6 ms·

Folks might also be interested in San Fransisco's own "Tenderloin National Forest" https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/tenderloin-national-forest https://www.a

Folks might also be interested in San Fransisco's own "Tenderloin National Forest" https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/tenderloin-national-forest https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/tenderloin-national-fore... Is there some abandoned parking lot in your town? Get some friends together with pick axes for a depaving party. Or, for something a bit less dedicated, craft some seed bombs (mix dirt and clay together into small cookie balls with native seeds in them) and throw them into the abandoned area. Boom, wildflowers, then pollinators, insects, birds, voila.

embedding-shape 2mo ago
> Or, for something a bit less dedicated, craft some seed bombs (mix dirt and clay together into small cookie balls with native seeds in them) and throw them into the abandoned area This is a lot of fun (albeit illegal in many places) to spruce up somewhat dead-looking villages and towns. Traveling with a passenger that holds a sack of seeds out the window is another way :) Do make sure you're actually using seeds of plants from naturally occurring species though, so you don't go around introducing new and invasive species that could potentially be harmful to the native species.
- specialist 2mo ago
  I'm very interested in "seed bombs". We have to plant something like one trillion trees just to keep up with losses from forest fires. Imagine the economics, supply chain, science, innovation, etc required to plant one trillion trees and all their supporting shrubs and ground cover. My impression is they work well enough for flowers. I have no idea about shrubs or ground cover. I'm aware there's some efforts to seed bomb trees. There was one such experiment in Discovery Park Seattle WA. I chatted with some people from WSU, Tacoma Tree Project, or something like that. That particular experiment tried using drones over a small plot. None of the seeds sprouted. (Sorry, I don't have more details.) This was adjacent to some other experiments. eg Tacoma Tree Project & WSU are investigating why native redcedars are now perishing faster, and maybe find ways to mitigate the loss. I think there's about a dozen research plots scattered around the Puget Sound. I don't spend much time following forest restoration "news". But I do know that it's a nascent industry that'll become huge.
  - embedding-shape 2mo ago
    Probably the toughest part of "reforestation" like that isn't the "planting of trees" process, but you have to actively monitor them and make sure they actually work out and survive. A bit amount of these enormous "plant trees over large areas" efforts fail simply because they didn't even come back once to actually maintain the plants until they're strong enough to actually form a ecosystem. So sure, just planting one trillion trees is a huge task, but making sure they actually survive and grow to big strong trees to make a forest, will be short of impossible. Better to aim for smaller patches that can naturally spread over time as it matures by itself. Here's a pretty short and sweet video talking more about the maintenance and actual survival of the trees for more than just photo-ops: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K5ufbMgxN04 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K5ufbMgxN04
    - specialist 2mo ago
      Absolutely. And those failures sour support for further efforts. Vicious cycle. Reforesting (rewilding) is farming and gardening. Proactive ecological management. Per "You broke it, you bought it." We are recreating forests. In my area, we have to restart the forest life cycle. The correct plants in the correct order in the correct habitat. If we leave it to "nature", the blackberries and alder would choke off everything else. Plus, there's ever more evidence that humans have long reshaped (managed) ecosystems. Like the controlled burns the indigeous people of America did. On a contintal scale! Terrific share, thanks. Will binge soonest.
    - Schlagbohrer 2mo ago
