![]() ![]() ![]() Pervious pavement for storm water management.Raised rain garden that infiltrates roof runoff to water plants and increase the health of urban streams.Preparing soil to go from turfgrass to native plants.Establishing low-growing buffalograss as a maintenance-free frame around native plants.How can a diversity of Midwest native plants be beautifully arranged in an extremely small, highly visible, pesticide-free landscape that is friendly to bees, birds, and butterflies? Neighbors Judy, Brian, and Adrienne answered that question as they converted long strips of turfgrass into an all-native oasis around their shared townhome in the Iowa City Peninsula Neighborhood. Here is more about the tour from the Iowa City-based nonprofit: The free tour will be at the townhome of Judy Joyce, at 903 Walker Circle in Iowa City, from 3 p.m. 2, to help residents learn how to create beautiful yards that are low-maintenance and benefit our environment. Spring is just around the corner and we continue to gear up for a busy season.IOWA CITY – Backyard Abundance will host a free yard tour this Saturday, Aug. I also ordered trees for our April tree planting project at O’Mara Newport Woods. We’ve had a couple of great workdays at Pappy Dickens, Turkey Creek, and Big Grove so far this spring – removing invasive honeysuckle and autumn olive, creating new trails, and setting a prescribed burn. I’ve been in contact Judy Joyce at Earthview Environmental to plan for a Clear Creek cleanup project that will be announced soon. What’s encouraging is that students have increasingly been participating in our volunteer workday events without this volunteer fair information. Although I attended the U of I Volunteer fair, it was sparsely attended. I contacted the Marine Corps Officers group at the University of Iowa to plan a March or April workday. I’m looking forward to leading a talk about recruiting and utilizing volunteers at the upcoming CWMA field day. I’ve also attended a number of conservation meetings: Cooperative Weed Management Area (CWMA) with Chris Henze to create a field day to address invasive species threatening our area and Johnson County Conservation Partners meeting to hear presentations and meet with other conservation organizations in Johnson County. I’m communicating about these contact issues with the neighbors to the west, Mark Vitosh (O’Mara Newport Woods volunteer property steward), and Wayne Petersen, (Belgum Grove volunteer property steward). We are seeking proposals from Wheeler bridge manufacturers to solve some of our access issues, specifically at O’Mara Newport Woods. ![]() Now that we have a trailer, I’ve been working on installing storage inside the trailer for our tools and ATV. I also worked on fencing and invasive species removal at Big Grove Addition with Ken Lowder and Don Bolin (Big Grove’s volunteer property stewards), and worked with a veteran-owned tree service to remove a damaged hackberry hanging over a neighbor’s house at Pappy Dickens. I reviewed and updated management plans for O’Mara Newport, Turkey Creek, Shimek, and Pappy Dickens while in the office. Once they are here, they really make a dent in invasive species removal on all of our properties! I also coordinated with CCI about our 2017 contract and worked on our Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP) contracts. One of the things that I need to do to prepare for these teams is accommodations when they are here, which I’ve been working on recently. I’m looking forward to the work that our AmeriCorps National Civilian Community Corps (NCCC) and Conservation Corps Iowa (CCI) teams will be able to accomplish coming up this year. ![]()
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