LANDSCAPING DENSITY:

Designing for Health:
The health conscious and environmentally hypersensitive person requires botanical variety in their surroundings. It is the fact of having concentrations of any plant or substance in one's environment which facilitates building ENERGY BLOCKS. Once acquired, they in turn encourage intense reactions to perceived reminders of traumatic life experience events. For the human Reptilian Structure, too much of anything spells danger.

BOTANICAL VARIETY encourages biological variety such that no one plant or pest becomes so dominant in the environment that artificial controls are required to limit them. It is those artificial controls --- chemical pesticides, herbicides, insecticides, fungicides ... and their copious use which can challenge the human immune system and initiate a Reptilian Structure survival reactive behavior which develops into an environmental hypersensitivity. In brief terms: Too much of anything ... is too much!

SOLAR HEATING AND COOLING BENEFITS of differing landscaping options should also be considered in healthful design. These minimize one's dependency upon electricity and heating fuels. Dependency increases one's negative stress load and influences one's health through real, potential or eventual increased levels of income need, anxiety, and lack of control over the factors in one's environment.

REMEMBER THIS:

Less dependency

= greater freedom of choice

= greater variety of options

= greater potential for innovation and creativity

= greater sense of self worth

= greater hope and optimism

= STRONGER HEALTH.

EVERGREENS, PERMANENT:
Coniferous trees remain green throughout the year and may be used to provide shade, ground cover, windbreaks, privacy, variety, color, scent, wood, and a home for birds. Pines, cedars, juniper and spruce varieties are among the more common in North America. When planted with a variety of other trees, they are seldom susceptible to disease.

EVERGREENS THRIVE best in sandy or gravel soils with good exposure to light. Locate them on the side of the house from which the dominant winds blow during the colder season (in North America this is usually the North side). Most kinds of plants survive best when planted in small groups (families) and this is true also of trees. Such groupings appear to enjoy joint health benefits.

IF YOU ARE TRANSPLANTING evergreens make note of the original orientation of the tree. That is, a young tree facing south will survive best if when transplanted it again faces south. This growing pattern has more to do with the lines of magnetic force flowing through the Earth's air than with which side gets the greater amount of sunlight. It is as if the young tree begins life and grows with the certainty of a regular stable pattern of geomagnetic radiation. If that is suddenly and permanently changed, the plant becomes disoriented ... traumatized ... and may die. Health conscious persons and hypersensitive individuals should take note.

REMEMBER THIS:
You will experience lower levels of negative stress, with few exceptions, if you plan your lifestyle around recurring positive patterns of behavior. This refers to work and sleep periods, meals and diet, social interaction, exercise, sexuality, meditation and prayer, hobbies, and play.

PINE OIL is a natural insecticide and bactericide.
The pine scent is refreshing and has a benefit of clearing the sinuses. Pine essence is a constructive remedy for respiratory illnesses derived from PARASITIC infections, including bronchitis and pneumonia.

In Germany and several other countries, pine forests are treated as health preserves with ill persons visiting them for a few hours, days or weeks each year ... with a noticeable improvement in their health. Unfortunately, with its distinctive scent and the fact that it is commonly packaged with toxic chemicals in household cleaners, some North Americans have become hypersensitive to the pine scent EXCEPT in HEALTH ENHANCED LOCATIONS.

DECIDUOUS, TEMPORARY:
Trees which have broad, flat leaves, which they shed for the colder part of the year are called deciduous. In general, they are healthiest when grown in rich topsoil. They often provide considerable shade and will cool your house during the warmer seasons if planted along the side of the house which faces the sun. They often have fruits, some of which may be eaten fresh or canned for later use. In keeping with the guidelines noted above, these trees will survive best if grown in groups.

People who are hypersensitive may be react to different FAMILIES of grass pollen and/or different families of tree pollen. As to which may be bothersome entirely depends upon which the individual has been exposed to. Of particular importance to health conscious and highly stressed persons, these trees drop a bed of leaves in the fall. In the wild it is normal for this leaf ground cover to stay on the ground year after year and build into a spongy matte composed of light dry leaves on top with wet, rotting, mouldy and decaying leaves beginning to form soil at the bottom.

LEAF MOULD can influence health.
Near a residence, this potentially strong presence of mould spores may become a trigger for a hypersensitivity in the owner. In addition, if the leaves are left to decay on top of grass through the winter, serious damage may occur to the lawn. It is thus important to ensure that as much of the leaf bed is collected before the cold weather rains and snow. They may be mixed into a compost pile or directly tilled into a garden for maximum environmental benefit.

GROUNDCOVERS:
It has been popular for several hundred years for Europeans and their descendants and admirers to surround their residences and common buildings with lawns. Today, these are often commercially grown densely planted combinations of 2 or more grasses. The accepted use is to keep this planted area cut short, maintained level, and free of non-specific plants such as weeds, herbs, and wildflowers.

THIS CULTIVATION OF AN ARTIFICIAL ENVIRONMENT of sameness of color, texture, and plant species satisfies the human mind educated to appreciate perfection, order, and simplicity. It should also make us aware of the dangers of rationalized perfection. A lack of anything budding, flowering, or seeding usually keeps the area free of ants, insects, bees and flies --- a definite advantage if you wish to entertain or relax outdoors. It also provides a haven for the development of grass-specific parasites and competitors: weeds, beetles, fungi. Of course, to add color and moderate this sterile view, cultured flowers are added in border plots. Environmentally and healthwise the costs of this approach to landscaping can often be high.

