Kentucky State University Land Grant Program personnel led an invasive plant removal workshop at Josephine Sculpture Park, removing Callery pear trees.
Josephine Sculpture Park assistant director Jeri Howell asked Jody Thompson, senior research and Extension associate for Forestry and Natural Resources at Kentucky State, and Nat Colten, community sustainability coordinator, to lead volunteers in removing the invasive species.
Thompson has worked occasionally with the sculpture park for about five years. Shade created by invasive species prevents important native plants from growing in the natural areas of the park. Removing invasive species prevents them from spreading and allows the native plants to grow.
"With limited staff, partnering with KSU and Jody amplifies what we are able to do," Howell said. "This partnership is critical."
Josephine Sculpture Park is a non-profit that started in 2009 to connect land and people through the arts. The park features more than eighty sculptures on thirty acres of conserved native rural landscape.
"As a community-based non-profit, we value partnerships and think that partnerships with Kentucky State University are important to being an engaged community member," Howell said.
Community members are always invited to volunteer, both to help the park and to learn how to manage invasives on their own properties.
Cliff Jaggie, a semi-retired handyman who is taking a Kentucky Master Naturalist training session, enjoyed the hands-on experience at Josephine Sculpture Park.
"It was good to follow up with working with invasive species here at Josephine's," he said. He also works at a nature preserve and said he will use the knowledge he learned from Thompson in future removal of invasives.
Categories: Kentucky, Crops, General