Gottfried Green

Flickr photo by watercache.com. [via Jetsongreen.com]

While I was researching rain barrels I couldn't find any of the big tanks that didn't have to ship from far away at great cost. That is why I just did the best I could with home depot bins. On Jetson Green I see a much better options and more of what I have in mind. He gives a great website to use www.harvesth2o.com for info. Only once again where can buy this tank? one of my main problems with this entire green endeavor has been sourcing the materials and items I like close to home.

Labels: landscaping, water

With a bit of disgrace, I present my current rain water collection system. It has been raining so much this summer that I really need more of a cistern set up. I can't use the water fast enough because anything that does need water in the landscape is getting plenty of rain. It has helped with some of the other outdoor water needs i.e. car washing and cleaning the compost bin.

Labels: landscaping, water

I was getting a bit off track with the compilation of my green home certification application. I only have a few things left to do. There is a lot of supporting documents and photos needed and it's proving somewhat tedious for me lately. As a way to get back into the lifestyle aspect of all this, the fun part, I just wanted highlight some of the other things going on around the house lately. We finished our center garden. It was thrown together this weekend. The palmettos were original to the property and we saved them during construction. It was as if they fit perfectly with how we use the drive. We just filled in the other areas with some native plants some of which grow naturally on the lot and we replanted. For the border we used Australian Pine logs we had cut earlier. These are an invasive species and we didn't want them alive in the landscape. As a border where the wood continues to bleach in the direct sun they seem to work fine for now.

Labels: landscaping

We've been moving in building a large pile for the Salvation Army. It seems to be a never ending process. We still have some trim to finish and windows to clean but basically we are in and mostly settled. We've recently painted the front door to match the windows and have been working on a center garden to bring some color into the driveway. We also bought a lime tree and an orange tree. There has been a good rain everyday so far and the free water on young fruit trees is very helpful. We will also be planting a lemon tree and and another orange tree next week. These are just some random photos to get me back into the swing of posting again. I still have the daunting task of submitting the info to get the house certified green by the FGBC. That I hope to start next week after I get the office organized.

Labels: exterior, landscaping

This is the view so far. There are many Australiam pines that are non-native nightmares. They grow like weeds up along the bank at farthest end of the lot. They get in the way of everything on the ground and in the air. We'll also cut back some of the mangroves which is allowed with a permit. We won't touch most of them but a few areas would be nice to open up. Other than that this view is only going to get better.

Labels: landscaping

The house sits up about 12+ft. It feels strange at first to be up that high.Jasper is already guarding his castle.

Labels: landscaping

Mr. Gottfried seems to have lost the camera so I won't have any new photos until next week. In the Herald Tribune, another story about water use and the lack of common sense. I should have a daily section on the blog about how FL bites its nose to spite its face. A couple decided to forget lawns and go with a Florida-Friendly Yard, one that conserves water and needs almost no fertilizers or pesticides. Given the drought you would think this would be made an example of here in Southwest FL. Well, it is being made an example of- what you shouldn't do. The homeowners assoc. of their subdivision says they are violating their rules and will be required to pay a fine of 15k if they do not relay sod in their front yard. They should be able to get out of it using a 2001 state decision that homeowner's assocs can not ban Florida-Friendly Yards.

Labels: landscaping, water

I am going to end up disecting the Leaf House because it has most of the cutting edge technology in place and working together with the design. They provided the green wall sponsor ELT Living Wall Systems. This is a Canadian company but the website offers all sorts of information about how, why and what to do with some great example photos. At the Link is a list of all the sponsors that helped with the Leaf House.

Labels: design, landscaping, materials, Nature, water

Indeed it is. During our tree inspection, Bryan the inspector, told us that we had a grand tree- the Live Oak above. It meets all the criteria Sarasota County specifies here. Besides having the beautiful tree which we've always admired there are a few more perks to having it on our lot. Because it is a protected tree, it goes on record with the county and in a way is landmarked. This means in the future anyone wishing to cut it down will have an impossible time (i.e developers). It is because of this unwanted red tape with future freedoms on the property that our property appraisal should be lower and our taxes could see a small reduction. These are all great bonuses for us and the property.

