![]() Diane Turner - Conservation Technician & Outreach Assistant In July 2021, a population of spotted lanternfly (Lycorma delicatula) was identified in Switzerland County, Indiana near the Ohio River. DEPP and USDA are conducting surveys to ascertain the extent and source of the infestation as well as determine what management strategies will be implemented. Spotted lanternfly is a major pest of concern across most of the United States. This insect is native to China and parts of India, Vietnam, Japan and Taiwan. It was first identified as an invasive species in 2004 in South Korea and is now a major pest there. Spotted lanternfly was first detected in the United States in Pennsylvania in 2014. This insect is a planthopper with a distinctive wing pattern. Wings are held downward and folded when the insect is at rest. The forewings, which are visible in the resting position, are greyish with black spots and the wing tips show a network of veins. Part of the hind wings is red with black spots and the remainder is white and black. Adults are approximately one inch long from the head to the end of the folded wings. The abdomen is yellowish with black bands. Adults may not be seen flying (as they are weak flyers) but will likely be seen hopping or crawling.
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![]() Mark McCauley, Resource Conservationist The Indiana State Department of Agriculture (ISDA), The Nature Conservancy and partners throughout the state have worked with the USDA Risk Management Agency (RMA) to establish an initiative in the West Fork Upper White River watershed counties to increase cover crop usage in Indiana. Our focus for this program is to target first time cover crop users in an effort to expand awareness and the adoption of cover crops as a tool to improve farm resiliency. This program is providing a $5/acre crop insurance premium discount for farmers who employ a cover crop on insured acres in the Upper White River watershed. We will be promoting year round to raise awareness and give farmers time to plan for a cover crop in the Fall. More detailed info on how to apply and FAQs can be found at the button below.
Kris Gertz, Office Coordinator The judging for the 7th Annual Hamilton County SWCD Photo Contest is complete. Thank you to all are photographers, judges, and social media judges. This year’s judges Micheal Jack, Hamilton County resident and talented photographer, Emily Archer, Graduate Art student, and our Soil & Water Conservation District Board Member, Amanda Egler selected winners from many beautiful entries! Winners in the Nature’s Renewal contest were Steven Gass, adult and Ben Boyce, youth. New this Year is the People’s Choice Award. Winners were chosen on our Social media platforms. The winners were Tristen Defoe, adult and youth winner Ben Boyce. All photos submitted are available to view on the Hamilton County SWCD website by clicking here.
Mulching Even if not considered the most exciting part of gardening, mulching can be a simple source of many benefits. Some benefits of mulching are weed suppression, soil moisture retention, increased soil organic matter, temperature regulation, erosion reduction, decreased soil compaction, and the improvement of a garden's appearance, among others. Mulch supports the soil health principle of keeping the ground covered and is commonly defined as any plant or suitable material applied to the land surface. In other words, almost any material used to cover the ground could be considered a mulch, and could be synthetic or organic. There is often interest in organic mulches since these materials are frequently available on the farm. Plant residues, leaves, grass clippings, and newspapers can be recycled and used as mulch. Straw and hay can be purchased or otherwise sourced to use as mulch. These materials can also be left on the ground at the end of the growing season. In addition, since organic mulches are in close contact with the soil, they can also help increase soil organic matter (as they break down) and serve as a source of carbon and nitrogen that impact the soil's nutrient availability. There are a myriad of ways in which gardeners use organic material mulches. Typically, if transplanting, mulch is placed on the growing bed before, and if directly seeded, the mulch is added when the crop plant is well established. Some growers plant cover crops that winterkill (e.g. oats), and then space is made between the crop residue to direct seed in the spring. However, there are ways to incorporate mulches without long-term planning. For example, plant residues can be laid on walkways to reduce soil compaction, and tree leaves placed on top of beds (preferably composted). Another way of mulching is to put down newspaper on top of the soil before adding straw mulch. This method helps increase weed suppression. These are a few examples, and if you have doubts or questions about a specific material, reach out to your local Soil and Water Conservation District office. How GrowLocal Urban Gardens Network Mulches GrowLocal Urban Gardens Network –a garden network in the greater Lafayette, Indiana area– uses two different mulches at a couple of their gardens. One of the growers and garden managers, Harry Smith, uses wheat straw and wood chips donated from various sources. Harry applies wheat straw for annual crops and wood chips for permanent walkways and perennials, including fruits, trees, bushes, nuts, and berries. For Harry, the benefits of mulching go beyond the before mentioned (e.g., weed suppression, moisture retention…). Harry said: "Most of our lots were developed with buildings at some point in their history. The result is soil containing many urban artifacts: rock, brick, concrete, metal, and even asphalt. These solid materials at or near the surface absorb and hold heat, accelerating soil surface moisture loss and increasing the need for irrigation. Mulching puts these solid materials in the shade and keeps them cool." He described this process as "Making peace with the rocks." Some considerations
