Memorable gardens and sustainable landscapes create a strong impact using structural shrubs and trees. These essential beauties provide both ambiance and organizing principles in the landscape. This Native Plant Trust online workshop, co-sponsored with the Ecological Landscape Alliance, on July 18 from 1 – 4 explores which native plants work well together, and how and why. Wet feet, dry shade, part sun – we will address the options for a spectrum of site conditions. We will also take a virtual walk to observe plant combinations and their growing conditions in a botanical garden setting. $45 for NPT and ELA members, $54 for nonmembers. Cheryl Salatino leads the session. Image courtesy of Gardens Illustrated.
This Native Plant Trust and Ecological Landscape Alliance July 16 session with Trevor Smith from 10:30 – 1:30 at Garden in the Woods discusses soil history, soil composition, soil health, soil’s impact on plants’ health, soil’s role in sustainability and combating climate change, and more. We will provide you with the information needed to use soil regeneration to capture carbon, reduce flooding and drought conditions, and grow healthy plants resistant to disease and stress. $45 for NPT and ELA members, $54 for nonmembers. As with all events during the pandemic, please confirm before the session in case the class is switched to an online format. Register at http://www.nativeplanttrust.org/events/soil-solution-beneath-our-feet/
The monarch butterfly is probably the most famous insect specialist (the caterpillars only feed on milkweed), but did you know that many native bees are also specialists?
Female native bee specialists or oligoleges, only collect pollen from a narrow range of native plants; this could mean just one plant genus or many genera that belong to one plant family. During this Walk in the Garden Ecological Landscape Alliance webinar on July 1 at noon, Heather Holm will highlight many of these native plant-bee specializations as well as the overlapping habitat requirements of the bees and plants.
The presentation will also include the threats to specialist bees such as habitat loss and climate change. Heather Holm had an avid interest in natural history and botany at a young age and spent much of her childhood exploring the woodlands and prairie on the family property. She studied horticulture and biology at the University of Guelph and later web programming and digital design at Seneca college, Canada.
Heather is an award-winning author and nationally sought-after speaker spending much of her time passionately educating audiences about the fascinating world of native bees and the native plants that support them. Her first book, Pollinators of Native Plants, was published in 2014, and her latest book, Bees, published in 2017, has won six book awards including the 2018 American Horticultural Society Book Award. Heather’s expertise includes the interactions between native bees and native plants, and the natural history and biology of native bees occurring in the upper Midwest and Northeast.
Heather currently lives in Minnesota with her husband. She is a self-employed author, designer, and publisher. For the past few years, she has been assisting with native bee research projects. In her spare time, Heather is an active community supporter, writing grants and coordinating neighborhood volunteer landscape restoration projects. Currently, she is working on three projects with volunteers, restoring approximately ten acres of city-owned land in her neighborhood for pollinators and people.
Methods of design and ways of selecting appropriate plant material for a landscape vary. Karen Howard will share some techniques she uses to create a garden space, and structure a landscape design. This Ecological Landscape Alliance online presentation will take place June 24 at noon.
Enclosing space, using specimen plants, and plants in drifts, will be explored. Karen will also discuss the sequence she uses to choose plants, and how she locates them. Examples of many plants that she uses in designs will be shown, and she will discuss how and when she uses specific types of plants.
Karen Howard comes from a long line of artists including painters, a ceiling muralist, a furniture maker and a garden designer. Karen followed in their footsteps. Her company, Howard Designs, is a full service residential architectural and landscape design firm that combines Karen’s interest in houses and gardens. She has lectured for the Ecological Landscape Alliance, the Massachusetts Horticultural Society, the Massachusetts Nursery and Landscape Association, the New England Spring Flower Show and many local garden clubs.
Karen is a registered architect in New York and Massachusetts, a landscape designer, and a Massachusetts Certified Horticulturist.
It is often said that there is a lull between the big spring wildflower bloom of April and May, and the later summer and autumn flowers that fill the meadows of July through September.