A few more things from the county site about Grand Trees. "Trees produce oxygen, provide wildlife habitat and play many important ecological roles. Certain trees also provide psychological benefits in response to their impressive size and great character. Such trees have been determined by Sarasota County to be “grand” in nature.

Grand Trees are an especially significant component of Sarasota County’s urban forest and have a unique and intrinsic value to the general public because of their character, age, size and ecological importance."

Labels: landscaping, Nature, permits

Dwell magazine has decided sustainability is here to stay. I think anyone who reads about architecture and home building on any level could have seen that one coming. This issue does more fine tuning of the big 2- energy and water. It is mandatory to be connected to the public water supply in Sarasota County. (More on that later) But, there is of course rainwater. Here in Southwest FL, the rainy season is usually during the late spring and summer. This would be if you didn't count this summer and drought conditions. That said by August and September the rain did pick up some slack and certainly ever drop counts. All the more reason to collect it for use later. You can follow the diagram above. For our needs and current sophistication, I could see rainwater going through a "green wall" for filtration and being used for laundry. A green wall operates similar to reed ponds in which graywater is filtered by nutrient-absorbing plants and soil. Although the one mentioned here is patented, the idea would be another backyard experiment possibly worth exploring. Find out all you've ever wanted to know about Green Wall at the Link.

Labels: landscaping, materials, water

In this new direction of working with the contractor, a draftsman and have an architect sign off on everything for submittal to the Building Dept. I began worrying that I wouldn't have enough of a solid picture of how things would actually look based only on floor plan and elevations. I came across Better Homes and Gardens, Home Designer Pro. It allows a 3D view of your floor plan, you can add furniture, fixtures, landscaping etc. I am also trying to tap into some CAD functions to offer even more insights. So far everything looks like I want it to look but for the sale price plus the rebate, the software was worth the investment.

Labels: design, floorplan, landscaping, software

We finally hit pay dirt. On our front lot (partially separated from the main lot) we not only found the big bayan tree but realized there were 2 more just beginning their climb. A visit to wiki gave me some great info that helped me understand these Florida Strangler Figs. "They are large trees that usually start life as a seedling epiphytic on another tree (or on structures like buildings and bridges), where a fig-eating bird has deposited the seed. The roots descend over the trunk of the host seeking out the soil below, once they have rooted into this the fig roots rapidly thicken and lignify. Where the fig roots cross each other they fuse, thus creating a lattice around the host tree's trunk." Our trees are using palm trees as their host. You can see this above.

Labels: Englewood, landscaping

I've seen 2 of these creatures so far. It appears to be vines and round thorny fruit dangling from palm trees. I hope this isn't obvious but what is this? It looks like it will start moving its tentacles any minute. I hope it is something I can find and plant on our lot but it seems to have come from another world.

Labels: Englewood, landscaping

Little Miss Gottfried
sat on a tarp
being as cute as ever...
We finally got on the property enough to really get a feel for its potential. So far so good.

Labels: Englewood, landscaping

I've been seeing this word floating around and just found on inhabitat.com that it was coined by the Colorado Water Wise Council. "Why Xeriscape? For most of the western United States over fifty percent of residential water used is applied to landscape and lawns. Xeriscape can reduce landscape water use by 60% or more." The water use for house and land is a big concern for us and we are hoping to find a water plan that will use grey water, rain barrels etc. but there's so much more to learn.

Labels: landscaping

Fire ants are found along Gottfried Creek where we'll be. A good sign is that when we were there no one was attacked. It will be something to look out for as there is a Miss Gottfried running around. The Florida State University myrmecologist, Walter Tschinkel believes fire ants get a bad wrap. "Humans make habitat for fire ants and fire ants are very abundant and, therefore, I'm provided with abundant research material," Tschinkel said. "My favorite phrase is `Man is fire ants' best friend.'" When was the last time you heard a myrmecologist say that?

Labels: landscaping, wildlife