The beginning of this month saw the completion of the final practical session for our Spring 2025 Neighbors for Native Plants course! With this, all 15 neighbors who signed up for the course are certified to remove and replace invasive plants on NeighborSpace, residential, and community-owned properties around the Baltimore County area.

The overall goal of this course was to 1) identify and differentiate native and non-native plant species, 2) understand the importance of native species, 3) develop practical invasive species management, and 4) apply sustainable landscaping and planting techniques. In order to effectively teach these principles, we split the course into two separate segments. The first portion of the course consisted of two classroom meetings at the Irvine Nature Center where NeighborSpace staff, aided by the knowledge and advice of Don Callihan (Board Vice President at Gunpowder Falls Conservancy), led participants through a systematic process of native and non-native plant identification. The beneficial characteristics of prominent native plants were contrasted with the harmful effects of non-native invasive species often found in the area. Participants were then encouraged to create a plan for the removal of harmful non-native plants in their own yards and community properties, with NeighborSpace staff making suggestions of beneficial native plant replacements. Instruction on how and when to properly remove non-native invasive plants was discussed during classroom portions of the course.

The second portion of the course consisted of an outdoor classroom experience followed by a practical workshop, both held at our Tollgate-Wyndham site in Owings Mills. This provided participants with hands-on experience that put their recently acquired knowledge of native and invasive plant species to the test. Non-native invasive plants discussed during the previous part of the course were identified in the field by participants and subsequently removed. In addition, course members learned how to identify and avoid native poison ivy while working in the woods.

We’d like to thank all of the wonderful folks who signed up for the course and whose enthusiasm for learning made the experience a joy for the staff at NeighborSpace! Rusty Rothenburg, one of the course members, said “I really felt I learned a good introduction to native plants in Baltimore County, and I will sign up to learn more!” It’s thoughtful comments like these that inspire us to continue doing the work we do throughout Baltimore county. We would also like to thank Don Callihan for his invaluable help and support in teaching and running the course. 

For those of you who missed the class this time around, don’t worry! We are offering the course again this upcoming fall. For those interested, reach out to info@neighborspacebaltimorecounty.org for more information. We hope to see you there!