![]() Additional Resources IASWCD Urban Soil Health Program Website NRCS - Mulching Tip Sheet Missouri Botanical Garden - Mulching Publication Marion County SWCD - Mulching Publication Article written by Marian M. Rodriguez-Soto, Regional Urban Soil Health Specialist for the Urban Soil Health Program-a contribution agreement between NRCS and IASWCD. ![]() Considering removing invasive bushes and trees in your yard? Congrats! You’re taking a major step in the control of invasive species not only in your yard, but across the entire state. These species not only produce small offspring plants that pop up in your home gardens, but also are distributed far and wide when birds eat the berries and carry them away. If your plant has berries or seeds, it is spreading into our natural areas. By removing these species from your yard, you are not only protecting you and your neighbor’s properties, but also helping to preserve beautiful parks and public lands. The bushes and trees listed below were very commonly sold as landscaping plants up until April of 2019 when the Terrestrial Plant Rule came into effect—aside from callery pear and burning bush which are excluded from the rule and still used in landscaping. If you aren’t sure if these plants are in your home landscaping, you can use a plant ID app and the links below. Disclaimer: These apps aren’t always 100% accurate. If you have questions about plant ID, please reach out to our office. This article won't go into detail about how to identify these plants. For more information, visit the links below or reach out to our office with questions. Removal If you will not be removing all the plants in one year, it's best to consider the prioritization of each species. The order in which you treat these plants largely depends on each individual situation. In some cases, it may be best to get rid of the plants that are producing the most seeds. This way, you are slowing the spread of these species and potentially saving yourself some hard work in the future. Alternatively, it may make sense to remove several small species while they are still easy to remove to avoid hard labor after they grow larger. Ultimately this decision is up to the landowner. Mechanical treatment When these bushes and trees are small, they can sometimes be removed by hand pulling or utilizing a puller bar. While doing this, it is important to remove the entire root of the plant. Puller bars, and other tools are available through our tool loan program. Herbicide treatment Herbicide treatment, specifically cut stump treatment, is an efficient way to remove larger bushes and trees that cannot be hand pulled. When you remove a lot of large bushes by hand in a small area, you can cause soil disturbance. Not only can this cause erosion and soil quality issues, but it also can stimulate seed growth of any seeds in the seedbank--including invasives. Specific Cut stump treatment is done by cutting the bush/tree down so there is only an inch of trunk above the soil. Then the stump can be dabbed or brushed with herbicide, in this case, glyphosate. This information, as well as herbicide percentages can be found on the SICIM Calendar of Control. Native Alternatives
Diversity of plants is key when you want to have healthier soil, protect water resources, provide habitat and food for native wildlife and pollinators, and have a more colorful natural area. This year we will have several native shrubs and trees that could make great replacements for these species through our annual tree sale. Other options are included below, and can be www.hcinvasives.org/alternatives.html found on the Hamilton County Invasives Partnership website. Diane Turner - Conservation Technician & Outreach Assistant Are you curious to see how your soil test results stack up against others within Hamilton County, or even other residents across Indiana? We are excited to share our year-end-report from all submitted tests from 2020. Look below to learn more about averages found in the completed tests for the last year. Summaries provided by A&L Great Lakes Laboratories.
Mark McCauley - Resource Conservationist It’s that time of year again, when many landowners begin to think about their lawns, vegetable and flower gardens, trees, and even things like wildlife forage plots and livestock pasture. But there is one thing that is common to all of these, and that is the Soil! The condition of your soil can affect the quality and feasibility of all the above, and there is a way you can check on certain aspects of your soil, such as fertility levels, organic matter content, pH level, etc. Our Soil and Water office provides a soil testing service to assist landowners in taking a closer look at their soil. Along with your test results will come a report, indicating the current levels of various elements, pH, organic matter, but also recommendations of what soil amendments to apply, how much, and when! We will also follow up with personal questions specific to your site, if you have them. ![]() We have two levels of testing you can request: Basic or Complete, and the majority of our customers select the basic. Basic Test - $35 Analysis includes organic matter, phosphorus, potassium, calcium, magnesium, CEC, pH, and buffer pH. Complete Test- $45 Analysis includes Basic Test plus conductivity, boron, copper, iron, manganese, sulfur and zinc. Onsite Service - $50 If you would like the SWCD to take the samples onsite for you (up to a max. of 5), an additional $70 service fee will apply. For more detailed information on how to take a test, options, etc. see our web site. You may also fill out the online form through our website and make sample drop-off a breeze.
