Daily Archives: February 6, 2021

Wednesday, February 17, 6:30 pm – 7:30 pm – Foundation Gardens and Native Plants: A Winter View Webinar

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Join us for one of Tower Hill Botanic Garden’s most popular webinars. Foundation and entryway gardens can make or break the “welcome factor” of a home or community building, so let’s consider the problems and opportunities posed by this important space. On February 17 at 6:30 pm, learn how to use winter’s lean lines to assess a foundation area and imagine new designs. Build your plant list during the dark months, a list that includes native perennials, shrubs, grasses, trees, and ferns. Create habitat for birds and pollinators while creating an inviting landscape. Extensive handout and plant lists included.

Kathy Connolly is a landscape designer who specializes in naturalized designs, low-impact techniques, and native plants for homeowners, municipalities, and other organizations. Kathy has a master’s degree in landscape planning and design from the Conway School in Easthampton, MA. She completed the advanced master gardener program and is an Accredited Organic Land Care Professional through NOFA. She is an active member of the Connecticut Invasive Plant Working Group (CIPWG). She is a regular columnist for The Day community papers which circulate throughout southeastern Connecticut and has written about lawn alternatives for The Spruce/About.com. She gives about 25 talks and workshops each year for conservation organizations, master gardeners, museums, libraries, land trusts, and garden clubs. Her website is www.SpeakingofLandscapes.com.

Monday, February 8, 1:00 pm – 2:00 pm – Regenerative Design: How Living in Agreement with Nature Helps Organizations Thrive Webinar

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Human impact on planet earth is at least three million years deep but it wasn’t until the advent of agriculture some 11,000 years ago that the ways we conduct our daily living began creating dramatic shifts in the biological functions that sustain us. This Ecological Landscape Alliance online program on February 8 from 1 – 2 will explore how adapting an ecological framework that acknowledges biological limits supports healthy design. By living in agreement with nature we can create better stories, more sustainable economies, and stronger community relationships. Those three things form the bedrock of thriving organizations and communities.

Claude Stephens will explain how regenerative thinking relates to design goals for projects exploring LEED®, the Living Building Challenge, and other criteria based design challenges. The program also introduces how an ignorance-based approach to planning frames new ways of exploring traditional challenges. Claude Stephens is the Facilitator of Outreach and Regenerative Design at Bernheim Arboretum and Research Forest in Clermont, Kentucky. He is also the director of the Children at Play Network which is an ongoing project of Bernheim focused on working regionally to reenvision the landscapes for children’s play. The CAPN values play as part of healthy child development and as a means to reconnect children with nature in order to foster the next generation of environmental stewards.
Claude has more than 35 years of experience working in museums and environmentally focused organizations. He has been at Bernheim for 21 of those years. Claude’s academic background is in evolutionary ecology and biology which continues to frame his approach to how humans might build deeper and healthier relationships with the natural world.
He has worked on numerous boards including the Food Literacy Project, Squallis Puppeteers and the Kentucky Chapter of the US Green Building Council.

Free for ELA members, $10 for nonmembers. Register HERE.