City of Casselberry launches conservation program around native plants

ORLANDO – When the wrong things take root, it can feel a lot like Groundhog Day.

But yanking out weeds on a regular basis doesn’t phase Nancy Rudner, who bought a home in Casselberry. She understands ensuring native plants thrive is not just about aesthetics. Native plants serve as a buffer between her property and Queen’s Mirror Lake.

Those plants clean the water, serve as habitat for wildlife and help with erosion control and shoreline stabilization.

“Having native plants certainly helps the eco-balance. And that’s really important,” she said.

It’s why Rudner volunteers to sample the water monthly for the University of Florida’s Lake Watch program, and why the homeowner recently reached out to the city of Casselberry to take part in a new program.

Rudner filled out an application to be on the receiving end of free native plants, available to lake-dwelling homeowners on 24 different bodies of water.

The program was spearheaded by Nick Cooper, a natural resources officer for the Seminole County city.

Cooper, who has worked in the field of conservation for the past 10 years, said that it will be the first time Casselberry is launching such a program. The goal is to be “good stewards of the environment.”