Native Plant Series- Shade Gardening w/Native Plants + Soil Health Program
JOHNSON COUNTY EDUCATION PROGRAMS, Johnson County
Sunday, September 8, 2024
Build conservation practices at home by adding native plants to your landscape. Learn from local experts through a new Native Plant Series. Johnson County Conservation will host four native plant sales and a speaker series in the spring and fall of 2024: May 5, June 2, Sept. 8, and Oct. 6. Native plants vendors are local Iowa companies, including Allendan Seed Company and Trout Leaf Native Plants. Vendors will be selling plant plugs. The Sept. 8 event will feature Troutleaf Native Plants.
Program Schedule:
- 9:00-9:40 am- Native Plant Sale w/Troutleaf Native Plants
- 9:40-9:45 am- Welcome & Introduction
- 9:45-10:45 am- Johnson County Soil Health Program w/Kasey Hutchinson
- 10:45-11 am- Break/Shop Plant Sale
- 11 am- noon- Shade Gardening with Native Plants w/Karla McGrail
- Noon- 1 pm- Program ends but plant sale continues until 1 pm
Session Descriptions:
Johnson County Soil Health Program w/ Kasey Hutchinson
The Johnson
County Soil Health Program was launched in 2022, first providing residents of
the unincorporated area and smaller communities of Johnson County partial
funding for implementing soil quality restoration on private property.
This program has evolved to include both a pocket prairie grant program
(launched summer 2024), as well as soil sampling in the County ROW (will launch
fall 2024) to assess the impacts of land management on soil health. The
Soil Health Program is intended to support residents in improving soil health,
provide education on the importance of soil health, explore how soil health can
be supported and improved and to use this information for development of future
programming. The soil health program helps support the County’s mission
of preserving and protecting natural resources, and complements the
environmental regulations that are applied to private developments in the
unincorporated area.
Shade Gardening with Native Plants w/ Karla McGrail:
Iowa
is best known for its prairie landscape, but the sheltered hills and river
edges, mainly in the eastern part of the state, have been historically covered
with dense woodland. Here is where the native shade plants thrive. Karla
will share information about some interesting Iowa native woodland plants that
would be excellent choices for growing in shady areas of your yard.
Speaker Bios:
Kasey Hutchinson:
Kasey has
held the position of Environmental Regulations Coordinator with Johnson County
Planning, Development, and Sustainability for the last six years. In her
role with the County, Kasey oversees compliance with the County’s stormwater
management, sensitive areas, and erosion and sediment control
requirements. She also supports and helps develop external-facing
programming in support of preserving and improving the County’s natural
resources. In addition to her work with the County, Kasey has worked at
every level of government as well as the private sector, mainly in the capacity
of permitting and compliance, with focus on water quality and stormwater
management. Kasey holds a B.S. in Environmental Science, and an M.S. in
Environmental Engineering, both from the University of Iowa.
Karla McGrail:
Karla McGrail has had a special love of woodland
(shade) plants since she was a child exploring the woods around her home in the
hills of eastern Tennessee. This love has continued with her 30 years of
gardening on her partially wooded lot in Cedar Rapids. Karla has been an active
Linn County Master Gardener for 20+ years, and a member of Wild Ones for 15
years. She enjoys talking about native plants and natural landscaping to anyone
who will listen.
Thanks to partners & sponsors!
The plant sales and speaker series are being supported by the Johnson County Master Gardeners of Iowa. Thanks also to Hills Bank for their sponsorship of the Native Plant event series.