Wintercreeper: This species usually only produces seeds once it grows up something about 5 feet. Usually this is a tree, but it can also be a fence or other structure. The first thing you should do--even if you don't manage anything else--is cut any climbing vines at the base of trees and structures. This will kill the part of the vine you cut, and stop it from producing seeds. English Ivy: This species usually only produces seeds once it is fully mature. Prioritize the largest vines the first year. Often times vines growing up trees will be larger than the ones growing across your garden or lawn. If you can't fully remove large vines, consider cutting them at the base to stop them from producing seeds this year. If you haven’t removed the vines already, there are a few methods for removal. Mechanical treatment Groundcover: When the vine is growing across the ground and is still small, mechanical treatment is a viable option. To do this, you would systematically remove all vines and root pieces from the area. Any root pieces left behind may resprout vines. This can be a somewhat tedious task--but rewarding! Tree Climbing: If the vines are climbing and taking over a tree, you may not be able to remove all, or any, of the vine. Removal of vines in trees may damage the bark and hurt the tree. The best course of action is to cut the vine at the base and wait. Make sure the two cut parts of the vine are not in contact. You may try cutting a 1 inch section out of the vine to make sure the cut ends can't reach each other. This article has some great photos of what that might look like. Herbicide treatment If the vines on your property area taking up a large area, or starts resprouting after you cut it on a tree, it may need to be treated with herbicide. Not only will you be saving yourself some hard work, but you'll be protecting your soil. When you remove large sections of vines, you can cause a lot of soil disturbance. Not only can this cause erosion and soil quality issues, but it also can stimulate seed growth of any seeds in the seedbank--including invasives. Specific herbicides should be used for these vines as the leaves have a waxy outer coating. This information, as well as when to use herbicide can be found on the SICIM Calendar of Control. Native Alternatives
Diversity of plants is key when you want to have healthier soil, provide habitat and food for native wildlife and pollinators, and have a more colorful natural area. You can buy a kit with a variety of different plants for sun, shade, and more at our spring Native Plant Sale going on right now. Other options are included below. For information on where to purchase these plants, check our webpage Where to Buy Native Plants Taylor Wilson, Urban Conservation Technician "With the coming of spring comes warmer temperatures and the opportunity to begin yard work and land management. For many, this is an exciting time of year where people can finally begin all the gardening, beatification, and invasive species management plans they’ve been sitting on all winter. With that in mind, spring can be one of the most overwhelming seasons when it comes to land management. There are so many things that could be done, and most of them are time sensitive. If you're feeling overwhelmed, don’t worry. Below are some things that can help you get started. Strategy The key to good invasive management is having a good strategic plan. Why? For a few reasons. 1. It’s easier to take a large issue and cut it down into steps. Starting to manage invasives without a plan can quickly become frustrating and feel like you’re not accomplishing anything. 2. You can save yourself time and resources by having a good plan in place. You can think of your strategy in two parts: Short term and long term. Short Term A short term plan is a plan that focuses on just this year. What species will you work on in each season? This largely depends on when that species can be controlled and when it produces seeds. Some species are controlled best during certain seasons. This is especially the case if you are using herbicides. For information on this, check out the SICIM Calendar of Control. In addition to seasonality, it is best if you can treat invasives before they produce seeds. When you remove a plant before it goes to seed, you’re preventing fresh seed from being distributed on your property or elsewhere via wind, pollinators etc. For example, just one garlic mustard plant can produce as many as 7,900 seeds! For more information on this, read What to Treat below. Long Term When creating a long-term plan, there are a few things to consider. Will you focus on a specific area? A specific species? That depends. If you have a particularly aggressive species that spreads quickly, or requires a few years of management to eradicate, you’ll want to start there. If you’re considering focusing on a specific area, you may want to select a place that has very few invasives present and clear that area first to stop it from spreading. These are the basics, and for more information check out the two links below. If you need help prioritizing, please reach out to our office with questions. What to ID Gardening and landscaping require a lot of focus in spring. If you don’t have time to treat your invasives during this time, it’s a great time to identify and mark the invasives you’re going to treat in the summer and fall. Spring can be a great time to ID some of the most common species.
