Association to Preserve Cape Cod - this week... |
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Same Glass. Smaller Straw. by Andrew Gottlieb, APCC Executive Director |
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The Cape, and much of the northeast really, is in the middle of a pretty significant drought. Ponds, streams, and reservoirs are low, and water levels in wetlands are abnormally low. Drinking water wells are stressed by high summer demand and many towns have finally bowed to reality. Many, but not all towns, now recognize the need to reduce or eliminate non-essential water use to protect the availability of future supplies, to maintain adequate water system operating pressures, and to keep storage tanks filled. While the weather is beyond our control, the factors that exacerbate the shortages reflect the choices that we make.
It is typical for summer water use to be between two to three times higher than the annual average. Part of that increase on Cape Cod has to do with the increase in seasonal population, but the real driver is outdoor irrigation. Water use in homes with irrigated lawns and non-native landscapes is high, and drives seasonal water use to the point where, combined with drought, municipal water supplies are strained. By choosing to plant species that are water hogs or poorly suited to our soil types, property owners are contributing to the problem. Cultivated grasses need a lot of water to stay green and, even when green, provide little or no support to native species and are pretty much biological dead zones. The same goes for many non-native ornamental shrubs and annual flowers; they may look good to you, but their presence strains water resources and crowds out more ecologically beneficial native plants.
There is also a fair bit of confusion about the merits of using private wells to irrigate. Let me be clear, turf irrigation with private wells is a bad idea. Not only does the use of private wells to irrigate non-native plantings have all the drawbacks described above, it also feeds a psychology that undermines the adoption of better water use principles. Seeing the sprinklers going hard at mid-day, when much of the sprayed water evaporates before saturating the soil, makes everyone less inclined to observe wise water use practices. The fact that most people have no way of knowing who is on a municipal supply and who is on a private well adds to the problem, notwithstanding the few yard signs some post that really only provide the veneer of sound environmental practice.
The really big problem with unfettered private well lawn watering is that each private well is a straw sucking water from the same aquifer that feeds our ponds, rivers, wetlands, and municipal wells. While each private well is small, the cumulative effect of thousands of wells taking water and wasting it on watering grass is meaningful. While you may hear that the aquifer is thick and there is plenty of water, the reality is that the upper reaches of the aquifer are what feed vernal pools, recharge wetlands, and feed shallow ponds and streams. Once the water level falls below these resources, they will dry up. Shifting your irrigation from a public water supply to a private well may help you comply with town use restrictions, but it doesn’t help the environment.
You hear it from us all the time: Replace your lawn with more native plantings. Let your lawns go brown in the summer; they will come back as the weather changes. With a more resilient lawn and yard, you will have a sustainable drought resistant landscape that will not need to be watered and can survive a dry summer or two. Irrigating with a public water supply or a private well is just a poor ecological practice. The use of rain barrels and cisterns can extend the use of spring rains to help plants get established or to water food gardens. The most meaningful choice you can, and must make, is to replace your thirsty yard plantings with more native plants that support Cape species and don’t require watering, pesticides, and fertilizers.
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APCC's 2022 Annual Meeting
Sunday, September 11th at 1 p.m. at the Dennis Inn, 25 Scarsdale Road - Dennis MA - 02638
Space is limited and registration is required. Register here. | |
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What You Should Know about TREES |
Trees are often undervalued in the landscape—that is, until you experience a heatwave. If you had to be outside in those 90 degree weather days, no doubt you appreciated the cooling effect of standing beneath a tree. Here are some important things to know about trees. Did you know? A tree's root zone can easily extend up to twice the diameter of the drip line of the canopy. Most of the tree's roots are in the first foot of soil. Therefore, avoid digging or changing the grade of the soil. Adding soil or heavily mulching can smother the air exchange needed and can cause to health problems. Did you know? The only reason to fertilize a tree is if it is deficient in a specific soil nutrient. And to know that, you have to conduct a soil test. So it's a waste of money and even can harm the tree to fertilize as a regular maintenance practice.
Did you know? The best time to prune is in the winter when trees are dormant. The next best time is midsummer. The only exception is pruning deadwood and when pruning is needed because of safety concerns. Work on pitch pines should be done in the dead of winter so as not to attract turpentine beetles. |
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Tree Lessons Trees are so much more than what we see. Their very beings run deep into the soil. Trees are literally tied to the earth, connected to both the soil and the sky.
One third to one half of a tree’s total biomass is below ground. Ideally, a tree’s roots will spread out to twice the diameter of its height--if the tree is 20 feet tall, its roots want to grow at least 20 feet out from the trunk in all directions. This is called its “root plate.” Keeping in mind that trees are much more than what we observe above ground, think about what we ask of trees that we plant in narrow landscape spaces or tree wells surrounded by concrete and other hardened surfaces. Think about how a tree must respond when a portion of its root spread is obliterated by construction for a building foundation, installation of an impermeable driveway or other hardscape. Trees in our developed world are almost always asked to bend and adapt in a way that is not natural.
