May 6 workshop to help gardeners make good choices

The Lake County Health Department/Community Health Center is offering a free workshop from 6 to 8 p.m. Friday, May 6 to help gardeners make good plant choices as they begin another growing season.

The program is in room 2220 of the Lake County Central Permitting Facility, 500 West Winchester Road, in Libertyville.

The workshop will provide information on current invasive plant species and management techniques; new plant arrivals that are considered invasive in areas similar to Lake County in climate and geology; and what to do if invasive plant species are detected.

“Workshop participants will not only learn about native plants, but they will also learn about attractive alternatives while avoiding introduction of invasive plantings,” said Mike Adam, senior biologist for the Environmental Services Unit of the Lake County Health Department/Community Health Center.

An example of a plant gardeners mistakenly planted is purple loose strife, which is attractive in appearance, but so invasive that it took over and devastated many wetlands, Adam said. Some invasive plants can grow in an out-of- control fashion while others may alter the soil chemistry, enabling them to outcompete native plantings, he added.

Information will be provided by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the Lake County Forest Preserve District, and the Northeastern Illinois Invasive Plant Partnership as well as the health department's population health services area that focuses on the environment.

For questions about the program, call (847) 377-8030.