Additionally, in early spring you can still identify some evergreen species as listed in our Winter Invasive Management article. There are many more invasive species than the ones listed here. If you aren’t sure what plants you have, consider conferring with neighbors or downloading a plant identification app to get you started. What to Treat Luckily, there are few very time sensitive species to manage in spring. See them below Urgent: Garlic Mustard: This species goes to seed as early as May. This species is very easy to remove by hand. Once seed heads appear it’s suggested to not manage it, as you run the risk of spreading it to other areas. Do NOT mow once it has gone to seed. If you don’t have this on your property, consider participating in a weed wrangle where this is the target species. Soon: Canada thistle: This species is an aggressive weed that starts to produce seed around mid July. Manually pulling this species can worsen the problem and spread more thistles. More information about control here. Summer and Beyond: Other species can be treated later into summer, or even over the winter. If you have an invasive not listed here, search for the month that it starts to produce seed and treat it before then. If you can’t find that information, consider searching for the time it blooms and using that month as a deadline. What Else?
The key to widespread invasive management is education and awareness. As you strategize and manage your property, I encourage you to reach out to your family, friends, and neighbors and explain what you’re doing. It only takes one person in a family, group, or neighborhood to start making an impact. We do best when we learn and work together. If you have questions, please reach out to us for more information. Hamilton County SWCD is now offering invasive plant surveys where a member of our staff can visit your property and help you identify species and start to making a management plan. Large properties (acreage) and woodlands are prioritized for this service. A good way to learn more about invasive species is to join the Hamilton County Invasives Partnership (HIP). The HIP website has a variety of resources related to management and native plants. ![]() Diane Turner - Conservation Technician & Outreach Assistant Outstanding Partner of Urban Conservation - Zach Sprunger Zach started working with the urban conservation program in 2015 as he worked to increase wildlife and pollinator habitat, reduce runoff, and improve the small woodland area in his sub-division back yard. In 2019, Zach utilized our Heartland cost share program to add more native plantings and habitat to his property. While Zach’s work on his own property has been great, he hasn’t stopped there. He has worked to spread a conservation ethic within his workplace, HOA and broader community. Zach promotes the SWCD and its programs and sales to neighbors and friends and even runs an Instagram account with over 250 followers where he posts beautiful photos of his backyard habitat and the pollinators and wildlife that visit it. Partner in Conservation Award - Hamilton County Travel & Tourism The White River Vision plan is a joint effort between the city of Indianapolis and Hamilton county tourism, Inc. Their objective was to develop a comprehensive and coordinated regional, community-driven plan to enhance 58 miles of the white river in Marion and Hamilton counties. The goal of the vision plan is to create an accessible, recreational and cultural environment that encourages a unique sense of place for the community as a whole. Brenda Meyers and the rest of the tourism board should be proud of the work completed on the White River Vision plan and we are proud to call them partners in conservation. ![]() Outstanding Service to HCSWCD - Andrew Justus Fritz Andrew is a jack of all trades and brought with him experience in landscape design, soils, agriculture and gardening, graphic design, strategic planning, community building, and much more. Andrew built the Hamilton County Garden Network, a variety of technical resources, and a program to deliver hundreds of tomato plants to food pantries. Andrew’s diverse skillset and willingness to help his coworkers led to his involvement in many SWCD programs and initiatives. After four years of exemplary service, Andrew moved to California in July and I’m happy to share that he is still putting his conservation expertise to good use at another conservation district. ![]() River Friendly Farmer Award - Katy Rogers In 2020 the Soil and Water Conservation District nominated Teter Retreat and Organic Farm, and manager Katy Rogers, for this recognition. Teter Farm is located within the White River Watershed near Riverwood, just north of Noblesville. Teter Farm is a mission of Noblesville First United Methodist church. It was donated by Ruth Teter in 1981 as a memorial to the AW Teter Family, and its mission is to feed mind, body, and spirit by doing good and eating well. The farm produces USDA certified organic, nutrient dense vegetables through cover cropping and reduced tillage. This produce is available for purchase through a Community Supported Agriculture plan, local farmer’s market, and through regular donations to the area’s food programs. The farm uses a sustainable, regenerative cropping system that integrates the ecological sense of nature, helping to build better soil health while protecting the natural environment and sensitive habitat surrounding the farm. |
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