What of June? This Ecological Landscape Alliance online presentation on June 17 from 12 – 1 will highlight flowering native plants that bridge that seasonal gap. Particular emphasis will be placed on those plants that fit into shade-loving gardens as this is the area where the lull is most pronounced.
The reasons for the lull, the nature and characteristics of those plants that overcome it, and some other options for color and interest will all be explored.
Ian Caton is the owner/operator of Wood Thrush Native Plant Nursery (Formerly Enchanters Garden). He has operated Wood Thrush Native Plants since 2013 when he took over the nursery from the previous owner (Peter Heus) who had operated the nursery since the 1990s.
Wood Thrush Native Plants is a nursery specializing in native plants of the Appalachian region including West Virginia, Virginia, Pennsylvania, Tennessee and North Carolina. A focus of the nursery is the introduction of new and rare native plants which are little known or under-appreciated in the nursery trade.
Previously Ian Caton worked at Larry Weaner Landscape Associates, a landscape firm specializing in the use and promotion of native plants in landscaping. Ian graduated from Delaware Valley College with a BS in Ornamental Horticulture and Environmental Design. He has an extensive knowledge of native plants, natural communities, and their incorporation into the human environment. In addition to many years of experience designing and installing native landscapes, this knowledge was gained primarily through his long running relationship with Bowman’s Hill Wildflower Preserve. He has also had the opportunity to work with local governments on the development of landscape plans for public spaces.
In the fragmented ecosystems where we live and work, the importance of diversity in our landscapes cannot be over emphasized. Diversity of native plants, insects, mammals, birds, amphibians… they all play a crucial role in sustaining a healthy environment.
When we encourage a diversity of native plants in the landscape, we provide just one component of a successful habitat. We all learned the components of sustainable habitats when we were in elementary school – all creatures need food, shelter, and water.
But what does this mean in a landscape? We need diversity of food: native plants that supply food for insects that in turn become food for other insects, birds, and animals large and small. We must have plant diversity to feed a diversity of creatures, but we also need structural diversity. Places for butterflies to hide at night and moths to hide during the day. Places for all sorts of creatures to shelter from weather, both summer and winter. Places for cover and nesting sites. We need diversity of form: trees, shrubs, evergreens, and groundcovers; leaf litter, brush piles, rock piles and fallen logs. We also need water – streams, ponds, bird baths, and mud puddles. Incorporating all these elements into the landscape does not require a large space, but it does require creative vision.
Dr. Randi Eckel has been studying native plants for over 30 years, and founded the mail-order native plant nursery Toadshade Wildflower Farm in 1996 to further public awareness and availability of native plants. A life-long naturalist, lover of nature, and confirmed plant and ecology nerd, Randi specializes in the interactions between plants and other living things. She is known for her lively and engaging lectures and workshops on growing and propagating native plants, and offers interesting, nuanced information on the complex issues facing native plants and native plant communities. This Ecological Landscape Alliance webinar will be held June 10 at noon, and is free, but registration is required at https://www.ecolandscaping.org/event/webinar-landscaping-with-purpose/
Paris gardens were originally inspired by the classical and romantic styles found in Italy and England. Over the past two hundred years, designers have created a uniquely Parisian look to the gardens, as they have become a cultural way of life. Today, Paris boasts of more than 400 private and public gardens, each one appreciated for its distinct place in the fabric of the city.
The Ecological Landscape Association online tour will begin with such well-known parks as Luxembourg, Tuileries and Bagatelle, smaller gardens such as Monceau, Rodin, and Carnavalet, and also a few surprises such as Promenade du Plantee, Hotel du Sully and Mosque du Paris. In Paris, a park is almost never a mere plot of grass reserved for leisure, and a garden is rarely a random selection of flowers and plants. Parisians pride themselves in making their city’s parks and gardens places of elegance, artistic detail, and symmetry– even the romantic gardens have been carefully planned to imitate nature.
