Boston Flora

Tag: ELA

  • Tuesday, January 15, 1:00 pm – 3:30 pm – The Value of Fire as a Land Management Tool

    Prescribed burning can be used to maintain scenic and cultural landscapes, improve forest timber production, benefit wildlife habitat, maintain rare and threatened natural communities, and reduce the threat of wildfire by removing fuels. Joel Carlson will explain what prescribed fire is, why it is used, how it is implemented safely, and considerations that property managers and owners should take into account when exploring prescribed fire as a possible management tool, on Tuesday, January 15 from 1 – 3:30 at Wellesley College in Wellesley, Massachusetts.

    Though wildlife fire is commonly viewed as a threat to life and property, prescribed burning is a fire ignited, having a written prescribed fire plan, and meeting regulatory requirements. When properly managed, fire can rejuvenate open areas to create lush and healthy grasslands and provide beneficial habitat value to many open-land wildlife species. Burning also retards the growth of brush and trees, which can overtake open areas and crowd out some animal and plant species. $20 for members of the Ecological Landscaping Association and Wellesley College Friends of Horticulture. To register, call 617-436-5838, or email ela.info@comcast.net.

  • Thursday and Friday, October 18 – 19, 9:00 am – 4:00 pm – Sustainable Landscape Design

    What makes a landscape design sustainable?  The New England Wild Flower Society will hold a two-part seminar for people interested in learning how to design landscapes that follow an ecological paradigm, and that enhance a site’s beauty and utility.  Landscape Architect and LEED accredited professional Tom Benjamin will define and discuss principles of sustainable landscape design, techniques to improve the ecological and human functions of existing landscapes, and how to approach sites with a variety of challenges.  Discussion will include sustainable measures to improve your own projects, as well as a short trip to a nearby site that was designed for sustainability.  Bring a bag lunch.  The classes will take place Thursday and Friday, October 18 and 19, from 9 – 4 at Garden in the Woods in Framingham.  $216 for NEWFS and ELA members, $254 for non-members. Co-sponsored by the Ecological Landscaping Association. Register on line at www.newfs.org.

  • Thursday, August 2, 10:00 am – 12:00 noon – Boston Nature Center: Urban Landscape Restoration

    Located in Mattapan and surrounded by residential neighborhoods in the city of Boston, Massachusetts Audubon’s Boston Nature Center (BNC) is a 67-acre oasis and landscape restoration success story. Formerly the site of the Boston State Hospital, this restoration has transformed BNC into open space and natural habitats including more than two miles of trails and boardwalks through meadows, fresh-water marsh, woodlands, and gardens. The Garden Club of the Back Bay has held a meeting in its green building and members were impressed.  Visit with the Ecological Landscaping Association on Thursday, August 2, from 10 – 12.  Register online at www.ecolandscaping.org.  $20 for ELA or Mass Audubon members, $25 for nonmembers.

  • Tuesday, July 10, 11:15 am – 2:00 pm – Schoolyard Restoration: Landscapes for Learning

    Join landscape architect, Ruth Parnall, and the Ecological Landscaping Association for a unique tour of two transformed schoolyards to learn how to create rich landscapes that solve site problems, produce beautiful gardens, develop habitat, and inspire children to explore and learn. Ruth Parnall, co-founder of Learning by the Yard, is a registered landscape architect and a credentialed botanist. She is a specialist in native landscape restoration and is a founding member of the MA Native Plants Committee. She has served her town since 1987 on conservation, open space, zoning, and master plan committees.

    A studio teacher and mentor to students at the Conway School of Landscape Design, Ruth also writes, lectures, and leads workshops on native plants and ecological design. She is currently the consulting landscape curator at Manitoga/The Russel Wright Design Center, a National Historic Landmark in Garrison, NY. The tour will take place Tuesday, July 10, from 11:15 am – 2 pm (rain date July 17) in Milton and Jamaica Plain. $20 for ELA members, $25 for non-members. Register on line at www.ecolandscaping.org, or call 617-436-5838. Photo of Ruth from www.nativeplantwildlifegarden.com.

  • Wednesday, April 25, 6:00 pm – 8:00 pm – Invasive Plants: Understanding the Threat to Our Parks and Backyards

    The Ecological Landscaping Association and the Newton Parks and Recreation Department are sponsoring a free program on Wednesday, April 25, from 6 – 8, on Invasive Plants: Understanding the Threat to Our Parks and Backyards, at Cold Spring Park, 1200 Beacon Street in Newton.  Invasive plant species damage the lands and waters that native plants and animals need to survive.  What are invasive plant species and what harm to they to to an ecosystem?  Newton native and ELA Board Member Bruce Wenning is an invasive plant specialist.  During visits to Cold Spring Park, Bruce discovered that several types of invasive plants are present and spreading along the trails.  Join Bruce for a walking tour at Cold Spring Park to learn how to identify several types of invasive plants and learn what you can do in your own landscape to safely remove them.  Bruce will explain how different types of invasive plants spread and what removal methods are effective on each.  He will also discuss the important topic of how to safely dispose of the invasive plants once removed from the landscape.  Registrations are limited. Call 617-436-5838, or email ela.info@comcast.net.

