Monday, April 29, 2024
After January’s successful and well-attended lecture, Texas Master Naturalist Dr. Billy Teels will be back this weekend for part two, as he teaches attendees how to create natural habitats in their own backyard.
More than 90 people attended the first lecture, with the Opal Durant Acton Community Center filling up to capacity with standing room only — ultimately proving the need for a second lecture.
"We just planned on one, but there was so much interest and so many questions that we decided to (continue with part two) because I didn't cover everything that I had planned to cover,” Teels explained.
Part two of Teels’ lecture on “Protecting and Restoring Natural Habitats,” will be held at the Opal Durant Acton Community Center, 6430 Smoky Hill Ct., at 2 p.m. on Sunday, April 2.
"The first time I just basically covered why we need to manage our backyard as a habitat and why we need to use our backyards as a source,” he explained. “Last time we covered the lack of habitat, disappearing species, and endangered species. This time, it will be more or less how to do it, how to create natural habitats in your backyard.”
Teels will be talking about which keystone species need to be planted or maintained. Keystone species, he said, “provides the most environmental function” as they contribute to “clean air, clean water, and healthy soil.”
"We'll also talk about pollinators, what to plant for pollinators and the importance of particularly native bees who are the insects that do most of pollination,” he said. “And we’ll talk about the reduction of chemicals on lawns, such as fertilizer and herbicides, because the native plants don’t need that.”
He said many homeowners' associations prefer turf grasses as opposed to native plants, which can make the task of protecting backyard habitats extremely difficult.
"We'll be talking about some of the things that we can do to still have lawns to reduce our lawn size by about 50%, but the rest of it can still be natural vegetation,” he said.
For those unable to attend, Zoom will still be an option for the lecture. To register for the Zoom link, send an email to actonnaturecenter@gmail.com.
