DNR, it is also possible that L. tatarica releases allelopathic chemicals that prevent the growth of other plants around them. Does this affect the growth of trees as well? It is hoped new research might arise to help solve this mystery, alongside my own investigation at the Woodland Dunes preserve.

It might leave you flabbergasted to learn that honeysuckle is not your typical plant but an invasive to our wetlands, temperate forestsand prairie ecosystems in Wisconsin. Now you may be wondering, How do I control this invasive plant? The best way is the process of cutting the shrub stems and applying a herbicide treatment. It may be a tedious task to cut down the entire shrub, but it is the most effective way to kill the honeysuckle as a result of its multiple stems and large growth radius. For this treatment to be successful, all stems must be cut and treated with herbicide so no new growth is allowed to occur.

After a month of combating these hellish shrubs, its my hope that others will begin to recognize and take steps to prevent the spread of honeysuckle.

Jenna Brandl is asummer land management intern at Woodland Dunes Nature Center and Preserve in Two Rivers.

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Horror of honeysuckle: How to prevent the spread of this hellish invasive shrub - Herald Times Reporter

from White Plains Hospital:

For those of us who hike, garden, or just enjoy being outdoors, theres a trio of troublesome plants spread across the country that can turn a pleasant day outside into a scratch-filled trip to the doctor.

Poison ivy, poison oak and poison sumac may be different plants, but they have one thing in common urushiol. Urushiol is an oily sap found in the plants and according to the American Skin Association,85% of all Americans are allergic to it.If you come in contact with one of these plants, youre likely develop a rash within 12-72 hours.

The signs and symptoms may include:

Leaves of three, let it be

Poison ivy grows throughout the United States, primarily east of the Rocky Mountains. It grows as hairy or fuzzy-looking vines or a shrub, and can be found in open fields, wooded areas, parks and backyards. The plants typically have smooth, almond-shaped leaves clustered in groups of three.

Poison oak, on the other hand, is indigenous to the western part of the country, and also grows as a vine or shrub.Although poison oak looks similar to poison ivy, it has larger leaves that are more rounded, like that of an oak leaf. Like poison ivy, it also has a tri-clustered leaf arrangement, so make sure to remember the old saying, Leaves of three, let it be!

The other urushiol carrying plant, poison sumac, is less common than poison oak and ivy and is mostly found in swamps in the southeastern part of the country. Poison sumac grows as a shrub or small tree with each stem containing 7 to 13 leaves arranged in pairs. Compared to poison ivy and poison oak, poison sumac has a greater potential to inflict a more severe rash.

The initial treatment for someone who has been exposed to any of these plants is to rinse the infected area with lukewarm soapy water to remove the urushiol oil within 10 minutes of exposure, says Dr. Jennifer Camacho, Allergy and Immunology Specialist at Scarsdale Medical Group. Its also important to scrub under your fingernails to remove any remnants of urushiol oil. In addition, you should thoroughly clean clothing or any objects that may have come into contact with these plants, such as gardening tools camping equipment or pets.

If youre working outside in wooded areas or locations with heavy foliage wear long pants, long sleeves, dont forget to wear boots and gloves for protection.

Stop that itch

If youre looking for relief from the itching and swelling caused by poison ivy, oak and sumac, calamine lotion is an over-the-counter medication that is convenient and affordable. While its not a cure, its main ingredient, zinc oxide, has a calming effect on the skin and helps dry out the rash caused by the plants.

Other remedies include a hydrocortisone cream, or an oral antihistamine like Benadryl. You may also want to tryhome remedieslike a baking soda or an oatmeal bath, or try essential oils such as eucalyptus or chamomile. For those who prefer a do-it-yourself method, it may take three weeks or longer for a rash to resolve. However, if the rash does not dissipate on its own, or if you are having trouble breathing, develop a fever, or cant find relief from the discomfort and itchiness, consult your doctor.

You should also see a doctor if the rash appears infected or spreads to your eyelids, lips or face, says Dr. Camacho. Your doctor may prescribe a high-potency steroid cream or an oral corticosteroid, such as prednisone, to accelerate your recovery.

Originally posted here:
Poison Ivy: How to Recognize and Treat - theLoop

The future of wildfires doesnt have to be calamitous or tragic.

There are factors at play that point to a bad ending. The results of ongoing climate change and a history of questionable land-management policies are already impacting the kinds of wildfires were seeing today, often more frequent and more intense.

But much is being done to brighten the outlook.

