No moving Boxwoods!
On April 11th 2024, ODA began a quarantine in Southwest Ohio (Butler, Clermont, Hamilton, Greene, Montgomery, and Warren counties) to help restrict the spread of the Box Tree Moth. The movement of boxwood shrubs is prohibited in the listed counties.
Though these moths do not hurt native plants, they can decimate the boxwood, an important and common ornamental shrub in Ohio. ODA encourages residents to report any potential infestations. Evidence of damage includes chewed, cut, or missing leaves, yellowing or brown leaves, white webbing, and green-black excrement on or around the plant. For more information go to: https://agri.ohio.gov/btm
This May, Clermont SWCD was honored to partner with the OKI Regional Council of Governments and Taking Root to distribute 275 free trees to landowners in the Bethel area. The distribution was made possible by funding received through an Urban Forestry grant provided by the Ohio Division of Forestry.
As many know, Bethel and Tate Township have experienced significant tree loss due to the Asian Longhorned Beetle (ALB), and our goal with this project was to begin to help the community re-establish the tree canopy.
This fall, we will be distributing another 325 trees; all will be non-ALB host species and distributed in 5-7 gallon containers. Dates TBD – Landowners can watch our web site and Facebook page for details.
The Adams-Clermont Solid Waste District has a limited amount of 80 gallon Earth Machine compost bins (below, left) available for purchase for only $60, which is nearly 50% off of the retail price. Small 2 gallon kitchen collectors (below, middle) are also available for just $5. We have 50 gallon rain barrels (below, right) in stock as well! Order yours today at https://store.clermontswcd.org/ or by contacting Connie Miller at cmiller@clermontcountyohio.gov or (513) 732-7075 ext 2.
*New Location Alert: All remaining sessions are now at Clingman Park
Sessions are every first Wednesday 6:00-8:00 pm. Below are the workshops for the year. Registration is for each individual session. Go to https://www.clermontparks.org/registration-forms/landowner-conservation-series/ to register, read session descriptions, and find location details!
The Clermont Soil and Water’s Spring Litter Cleanup was successfully held on Saturday April 20th. This year we had 120 volunteers help collect over 150 bags of trash around Clermont County! Thank you to everyone who spent their time helping at this event. Each piece of trash removed from our streams make our shared rivers and streams that much cleaner!
The Litter Cleanup event is coordinated each year by the Clermont Soil and Water Conservation District and partially supported with a grant from Ohio EPA, Division of Recycling and Litter prevention. We truly appreciate your support and want to thank all of our partnering agencies and organizations.
We are already looking forward to next year’s clean up. If you weren’t able to make this event check out the Ohio River Sweep happening on June 22nd, for more information or questions contact Connie Miller at cmiller@clermontcountyohio.gov
Logo Design Contest
Before the Cleanup event, we held our yearly logo design contest for local K-12 students, sponsored by the Southern Ohio Association of Realtors (SOAR).
We received 50 designs across 11 grade levels. The overall winner this year was a 7th grader from Milford Junior High, Melissa Masiliunaite! Melissa’s logo was showcased on event garb and she won a $100 cash award! Winners also receive an additional $100 gift given to their school art department or local art program. Grade-level award winners received $25 each.
Congratulations to all the winners and thank you to everyone who participated! To see all the winning designs you can visit www.springlittercleanup.com
Flowers need water, right? Plant a garden in an area that receives water naturally, such as below a roof downspout. Simply dig a small depression that will collect and hold an amount of water that will soak in or evaporate over two days. This is known as a rain garden, and we offer several plants that will thrive in these conditions, like all of our pollinator plugs (purple cone flower. black-eyed susan, pink turtlehead, cardinal flower and New England aster) as well as some shrubs (button bush, nannyberry and spice bush).
For more tips on creating your own rain garden, give us a call or visit www.clermontswcd.org/rain-gardens-barrels/
Harmful algal bloom on East Fork Lake
H2Ohio is Governor Mike DeWine’s water quality initiative for the state. This initiative is implemented through various partnerships including the Ohio Department of Agriculture (ODA).
H2Ohio and ODA’s partnership program works to bring money to farmers for implementing best management practices. ODA works through local County based Soil and Water Conservation Districts to bring these programs to producers and to provide the technical assistance to make sure that practices are working effectively for each farmer.
In past years H2Ohio has focused on bringing agricultural incentives to farmers in the Western Lake Erie Basin by cost sharing on the development and implementation of volunteer nutrient management plans. These plans follow Ohio State guidelines (Tri-State Fertilizer Guide) for the application of manure and other fertilizers to crop fields. This spring, H2Ohio will be rolling out the program to the rest of Ohio.
If you would like to learn more about the program please call our office at (513) 732-7075 or email jhahn@clermontcountyohio.gov.
The application window is not currently open but we are creating a contact list to send out updates. Funding is limited and will be first come first serve.
For more information on H2Ohio, visit https://h2.ohio.gov/agriculture/
Hello, my name is Elea Cooper and I am the new Education and Communications Coordinator. I am originally from Des Moines, Iowa, but have been living in Oxford, Ohio for the last 4 years while attending Miami University. This May, I will be graduating with a B.A. in Biology and Sustainability and a Master of Environmental Science. I’ve also completed certificates in Environmental Education and Geographic Information Systems, and did my thesis on the impacts of overabundant deer on forest health. In my free time, I enjoy spending time outdoors and hanging out with my dogs. I am so excited to be joining the Clermont SWCD team! Please feel free to reach out to me at ecooper@clermontcountyohio.gov for any questions or recommendations about programming.
Check out this video highlighting the Williamsburg Wetland! Designed to remove pollutants and provide quality habitat, the wetland is functioning as intended and absorbing excess water during storm events. Thanks to the many project partners, especially the Clermont Co. Office of Public Information and Ohio EPA for their assistance producing this fun and educational video.
Clermont SWCD had a memorable time at the annual partnership meeting of the Ohio Federation of Soil and Water Conservation Districts in January. Staff gave presentations on our Williamsburg Wetland Project during the general session and a breakout session during the first day of the conference. On the following day, we were presented with the 2023 Urban Program of the Year award. To top things off, our own Becky McClatchey was honored as the Ohio Outstanding Employee of the Year – we wholeheartedly agree!
Photo Top: From L to R: SWCD employees Amanda Best, Becky McClatchey, Jake Hahn, John McManus, OFSWCD President Jeff Duling.
Photo left: Chad Stang, OASWCDE Board member, Becky McClatchey, John McManus
