June 2025 Newsletter
Meeting Speaker: Dr. Sharon Ashworth, Horticulture and Natural Resources Agent for Douglas County Extension Office
President's Message
On May 13, ten Sertomans met for lunch at Six Mile Chop House and Tavern. Dr. Sharon Ashworth, the Horticulture and Natural Resources Agent for the Douglas County Extension office, joined us as the guest speaker.
Dr. Ashworth serves as the Horticulture and Natural Resources Agent for Douglas County. Her topic was “Lawns to Landscapes.” Most lawns in this area are tall fescue, which requires a lot of work to keep it pristine, if that’s how you prefer it, from multiple applications for weed control and fertilization, along with mowing and watering. Many people these days want to get away from all the work and are asking what they can do to change their lawn and landscape and decrease the time spent on maintenance. She offers four options for lawns: a) maintain healthy turf, b) lower input to turf and allow clover and violets to grow in the fescue which are great for pollinators and butterflies, c) keep some turf and change some areas to low-growing ground cover that looks like turf, and d) tear out areas of turf and replace with decorative plants and flowers- she especially likes plants native to Kansas.
If you are considering replacing part of your turf with garden areas, Sharon advises sitting out in your lawn chair, for an entire day if possible, and study your lawn, thinking about the areas you use most, how you use it, what you like to look at, and notice how the sun moves over the lawn throughout the day. This will help you determine what areas you want to keep as turf and what areas to remove and replace.
The Extension office can help identify weeds and advise on how to treat or remove them. Sharon advises submitting a soil sample, which they will send to K-State for testing. It is best to pull samples from different areas of the lawn, mix them, and bring approximately two cups to the Extension office. She notes that Lawrence soil typically has a high PH balance and can also be high in phosphorus and potassium. The test results will then guide the Extension office in providing advice on treatments to correct the levels.
To keep lawns healthy, Sharon advises watering deeply and infrequently, for example, one inch of water twice a week. She also says to avoid allowing grass to get too tall before mowing. If you are cutting more than one-third of a blade of grass, you are stressing it and potentially killing it. Even adding a small corner garden of flowering plants will help the population of pollinators. Over thirty-seven species of bees feed on clovers and dandelions. She goes on to say that native plants support native species of pollinators, which in turn helps the local agriculture.
For further information or questions, you can call Sharon Ashworth at (785)843-7058 ext. 116. The Douglas County Extension office is located at 2110 Harper Street, Lawrence, KS.
In other news, a meeting was held on Monday, May 12, to introduce Jared and Katrina Bednar of YellowBug Creative and discuss plans to start contacting potential sponsors and do a media release as soon as possible for Lawrence Lights 2025.
The scheduled speaker for the June 10th meeting is Luis Ruiz, the Director for Lawrence Parks, Recreation, and Culture Department.
Upcoming Events
SERTOMA Club Meeting
June 10, 2025 @ 12:00pm
Six Mile Chop House
4931 W. 6th St.
Lawrence, KS 66049
SERTOMA Monthly Board Meeting
June 24, 2025 @ 12:00pm
Online
Contributors
Mary Jane Lauer
President
Mary Jane Lauer currently serves as the President of the Lawrence Sertoma Club. She joined Sertoma in June of 2022 after experiencing the club’s BBQ fundraiser and then the Lawrence Lights drive through holiday light show. Mary Jane and her husband, Jim, moved to Eudora, Kansas, in July of 2001, after he accepted a position with the Eudora School District. Shortly after the move, Mary Jane was hired by Commerce Bank in Lawrence and has worked there continually, currently in the position of Commercial Banking Specialist. She and Jim raised five children and now have seven grandchildren who all live within a ten-mile radius. She is a self-described homebody who would rather be at home with her retired husband than anywhere else in the world. She enjoys spending time with her children and grandchildren and has a special love of dogs. Being a member of the Lawrence Sertoma Club has provided the opportunity to meet new people and experience the great satisfaction of giving to others.