Facing Climate Change: Urban Gardening and Sustainable …
375
– Using a fertilizer for ground covers is an effective way to prevent disease and pest
damage and minimize maintenance.
– Use time-release fertilizers which are beneficial at feeding the lawn over many
months.
– Use humic acids
– Liquid or water-soluble fertilizers are spread using a hose and provide a quick,
effective way to introduce nutrients rapidly to grassroots.
– Studies have suggested that fertilizer over-use can be a source of nitrous oxide
[27].
10.3.1 Don’t Leave Garden Soil Naked
Whether you grow summer vegetables, annual flowers, or perennial borders, there are
periods of time perhaps as much as half the year, depending on your local climate—
when plants are not actively growing. During these times, bare soil is vulnerable not
only to erosion and weeds but carbon loss as well.
The use of cover crops grasses, cereal grains, or legumes that can be grown when
other plants cannot is a mainstay of organic farming systems because it helps develop
healthy and productive soil, reduce the need for energy-intensive chemical fertilizers
and pesticides, and store large amounts of carbon. Cover crops are not meant to be
harvested but to stabilize, build, and add nutrients to the soil that would otherwise
remain bare.
Non-legume covers crops such as rye and winter wheat are also useful. When
planted at the correct time, they can capture excess nitrogen from fertilizers or
decaying plant matter; several studies showed these cover crops reduced nitrogen
losses into groundwater by about 70%. By holding nitrogen in their tissues, they
also prevent soil microbes from converting it into heat-trapping nitrous oxide. And
non-legume cover crops typically grow larger and faster compared with legumes,
absorbing more CO 2 from the atmosphere and returning more organic matter to the
soil.
10.3.2 Plant Trees and Shrubs
Governments ask people, please if you have space in your home garden, plant—and
keep one or more trees or large shrubs because it is an excellent way to remove
more heat-trapping CO 2 from the atmosphere over a long period of time. Entirely
terrestrial plants captivate CO 2 through their green organs, storing the carbon in their
tissues. Trees and shrubs, because they are large and woody, and long-lived, can store
larger quantities of carbon than other plants, for longer periods of time [120].
The geometric experiments [121] show that through a hypothetical scenario of
worldwide sustainable forestry, the world’s forests (mainly trees) could offer a large
carbon sink, about one gigatonne (GT) year
−1 , due to improvement of carbon stock
375
– Using a fertilizer for ground covers is an effective way to prevent disease and pest
damage and minimize maintenance.
– Use time-release fertilizers which are beneficial at feeding the lawn over many
months.
– Use humic acids
– Liquid or water-soluble fertilizers are spread using a hose and provide a quick,
effective way to introduce nutrients rapidly to grassroots.
– Studies have suggested that fertilizer over-use can be a source of nitrous oxide
[27].
10.3.1 Don’t Leave Garden Soil Naked
Whether you grow summer vegetables, annual flowers, or perennial borders, there are
periods of time perhaps as much as half the year, depending on your local climate—
when plants are not actively growing. During these times, bare soil is vulnerable not
only to erosion and weeds but carbon loss as well.
The use of cover crops grasses, cereal grains, or legumes that can be grown when
other plants cannot is a mainstay of organic farming systems because it helps develop
healthy and productive soil, reduce the need for energy-intensive chemical fertilizers
and pesticides, and store large amounts of carbon. Cover crops are not meant to be
harvested but to stabilize, build, and add nutrients to the soil that would otherwise
remain bare.
Non-legume covers crops such as rye and winter wheat are also useful. When
planted at the correct time, they can capture excess nitrogen from fertilizers or
decaying plant matter; several studies showed these cover crops reduced nitrogen
losses into groundwater by about 70%. By holding nitrogen in their tissues, they
also prevent soil microbes from converting it into heat-trapping nitrous oxide. And
non-legume cover crops typically grow larger and faster compared with legumes,
absorbing more CO 2 from the atmosphere and returning more organic matter to the
soil.
10.3.2 Plant Trees and Shrubs
Governments ask people, please if you have space in your home garden, plant—and
keep one or more trees or large shrubs because it is an excellent way to remove
more heat-trapping CO 2 from the atmosphere over a long period of time. Entirely
terrestrial plants captivate CO 2 through their green organs, storing the carbon in their
tissues. Trees and shrubs, because they are large and woody, and long-lived, can store
larger quantities of carbon than other plants, for longer periods of time [120].
The geometric experiments [121] show that through a hypothetical scenario of
worldwide sustainable forestry, the world’s forests (mainly trees) could offer a large
carbon sink, about one gigatonne (GT) year
−1 , due to improvement of carbon stock