---

CRAIG'S JUICY NATIVE GRASS GOSSIP & Research

Prior to each workshop, participants were asked to submit their top-10 list of questions they wanted answered about the use of native plants, and those questions were incorporated into the agenda if possible. You can read the compiled lists of participant's requested agenda items linked to each workshop, below.

The core of the classwork was to discuss 14 Exercises and answer the questions posed by the pictures in each Exercise. The pictures and questions from the workshop are shown below. Each participants received a certificate at the completion of the workshop.

---

This was the first in a series of training session with
Craig Dremann, research director and co-owner of The Reveg Edge,
a private outside-training company, experienced with native plants since 1972
Box 609, Redwood City, CA 94064 (650) 325-7333

Copyright © 2000, 2001 by Craig C. Dremann, all rights reserved.

---

Grindelia............California poppy...Foothills needlegrass
Perennial Cal. natives that stay green all summer without irrigation, and don't require mowing.
Drawing from Abrams' Illustrated Flora of the Pacific States, Stanford Univ. Press. Color by Photoshop.

---

The one-day training session was brought to the participant's locations:

Re-establishment of weed-free, self-sustaining native ecosystems for full-sun, non-riparian, unirrigated areas: utilizing direct seeding of local native seeds.

The workshop opened with a basic outline of how to get started with local native plants, and part of the afternoon session is out in the field. Workshop ran 9 AM to 4 PM, unless otherwise noted. The agenda covers what is listed below, and the final agenda will include items requested by the participants:

-- LOCAL NATIVE PLANTS have something useful for everyone:
-- ENVIRONMENTAL - use your species surveys to pick the best revegetation plants.
-- LANDSCAPE Architecture - cut back your species lists to only the successful ones.
-- STORMWATER - bioengineering with local natives can resolve stormwater issues.
-- MAINTENANCE is the key to roadside native plants, assuring success for everyone.
-- WHAT ARE local native plants, colonizers, seed transfer zones and ecotypes?
-- EVALUATING different native species in the field for your various purposes.
-- HOW TO USE native plants and not create new Endangered Species concerns.
-- R/W LOCAL SEED sources: how to protect for the future and utilize them.
-- TEST PLOTS: their value in making every project a success in less than one year.
-- MIXES, hydroseeding, and other methods of installation and materials to utilize.

ALL PARTICIPANTS were asked to >>> complete the web page SURVEY <<<
as the survey results were used to form the final agenda for the workshop.
(All the participant agenda survey results can be found linked to the workshops listed below).

ALSO>>>ALL PARTICIPANTS were asked to check the web pages below
and prepare their answers to the following exercises for the class:
(click links to see each exercise individually and print off)

14 EXCERCISES, click on each link to see the picture and answer the questions.

Exercise One:
Landscaping with one gallon container stock of native bunchgrass: Failed, why?

Exercise Two:
Direct sowing with natives: Immediate failure and success, why?

Exercise Three:
Direct sowing with natives: Long term failure or success can be
determined by checking the seed mix and examining these two pictures.

Exercise Four:
Maintenance practices today can cause long-term problems or protect natural resources for decades into the future. Why?

Exercise Five: The story of burns, what can they tell you?

Exercise Six:
Ground covers in the past were maintained with herbicides, now what?

Exercise Seven:
The Hypothetical Case of the Out-of-Place Seed Mix: What doesn't belong here?

Exercise Eight:
Beauty examples of roadside native plants in and around Yosemite: What is similar?

Exercise Nine: What can a "common garden study" show about native plant genetics and ecotypes?

Exercise Ten: Existing weeds and their seed bank, if they are where you want to plant natives, what to do?

Exercise Eleven: Evaluation of a Planting: What is the BREAK EVEN RATIO between native plants and exotics?

Exercise Twelve: THE DEAD AND LIVING grasses found in June: how can information about them be used for your vegetation management plans?

Exercise Thirteen: The two percent solution, how is it important?

Exercise Fourteen: Landscape painting directly on the land.

District 1: Eureka (13 agenda items) - Completed - August 15, 2000.
District 2: Combined with District 3 - (1 agenda item)
District 2 & 3 combined: Yuba City - (10 agenda items) - Completed - Sept. 12, 2000
District 4: San Ramon - (33 agenda items) - Completed - August 8, 2000
District 8: San Bernardino - (48 items) - Completed - May 16, 2000

>> see PICTURES and stories about the native plants we saw in the field at D-8.

District 11 & 12: San Diego (spring 33 items) Completed - March 30, 2000
District 12 II: - San Diego (autumn 9 items)- Completed - Sept. 26, 2000
SACTO. HQ: Davis - (16 agenda items) - Completed - June 14, 2000

OTHER WORKSHOPS (2000-2001):

DELAWARE Roadsides- Tuesday October 17, 2000 - Wilmington - Completed<< Afternoon field session, we visited DELDOT native plant test plots.