September 24 @ 7:00 pm – 8:30 pm
With the Local Drought Index at -2.88, which is moderate drought stage (as of August 10, 2024), we need to rethink how we’re using water in the landscape. This month’s meeting of the Fredericksburg Chapter of the Native Plant Society of Texas (NPSOT) will provide information and tips about using native Texas groundcovers instead of grass lawn in your landscape.
Kathy Saucier, certified instructor for the NPSOT native landscape classes and Gillespie County resident, will be speaking on Tuesday, September 24 – 6:30 p.m., at St. Joseph’s Halle, about how to turn your water-guzzling lawn into a drought-tolerant pollinator paradise that is beautiful and useful.
“Children and pets love to play in the outdoors, and most people think that can only happen on monoculture lawns,” said Deborah Simmons, president of the Fredericksburg Chapter of NPSOT. “Kathy is going to share with us how we can shrink our lawn and water usage by incorporating Texas native groundcovers that are great for our local pollinators, and that children, pets and adults can all enjoy.”
“There are dozens of fantastic Texas native grasses, groundcovers and shrubs that we can use in place of lawn,” said Saucier. “We’ll talk about those plants and share ideas about how to reduce the size of your lawn, save water, and help improve the landscape for pollinators all at the same time.”
Saucier grew up in the Hill Country, and since 2018 has resided on the 1904 Leyendecker family farm in SW Gillespie County. Her first landscaping with Texas native plants were those growing naturally here in Gillespie County. She especially enjoys discovering what grows here and is native to our area, and promoting their attributes. She has identified approximately 190 species on their 40-acre property and has added another 150 Texas natives. Her interest does not stop at native plants, but includes birds, mammals, reptiles, amphibians, dragonflies, butterflies and everything else that crawls.
The Fredericksburg NPSOT chapter holds its monthly meetings on the 4th Tuesday of the month at St. Joseph’s Halle (212 W. San Antonio St., Fredericksburg). There is a social time with snacks at 6:30 p.m. and the meeting starts at 7 p.m. The public is invited to attend in person and via online streaming (www.youtube.com/@fredericksburgtexasnativeg4884). More information is online at Facebook (@fbgtxnpsot), Instagram (@npsot_fredericksburg_chapter), and https://npsot.org/chapters/fredericksburg/. Meetings are free and open to the public.
