Boston Flora

Tag: Ecological Landscape Alliance

  • Friday, October 22, 12:30 pm – 4:30 pm – A Holistic Guide for the Modern Land Steward Webinar

    Based on decades of landscape project experience, this online land care guide, cosponsored by the Ecological Landscape Alliance and the Native Plant Trust, will address regenerative design, green infrastructure, resilient landscapes, adaptive strategies, and building your own toolbox and rule book. You will reconnect with your land practices and their impact. Appropriate for both professional and personal development. The class is led by Trevor Smith and takes place on October 22 from 12:30 – 4:30 pm at Garden in the Woods in Framingham. $60 for ELA and NPT members, $72 for nonmembers. Register at http://www.nativeplanttrust.org/events/holistic-guide-modern-land-steward/

  • Wednesday, September 8, 3:00 pm – 4:00 pm – Designing for Dry Stone Walling in the Landscape, Online

    Sustainable and regenerative construction approaches within today’s landscape have become more and more imperative, especially when considering climate and habitat. Traditional dry stone construction methods offer several advantages when used in sustainable landscape construction. Daniel Peterson, HabAdapt Landscape Design, will touch on the history as well as some of the methods involved in dry stone construction in this September 8 Ecological Landscape Alliance webinar. He will also discuss basic parameters for determining carbon footprint and other environmental implications when designing for dry stone walls. Free for ELA members. Register at www.ecolandscaping.org

    Daniel Peterson is a Minneapolis based landscape designer who focuses on ecologically sound, full service landscape design and installation. A majority of his projects involve restorative practices incorporating native plant communities, permaculture practices, water management, and dry stone construction. Daniel holds a level III, Advanced dry stone craftsman certification and dry stone teaching certification with the Dry Stone Walling Association of Great Britain. Hel is also currently serving on the Board of Directors for The Stone Trust advocating for the recognition and advancement of the historic practice of Dry Stone construction. For more information about Daniel and HabAdapt Landscape Design please check his website habadapt.com or Instagram HabAdapt.

  • Wednesday, July 28, 6:30 pm – 8:00 pm – Eco-Answers with an ELA Eco-Pro, Online

    Do you have a question about how to manage or maintain edibles in your yard and gardens?
    Is successfully growing edibles a challenge that you are facing this summer?

    Join the Ecological Landscape Alliance and native edible plant specialist, Dan Jaffe Wilder online on July 28 at 6:30 Eastern time to ask your questions and get professional advice to help solve your problems. During this 90-minute Zoom live forum, Dan will provide answers to some common questions, and possibly some not so common questions. Dan will share information dealing with edible plants in your gardens and landscapes, including nut-producing trees, berrying shrubs, and some common and not so common annual vegetables.

    Dan will start the evening with brief opening remarks and then jump right into your questions for the bulk of the Q&A session. Some topics that Dan can address are:

    • Edible plants in containers
    • Native and perennial edibles
    • Organic soil amendments
    • Growing food in less-than-ideal conditions
    • Natural pest controls
    • Weeding strategies
    • And more…

    Please send your questions in advance so that Dan will know where to focus his attention. Also send photos of the plants in question to provide some reference and to add interest to the discussion. Email photos along with your questions to: penny@ecolandscaping.org. We will also be taking questions throughout the event.

    Once you are registered for Eco-Answers with the ELA Eco-Pros, you will receive an email with the Zoom Webinar link. Open only to ELA members – join now and register for this free evening event.

    Photographer, author, and plantsman Dan Jaffe Wilder has over fifteen years’ experience with ecological horticulture. He is a propagator of native species, the photographer and co-author of Native Plants for New England Gardens, and a lecturer on numerous topics including pollinators, sustainable landscape practices, foraging and cultivation of edible species, low-maintenance horticulture, among others. He has developed a native plant horticultural database (https://plantfinder.nativeplanttrust.org/Plant-Search) and has years of nursery management experience. Dan earned a degree in botany from the University of Maine, Orono, and an advanced certificate in Native Plant Horticulture and Design from Native Plant Trust (formerly New England Wild Flower Society). He is the Horticulturalist and Propagator for Norcross Wildlife Sanctuary in Wales, MA and is currently building his own home-scale homestead, growing and foraging numerous edible species, preserving and cooking whenever possible, and raising small animals.