Fire scientists are working to create more ambitious modeling systems to predict wildfire behavior and provide officials with a better understanding of how fires function. Firefighters are experimenting with new technologies that will track resources and pinpoint hazards in real time, and developing better ways to enhance their suppression techniques.

As innovators work on creative solutions to deal with fires, others stress that one key to mitigating risk is more cultural: Can humans learn to better coexist with fire?

Most people tend to assume that we have a choice not to have wildfires, that we can put it out, we have that choice, said Mark Finney, Ph.D. and research forester with the U.S. Forest Services Fire Sciences Lab in Missoula, Montana. The fact is every year, were reminded we dont have the choice. Its not within our power to keep fire out of our wildlands.

The real choice that isnt often appreciated is our choice of when to have a fire and what kind to have. We have a choice of living with the kind that are both sustainable to our ecosystems and communities, or only living with the worst ones.

Some of the biggest problems surrounding future wildfires are climate change, invasive species and fuel loading.

The impacts of climate change could be far reaching. Warmer weather has resulted in earlier spring runoff, drier fuels and longer wildfire seasons. And experts say the trend of larger and more frequent wildfires is likely to continue.

In higher elevation forests that are ripe with fuel sources, the climate is historically what has helped to keep wildfires in check.

What weve seen looking at the trajectory going back through the past 50 years is that the fire season is getting longer, said Julie Korb, professor of biology at Fort Lewis College in Durango. When I first moved here 20 years ago, we would have snow in the High Country up to the Fourth of July, and then the monsoons hit. The fuel never had a chance to dry out.

But across the West, what were seeing is that even in normal snow years, theres early spring runoff. As we keep broadening that gap from when theres snow on the ground to when we get precipitation in the summer, its going to increase the length of the wildfire season, and often affect the size and behavior of wildfires. They can move more rapidly, and once they get going, theyre not as easy for firefighters to attack.

But climate change at lower elevations, which frequently deal with hot and dry conditions, also can have major impacts on wildfire behavior. Deborah Kennard, a professor of environmental science at Colorado Mesa University, said some ecosystems might never look the same after a wildfire.

Kennard said crown fires in ponderosa pine forests are preventing seedling regeneration, which could convert those areas to shrub or grasslands. Fires in riparian areas along the Colorado River could spell the end of some cottonwood stands, which require flooding levels for regeneration that might no longer be realistic. And as the Pine Gulch Fire rages north of Grand Junction, there are concerns that drought could impede the regrowth of the pinyon-juniper habitat.

We might be getting to a situation today where the climate may not be the same as it was when these woodlands were established, Kennard said. Those are going to possibly go through a type conversion to a different type of system.

One major fear is that as changes in the climate inhibit the regeneration of natural vegetation, invasive species could start to take over in certain areas. In Colorado, one nonnative species causing trouble is cheatgrass, a highly flammable weed that can significantly impact native plants.

The grass potentially could fill in traditionally barren areas that rely on fuel breaks in the landscape to keep fires at bay, creating more contiguous fuels and larger fires. And once the natural vegetation is dead, it might never return.

The grass comes back right away and even better after a fire, Kennard said. That means that those other species cant get ahold. Once you get cheatgrass in an area, it increases the fire frequency and the fire size, and it makes it so much harder for other fuels to come back. It turns into an annual grassland that could burn every couple years.

Climate change, I think, will be the overarching factor increasingly as we look forward to future wildfires because it will keep getting hotter and drier. But especially in Western Colorado and drier areas, climate change coupled with nonnative invasive species has a synergistic effect where we could see fires that are bigger than they would have been otherwise.

A history of wildfire suppression over the past 100 years is also taking its toll on many modern forests, which were not allowed to burn naturally resulting in massive fuel loads capable of creating larger fires. Colorado residents have seen the results already.

In 2002, the Hayman Fire northwest of Colorado Springs became the biggest recorded wildfire in the states history, burning more than 137,000 acres, 133 homes and costing about $40 million to suppress.

In the Forest Services case study on the Hayman Fire, officials said it burned in rich and dry vegetation, resulting from the exclusion of fire over recent years, and called the blaze an example of a consequence of what is wrong with current forest management policy in this country.

Repeat photography after more than a century or so of lapse shows tremendous changes in vegetation, Finney said. The trees in the forest are so dense now, and theres complete coverage over large parts of the terrain that at one point burned (frequently) enough to have a patchy structure to it.

