Strategic conservation in farmed and urban landscapes can disproportionately increase biodiversity. Nick Haddad has worked for three decades to understand how to conserve landscapes to benefit pollinators and other species. He has created large experiments to test the role of targeted conservation efforts. For example, landscape corridors through urban and farmed landscapes can create superhighways for plants and animals to increase their presence, abundance, and diversity. Read more about the Ecological Landscape Alliance webinar on January 18 and register HERE.
A book about planting for monarchs (and for motivated readers and gardeners) is not quite as wondrous as monarchs and their individual life cycles, their host relationship with milkweeds, or their annual migrations in North America, but it is something of a miracle. Only a few decades ago, the concept of creating native-plant gardens was just beginning to gain traction. Fortunately, with wider awareness, the movement has grown. In addition to monarch and milkweed life history, the threats to monarchs and the best practices for supporting this North American royalty, we’ll cover selecting plants, designing habitat, site preparation, planting, follow up management and monitoring – including how to contribute to monarch conservation through community science projects. This webinar on January 25 beginning at noon is sponsored by the Ecological Landscape Alliance, and registration can be accomplished at https://www.ecolandscaping.org/event/monarch-butterfly/
Presenter Stephanie Frischie provides pollinator and beneficial insect habitat expertise in Canada, the U.S. and Latin America for a range of land use types – farms, the energy infrastructure, natural areas, and urban green spaces. She also works with the native seed industry and researchers to plan and develop seed supply of important plant species for creating and restoring habitat. Ms. Frischie volunteers as a rare plant monitor with Plants of Concern and is the secretary of the International Network for Seed-based Restoration.
Green infrastructure, pollinator gardens, and food gardens are increasingly integrated into PK-12 learning environments. This Ecological Landscape Alliance online session at noon on January 11 will describe how the built environment and natural settings can facilitate deeper learning, an approach to education that not only seeks to achieve traditional academic standards, but also seeks to foster innovation in problem-solving, collaborative work, effective communication, inquiry, and critical thinking. Read more about the webinar and register at www.ecolandscaping.org
Landscape designers nationwide believe in the many benefits of green stormwater infrastructure (GSI); but, for this strategy to succeed, the public must want these installations in their yards, parks, schools, and neighborhood streets. This Ecological Landscape Alliance online session on November 2 presents a study of public reactions to the appearance of GSI, focusing on rain garden installation within the municipal streetscape – technically a “public” space, but perceived by homeowners as part of their front yards. Public resistance to streetscape rain gardens can be found across the U.S. Some residents regard these rain gardens as “ugly pits,” while others think they “look great.” A community’s appreciation for rain gardens is critical to their cultural sustainability: negative reactions can stall and prevent implementation. The study interviews designers and municipal program managers of green streets projects in Kansas City, Missouri, and Montgomery County, Maryland, and builds upon existing research and theory transecting the fields of landscape architecture and environmental behavior. Data analysis reveals the drivers of public concern regarding appearance and potential design and participatory strategies. Register HERE.
Presenter Kate Cholakis is conducting research examining the intersections of sustainable stormwater management, landscape perception, and environmental behavior through the MSLA program at Penn State University. She teaches ecological design and planning within the Conway School’s graduate program, and her professional practice experience involves green infrastructure planning and design and ecological approaches to land management. Ms. Cholakis earned her BA in Architecture from Smith College and MA from the Conway School. She is a LEED Green Associate. Presenter Eliza Pennypacker is a Professor of Landscape Architecture at Penn State University. Since 2005 she has conducted research with Stuart Echols on “Artful Rainwater Design”: sustainable stormwater management that celebrates the rain in a way that is entertaining and enlightening. She and Echols have presented and published extensively on the subject, including their 2015 book, Artful Rainwater Design: Creative Ways to Manage Stormwater (Island Press).
