What: Know It to Grow It: Sustainably Managing Glades: A Rare Plant Community in Arkansas
When: 2/11/22 @ 10am
Where: In-Person
Who: Ages 18+
No Registration

The latest episode in the Garland County Master Gardeners’ “Know It to Grow It” series will be the first in-person program in the series in nearly three years!

This program features special guest Virginia McDaniel, Forestry Technician/ESA Certified Ecologist.

The Ouachita Mountains are home to many rare plant communities, such as glades. Glades are natural openings in the forest, characterized by thin soils and exposed bedrock, that house a diversity of rare plant species. Many of these plants are endemic, meaning they are found in the Ouachita Mountains and nowhere else in the world. However, due to fire suppression, many glade communities have been encroached by cedar trees and other woody species which shade-out the smaller flowering plants. The USDA Forest Service uses thinning and prescribed fire to restore these rare plant communities. The explosion of color on restored glades after a burn is magnificent. Come learn about restoration work the Ouachita National Forest is doing with its valued partners to sustainably manage these important ecological communities.