Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center: Native Grass Workshop Announced | Trees Atlanta

Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center: Native Grass Workshop Announced

Replanting prairies is a new sustainable landscape trend in the Southern US. Native prairies restore wildlife habitats, are much lower maintenance (saving fuel and water) and create a unique sense of place. Over the next few months, Trees Atlanta will be planting nearly 8 acres of prairies along the Atlanta BeltLine Eastside Trail. Ultimately similar native grass prairies will appear along the entire BeltLine.

As part of this endeavor, Trees Atlanta is partnering with the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center on a two day workshop for establishing prairies in the Southeast. This partnership will continue with a multi-year research project focusing on removal methods of invasive exotic plants while establishing prairies.

The workshop is free of charge. For more information, including agenda and instructor bios, and to register, click here.

About the workshop

The two-day workshop is being held on March 1st and 2nd at the Trees Atlanta Kendeda Center from 9am to 3pm. The workshop will provide advanced level training and information on native prairies.

Workshop details (as provided by the staff of the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center)

Day 1—Installation

Topics will include:

Services of functional landscapes
Soil specifications
Soil testing
Compost
Compaction
Species selection
Establishment techniques.

Day 2—Maintenance & Monitoring

Topics will include:

Short and long term establishment
Invasive and native species
Best Management Practices
Integrated Pest Management
Monitoring techniques.

Who should attend the workshop?

Professionals that would like to design or install prairies in the Southeast will benefit from this workshop. People with interest in volunteering with Trees Atlanta, The Atlanta BeltLine and Beltline Adopter groups are encouraged to attend. Individuals interested in improving bird habitat, restoring native plants and ecological research are also encouraged to attend.

This workshop is free to attend but you must RSVP. Space is limited.

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1. Magnolia Collection

Magnolias are part of an ancient lineage of flowering plants dating back approximately 95 million years. The Atlanta BeltLine Arboretum is home to 18 types of magnolias from evergreen to flowering. Two magnolias in particular have witnessed history as they were planted just beyond the outfield wall for the former Ponce de Leon Park, where the Atlanta Crackers played baseball. Babe Ruth and Eddie Matthews both hit home runs that were caught in the canopy of one of these magnolia trees. As part of Arboretum experimentation, we have taken cuttings from these historic magnolias and grown them into new trees so that this piece of history can live on the Atlanta BeltLine Arboretum and in new parks and baseball fields around Atlanta.

2. 33 Oaks

The oak trees on this slope and throughout the Arboretum represent many ecosystems in Georgia, from bottomland hardwood swamps to granite outcrops. Of the approximately 90 species of oaks native to the United States, 33 are native to Georgia. All 33 oaks are growing on this slope and between them dance 33 stainless steel leaf sculptures – one for each tree.

These metal oaks were designed and crafted by David Landis of Landis Sculpture Studio. Learn more about David’s work here. For more information about the individual oaks featured, see our fact sheet here.

To learn more general information about our Georgia oaks, check out this video here.

3. Beech Circle

Among the stateliest of our native trees, beeches are indicative of a mature forest. Though they can take around 40 years to produce a large quantity of nuts, beech trees are critical for wildlife. Beeches provide food and shelter for all kinds of birds and mammals, such as the red-headed woodpecker. Dubbed the fairy ring, the circle of beech trees here surrounds a granite outdoor classroom and gathering place where you can contemplate how the beech trees will look in 3, 5, and 10 years!

4. Eastside Azalea Collection

Despite the native azalea holding the title of Georgia’s State Wildflower, it is underused in the landscape. The Atlanta BeltLine Arboretum is now home to the largest public native azalea collection in the Atlanta Area with over 300 azaleas on display. The collection highlights over 25 species, cultivars, and varieties, and is home to all 13 azaleas native to the state of Georgia. This collection focuses on named cultivars (varieties that have been selected for depending on color, size, bloom time, etc.) within two series called the Georgia Moon Series and the Sunrise to Sunset Series. The Georgia Moon Series will have fragrant white-blooming Georgia native species, and the Sunrise to Sunset Series will be comprised of Georgia native species in warm orange, reds, and soft yellows blooming from March – July.

5. Stumpery Garden

The Stumpery Garden is a horticultural oddity, serving as a public place for learning and exploration and demonstrating how trees can be utilized in a beautiful way. Stumpery gardens utilize dead, fallen, and storm-damaged trees as an asset to the garden – providing critical habitat for beetles, frogs, birds, and small mammals such as chipmunks. Whole logs are placed upside down to display their root structure, and logs, branches, and pieces of bark are arranged to form walls and archways. Plants such as ferns, lichen, mosses, soft grasses, and trailing plants are encouraged to grow on and around them.

Take a virtual tour of the Stumpery Garden here.

6. Westside Azalea Collection

Different from the Eastside collection, the Westside collection has all straight species and natural varieties that encourage free hybridization. These azaleas are all grown from seed so there are many variations in the hues even between the same species.

7. Persimmon Woods

Home to the largest American persimmon tree in the state of Georgia, this remnant old growth forest on 1.3 acres provides habitat to a variety of deep forest flora. Walking through a nature trail and over a few bridges will bring you up close and personal with woodland groundcovers, rare spring ephemerals (plants with a short life cycle) such as trillium, and a large collection of native woody species. Enjoy the seasonal blooms, learn from plant identification signs, and get hands-on with volunteer opportunities to plant, divide woodland perennials, and collect seed.

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