Trees are self-pruning in the forest. A tree expert from Brooklyn Botanic Garden, Chris Roddick, advises that it is not necessary to prune established older trees. Trees prune themselves. The time to spend money on pruning a tree is when it is a young sapling and corrective pruning is needed. Trying to shape a tree to be compact is just downright bad pruning and does nothing for the health of the tree or its longevity.
Trees can heal themselves. When wounded, they adjust. The wound is compartmentalized, and energy is expended in the development of specialized new growth in the damaged area. This “wound wood” provides mechanical support, strengthening the weakened location. The tree may also respond by sending out more roots to stabilize the tree or the tree may put out more leaves or sprouts. When eaten by insects or larger animal herbivores, trees produce chemicals to deter further eating. This is all at an expense to a tree’s energy budget.
Yes, that’s right, trees economize. They live within the means of their energy budget, for if they don’t, they die. The food they synthesize from the sun’s energy is stored in the trees’ live tissues called the sapwood. Here, resources are stored for future needs, such as when the growing season may be leaner due to drought, or from the onset of pests or storm damage. A tree’s energy budget is expended for these things: growth, respiration and transpiration, energy storage, reproduction, defense and exudation. Defense includes re-sprouting or growth of wound wood after damage. Exudation is the release of compounds, like sap or resin to heal wounds or fight off insect pests. Trees also exude chemicals to deter munching insects and other chemicals to attract beneficial interactions, like luring pollinators. Substances are released in the root zone that regulate the soil microbial community or change the chemical and physical properties of the soil for the tree’s benefit, sometimes to inhibit the growth of competing plant species.
Trees build community. In the root zones of a forest are mycorrhizae, symbiotic fungi that connect the root systems of trees to one another. Nutrients and chemicals are spread through this system, like information through our internet. Some of the fungi are specialized, like the ones only found associated with blueberries or oak trees. Others are generalists, which means any tree will do. Studies have indicated that trees chemically communicate through this underground network. Through this connection, trees give care and nurturing to seedlings of its kind or alert others of herbivory.
What looks like multiple trees may really be just one organism, sharing the same root system. One local example is sassafras, which often grows atop coastal banks. Stands of sassafras can be hundreds of years old, the same plant with multiple aboveground stems, stunted by salt spray and prevailing southwest winds. Sadly, sassafras fails to gain appreciation due to its unimpressive size and as an understory tree often block the view of the water.
Tree-planting advice from tree expert at Brooklyn Botanic Garden, Chris Roddick–if you are planting a tree, find a healthy tree of the same species and dig a shovel of soil from near the established tree. Make a slurry of the soil and put it in the planting hole of the new tree. (Same advice goes for blueberry bushes). By doing so, the associated mycorrhizae in the soils are shared, giving your new tree a jumpstart – sort of a welcome wagon to the community. Planting a tree that’s been grown in a nursery pot requires root pruning; cutting off the bottom mass of roots and two inches around the ball. Staking trees should not be a given, rather the exception. The movement of the wind will stimulate the tree to build up its root growth to find its own stability.
A newly planted tree should be watered every day for the first week, after that watering two to three times a week for the next month. However, long term watering can be a problem. Some trees can suffer in landscapes surrounded by irrigated lawn. Most tree species just don’t like the nightly soaking because it’s not in their DNA and it can cause all sorts of trouble. And truth be told, if you are watering your lawn more than once per week, you’re not doing any favors for your lawn either. Cut back on irrigation and redirect those sprinkler heads away and out of the tree’s root zone. (And, if you put chemicals on your lawn, well, just stop that practice. Lawn chemicals are bad for soil health and you.)
Did you ever take notice that trees touch each other’s canopy in a forest? Our planting efforts to space trees 15 feet or more apart, or to set them alone in the middle of a “hellstrip” (that’s what the space between the road and the sidewalk is called) – it’s just not natural or conducive to tree health. And before you think a poor-looking tree just needs a shot of fertilizer, that’s not natural either. Nitrogen is a stimulant for growth. Giving a weak tree a shot of nitrogen simply stimulates the tree to expend its already depleted energy budget to grow, using the resources it has banked for that long list of aforementioned-budget lines of survival. What the tree may really suffer from is compacted soils, and soils depleted of nutrients and a healthy microbial community.
Trees are quite amazing organisms that most people have become blind to. It’s worth it for us to pay a bit more attention and appreciate their value and how we can better care for them. Tolkien had it right when he created the Ents in Lord of the Rings. Trees speak when they need to, and if we take the time to listen for it now seems they are one of the crucial keys to slowing the ravages of climate change. The more I learn about trees, the more The Giving Tree by Shel Silverstein has meaning.
This article by Kristin Andres appeared in an October, 2021 edition of The Cape Cod Chronicle. |
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Under contract with the MA Department of Fish and Game Division of Ecological Restoration, APCC started conducting plant and mapping surveys at the recently restored Parkers River site in Yarmouth. Last year the town of Yarmouth, with help from many partners, completed construction on widening the Route 28 bridge that crosses Parkers River. There were several objectives to the project; one was to build resiliency in the surrounding salt marsh by restoring a more natural tidal flow and range to the upstream area.
