By Tobias Wolf

Boston’s Prudential Center has been transformed in recent decades with the construction of new buildings, shopping arcades, and landscapes.

The most recent addition, the Mandarin Oriental Hotel, includes a public garden built in 2008 on the roof of a 1964 parking garage. Read more »

Posted August 15, 2010 under Buildings and Construction, Green Roofs, Green Spaces -- Public, Native Plants, Soil, Trees, urban forestry / urban gardens.

by UNH Cooperative Extension

Natural resources play a huge and often unrecognized role in our communities. Many people living or working in cities believe that natural resources lie outside of the city, and that they have to go into rural areas to experience the natural world. Read more »

Posted August 15, 2010 under Buildings and Construction, Green Roofs, Green Spaces -- Public, Pollinators, Stormwater Management, Wildlife Habitats, urban forestry / urban gardens.

by The Meadows Project

Urban & Suburban Meadows, Bringing Meadowscaping to Big and Small Spaces, addresses the problems caused by the extensive planting of non-native grass lawns across America. Read more »

Posted July 16, 2010 under Biodiversity, Ecological Maintenance, Green Spaces -- Public, Meadows, Native Plants.

Early successional natural communities — grasslands, meadows, and shrublands — are an increasingly uncommon cover type in New England and elsewhere in the US. Read more »

Posted June 16, 2010 under Balanced Ecosystems, Biodiversity, Ecological Maintenance, Green Spaces -- Public, Invasives, Mapping, Restoration, Wildlife Habitats.

Conservation Fund Accepting Entries for Kodak American Greenways Program

Grants ranging from $500 to $2,500 will be awarded to land trusts, local governments, and other organizations working to create or improve a greenway, trail, or waterway in the United States. For 2010, the program anticipates awarding up to 50 percent of the grants to greenways projects that involve natural, cultural, and/or socio-political historical themes. This year’s application deadline is June 15th.
Link to Greenways Program Application

Farmers Cope With Round-Up Resistant Weeds

Just as the heavy use of antibiotics contributed to the rise of drug-resistant supergerms, American farmers’ near-ubiquitous use of the weedkiller Roundup has led to the rapid growth of tenacious new superweeds. Link to full article at NYTimes.com

May 22 is International Biodiversity Day

The biodiversity we see today is the fruit of billions of years of evolution, shaped by natural processes and, increasingly, by the influence of humans. It forms the web of life of which we are an integral part and upon which we so fully depend. Read More

Grant Applications Invited for Invasive Plant Control — National Fish and Wildlife Foundation

The Pulling Together Initiative seeks proposals that will help control invasive plant species, mostly through the work of public/private partnerships such as Cooperative Weed Management Areas.
Pre-proposal deadline is June 30. Read the request for proposals…

Posted May 15, 2010 under Biodiversity, Chemical Pesticides and Herbicides, Grants and Fundraising, Green Spaces -- Public, Invasives.