Landscape for health: Green you neighborhood, keep kids healthy

A local research study making headlines this week shows that the greener your neighborhood is, the more likely your children are to be healthier and less likely to be overweight.

Researchers at the Indiana University School of Medicine, IUPUI and the University of Washington found ties between higher neighborhood greenness and slower increases in children’s body mass. The study focused on inner-city children, which demonstrates that you don’t have to live in the country or large lots to reap benefits from making green changes.

The government-funded research study used satellite images to identify and measure greenness, defined as on the amount and health of vegetation in the area.

"For children, physical activity is active play and that usually take place outdoors. We need to encourage them to go outside and play,” said Gilbert C. Liu, M.D., senior author of the study, which recently appeared in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine.

Trees and other urban vegetation improve aesthetics, reduce pollution and keep things cooler, making the outside a more attractive place to play, walk or run.

“I love the idea that we can landscape for health," Liu says.

Green on the Cheap: Boxing out weeds

I learned a little something from my friends at Casaubon's Book this week: Your cardboard boxes are good for something.

If you're like me and wondering what to do with your used, unwanted cardboard boxes, they can find a second life as mulch for your garden.

Writes catskillmamala:

I pick up appliance boxes from the appliance store. I only use brown cardboard with minimum or no ink. I peel off the tape, open the box up flat and lay in in my paths or on new beds that I want to keep growth-free. I find if I use smaller pieces and there is any crack between pieces of cardboard, weeds will find a way.
Paper degrading can lead to slightly acid conditions so you may want to use a bit of lime.

Violet Lane writes that she uses cardboard to start new beds over the winter. It's not pretty, but it's practical. See pictures here. While I probably can't get away with it given my homeowner's association rules, maybe shredded or covered with wood chips could work. Thoughts?

Green on the Cheap: Grounds for your garden

It seems that everyone loves Starbucks. Even plants.

Coffee grounds, as it turns out, make for excellent additions to your garden soil - great if you're buried in clay as we are. My husband used to tell me that strawberry plants love coffee. Cynical, I would pour his leftover coffee and grounds occasionally on my small strawberry patch. It apparently helps improve the nitrogen in your soil.

The plants thrived. I was sold.

One day, my husband told me he had a treat for me from Starbucks. It was a 2 lb. bag of coffee grounds, packaged and ready for the garden. As it turns out, you're often able to request your own bag of grounds at Starbucks locations. From there, you can mix it into your compost or soil, or, if you're lazy like I am, unceremoniously dump it on your plants and let the rain wash it into your soil.

If you don't see bags readily available, ask at the counter. I inquired about the coffee grounds. The barista asked how much. I responded a bag or two -- and received a kitchen-sized trash bag filled with grounds. Great fertiziler for the soil, for free.

Love that landscaping!

The spring weather in Indiana is just warm enough where it teases us for just a few days, only to shock us back into 30 and 40-degree weather.

But the sunny weekend we just had brought many of our new neighbors out to finally put in their long put-off landscaping.

Personally, while I'm not a green thumb, I love the look of landscaping. Bushes, trees, perennials...and particularly, anything that can be just "left."

What I didn't realize is that landscaping not only looks great, but it can make a difference in your energy bills as well. I'd heard that the appropriately placed tree can reduce your summer cooling costs. But shrubs and even vines can pay off too.

According to the Department of Energy:

Planting shrubs, bushes, and vines next to your house creates dead air spaces that insulate your home in both winter and summer. Plant so there will be at least 1 foot (30 centimeters) of space between full-grown plants and your home's wall.

During winter, dense, low-lying trees and shrubbery on the north and northeast sides of your home can help protect your home against wind chill.

Evergreen bushes and trees planted on the north side of your home can protect your home from the winter chill and block the snow from building against your house.

In addition to more distant windbreaks, planting shrubs, bushes, and vines next
to your house creates dead air spaces that insulate your home in both winter and
summer. Plant so there will be at least 1 foot (30 centimeters) of space between
full-grown plants and your home's wall.

And for those concerned about initial costs, your payoff can come back in as little as eight years. For doing little more than making your yard look great!

Learn more at the U.S. Department of Energy's Guide to Energy-Efficient Landscape Design.