      Creating a small "Miyawaki Forest"[1]. The gist is that by planting native wildflowers and other native small plants and easy-to-grow shrubs, one creates a hot spot for not only local pollinators but also animals like birds, squirrels, and coyotes who come through and deposit seeds. The smaller plants keep the ground moist and shaded, which will help tree seeds sprout and get their footing. If you've ever seen an unkempt lawn in a northern-US environment, the grass grows out of control then some wildflowers come in, then some taller shrubs, and soon tree saplings pop up and it quickly gets to the point where it can't be easily mowed anymore with a residential lawn mower. [1] https://www.sugiproject.com/blog/miyawaki-method-for-creating-forests https://www.sugiproject.com/blog/miyawaki-method-for-creatin...
- ErroneousBosh 2mo ago
  > Traveling with a passenger that holds a sack of seeds out the window is another way :) I read this earlier and forgot about it until I was driving home, looking at self-seeded wheat and rapeseed along the side of the road blown from odd nooks and crannies on grain trucks. And then, <clarkson>I've had a *brilliant* idea!</clarkson> - seed drills use a springy nozzle to direct seeds towards the ground and a big PTO-driven fan to blast air down to fire the seeds out, right? You're driving a car, which emits quite a lot of air from its exhaust pipe, somewhat deoxygenated, to be fair, quite warm and damp though which is good. Make an exhaust tip that blows a jet of air out, and mount a seed hopper in the boot that feeds wildflower seeds into a kind of venturi so Bernoulli's principle sucks them down and out of the nozzle, spraying them along the verges with enough force to get them well away from the road edge. I bet that'd work. If it's dry tomorrow, I'll get the welder out and let you know how it goes.
specialist 2mo ago
I volunteer at greencitypartnership.org, leading a crew restoring a large park. I've been wondering how we might build a community of urban forest hackers. To share tips and info, how to deal with vandals, help each other make yard signs, how to transport water over trail, etc. I would love to know better ways for breaking up a parking lot. I opened up 4 separate spaces for tree planters. I started with pickaxe and pry rod (nicknamed The Persuader by its owner). That's real work. Next, I borrowed a Makita rotary hammer from our local tool library. Very helpful! My "boss" has a protocol to improve plant survival and reduce labor: pile up 10" - 12" of mulch. If my trees survive this summer I'll be very happy. So, my boss's teams use the "too much mulch" hack, to great success. But her innovation is slow to spread. Because our teams only meet yearly (some of us do float around to other job sites, which is great). But we have no contact with other teams, other cities, other regions. And seeing is believing. (I too was very skeptical and reluctant to schlep that much more mulch.) And I'm sure someone somewhere has some labor saving hacks for tackling Himalayan blackberry. Once removed, my boss's hack is to use pinebark to prevent their return. Works great! (Another innovation slow to spread.) But oh boy removing invasives like blackberries, english ivy, scotch broom, etc currently requires a lot of labor. (I know about super steam lances. Notion is to cook root balls from the inside out. I'm still trying to find a unit to experiment with. I heard there's one in Oregon, that I might go visit.)
- toast0 2mo ago
  > And I'm sure someone somewhere has some labor saving hacks for tackling Himalayan blackberry. Goats. It's not labor eliminating, you've got to set up and maintain temporary fencing, and you've got to remove plants that dangerous for goats to eat, and you need to take care of the goats generally. But, they can really help get things under control.
  - specialist 2mo ago
    I would love that. We've asked. Something something budgets, liability, approvals, blah blah blah. Like everywhere else (in this habitat zone), we have acres of just blackberry. They even choke out the scotts broom and butterfly bushes. There's no way us volunteer crews are going to get ahead of all that. What I'm doing is creative, strategic, public relations. In our 80 acre park, we choose spots based on impact and visibility. Just like Tom Sawyer painting the white picket fence. Our first year, I got lots of skepticism, negative comments. A few years later, the park regulars (aka voters) have seen results and progress. It cheers people up. And we're getting all sorts of ad hoc support, donations, etc. Over time, I have to believe, we'll win over enough support to actually compel the host city to honor their tree conservation and restoration commitments. (They're still losing canopy cover faster than its being replaced.)