  • Wednesday, June 23, 12:00 noon – 1:00 pm – Beautiful and Tough Natives Shine in Uncertain Times, Online

    A spring trip to the garden center offers a tempting array of exotic plants that promise to bloom throughout the season. The allure is great when coupled with the misconception that many gardeners have that native plants are not the most beautiful plants and can be messy.  Before succumbing to annual or exotic plant temptations, let’s consider the role that native plants play in our gardens. Native plants are adapted to the local climate and soil conditions where they naturally occur. They provide nectar, pollen, and seeds that serve as food for native butterflies, insects, birds and other animals. Native plants require little or no fertilizers and require less water. The deep root systems of many native plants stabilize the soil and increase the soil’s capacity to store water. And native plants promote biodiversity and stewardship of our natural heritage.

    Many native plants are not just beautiful, but also multi-task in tough conditions.

    Join The Ecological Landscape Alliance and Teri Speight online on June 23 at noon for this inspiring presentation on native plants. She will share insight into what native plants offer in terms of both beauty and environmental value to the landscape. Teri will reacquaint us with some familiar plants and will offer other suggestions that just might make you rethink your garden needs.

    In addition to providing valuable plant information, this presentation will inspire you to spend time in the garden and to consider native plants for your next garden project.

    Teresa (Teri) Speight is a proud Native Washingtonian, Region II Director of GardenComm International, Steward of the Land, Garden Coach, Garden Writer, Podcaster at Garden in the Court, Garden Experience Curator, Estate Gardener, History Lover, and Visionary. With ancestral sharecropping roots originating in North and South Carolina, connecting with the earth is authentic to Teri. Her ancestor’s hands helped build and feed her family for generations. Teri honors this earth in respect to her heritage. Reconnecting average people with the soil is important. Teri believes that when we reconnect with the soil, nature, and our roots, we can begin to respect all that the earth provides.

    This webinar is open to ELA members. If you are not a member, Join Us.

    Log into your ELA member account to view tickets. The event is a free, but registration is required.

  • Wednesday, June 16, 12:00 noon – 1:00 pm – Fundamentals of Garden Layers, Online

    When designing any garden, there is an opportunity to eschew the norms of beauty as the only priority. With careful planning, we can create a space that works in harmony with nature, expands biodiversity, builds healthy soil, and nurtures pollinators and other wildlife. Let’s learn from natural plant communities to increase ecosystem function and climate resilience at home in our designed gardens. From the fundamentals of seasonal and yearly plant succession, to using plant reproduction and sociability to fill ecological niches, the right native plant communities make all the difference for beautiful gardens both wildlife and people crave. Benjamin Vogt owns Monarch Gardens, a prairie-inspired design firm. Benjamin is primarily a plantsman with deep prairie roots. His designs are 100% native plants and his firm specializes in converting lawn to prairie gardens that build biodiversity and support pollinators. His landscapes have been featured in Garden Design, Fine Gardening, and The American Gardener. Benjamin speaks nationally on a variety of topics and is the author of A New Garden Ethic: Cultivating Defiant Compassion for an Uncertain Future and the forthcoming Prairie Up: An Introduction to Natural Garden Design (spring 2022).

    Webinar will take place June 16 at noon and is free, but registration required at https://www.ecolandscaping.org/event/webinar-fundamentals-of-garden-layers/

  • Wednesday, June 9, 12:00 noon – 1:00 pm – Native Plants for Bird Friendly Communities, Online

    As we think ahead to spring and summer gardens, we anticipate the sights, scents, and sounds. One way to enhance the garden experience is to invite fascinating wildlife to live in and around the yard.

    This virtual Ecological Landscape Alliance presentation on June 9 at noon features the beautiful songbirds that flit through gardens including wrens, cardinals, finches, nuthatches, and more. Add beauty to your outdoor spaces, while helping birds and wildlife too. Bird-friendly gardens are a treat to anyone who appreciates gardening, wildlife, and the motion and song of birds.

