Daily Archives: October 26, 2018

Saturday, November 3, 11:00 am – 12:30 pm – Cacti and Succulents 101

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Founder of the Cactus and Succulent Society of Massachusetts, Art Scarpa will teach you the basics of care for succulents and cacti on Saturday, November 2 from 11 – 12:30 at The Gardens at Elm Bank, 900 Washington Street in Wellesley. Art will bring live plants and describe their care: including light and watering requirements, soil mixes, sources and lots more. You’ll be able to choose the right plants for you and understand the basic care of these wonderful plants.

Art Scarpa has been growing unusual plants all his life and his hobby greenhouse is filled to the eaves with plants that reflect his diverse interests. His curiosity has taken him to many exciting places to view them in their natural habitats, such as the US south and southwest, Hawaii, Europe, Australia, South America and South Africa. Art was awarded Mass Hort’s Gold Medal in 2013 and has spoken and led workshops at garden clubs and flower shows all over the Northeast. He is a founder and past president of the Cactus & Succulent Society of Massachusetts, and is certified as a judge by the Cactus & Succulent Society of America.
$12 for Mass Hort members, $20 general admission. Register at www.masshort.org.

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Thursday, November 8, 6:30 pm – 8:00 pm – Thomas Woltz: Restoration Ecology

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Over the past two decades of practice, landscape architect Thomas Woltz has forged a body of work that integrates the beauty and function of built forms with an understanding of complex biological systems and restoration ecology. As principal of Nelson Byrd Woltz Landscape Architects (NBW), a 45-person firm based in Charlottesville, Virginia and New York City, Woltz has infused narratives of the land into the places where people live, work and play, deepening the public’s enjoyment of the natural world and inspiring environmental stewardship. NBW projects create models of biodiversity and sustainable agriculture within areas of damaged ecological infrastructure and working farmland, yielding hundreds of acres of reconstructed wetlands, reforested land, and flourishing wildlife habitat.

Presently, Thomas and NBW are entrusted with the design of major public parks across the United States, Canada and New Zealand, they include Memorial Park in Houston, Hudson Yards in New York City, NoMA Green in Washington DC, Cornwall Park in Auckland, the Aga Khan Garden in Alberta, Canada, and three parks in Nashville, including Centennial Park.

In 2013 was named Design Innovator of the Year by the Wall Street Journal magazine and in 2017 Fast Company named Woltz one of the most creative people in business. Thomas will speak at the Harvard Graduate School of Design’s Piper Auditorium on Quincy Street in Cambridge on Thursday, November 8 at 6:30 pm. Free and open to the public. For more information visit http://www.gsd.harvard.edu/event/thomas-woltz/

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Fridays, November 2 – November 16, 1:00 pm – 5:00 pm – The Business of Gardening

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This Berkshire Botanical Garden course on The Business of Gardening meets for 3 weeks on Fridays, November 2-16, 1 – 5 pm.

This course is a must for those working or planning to work professionally in the field of horticulture. Participants will learn how to write a simple business plan, understand a team approach using employees and subcontractors, leasing equipment, bidding out materials and plant materials to a business advantage. Also general ways to organize a business, from sole proprietor to incorporation (S-Corp, Inc., LLC) and the legal deductions it is allowed. Learn the industry standards for markups on materials and labor, what the going rate is to charge clients, and how to cost-estimate projects. Students will complete a cost estimate for a residential project—start to finish. The focus will be how to best prepare yourself to run your own business and how to make a profit.

Instructor: Craig Okerstrom-Lang, A.S.L.A. BBG Members: $175, Non-Members: $185. Register online at www.berkshirebotanical.org.

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