Ernie McLaney, president of the Charlotte Chapter of the North Carolina Wildlife Federation, will lead a free program on invasive plants at 6:30 p.m. onOctober 9 at Discovery Place Nature, in Charlotte. Attendees will learn how vegetation in their landscapes can negatively impact the local native population of plants and wildlife. This event is part of the organization’s Charlotte Reconnecting Ourselves with Nature initiative.

Topics will include several important natural relationships that exist in nature including how the decline in monarch butterfly populations are linked to the reduced presence of milkweed, and how other plants either enhance or deter the natural order of life around them with fescue lawns and English ivy posing negative effects on the natural world, drawing valuable nutrients and water from the surrounding landscape in competition with   elements needed by other plants in the vicinity.

The program will also provide advice for planting trees and other vegetation this fall and inform on native versus non-native plants, and enhance a greater understanding of the wildlife in our area and the food or habitat they require.

 

Location: 1658 Sterling Rd., adjacent to Freedom Park. For more information, visit CrownCharlotte.org.