PRE-GROWN LAWN is called SOD and when it is mature and ready for transplantation it is typically cut away from the subsoil in strips, rolled, transported to the location of the new lawn, unrolled, fitted and extensively watered. During the commercial stage of growth, it is common for chemical fertilizers, insecticides, and weed killers to be intensively applied. Pesticides may also be added to deter skunks and other animals from digging holes in it to retrieve larvae or bugs from the root level or below. This pre-treatment of chemicals necessarily accompanies the sod to your property.

AS AN ARTIFICIAL GROUND COVER of dense homogeneous plants, further challenges from insects, neighborhood seed-bearing and root spreading weeds --- is inevitable. While organic treatments are healthier for both you and the lawn (see Jerry Baker's Garden Line, 1989, of booklets, or similar), and cheaper --- extensive promotion, availability, and tradition --- usually result in lawn owners applying strong toxic chemicals.

SOMETIMES, DURING A CARELESS APPLICATION of CHEMICALS a person who's health is already under challenge ... becomes exposed to a dose of toxic chemical and the potential for another Reptilian Structure survival reactive behavior and the development of an environmental hypersensitivity. After you begin to become hypersensitive, you may have difficulty even going outside without experiencing disabling symptoms. Much better is the choice of using other ground covers than grass.

OTHER GROUND COVERS can include any one or a mixture (better) of the following:

• spurge
• ivy
• strawberries
• squash
• cucumbers
• peas
• holly
• euonymous
• clematis
• many other plants
• gravel
• crushed stone
• wood and bark chips
• water (ponds)

GROUNDCOVERS OTHER THAN GRASS can provide you with food, variety of sight-scent-texture, require little maintenance, yield little waste, and do not require any toxic chemical supplement. You can't lie out in the sun on most of the options but with a little tailoring you can create areas for sitting or having a picnic.

ORGANIC GARDENING:
Gardening is an activity which a number of people find relaxing and productive. For those who like to work with their hands and take a joy in seeing things grow and doing for oneself --- gardening can be a considerable benefit. If not overdone and if planned carefully, gardening can provide one with a regular source of gentle exercise, fresh air (depending on location), direct sunshine, and mental stimulation (awareness of changes).

GARDENING CAN HELP ONE FOCUS on something other than oneself when one seems to have too much anxiety over apparent problems, setbacks, defeats, or delays. Gardening can assist one in being more self-sufficient in food production and gives one the option of eating foods grown without the potential contamination of toxic chemicals or the aging produced by temporary storage, shipment and delivery. The caution here is that if you are going to be happy with the result and not feel forced into using toxic chemicals, obtain several good references to use in your planning.
Here more than some other areas, you either plan to succeed, or, you fail.

GARDEN PLANNING need not take a long time once you have resources at hand. Many garden supply and nursery outlets have charts and guides which are free and inform you which varieties of which plants will safely survive in your region. Once you have this list, choose what you would like to grow --- for food, color, or ground cover.

ONCE YOU KNOW WHAT YOU WANT TO GROW, you need to decide how much space you are going to devote to your garden. This may be already prepared or you may need to create a new space or extend an existing space. If gardening is new to you, you may wish to hire someone to come and till (turn the soil over and break it up into easy-to-use texture) thoroughly your garden plot in the beginning.

COMPANION PLANTS can then be chosen in a way to benefit from natural plant protections against insects and not have to use chemicals. These may or may not be additional plants to those you have already chosen. Now you know what you want to grow, what you need to grow with it (for a healthy you and a healthy garden), and how much space you have available.

MAKE A PAPER DRAFT PLAN or DESIGN indicating how you are going to arrange your plant varieties. Remember to leave space for pathways and to locate companion plants next to your first-chosen ones. Note on your plan the recommended planting times for each variety. You should now be able to determine how long the rows, or partial rows, of the plants you have chosen will be.

CALCULATE from the seed supplier's catalog how much seed you need of each variety and the cost. Purchase your seeds, some basic gardening tools, a sun hat, some sunscreen (rated 25 or above), some easy-to-clean shoes, some coveralls or jeans, and a pair of gardening gloves. Follow the planting and feeding directions on the seed packages and read up a little on good gardening practices such as mulching, composting, and how to store your produce.

SOME SUGGESTED RESOURCES:
Check them and their competitors out at the library first and then get a few of those which you find easiest and appropriate for your use.

Organic Gardening and Farming, magazine, monthly

Rodale Press, Inc., 33 East Minor St., Emmaus, PA

The Organic Way to Plant Protection,

by the staff of Organic Gardening and Farming Magazine,

1966, Rodale Press, Inc., Emmaus, Pennsylvania

Rodale's Garden Problem Solver,

1988, by Jeff Ball, Rodale Press, Emmaus, Pennsylvania

Stocking Up: How to Preserve the Foods You Grow Naturally,

by the staff of Organic Gardening and Farming Magazine,

1973, Rodale Press, Inc., Emmaus, Pennsylvania

Seed catalogs and nursery guides,

see your local supplier or order free from gardening magazines