Were well beyond the point where we can get a head start on this. Looking back to something like the Hayman Fire, it was a direct consequence of having landscapes for tens of miles with very little management.

While turning the tables against climate change is an endeavor further down the line, officials have begun to reshape the way they think about land management.

As with modern day firefighting, creating a more positive future outlook on wildfires relies heavily on proactive solutions. Fuels reduction projects along the wildland-urban interface have become more commonplace over recent years and will continue to be one of the more important tools officials have to combat fires near developed areas.

But some are calling for more cooperation from local, state and federal agencies to take a broader view in building resiliency across larger landscapes.

There are so many areas that need treatment that we need to stop saying this is private land or state land or federal land, Korb said. We need to work across all lines to determine how were going to manage our landscapes. So when were talking about tackling these issues in the future, its really about forming this collaborative and working together to look at larger landscapes not 1,000- or even 10,000-acre parcels, but 100,000 to half-million acres to determine how to manage that to have the type of fires were willing to live with.

Korb emphasized that resiliency might look different for varying types of forests and ecosystems and that there is not a one-size-fits-all prescription. In other words, the topography, fuel types and other factors in certain forests might call for more widespread human manipulation while others might be best left alone.

While fuels are really the only major component of natural wildfires that humans have some direct control over, it makes sense to prioritize treatment projects as we look to the future. But officials also say that not all treatments necessarily have the same impact.

Tree harvesting and the mechanical removal of fuel sources certainly have their place, but those treatments dont do much to remove finer fuels like grass and brush from the forest floor. Instead, some experts are pushing to allow more wildfires and prescriptive burns to create forest maintenance benefits.

You can use chain saws and modern logging methods, but that doesnt really remove the fuel that wildfires depend on, Finney said. And once youre done thinning, then fire is the only way of maintaining fuel conditions and keeping the ecosystem running. One thing we know for sure is that fire plays an essential role in most of our ecosystems in the West, and theres just no substitute for it.

But large-scale land-management overhauls and prescriptive fires are solutions easier said than done. In areas that already have embraced changes to management policies, officials say the funding to conduct the desired work is often difficult to come by. In other areas, where the strategies have been slow to take hold, officials say theyre still fighting a cultural war to inform the masses of the benefits of fire.

This culture which consists of the public, elected officials, media and the fire agencies all come together in reacting to wildfires and determining what the acceptable responses are, Finney said. And they tend to react in a very predictable way: to try and put the fire out.

When you try to change the appropriate response to fires, such as doing more prescribed burns or not putting a fire out, then the culture tends to react negatively to that. We have to change how we look at fires. The science is well developed. The obstacle to using that knowledge in a proactive fashion is almost entirely cultural.

As experts toil away at creating better land-management practices, scientists in the field are hard at work trying to provide better tools to get the job done.

If officials are going to use fire more proactively, providing them with an even better understanding of the underlying physical processes resulting in different wildfire behaviors is key.

Fire is full of nonintuitive processes, said Torben Grumstrup, a Ph.D. and research mechanical engineer with the fire sciences lab in Montana. Its a very odd phenomenon, and its very normal for us to run into something that makes us say, What the heck is that? Something that just doesnt make sense. But as we dig deeper, we realize it does. Were learning more and more about fire behavior and ultimately we hope to update and modernize training with that knowledge.

Scientists at the fire lab and elsewhere around the world are working to create newer computer modeling systems that can more accurately predict how a wildfire will behave in a given environment. Upgraded models would allow officials to realistically preview how a fire would react in different fuel types, topographies and weather conditions as well as fundamentally improve the way we plan fuel mitigation projects and fire breaks along the wildland-urban interface.

Variations of this technology have existed for a while. Current models are still based on the foundational Rothermel surface fire spread model developed during the 1960s and early 1970s, but theres much that could be improved.

Our understanding of fire has come a very long way, Grumstrup said. The advantage to the model is its very fast on the computer, and relatively simple and easy to run.The disadvantages are that there are some aspects of it that dont model fire in a realistic way. There are some parts that were developed as educated guesses. Its long past time to develop a new model.

Grumstrup and his colleagues are actively working to develop a new modeling system that would incorporate more realistic physics, heat transfer, ignition processes and combustion properties. But as the underlying framework undergoes a facelift, better data collection is needed to power the model.

On a more micro level, the lab is running experiments to determine how fast and long different sizes of fuels burn and how a flames orientation on a piece of wood plays a role. With Big Sandy, a 12-foot-long rotating table filled with sand, scientists are getting their best data yet on how the shape of flames and variable slopes are impacting heat transfer.