    Join Audubon CT-NY’s Jillian Bell for a presentation focused on bird-friendly plants for your home landscape. With the right plants, any space—from a small container on your patio to an acre of your backyard—can become more bird-friendly.

    Whether you have years of experience with bird-friendly gardens or want to start your first one, you will find information and inspiration in this presentation. All successful bird gardens are comprised of three very important elements: cover, nesting, and nourishment (food and water). In this presentation, Jillian will provide an in-depth look at the things you can do to make your outdoor spaces more bird-friendly for our year-round avian residents as well as feathered friends who stopover during their migration journeys.

    Jillian Bell is Audubon Connecticut & New York’s Bird Friendly Communities (BFC) Program Coordinator.  She works with community groups and a suite of program partners to restore native habitat, connect people with nature, and inspire stewardship as well as the next generation of environmental leaders.  Jillian has supported over 30 schools in Connecticut in their efforts to green their schoolyards by creating native plant habitats on school grounds. Jillian also delivers professional development workshops to teaching staff to support them in taking their students outside and integrating their curriculum with the natural world right outside their doors. She is currently leading a virtual workshop series for people interested in adding native plants to their home spaces, be it in a planter or a whole yard.

    The program is free, but registration is required at www.ecolandscaping.org.

  • Wednesday, June 2, 12:00 noon – Rain Garden Virtual Primer: A Good Option for Your Landscape?

    Are you wondering what a rain garden is and whether a rain garden can help your landscape? Join The Ecological Landscape Alliance on June 2 online at noon for a primer on these beautiful and functional gardens that create a more sustainable landscape.

    A rain garden is a garden of native shrubs and perennials planted in a small depression, which is generally located where storm water runoff occurs. It is designed to temporarily hold and soak in rain water that runs off roofs, driveways, patios, or lawns.

    Rain gardens are effective in binding many nutrients and chemicals and trapping many sediments so they do not enter aquifers and water bodies.
    Compared to a conventional lawn, rain gardens allow more water to soak into the ground. The bonus is that the native plants in the rain garden also support pollinators.

    A rain garden is not a water garden. Nor is it a pond or a wetland.  A properly designed rain garden is dry most of the time. It typically holds water only during and following a rainfall event. Because rain gardens will drain within 12-48 hours, they prevent the breeding of mosquitoes.

    Rain gardens, as part of successful rain water management, rely on plant material for soil stabilization, contaminant filtering, nutrient absorption, and to slow rainwater for infiltration. Well designed rain gardens, with the appropriate plant material, can greatly improve the results of rain handling. Selecting appropriate plants for rain gardens is a critical first step to their success. Beyond plant selection, proper site preparation and periodic maintenance are critical components of long-term success of a rain garden. In this webinar, Amanda Sloan describes what rain gardens are, explains the elements that go into a successful rain garden project, and will help you decide if a rain garden is a good option for your landscape.

    Amanda Sloan is a landscape architect with 28 years of experience on a wide variety of projects in landscape design and architecture including native plant gardens, dog parks, accessible trails, school and playground gardens, rain gardens, and environmental design throughout New England. Her experience includes project design and management from conceptual design through bid documents; peer review; presentation illustrations; and writing. Bringing her strong interest in the connections between people and nature to her work, Amanda is well versed in the use of native plants and ecological approaches to design. Before recently forming Raingarden Design Studio and becoming an independent consultant, Amanda worked long-term as a landscape architect for BETA Group, Inc. Previously Amanda was a landscape designer with Julie Moir Messervy Design Studio, and a landscape architect with GLA Landscape Architecture. She was president of the Sharon Garden Club and served for 5 years as an elected member of the Sharon Planning Board. She currently serves on the boards of the Ecological Landscape Alliance, and Rolf Sylvan Gardens in Chatham, MA.