CeCe Haydock graduated from Princeton University (BA English) and received a master’s degree in landscape architecture from the SUNY School of Environmental Science and Forestry. After working for the New York City Parks Department, she joined the firm, Innocenti and Webel in Locust Valley, NY, before starting her private practice. In 2007, she did research as a Visiting Scholar at the American Academy in Rome on Edith Wharton and Italian villas. She has lectured and written on historic Italian, French, and American gardens for Old Westbury Gardens, Maryland’s Ladew Topiary Gardens, Princeton University, and numerous garden and horticultural clubs. A trustee of Planting Fields Arboretum and a member of the International Council of The Preservation Society of Newport County and a visiting lecturer at the New York Botanic Garden. CeCe is currently expanding her private practice to include landscape sustainability.
How do we embrace and work in alignment with landscape changes? Moreover, in what instances should we alter site conditions, and how can we do so in a sustainable way? In this May 30 Native Plant Trust online workshop, we will learn how to create specific garden design outcomes using shapes, sizes, and plant varieties. This advanced design session with Cheryl Salatino includes a set of hands-on exercises to challenge our perspectives and to instill flexibility in our approach. The session will run from 1 – 4 and is cosponsored by the Ecological Landscape Alliance. Sponsor members $45, nonmembers $54. Register at http://www.nativeplanttrust.org/events/landscape-design-changing-site-conditions/
Ecological design is based on the same principles as landscape design, however, practitioners can become caught up in the arrangement of elements and materials and forget that the application of art and design principles are critical to evoke meaning, intent, and order. Consider this free Ecololgical Landscape Alliance webinar on May 6 from 12 – 1 Eastern time a refresher course for experienced designers and an introduction to design for emerging practitioners. This webinar is adapted from the introduction to Ecological Design in the Coastal Maine Botanical Garden’s Native Plant and Ecological Horticulture certificate program.
Lisa Cowan, PLA, Studioverde, is a nationally recognized landscape architect with expertise in ecology-based land design and sustainable SITES certification. Lisa’s pioneering work in successful wetland restoration and creation was featured in Landscape Architecture Magazine. Lisa teaches courses at the Coastal Maine Botanical Garden focused on environmental design principles and techniques for ecosystem restoration. Her work includes the planting and hardscape design for outdoor gathering spaces at the FBI’s Quantico campus (Virginia), and the landscape art entrance feature for the Margaret Chase Smith Federal Building (Maine) and the site design for the Maine Coast Heritage Trust’s Mount Desert Island office.
Based on his article, Sus-tain-a-bil-i-ty: Discovering the True Definition, Defining the New Paradigm, Trevor Smith shares his award-winning approach to collaborations, community outreach, and professional training as a map to secure the green infrastructure we need and to build a green industry workforce. You will learn opportunities, challenges, and strategies to guide your own projects in the green industry.
Due to the COVID-19 threat, this April 30 Ecological Landscape Alliance class will now be conducted from 10:30 – 1:30 EDT as a live webinar. All registrants will receive instructions explaining how to participate.
Instructor Trevor Smith is the founder and Lead Designer at Land Escapes Design Inc. For 20 years Trevor has worked to improve our planet and our community through ecological landscape design and education. Trevor is a regular contributor to landscape publications; and is a frequent lecturer at industry events. As a company, Land Escapes Design Inc. has led the way in Green Stormwater Infrastructure as well as regenerative land care throughout New England. Trevor is a LEED Green Associate, Massachusetts Certified Horticulturist, Accredited Organic Land Care Professional, Certified Rainwater Harvesting Installer, Certified Green Roof and Wall Installer, Certified Porous Pave Installer, Certified Landscape for Life Trainer, National Green Infrastructure Certified Professional Trainer.
As past President and current Board member of the Ecological Landscape Alliance (ELA), Trevor and ELA work to bring vital information, resources and educational materials to the landscape design community. Cosponsored by the Native Plant Trust. Purchase tickets ($45 for members of sponsoring organizations, $54 general public) online at https://www.ecolandscaping.org/event/building-the-green-industry/
