Chambers County Extension is hosting a Landscaping with Native Plants Event

By Kadie Taylor

The LaFayette Sun

The Chambers County, Alabama Extension is hosting a Landscaping with Native Plants Seminar on Aug. 11 from 5:15 to 7:30 p.m. at 112 Main St. S. in, Wedowee.

“We're going to have three of our regional agents who are going to speak,” said Alabama Extension Agent Kyle Marable. “I'm going to speak on invasive plant ID, and on the negative effects of invasive species on wild habitat. Two more agents are going to talk about aquatic invasive plant ID and a lot of the native plant alternatives.”

Marabel said it is important for residents in Chambers County to know about native plants so they can better curate their landscaping around plants that will thrive better in the Alabama environment.

“One of the main ways a lot of these invasive plants get out there is by ornamentals,” he said. “They're ornamental plants that escape when people are trying to put pretty stuff in their yards and landscape with the pretty stuff, and then it escapes and messes up the wildlife habitat and environment. Attendees will learn that there are native plants that you can use for landscaping and that are pretty, but also are not going to cause any problems to the environment.”

Along with being better for the environment, Marabel said native plants are better for landscaping because they can be beautiful and create less work for homeowners.

“Knowing how to landscape with native options is a really good way to be able to maintain that pretty yard, that pretty esthetics, without having to risk causing any further problems to the ecosystem,” he said. “The native plants are a lot better adapted to doing what they need to do in our local region than the exotic stuff that people often plant in their yards anyway. So a lot of times it's potentially less maintenance and less concern.”

Marabel said through programs and events, like the Landscaping with Native Plants seminar, Alabama Extension intends to educate the community on researched information on nature.

“One of our main goals with extension is to help people, and it's also to take the knowledge that the university gets from research and from the education side of things, and make it accessible to the public,” he said. “So we want to be able to take the knowledge that we've gained and be able to freely give it out to the public and make it accessible to them so that they can learn as well.”

In Chambers County, Marabel said locals need to remain informed on methods for maintaining the environment because much of the local industry is centered on forestry. 

“Chambers County has a pretty big forestry industry, and also a lot of folks that are interested in wildlife habitat and that sort of thing,” he said. “Making sure that we maintain the proper ecosystem in the county is incredibly important. And a lot of the stuff that we have to do as an extension agent is help people get rid of invasive species that harm native wildlife and harm native plants.”

Those interested in attending should register online before the event at www.aces.edu/counties/Chambers. For more information, visit the Chambers County, Alabama Extension on Facebook or call (334) 864-9373.

“We would really prefer that people register ahead of time; they can go to our website, and there'll be a link there,” Marabel said. “It's easy as adults to forget that, you know, we need to keep learning too. And so stuff like this is a good opportunity for them to be able to continue to learn.”