By Curtis Dragon

Organic certifications are processes that assure consumers that foods labeled organic have been grown, processed, and handled in compliance with standards designed to keep the food as well as agricultural workers and the environment, free of harmful contaminants. In addition, certifications cover organic livestock and its meat, eggs, and milk.

Organic certification for arborists is not yet available, but having knowledge of organic principles is always a good idea. Green manures, beneficial insects, and mechanical weed controls are acceptable while synthetic chemical fertilizers, pesticides, and herbicides are not.

Organic Farming
Organic farming is a production system that avoids or largely excludes the use of synthetic compound fertilizers, pesticides, growth regulators, and livestock feed additives, to the maximum extent feasible. Organic farming systems rely upon crop rotations, crop residues, animal manures, legumes, green manures, organic wastes, mechanical cultivation, mineral-bearing rocks, and aspects of biological pest control to maintain soil productivity and tilth. Organic farming systems supply plant nutrients to minimize the impact of insects, weeds, and other pests.

OLC
Organic Land Care (OLC) provides standards and certifications for design and maintenance of ecological landscapes. The OLC program provides fundamental information and describes the philosophy of OLC. The standards specify the requirements for accreditation and the limitations that the accredited organic land care professionals will abide by in offering OLC to clients. Included in the standards is the philosophy of soil building to improve plant health care, thereby making use of synthetic fertilizers and pesticides unnecessary.

Organic Landscaping
Organic landscaping is a more diverse system, closely matching the natural ecosystem. It requires a focus on site analysis, plant choice, and combining the two by putting the right plant in the right place.

Soil Preparation
All of these organic programs require proper soil preparation.

• The soil test is a requirement that provides recommendations on soil deficiencies and how to correct them. The test also provides an analysis of soil structure and texture.
• The best time to improve or amend the soil is in the fall or early spring. This allows time for the soil to acclimate before planting or going into dormancy.
• Work fertilizer and amendments into the soil.

• During cultivation, be careful not to cut too many tree roots but accept the fact that some may be damaged.

Prior to planting, prune all dead, diseased, and broken limbs from trees and shrubs. All materials except diseased trimmings should be cut up or shredded as much as possible and then added to the compost pile.

Compost
Leaf compost and compost tea are the top natural fertilizers on the planet, but there are many other good types of compost like cow manure, kelp and fishmeal, and mixes of organic and inorganic minerals. Compost used as a top dressing instead of mulch is the easiest and fastest way to improve the growth of trees and shrubs.

Humus is the best of the best for the organic gardener because it is the most stable form of compost. Humus is compost that has completed the composting process and has been cured.

Liquid organic fertilizer or compost tea is simply turning compost into a liquid. Organic gardeners always try to improve the soil with nutrients, which in turn, improves the health and vigor of trees.

Rainwater
Most rainwater goes down the storm drains and out to the oceans without any landscape usage whatsoever. Organic principles require using rain to recharge the aquifers and to water gardens, trees, and shrubs. Collect the rain in barrels, cisterns, ponds, bioswales, and water gardens. However, make sure the rainwater is safe by testing.

A one inch rainfall equals a six inch depth of soil water. This means it is better to water an area slowly and once for a deeper penetration, than it is to water frequently with lighter amounts that penetrate to a shallow depth.

LEED Certification
The United States Green Building Consul, (USCBC), and Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, (LEED) have developed a leading edge system for certifying the greenest performing buildings in the world. The mission is to transform the way buildings and communities are designed, built, and operated enabling an environmentally, socially responsible, healthy, and prosperous environment that improves the quality of life.

USGBC Training Programs
USGBC consists of seventy chapters around the United States and the membership consists of passionate advocates for green building in communities all across the country. LEED Accredited Professionals through the Green Building Certification Institute provide workshops, online courses, private special events, webinars, groups and student sponsorships, case studies, continuing education, and implementation strategies. USGBC education provides programs, green-build courses, a library, green-bytes, podcasts, videos, and articles.

Educational resources on green-build themes are available for school children from kindergarten to grade twelve, as well as higher education. USGBC suggests joining a chapter and attending meetings to become an advocate or a LEED AP and pursue LEED certification for your building projects.

LEED Programs
LEED addresses the complete life cycle of existing buildings, neighborhood development, new construction, and building operations. The steps to LEED Certification are to:

• register your project,
• track your progress,
• document achievement,

• apply for certification.

Getting Started
Get started by using the LEED reference guide, a project check list, and the credit and interpretation requests from LEED. Use LEED on-line and educational workshops and review project case studies. Also use LEED guides for sustainable homes sites, locations and linkages, water efficiency, energy and atmosphere awareness, materials and resources, and indoor environmental quality.

The focus of green-building in 2010 will be to have 50% of builders and 40-50% new homes built green. A green building is energy efficient, environmentally responsive, and contains sustainable features. Green homes are defined by the indoor air quality, materials, sites, and water. They must be healthy, comfortable, durable, energy efficient, and environmentally responsible.

The LEED rating system is simple and streamlined. Consumer benefits include a healthier indoor environment, more comfortable, more durable, 30-60% more energy efficient, more environmentally responsible, and the cost is 3-15% more up-front but cheaper in the long-run. Builder benefits are reduced costs because of fewer callbacks and improved customer satisfaction.

To obtain an overview of LEED homes, visit www.usgbc.org/leed/homes for the rating system, list of providers, a reference guide, a project check list, an education workshop, affordable housing information and project case studies, and consumer resources.

Home Energy Savings
It is recommended that everyone consider the following for making the home as energy efficient as possible:

• Take an energy audit of the home to see energy use, waste, and areas for improvement. There are free tools and calculators available at www.energysavers.gov or www.natresnet.org
• Install electronic programmable thermostats for each zone in the home for winter and summer savings.
• Change the incandescent light bulbs to compact fluorescent bulbs making sure they have the energy star label and that the bulbs are recycled after their use because they contain mercury.
• Air dry dishes and only run the dishwasher when it is completely full.
• Turn off the computer, monitor, and peripherals when not in use.
• Plug the home electronics, TV, DVD, camcorders, radios, chargers for cell phones, PDA's, iPods, mp3 players, and rechargeable battery chargers into managed power strips that can be shut off when not in use, because these units still draw energy if plugged in.
• Lower the thermostat on the water heater, or better yet, replace it with an on-call unit that is very efficient, and only turns on when the hot water faucet is turned on.
• Check the furnace, duct work or hot water piping, for leaks, no insulation, or improper installation.
• Take short showers using a low flow shower head; just wet then shut the water off, soap down, then turn the water on for a quick rinse.
• Wash only full loads in the laundry using a front loader, then hang laundry on an old fashioned clothes line to dry outside.
• Look for the energy star label on home products that meet strict efficiency guidelines set by the U.S. Department of Energy and the EPA.
• Drive smartly, obey the speed limits, keep the vehicle tuned up and the oil changed, keep the proper air pressure in the tires for better fuel mileage, and drive smoothly to conserve fuel.

• Visit www.energysavers.gov for more energy-saving ideas.

Curtis Dragon is the owner of Earth Landscape and is a Massachusetts certified arborist.

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