Our goal as both professionals and home gardeners is to create habitat for all. In order to achieve this, we must design with an ecological sensibility, implement with an ecological sensibility and manage our landscape with that same ecological sensibility. Over time all landscapes evolve and we try to set a path for the design to follow, to create the palette we envision, but it could also take a surprising and scenic turn depending on plant/animal/insect/human interactions. The way we care for our designs can have a pretty significant impact on that design and considerations such as light, noise, and carbon emissions should be part of our plans. Our goal is to create habitat, a functioning ecosystem for all. So, are we getting it right?
This Ecological Landscape Alliance fall conference on October 27 at New England Botanic Garden at Tower Hill has engaged five professionals to tell their stories of landscape interaction of plants, the environment, the management and the creatures that rely on them (including humans). Two Landscape Architects will talk about projects over time – what surprises they found, whether maintenance or management impacted their design and what accommodations they felt were necessary. We also have speakers who will address plant selection, the function of native, nativar and non-native plants in the landscape and importance of the plant selection on pollinator and insect/plant interactions. Does our plant selection affect the wildlife that uses it and do certain plant groups create greater impact. All of these stories also rely on the way that we manage and its implications on the landscape. Learn about new directions in management and the difference they can make to your design.
Attend Season’s End in person and get the value of visiting New England Botanic Garden at Tower Hill and its acres of varied landscapes. Or attend virtually from anywhere in the country and get the benefit of hearing these great stories from experienced professionals.
Sam Hoadley will present Knockout Natives. Sam is the Manager of Horticultural Research at Mt. Cuba Center where he evaluates native plant species, old and new cultivars, and hybrids in the Trial Garden. Sam earned his degree in Sustainable Landscape Horticulture from the University of Vermont.
Next comes Fostering Pollinator Populations: New Ideas and Other Ecological Perspectives with Pawel Pieluszynski. He specializes in ecological horticulture at Brooklyn Bridge Park with a keen interest in entomology and native plant communities. He is currently pursuing a Master’s Degree in Biology at CUNY College of Staten Island. The talk is followed by Mark Richardson and Robert Graham on Making the Move to Green Equipment.
Finally, Toby Wolf speaks on Designing for Change at Brooklyn Botanic Garden. Toby Wolf is the owner of Wolf Landscape Architecture, whose designs connect people with the natural world. He has developed master plans, site designs, and planting designs for Wellesley College, the Native Plant Trust, Cornell Botanic Gardens, Colby College, Mount Auburn Cemetery, and homeowners throughout the Boston area. Mr. Wolf is a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania and Cornell University. He has taught at Cornell, RISD, and SUNY ESF and has served as President and board member of the Ecological Landscape Alliance and the Horticulture Committee of the Friends of the Public Garden.
Your backyard has a unique plant community based on the ecology and geology of the area.
In this three-part Native Plant Trust workshop to be held online, learn to identify appropriate native plants and groupings for your site and create a personalized plant palette and design that is beautiful and enhances biodiversity. Leave the workshop inspired to integrate science and art in your garden. Tickets: $135 Members – $162 Non-Members. Sessions will be held from 6-9 on September 10, 27m and October 4. Staci Jasin, Landscape Designer, will instruct.
Explore three beautiful meadows at Helia Native Nursery, 95 East Road in beautiful Alford, Massachusetts in the Berkshires, on September 9. Learn about the importance of a meadow ecosystem, different methods for meadow building and how to maintain existing meadows to maximize wildlife benefits. Helia Native Nursery is situated on Sky Meadow Farm, a beautiful 109-acre farm. Its mission is to preserve native genotypes through creating seed banks on the farm and propagating native plants in our nursery.
Helia’s land stewardship on the farm focuses on restoring wildflower meadows for pollinators. Planted 4 and 5 years ago, this tour will feature three mature meadows that demonstrate a variety of planting techniques, seeding and planting, and different maintenance strategies. There will be discussion of invasive species control, meadow mowing regimens, and meadow disturbance opportunities.
All of the meadows display rich color palettes, showing what can be achieved using native plants. The meadows are all designed with four season interest – a feature that invites frequent visits to experience the changing views.
