TOPEKA, Kan. (WIBW) – Shawnee County’s Extension Master Gardeners have two new gardens in the Capital City to teach and feature several native Kansas plants and benefit the community.
First, members of the Kansas State University Research and Extension Master Gardener office of Shawnee County and local leaders were at Washburn University to celebrate the completion of a Kansas native plant garden on campus, right outside the Robert J. Dole Hall.
The garden will teach people about plants native to our state, environmental education, and promote sustainable gardening practices.
“This is a really important thing,” said Shawnee Co. Horticulture Extension Agent Lane Wiens. “I mean, this is what the Master Gardeners do is stuff like this but it is also here as a teaching opportunity for the community to incorporate native plants that they can be really attractive in the home landscape, and these are plants that don’t need a lot of input so once they are established they don’t need as much water, they don’t need much fertilizer, and they’re here to support native pollinators.”
“These are all Kansas native plants that are going to continue to make sure that we have the best ecosystem and bio-system for us to be able to thrive and for our plants and our flowers and our trees, and everything we need to be able to have a beautiful place in Kansas,” said Washburn University President Dr. JuliAnn Mazachek.
After the Washburn University native plants garden ribbon cutting, it was over to the old Stout Elementary School, now the Community Resource Council (CRC) Care Center, to celebrate the new Demonstration and Vegetable Community Garden.
While the garden will also provide a teaching opportunity for the community, the produce grown from the garden is donated to organizations like Doorstep.
“It’s been amazing,” said Amy Mitts with Shawnee County Master Gardeners. “The dedication and expertise from our committee members, as well as community donations, that allowed us to get this done smoothly. Much easier than we ever could have dreamed of.”
This also happens to coincide with Kansas Pollinator Week, when Kansas gardeners celebrate the natural pollinators, bees, bats, and birds, who keep the pollination cycle in motion.
CRC Community Garden
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