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Salon duc Tape – Killing It! – March 24^th

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How to turn a lawn into an ecosystem

Do you want to know how to go about a lawn conversion and what to plant in its place? At the salon on March 24^th, Colorado Native Plant Society members and mother-and-daughter team Kathy and Maddie Maher will talk about the importance of native plants in our home landscapes and walk you through the 2021 transformation of Maddie’s front lawn in Fort Collins — a conversion done through the Fort Collins Xeriscape Incentive Program.

 Kathy Maher is originally from Corning, NY, and has an M.A. in Linguistics. Nine years ago, after careers in federal civil service, she and her husband retired in west Loveland, where they bought 35 dry, rocky acres. It was learning how to garden and manage weeds on that acreage that opened Kathy’s mind to the value of native plants. She has since completed as much native-plant training as she could access, including CSU courses in Colorado-specific gardening and landscaping with native plants. As a member of the Colorado Native Plant Society, she’s led public garden installations and workshops in native-plant selection, noxious weed management, and lawn conversion for the City of Loveland. She now identifies as a native-plant nerd and advocate, an identity she’s happy to share with her daughter, Maddie.

 Maddie Maher is a botanist-turned-gardener. After moving to Colorado in 2013 and beginning work as a middle-school math teacher, she spent her weekends finding peace and quiet in the outdoors, getting to know the local flora. She soon went back to school to get an M.S. in Botany, and did her thesis work on the flora of western Gunnison County. While working as a botanist at CSU in a joint venture with the USDA, she converted her front lawn into a xeric native-plant garden through the Fort Collins Xeriscape Incentive Program. She enjoyed this work so much that she founded her landscaping company, red soil seeds, LLC in 2022. Her work focuses on turning underused, overwatered residential garden space into native-centered, naturalistic plantings that benefit both the residents and the local wildlife.

 Salon duc Tape, a public forum sponsored by the Northern Colorado Alliance for a Livable Future, usually meets on the 2nd and 4th Fridays of each month from 7:00 — 9:00 p.m. via Zoom.  We will continue to meet virtually until COVID-19 is no longer a serious public health threat.  You will need to register in advance for this salon here.  After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information – including a new link – about joining the salon.