APCC is monitoring the marsh to track changes in the vegetation and overall health of the system prior to and following restoration in order to determine if this objective was met. Jordan Mora and April Wobst, APCC restoration ecologists, were assisted by two summer interns, Chiara Nava and Brooke Withers. Additional help was provided by volunteers, Andrew Biery and Gerry Beetham (not shown). |
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The Jewels of Cape Cod ~ Our Freshwater Ponds |
Getting to Know Coonamessett Pond Better by Amy DuFault |
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I love the Coonamessett Pond in Falmouth.
As a longtime Coonamessett Farm member, I’ve watched many a sunrise, sunset, and that almost unearthly full sun that lights it up like a spectacle midday. I’ve canoed with my kids on it, daydreamed staring at it, and recently took 40 people over two days for a walk around the edges of a portion of it. The mission was to think about plants and flowers all around us as opportunities for making medicine and color.
As I got everyone to stop talking, I asked them to smell the air there in the cool morning sun, to look at how the light moved slowly through branches above to allow light to play on the ferns below, covered in dew. Did they hear the red-winged blackbirds calling each other in the overgrown briars? If they closed their eyes, what else could they tune in to?
We “know” a pond in the way we’ve interacted it, but it’s always interesting to know the facts on the pond. I was happy to see there’s a Coonamessett Pond Association and that they had plenty of information that I never knew. The non-profit organization, founded in 1985, was created to provide stewardship for the Coonamessett Pond and the surrounding area.
From the association's website: “At 164 acres, Coonamessett Pond is the largest pond in the area and one of the clean watersheds for Falmouth. It is a natural kettle hole pond with a maximum depth of 34 feet and an average depth of 19 feet and is located in the Hatchville section of Falmouth. Transparency is only fair during the summer, extending to about 6.5 feet. The pond stratifies during the summer at about 20 to 25 feet. The shoreline is 2.9 miles and is moderately developed with the Cape Cod Country Club golf course, cottages and year-round homes. Public access to Coonamessett Pond is provided by the town of Falmouth through the Souza Conservation Area on the southwestern end of the pond. It is located off Hatchville Road which runs between Sam Turner Road and Sandwich Road, roads that run south from Route 151. The pond receives water from groundwater and small inlets from Round Pond and former bogs to the north and drains into the Coonamessett River.”
So about getting to know your pond, what do YOU know?
For more ideas about how to save your pond, go to State of the Waters Action Plan.
And remember, always check with your local conservation office before undertaking any projects around a pond so that you don’t run afoul of local and state wetlands protection regulations. |
Pond Stories is a collection of writings and other media from Cape Codders and visitors who love the almost 1,000 local ponds that dot the Cape. We hope this collection of stories awakens your inner environmentalist to think deeper about our human impacts to these unique bodies of water. |
Send us your favorite pond photo, story, poem, video, artwork--we want to share with everyone why the Cape's ponds and lakes are so special! Email your pond connection to [email protected] |
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Water Use Restrictions Posted in Your Town?
How about a rain barrel (or two) to harvest rainwater for your garden! |
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| APCC Rain Barrel Program
$99 includes delivery to your door via FedEx.
Upcycle Products repurposes food barrels, otherwise destined for the landfill, to make these rain barrels. Choose your color - gray, black, blue, or terracotta. For more information and to order online,
CLICK HERE. For a how-to-use video, check this out from
Brewster Conservation Trust! |
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A Cape Cod Native Plant-finder ~ to help you choose the perfect native plant for your garden location. |
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Yellow Wild Indigo- Baptisia tinctoria |
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Email [email protected], 482 Main St, Dennis, MA 02638 and we'll send you a CapeCodNativePlants.org decal. |
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Looking for a speaker? Check out APCC's Speakers Bureau. APCC staff speak on a variety of topics and are available by Zoom. If interested, please contact the staff person directly to make arrangements. |
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Are you thinking of going solar? We hope so! In partnership with SUNPOWER BY E2 SOLAR in Dennis, APCC receives $500 for every solar installation when APCC is named as referral. |
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| Thank you to the homeowners who just contracted to install solar panels through E2 Solar. May the sun always shine for you! |
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| Every cup of coffee you drink could be supporting APCC's work and a local Cape Cod business.
But ONLY if it's Coastal Cape Blend from Cape Cod Coffee!
Order online. A portion of the proceeds for every bag of Coastal Cape Blend sold is donated to APCC. It's important to know that Cape Cod Coffee sources beans are Fair Trade & Rainforest Alliance certified,
and grown without the use of pesticides. |
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Expressions Gallery, 578 Main Street, Chatham
CLICK HERE |
Ocean to Office. APCC has partnered with EXPRESSIONS, a fine art photography gallery located in Chatham center, to provide Cape businesses the opportunity to beautify their offices with coastal photography while directly supporting protection of our cherished environment. This special offering gives back to APCC. CLICK HERE to learn more. |
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Thank you to our business sponsors |
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