  • Saturday, April 14, 10:00 am – 2:00 pm – Recovery from Construction: A Case Study

    Perkins School for the Blind broke ground for two large new buildings in the fall of 2009, involving the removal and replacement of over 100 trees.  Two years later, the new trees are planted, the new design is done, but at what cost to the trees, the soil, the other plantings, and the environment?  Tour the site on Saturday, April 14, from 10 – 2, to see firsthand how issues like tree protection, soil compaction, and remediation actually worked out.  Visit the state of the art greenhouse and other new buildings on this historic and beautiful campus with Sonia Baerhuk, Lead Groundsperson at Perkins School for the Blind.  Please bring a bag lunch.  Fee is $44 for members of the Ecological Landscaping Association or the New England Wildflower Society, and $50 for nonmembers.  Register on line at www.ecolandscaping.org.  Image courtesy of www.boston.com.

  • Wednesday, April 4, 6:30 pm – 8:30 pm – Living Walls: Verticulture ™ Life Off the Wall

    Though the idea of living walls and green facades is not new, the modern day applications and the infinite design and business possibilities are.  Explore the benefits of living wall technology, the opportunities it presents, and learn how to incorporate the artfulness of living walls into your landscape or home.   Learn about the environmental value of living walls and see how they can serve as an innovative way to overcome landscape challenges in confined spaces with dynamic results, and learn to take Urban Farming to new heights.  This Ecological Landscaping Association seminar is co-sponsored by the New England Wild Flower Society, and will take place Wednesday, A;pril 4, from 6:30 – 8:30 at Garden in the Woods in Framingham.  Your instructor Trevor Smith is a landscape designer and LEED Green Associate with Land Escapes.  Fee is $24 for ELA and NEWFS members, $29 for nonmembers.  Register on line at www.newfs.org.

  • Thursday, November 10, 8:30 am – 4:30 pm – ELA Season’s End Summit

    Join the Ecological Landscaping Association on Thursday, November 10 from 8:30 – 4:30 at the Doyle Center in Leominster for two end of season panels, a locally sourced lunch, and networking.  The morning panel of Ecological success stories is “Hits and Near Misses” with landscape designers Julie Meyer, Rebecca Lindenmeyr, and Laura Kuhn, who will share their expertise and projects that demonstrate ecological landscapes with maximum aesthetic appeal, balancing ecological ideals and meeting client expectations, and lessons learned when obstacles occur.  The afternoon panel, “Hot New Services to Grow Your Business”, will be moderated by Risa Edelstein, and will feature Trevor Smith of Land Escapes on “Expanding Landscape Options with Living Walls,” Jessie Banhazl of Green City Growers (below) on “Taking Edible Landscapes to New Heights,” and Chris Rawlings of Waterhouse Pools and Ponds on “Natural Swimming Ponds.”  $55 for ELA members, $75 for non-members.  For more information, and to register, call 617-436-5838, or email ela.info@comcast.net.

  • Thursday, October 13, 3:00 pm – 5:00 pm – Fresh Pond Restoration: Combining Beauty and Function

    Located five miles from downtown Boston, Fresh Pond Reservation is a green oasis, an urban wild and protective watershed land covering 363 acres.  Designed by the Olmsted Brothers and Charles Eliot, over the past decade this premier open space has undergone major renovation focused upon water quality protection, habitat enhancement, and aesthetic improvement.  The Northeast Sector Project focused on improving a 30 acre section of the Reservation by closely integrating woodland and edge zone management with innovatively designed features such as a two acre constructed stormwater treatment wetland, butterfly meadow, community garden, soccer field, and new and improved walking paths.  The project received an Honor Award for Reclamation and Restoration from the Boston Society of Landscape Architects.  On Thursday, October 13, from 3 – 5, join project designer and tour guide Thomas Benjamin for an insider tour of the project’s planning and installation.  The tour is sponsored by the Ecological Landscaping Association, and you may register ($20 ELA members, $25 non members) on line at www.ecolandscaping.com, or by calling 617-436-5838.

  • Saturday, October 1, 9:00 am – 1:00 pm – Hugelkulture Workshop

    With a focus on sustainable landscaping and high quality vegetable and flower gardens, M.L. Altobelli has done extensive research to find the best way to create productive land while effectively using surplus organic materials and scrap trees from her working farm.  The solution she found is Hugelkulture (HK) beds which are versions of the European concept of mound culture – layering woody plant material, covering it with compost, manure or other organic material, and planting in the middle of it.  M.L. has added the concept of Nutrient Dense Farming as a way of looking at food production that maximizes the health of the food produced and thereby increases the health of whoever eats it. This concept combines the tenet of organic, ecological, biological, and re-mineralization agriculture to produce the best quality food.  With the help of a tractor and front end loader, participants in this hands-on workshop will learn how surplus materials from the farm along with some imported loam and minerals can produce maximum production level per developed square foot.  The beds should be able to sustain at least two growing levels at a time – double cropping.  Participants in this Ecological Landscaping Association workshop, to take place Saturday, October 1 from 9 – 1 (rain date Sunday, October 2) in Westminster, Massachusetts, will also get a tour of the HK beds from last year that are in full production.  Bring your own lunch – drinks will be provided.  $25 ELA members and M.L.’s Greenery in Motion clients, $35 for everyone else.  Register online at www.ecolandscaping.org, or call 617-436-5838.