by Bill Kleiman

About 75 attended our 20th GRN workshop from a diversity of groups and geographies.

Sara Baer had opening remarks where she thanked us practitioners for doing and sharing lessons learned. Then Helen Alexander gave a talk on the northeast region of Kansas. Liz Koziol presented on soil inoculants in restorations. Then we went for a tour of the Baker University Wetlands.

Common topics of discussion include invasive plants such as the King Ranch Bluestem which was being spot sprayed with glyphosate.

On day two we were with Johnson County Parks and Recreation District. We broke into three groups and travelled by van and toured several restorations and two remnants.

And we enjoyed native plants and pondered how to help them prosper.

Invasive Lespedeza, L cuneata, was there to darken our doorway. We saw singles, small thickets and fields of Sericea, but we also saw examples of high diversity prairie plantings in which Sericea was being excluded with some careful foot and UTV patrols.

Below is Korean Lespedeza.

My crumpled agenda has the presenters and agencies to thank. Sara Baer offered to host this GRN and she, above all, made this happen.