An important feature of well-designed meadows is the opportunity for habitat restoration. Plant selections consider the various stages of pollinator life cycles and provide appropriate plants for each. Join tour guide, Bridghe McCracken to learn more. This Ecological Landscape Alliance tour is $33, and members of ELA will receive a discount. Register and learn more at https://www.ecolandscaping.org/event/eco-tour-exploring-the-meadows-at-sky-meadow-farm/
Join Ecological Landscape Alliance and Matt Benzie on June 22 online as we take a look at Battery-Powered Landscape Equipment.
There are now practical alternatives on the market to gas-powered landscape maintenance equipment (GLMEs). Let’s talk about why they are worth a try and how to choose your best option. Join us as we talk with Matt Benzie, President and Owner of Indigenous Ingenuities, an environmental landscape design, build and management company located in Doylestown, PA that exclusively uses battery-powered equipment. During this 45-minute live Zoom Q&A, Matt will provide a quick overview of why we should avoid GLMEs and his reasons for making the commitment to battery-powered equipment. Then he will jump right into your questions for the bulk of this session.
Some topics that Matt can address are:
Is it practical to use battery-powered equipment?
What brands are the best for commercial use?
Is electric equipment more expensive? How do you quantify the value to your customers?
And more…
You can email questions in advance to help guide Matt’s remarks. Send to office@ecolandscaping.org. If you don’t submit questions in advance, no problem, we will also be taking questions throughout the event. When you register for Eco-Answers with the ELA Eco-Pros, you will receive your Zoom Webinar link in a separate email. This is a free ELA members-only event, but joining is inexpensive and simple. Visit https://www.ecolandscaping.org/event/going-electric-in-the-landscape/
The Ecological Landscape Alliance invites you to tour the private gardens of landscape designer and pollinator expert, Thomas Berger in Kittery, Maine on June 18 from 9:30 – 11:30. The Green Art Garden is located at 30 US-Route-1-Bypass in Kittery.
When choosing plants to support insects in our gardens, we want to make the most of our limited space. Which plants nourish the most species? And which kinds of insects need our support most urgently?
Thomas Berger has been designing landscapes for insects for more than twenty years in his own gardens and client gardens. Thomas pays particular attention to providing for two groups of insects:
The caterpillars of butterflies and moths (lepidoptera), which are an important part of the wildlife food chain.
The pollinators, especially native bees that fulfill the essential function of pollinating not only our food crops but also native plants and thus contribute to their survival.
Our goal for any garden should be to provide habitat for the largest possible number of insect species. Thomas Berger’s gardens demonstrate effective habitat that provide joy and beauty for humans as well.
Join us for a unique opportunity to explore the private gardens of an inspiring insect specialist, landscape designer, and passionate nature photographer. $33. Register HERE.
Thomas Berger grew up in a small rural town in Germany. During his childhood he was an avid collector of shells, bones, sea creatures, and fossils. He also gardened with his father and kept bees and sheep which led him to study agriculture. As an adult, Thomas worked on farms in Germany, France and Australia, and joined the German Volunteer Service in 1984, working in an agricultural project in Niger, West Africa. In 1994 he moved to the United States, where he started a landscape design and construction firm, Green Art, and received an award of excellence from the New Hampshire Landscape Association in 1998. Thomas is a regionally known stone sculptor, expressing his love of nature through his art. Thomas has won many awards and commissions and his sculpture is displayed at many public venues throughout the Northeast.
Sharing landscapes with deer can result in costly damage to plantings. Join Native Plant Trust online on June 12 at 1 pm to learn about deer behavior and natural preventative measures to safeguard your garden. We will also review a selection of “deer tolerant” plants and point out those considered “deer candy.” Cheryl Salatino is the instructor and the fee is $30 for NPT members, $36 for nonmembers. Register at http://www.nativeplanttrust.org/events/deer-tolerant-landscapes/
