The Land Conservancy of McHenry County hosts Native Plant Gardening Webinars this spring

The Land Conservancy of McHenry County is hosting a variety webinars in March and April that cover native plant, gardening and nature topics. Each webinar is $5 or free. Advance registration is required. More information is available at www.ConserveMC.org.

• Native Shrubs for the Home Landscape: Native shrubs provide year-round beauty as well as food and nesting habitat for birds and pollinators. Sarah Michehl from TLC will share information on native shrubs appropriate for the home landscape. Foundation plantings, privacy hedgerows, and species to feature will be covered from 6:30-8 p.m. Thursday, March 11. Cost is $5. Register at www.ConserveMC.org

• Plan Your Native Plant Garden: Planning to start a new native plant garden this spring? This webinar demonstrates how to prepare your garden site, gives recommendations for easy plant choices for sun and shade, shows how pollinators can help, and gives vital maintenance tips to make your garden a success. It will be 7-8 p.m. Tuesday, March 16. Fee is $5. Register at www.ConserveMC.org

• Three local libraries will host free webinars on "Composting and Water Conservation." Water, food waste, and leaves ... don't throw them away, use them!

Sarah Michehl from TLC will share some easy ways to conserve water and turn food scraps into something usable. She will also share lessons learned on the basics of using rain barrels and composters in a suburban landscape. Attendees will receive a 10 percent discount code to use for rain barrel and composter sales during TLC's sustainability sale.

The webinar hosted by the Woodstock Public Library will be 7-8 p.m. Monday, March 22. Email katieb@woodstockil.info for the Zoom link.

The webinar with the Harvard-Diggins Public Library will be 6:30-7:30 p.m. Monday, April 5. Call (815) 943-4671 or email adultservices@harvard-diggins.org. It is open to anyone, not just Harvard residents.

Cary Area Library will host the third webinar from 7-8 p.m. Wednesday, April 7. Call (847) 639-4210 to register or go to www.caryarealibrary.org.

• How to Convert Lawn to a Wildflower Meadow with Seed: Tired of maintaining large sections of lawn grass and want to attract birds and butterflies? Join TLC to learn how to convert areas of your lawn to a native wildflower meadow from seed from 6:30 to 8 p.m. Thursday, April 1. Mistakes to avoid and valuable lessons learned will be shared. Also learn about the Conservation@Home program. The fee is $5. Register at www.ConserveMC.org.

• Tomatoes 101: Get an introduction on growing tomatoes covering all the basics, from planting to harvesting, from from noon to 1 p.m. Wednesday, April 14. Guest presenters are Sue Rekenthaler and Gary Gauger with Natural Farm Stand in Richmond, IL, specializing in organic and heirloom varieties. The fee is $5. Register at www.ConserveMC.org.

• Birds, Bees, and Butterflies: Plant Your Own Pollinator Garden. Celebrate Earth Day and learn how to attract monarchs and other butterflies, birds and bees to your yard from 7 to 8 p.m. Thursday, April 22. TLC's Sarah Michehl will give you easy tips and sample garden layouts with native plants that will provide beauty and everything a pollinator could need. The fee is $5. Register at www.ConserveMC.org.

The Land Conservancy of McHenry County is a member-based private nonprofit dedicated to preserving natural, scenic and agricultural land.