The Wichita Eagle, Wichita, Kansas August 7, 2006 BY ANNIE CALOVICH The Wichita Eagle
Wild about nature Hesston is Kansas' first community wildlife habitat It's not too unusual for somebody's green backyard to be certified as a wildlife habitat. But it's pretty rare for a whole town to be. Leave it to Hesston, home of the Dyck Arboretum of the Plains, a half-hour north of Wichita, to be the first community wildlife habitat certified in Kansas, and only the 18th in the nation. The arboretum,18 acres of native plants and lake, gave the town a huge head start, to be sure. When it reached out to get home and other communal landscapes involved, a sort of contagion built. The police station is a habitat. So is the golf course. The pharmacy planted a plot of black-eyed Susans out front. The mayor's house has a prairie pocket garden out back. The new coffee shop's patio garden is certified, and a nearby garden belonging to Larry and Becky Fuqua is, too. Becky Fuqua can attest to the fact that it attracts wildlife. "We have a lot of rabbits in our backyard," she says. Her husband nods and smiles wryly. On Tuesday evening, 57 residences, 13 businesses, parks and government entities and two schools in Hesston will be recognized for rebuilding some of the wildlife habitat that is lost daily around the world to development and pesticides. A celebration at the arboretum will see the certification of the community wildlife habitat conferred on the city of Hesston. "I think it will give an additional sense of place to have this little mosaic of gardens," Allison Hamm, grant coordinator for the arboretum, said. Hesston is already known for its pretty trees and well-kept yards. The growing town of 3,800 regularly attracts people who fall in love with it just driving through, says the mayor, John Waltner. The certification with its emphasis on native plants expands the pride people take in their property, he said. "These things are just plain beautiful. They simply are," Waltner said. "And just simply to be able to experience that kind of beauty and value it by planting and nurturing it, I think for a community it's a really healthy thing to do." The certification also builds on the Kansas plant heritage being nurtured at the arboretum. The idea for getting habitat certification arose from a project the arboretum designed for spreading pockets of prairie throughout Hesston. The ASC Foundation in St. Louis provided a grant for the project in which residents attended a class, designed a landscape for their yard and received $100 in plants from the arboretum's twice-yearly plant sale. Nearly 40 people got involved in that program. Hamm then got the idea of getting the National Wildlife Federation to certify the community as a habitat. Requirements for individual-garden certification include providing four basic habitat elements -- food, water, cover and places to raise young -- and taking steps to conserve natural resources. Community-wide requirements of education and outreach were easily met because of the resources and classes already offered at the arboretum. The wildlife federation doesn't require the use of native plants in the habitats but encourages it because the natives save on resources such as water and fertilizer. A team was formed to go into the community and encourage residents to get their own yards certified. Presentations were made to civic groups and the school district. The effort took about a year. After spending money year after year on annuals that died, Jeannine Hoheisel got involved in the arboretum and started growing native plants. But as far as certification, she said, "you think: Not my house. It doesn't qualify." But most people's yards do. Most of the gardens in Hesston that have been certified required only the addition of a source of water, something as simple as a birdbath. "When you bring in the certification, people say, 'Oh yes, I need to get that birdbath in. I need to think about berry-producing shrubs,' " said Julie Torseth, director of the arboretum. "Or they think that their echinacea and ratibida have seedheads for the birds, and they'll leave those up for the winter. It made for the larger picture." Hoheisel said that once you get started with native plants, "it's contagious." "It's great as far as conserving water and your time and money, and you get to know people: Let's share plants," she said. Once she got her own yard in shape, Hoheisel moved on to the police station, where she works as administrative assistant and municipal court clerk. She avoided pinky pastels and planted fiery red and yellow gaillardias, deep Sunset coneflowers and a purple butterfly bush for "the guys." She says the police officers are thrilled. "The guys won't tell you, but one told me the other day, he said, 'Jeannine, I was out there pulling weeds.' And I said, 'OK, I won't tell your wife.' "It just takes a spark to get things started." And the habitat effort is just getting started, organizers said. There's an effort to get people to move their habitats into their front yards so that people as well as birds, butterflies and bees benefit. "We're so excited to be the first community wildlife habitat in Kansas, and we're hoping it will have a ripple effect and other communities will do this," Torseth said. The nearest of the other 17 community habitats is Chesterfield, Mo., outside St. Louis. More Hesstonians -- and anybody within driving distance -- also will be encouraged to get their own yards certified. There are more than 68,000 certified habitats nationwide, 572 in Kansas. The arboretum offers a one-night class by its horticulturist, Scott Vogt, to get people started in native plantings with a plan for an 8-by-10-foot plot that they can put anywhere in their yard. The next class will be Sept. 7. "I think people have really seen the benefits, especially this year, how easy they are to maintain," Vogt said of native plants. "And when they see the different pollinators attracted to the yard, it's been an eye-opener." # ______________________________________________________ The American Community Gardening Association listserve is only one of ACGA's services to community gardeners. To learn more about the ACGA and to find out how to join, please go to http://www.communitygarden.org To post an e-mail to the list: [EMAIL PROTECTED] To subscribe, unsubscribe or change your subscription: https://secure.mallorn.com/mailman/listinfo/community_garden