    The webinar is free, but registration is required at www.ecolandscaping.org

  • Wednesday, May 26, 12:00 noon – 1:00 pm – Growing Vertically with Edible and Ornamental Plants, Online

    Vertical garden systems offer a number of benefits, such as increased accessibility for people with restricted physical abilities, privacy, vibrancy, and many more. Frequently people think a vertical system is not feasible for a number of reasons, but in this online Ecological Landscape Alliance presentation on May 26 at noon, living wall designer Irene Barber will share a number of opportunities that will inspire the breakdown of preconceived limitations, including information about budget conscious options, plant and soil materials and creative vertical garden designs. Irene Barber is the Adult Education Program Manager and Horticultural Therapist, HTR at Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens in Boothbay, Maine where she designs and maintains vertical gardens in the universally accessible Lerner Garden of the Five Senses.  Irene is owner and landscape designer of Greenscapes Design LLC in Durham, ME specializing in therapeutic, accessible and ecological outdoor living environments for private and public settings. Free. Register at www.ecolandscaping.org.

  • Through Monday, May 31, 5:00 pm Deadline – 2021 Spotlight on Natives Photo Contest

    Wherever you live, The Ecological Landscape Alliance invites you to share the beauty of native plants in your area. Send us your most inspiring photographs of individual native plants or native plants communities in either natural or garden settings and you’ll be entered to win a one-year ELA membership. The contest runs from April 1st through May 31st. ELA will include the winning images in the June issue of the ELA Newsletter and post winning photographs (with attribution) on ELA’s Facebook page and website throughout the year. There is evidence that regularly spending time in nature benefits one’s mental and physical health and overall sense of well-being. Those benefits are especially important now – and a walk with your camera breaks no rules of social distancing. If Spring has not yet arrived in your area, why not spend time remembering warmer days by perusing your photos from past gardening seasons? You might discover some excellent contest entries in your collection!

    Photo submission requirements and contest guidelines are found at https://www.ecolandscaping.org/event/2021-spotlight-on-natives-photo-contest/

    First place winners in each category will receive a one-year Professional membership to ELA. If the winner has a current ELA membership, the membership will be extended for one year. Value $100. Up to two additional photographs in each category will be recognized as honorable mentions and will win $50 credit for books in the ELA bookstore or ELA logo merchandise. Prizes will be announced in the June issue of the ELA Newsletter and featured in an article and on the ELA website.

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  • Wednesday, May 12, 12:00 noon – 1:00 pm – The Journey of Edible Landscapes, Online

    Edible landscaping is the use of food-producing plants in the residential landscape. It can combine fruit and nut trees, berrying shrubs, vegetables, herbs, edible flowers, along with ornamental plants into aesthetically pleasing designs. These designs can adopt any garden style and may include anywhere from 1 to 100 percent edible specimens. A gardener can install an entirely edible landscape or incorporate some edible plants into existing gardens.

    But where did edible landscapes begin?

    This Ecological Landscape Alliance online presentation on May 12 at noon begins where agriculture began, the Zagros Mountain Range on the border of Iran and Iraq. From there it travels through the Middle East and Europe showing how we went from subsistence farming to aesthetic gardening in response to the rise of privilege. The remaining portion of the presentation covers edible plantings in a variety of settings such as within flower gardens, in garden islands, and in containers and closes with different annual and perennial plants commonly found in Edible Landscaping.

    Sven Pihl, founder of CT Edible Ecosystems, LLC is a Regenerative Land Planner/Designer and Permaculture educator formerly based in Connecticut. Sven designs multifunctional Edible Landscapes and Forest Gardens for homes, commercial properties, campuses and public spaces. He’s passionate about regenerative landscape design to create productive agro-ecosystems. His education ranges from local coursework to the University of Missouri’s Center for Agroforestry and Multifunction Carbon Sequestration Agroforestry at the Yale School of the Environment. He has worked on Permaculture and Agroforestry projects from New Jersey to New Hampshire.

    Sven currently works for the Savanna Institute as the Agroforestry Technical Service Provider for the state of Illinois and Indiana and is working to rebrand CT Edible Ecosystems into a national entity.