On a macro level, officials are working to map fuel types and densities on a massive scale. Aerial mapping of fuel sources across the United States is updated every few years, and serves as a valuable tool for land managers and firefighters.

In the mid-2000s, the Landfire project launched in partnership between wildland programs at the U.S. departments of agriculture and interior, and was tasked with providing comprehensive geospatial data to describe vegetation, wildland fuel and fire regimes across the country. But experts say more detail is needed to determine not just how much fuel is in an area but how it is arranged.

The way we describe fuels right now is with the average loading, the average tons per acre of fuel across an area, Finney said. But that doesnt account for gaps or patchy structure in the landscape. The nonconformity is not captured. Through some of these much more high-resolution images, we can capture special arrangements of fuels that are sufficiently detailed to do a good job modeling whether a fire can spread or not.

To that end, researchers are relying on new technologies in aerial imagery to help. In smaller areas, light detection and ranging systems are allowing officials to get detailed 3D maps by reflecting lasers off the treetops from the air. Other techniques rely on aerial photographs taken from different angles that are later constructed into 3D structures of the landscape. Once detailed fuels mapping is complete, experts can distill the information into their more sophisticated wildfire modeling systems.

Were hoping in a couple years well be satisfied enough to release (the model) to the world, Grumstrup said. And we think it would be a revolution in how we model fires.

Learning to live with wildfires doesnt mean letting them run unimpeded. In high-risk areas along the wildland-urban interface or near important watersheds, fires will always call for a strong suppression effort.

Firefighters also are working with new technologies to do their jobs safer and more efficiently. One of the newest tools breaking its way into the firefighting scene is the Android Team Awareness Kit developed by the Air Force Research Laboratory to help track friendly individuals on the ground during airstrikes.

Firefighters in Colorado already have begun using the kit and similar technologies in pilot deployments. The system essentially allows officials to keep track of all of their resources including firefighters and aircraft in real time, providing better spatial awareness and allowing individuals to update conditions and threats.

If I have a safety officer on a hill watching us work, instead of him communicating that theres a spot beyond some trees to go to if things get bad, he can actually put a point on a map that pops up on everyones phone, said Ben Miller, director at the Colorado Center of Excellence for Advanced Technology Aerial Firefighting. From the command post where they have the bigger perspective, they can look at lightning or high winds coming in, and they can show us that information within seconds on our map.

Spatial awareness tools also are helping firefighters implement other military technologies in their practices. The ability for officials to point out detailed locations of power lines and topographical hazards paired with night vision could soon allow helicopter missions after dark.

With operations often in remote areas, firefighters are also experimenting with new equipment that would allow them to detect strong cellular networks nearby and deploy radios to boost the signal to make sure all firefighters are kept in the loop. Similarly, new drone programs are in the works that would allow firefighters to get more eyes on the fire from the air and serve as pseudo-communication satellites.

Down the line, options like Starlink, a satellite internet initiative being developed by SpaceX, would provide firefighters in the backcountry with connectivity independent of cell sites on the ground.

We want to get to the point where when somebody has something to report, they can just point their camera at it, Miller said. And not only would everybody be able to see what theyre talking about, but it could actually triangulate that image so everybody knows what theyre seeing and where exactly it is.

In regard to actually attacking the wildfires, firefighters are also looking for ways to do more with the tools they have. One way is through experimenting with new water enhancers, essentially a type of gel that firefighters can mix with water from any source en route to make it evaporate slower and more effectively douse flames.

With the changing climate, we think the future holds more fires and bigger fires, Miller said. Our challenge from a technology perspective is really about researching and potentially employing new technologies that make us safer, faster and more efficient.

As we look to what the coming years might bring, the challenges facing tomorrows firefighters are considerable.

Wildfires are a matter of when and not if. And Coloradans and others throughout the West will continue to be confronted by that fact.

But thanks to the work being done by scientists, firefighters and land-management experts, we have a choice in what kind of fires well see and better tools to learn to live alongside them.

If we know more, we can do better, Finney said. We can explain it in more detail. We can provide better foundations and expertise. But the bottom line is that human beings are going to have to utilize the science behind wildfires a lot more and be smart about how we interact with them. That is inherent to the challenges were going to face with the future of wildfires.

Editors note: This is part four of a four-part series about wildfires. Read more at SummitDaily.com/wildfire.

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The future of wildfires: A cultural struggle to learn to live with fire - Summit Daily News