For a client in the Gordonsville, Virginia area we took 2 acres of a cool season pasture and burned it with the mechanical burner 2x in the Spring to see what diversity we could coax from the seed bank. Results are Purple Lovegrass, Indian Grass, and lots of Little Bluestem. For wildflowers – Ironweed and […]
For years, SoilKeepers has blended Biogenicals regenerative plant nutrient sprays for our estate lawn restoration and maintenance projects. As our knowledge of plant microbes management deepens, we have decided that we need to need to use compost teas only from local compost. This tea has a limited shelf life so we are brewing a few […]
I don’t think we can get very far with the Bay until we bring back substantial populations of the North American Beaver – and I know this is a crazy idea. And it may be impossible to much implement for lots of reasons. Nevertheless we could at least talk about it more. My beaver-fever is […]
For those folks that want a lawn monoculture of fescue there are options with a lighter footprint on Mother Earth and on the checking account – and no mow is one of them. Get it established in the Fall and leave it alone other than a bit of weeding and weed wacking above the mounds […]
We are big fans of wild Senna, Oxeye Sunflower, Mountain Mint, and native warm season grasses in these situations where we are trying to feather out savanna from a tree field border to provide food and homes for pollinators and grassland birds. A few pictures from a large project North of Charlottesville.
To be a true eco-lawn in most areas of Virginia we believe a blend of legume and grass is needed, along with healthy soil biology. Several varieties of fescue with a few varieties of clover works great. Depending on the situation – a 70/30% blend respectively. To get the system where the vegetation-soil organisms are […]
Later this year, the Center will reformat the landscape contracting program, SoilKeepers, to a for profit company and acquire Orange, VA hay and feed producer Neuhauser Hay. The business focus of the new entity is Estate and Farm Regenerative Landscape Management. The new enterprise will be jointly owned by the Center Board of Directors and […]
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Soil Nematodes and Biodiversity
SoilKeepers provides Regenerative Landscape Management to Estates and Farm Clients in Virginia. People ask what is regenerative landscaping? To us this means the reawakening of soil organisms that can continuously regenerate with little to no human intervention and provide all or most of the nutrients plants need to thrive. To the public we say this […]
The American Climate Partners owns the contracting enterprises SoilKeepers and Virginia Wildlife Habitat Cooperative. ACP also owns the largest comprehensive, industrial, river cleanup program on the East Coast – StreamSweepers. StreamSweepers work and findings seep into how we do landscape contracting. SteamSweepers has a long running partnership with the National Cancer Institute. StreamSweepers and NCI […]
The Virginia Wildlife Habitat Cooperative in 2021 is offering a new service – large lot mowing for health of people and pollinators. This practically means having the people and equipment to mow grasslands from 5 to 50 inches high in zones around a house. In some small areas this includes the use of, yes, we […]