embedding-shape 2mo ago

> Or, for something a bit less dedicated, craft some seed bombs (mix dirt and clay together into small cookie balls with native seeds in them) and throw them into the abandoned area This is a lot of fun (albeit illegal in many places) to spruce up somewhat dead-looking villages and towns. Traveling with a passenger that holds a sack of seeds out the window is another way :) Do make sure you're actually using seeds of plants from naturally occurring species though, so you don't go around introducing new and invasive species that could potentially be harmful to the native species.

specialist 2mo ago
I'm very interested in "seed bombs". We have to plant something like one trillion trees just to keep up with losses from forest fires. Imagine the economics, supply chain, science, innovation, etc required to plant one trillion trees and all their supporting shrubs and ground cover. My impression is they work well enough for flowers. I have no idea about shrubs or ground cover. I'm aware there's some efforts to seed bomb trees. There was one such experiment in Discovery Park Seattle WA. I chatted with some people from WSU, Tacoma Tree Project, or something like that. That particular experiment tried using drones over a small plot. None of the seeds sprouted. (Sorry, I don't have more details.) This was adjacent to some other experiments. eg Tacoma Tree Project & WSU are investigating why native redcedars are now perishing faster, and maybe find ways to mitigate the loss. I think there's about a dozen research plots scattered around the Puget Sound. I don't spend much time following forest restoration "news". But I do know that it's a nascent industry that'll become huge.
- embedding-shape 2mo ago
  Probably the toughest part of "reforestation" like that isn't the "planting of trees" process, but you have to actively monitor them and make sure they actually work out and survive. A bit amount of these enormous "plant trees over large areas" efforts fail simply because they didn't even come back once to actually maintain the plants until they're strong enough to actually form a ecosystem. So sure, just planting one trillion trees is a huge task, but making sure they actually survive and grow to big strong trees to make a forest, will be short of impossible. Better to aim for smaller patches that can naturally spread over time as it matures by itself. Here's a pretty short and sweet video talking more about the maintenance and actual survival of the trees for more than just photo-ops: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K5ufbMgxN04 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K5ufbMgxN04
  - specialist 2mo ago
    Absolutely. And those failures sour support for further efforts. Vicious cycle. Reforesting (rewilding) is farming and gardening. Proactive ecological management. Per "You broke it, you bought it." We are recreating forests. In my area, we have to restart the forest life cycle. The correct plants in the correct order in the correct habitat. If we leave it to "nature", the blackberries and alder would choke off everything else. Plus, there's ever more evidence that humans have long reshaped (managed) ecosystems. Like the controlled burns the indigeous people of America did. On a contintal scale! Terrific share, thanks. Will binge soonest.
  - Schlagbohrer 2mo ago
    Creating a small "Miyawaki Forest"[1]. The gist is that by planting native wildflowers and other native small plants and easy-to-grow shrubs, one creates a hot spot for not only local pollinators but also animals like birds, squirrels, and coyotes who come through and deposit seeds. The smaller plants keep the ground moist and shaded, which will help tree seeds sprout and get their footing. If you've ever seen an unkempt lawn in a northern-US environment, the grass grows out of control then some wildflowers come in, then some taller shrubs, and soon tree saplings pop up and it quickly gets to the point where it can't be easily mowed anymore with a residential lawn mower. [1] https://www.sugiproject.com/blog/miyawaki-method-for-creating-forests https://www.sugiproject.com/blog/miyawaki-method-for-creatin...
ErroneousBosh 2mo ago
> Traveling with a passenger that holds a sack of seeds out the window is another way :) I read this earlier and forgot about it until I was driving home, looking at self-seeded wheat and rapeseed along the side of the road blown from odd nooks and crannies on grain trucks. And then, <clarkson>I've had a *brilliant* idea!</clarkson> - seed drills use a springy nozzle to direct seeds towards the ground and a big PTO-driven fan to blast air down to fire the seeds out, right? You're driving a car, which emits quite a lot of air from its exhaust pipe, somewhat deoxygenated, to be fair, quite warm and damp though which is good. Make an exhaust tip that blows a jet of air out, and mount a seed hopper in the boot that feeds wildflower seeds into a kind of venturi so Bernoulli's principle sucks them down and out of the nozzle, spraying them along the verges with enough force to get them well away from the road edge. I bet that'd work. If it's dry tomorrow, I'll get the welder out and let you know how it goes.

specialist 2mo ago

I volunteer at greencitypartnership.org, leading a crew restoring a large park. I've been wondering how we might build a community of urban forest hackers. To share tips and info, how to deal with vandals, help each other make yard signs, how to transport water over trail, etc. I would love to know better ways for breaking up a parking lot. I opened up 4 separate spaces for tree planters. I started with pickaxe and pry rod (nicknamed The Persuader by its owner). That's real work. Next, I borrowed a Makita rotary hammer from our local tool library. Very helpful! My "boss" has a protocol to improve plant survival and reduce labor: pile up 10" - 12" of mulch. If my trees survive this summer I'll be very happy. So, my boss's teams use the "too much mulch" hack, to great success. But her innovation is slow to spread. Because our teams only meet yearly (some of us do float around to other job sites, which is great). But we have no contact with other teams, other cities, other regions. And seeing is believing. (I too was very skeptical and reluctant to schlep that much more mulch.) And I'm sure someone somewhere has some labor saving hacks for tackling Himalayan blackberry. Once removed, my boss's hack is to use pinebark to prevent their return. Works great! (Another innovation slow to spread.) But oh boy removing invasives like blackberries, english ivy, scotch broom, etc currently requires a lot of labor. (I know about super steam lances. Notion is to cook root balls from the inside out. I'm still trying to find a unit to experiment with. I heard there's one in Oregon, that I might go visit.)

toast0 2mo ago
> And I'm sure someone somewhere has some labor saving hacks for tackling Himalayan blackberry. Goats. It's not labor eliminating, you've got to set up and maintain temporary fencing, and you've got to remove plants that dangerous for goats to eat, and you need to take care of the goats generally. But, they can really help get things under control.
- specialist 2mo ago
  I would love that. We've asked. Something something budgets, liability, approvals, blah blah blah. Like everywhere else (in this habitat zone), we have acres of just blackberry. They even choke out the scotts broom and butterfly bushes. There's no way us volunteer crews are going to get ahead of all that. What I'm doing is creative, strategic, public relations. In our 80 acre park, we choose spots based on impact and visibility. Just like Tom Sawyer painting the white picket fence. Our first year, I got lots of skepticism, negative comments. A few years later, the park regulars (aka voters) have seen results and progress. It cheers people up. And we're getting all sorts of ad hoc support, donations, etc. Over time, I have to believe, we'll win over enough support to actually compel the host city to honor their tree conservation and restoration commitments. (They're still losing canopy cover faster than its being replaced.)