Boston Flora

Tag: ELA

  • 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.

  • Tuesday, September 20, 10:00 am – 12:30 pm – Urban Sustainability: Roger Williams Park Botanical Center and Beyond

    Join Ecological Landscaping Association and URI Research Associate Kate Venturini on Tuesday, September 20, from 10 – 12:30, for a unique insider tour of the Roger Williams Park Botanical Center complex in Providence, Rhode Island, an urban oasis nestled in the heart of the 427-acre park designed by Horace Cleveland in 1878.  Through a partnership between the URI Outreach Center and the Providence Parks Department, the Botanical Center complex is being transformed both inside and out as a model for sustainable urban horticulture.  Located on an island surrounded by man made ponds, the complex features a newly designed and installed rain garden to capture greenhouse roof runoff, Rhode Island’s largest community garden, the future site of a permaculture food forest, extensive outdoor display gardens featuring native and sustainable plants, and the largest public indoor display gardens in New England (approximately 12,000 square feet of greenhouses.)  Join Kate as she shares her insight into the successful planning and management of indoor and outdoor showcases, illustrating the latest and greatest urban horticultural and agricultural practices.  For more information, email ela.info@comcast.net, or call 617-436-5838.  $20 for ELA members, $25 for non-members.  The address of Roger Williams Park is 1000 Elmwood Avenue in Providence.

  • Wednesday, September 14, 3:00 pm – 5:00 pm – Design Magic for a Family Farm

    Join Ecological Landscaping Association host Laura Kuhn on Wednesday, September 14 beginning at 3 pm for a unique glimpse of Bent Stone Farm, a 32-acre private property transformation in Sudbury, from a horse farm to gourmet vegetable production, in a beautifully landscaped setting.  Located in a picturesque New England setting, this tour features a major repurposing of a 200+ year old property from horse farm back to its 20th century agricultural roots, updated to gourmet vegetable farming for the high-end Boston restaurants.  This project included removal of paddocks and extensive soil management, barn renovation and expansion, greenhouse installation, new orchard and vineyard, as well as updates to many of the utility systems.  The project involved both infrastructure as well as artistic design elements and necessitated a careful balance to ensure success as both a business and residence.  The property straddles a flood plain and there are three buffer zones and a nearby vernal pool which posed additional design challenges.  Reuse of materials was a priority, including large stone slabs that became steps and landings throughout the property and hundreds of weathered paddock cedar posts and rails, which were later used in the orchard and as fencing.  The property’s sense of place as a historic farm in a rural setting served as a constant guide during design.  Maintaining the bucolic views while providing adequate privacy was accomplished in part by the installation of large ornamental gardens outside the patio.  Wide meandering paths are sized appropriately for the large property and provide access s well as a sense of mystery as they curve just out of sight.  The design includes a mixture of both native and non-native plants and includes many large drifts reminiscent of farm gardens from a century ago.  Register online at www.ecolandscaping.org, or call 617-436-5838 for more information.  $20 ELA members, $25 non-members.

    Sudbury Farm Design

  • Saturday, March 19, 9:30 am – 12:30 pm – Gardening for the Birds

    Join Stephen Kress, author of The Audubon Society Guide to Attracting Birds and Vice President for Bird Conservation for the National Audubon Society, for a lively presentation on desirable gardening practices-from a bird’s viewpoint.  An expert in seabird conservation, Kress successfully led Audubon’s Project Puffin in Maine. He is also an associate at the Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology where he teaches a Field Ornithology course. He will explain bird-plant interactions and suggest landscaping options for creating enticing and safe habitats. He’ll provide solutions for reducing bird encounters with windows and cats, as well as some tactics for preventing the spread of avian diseases. He will also share tips for learning to recognize common backyard birds by sight and song. His book will be available for purchase and signing. $40 for ELA, WCFH members, Audubon Society members and Arnold Arboretum members, $48 for non-members. Registrations are limited – call 617-436-5838, or email ela.info@comcast.net. This Saturday, March 19 event is offered in collaboration with the Arnold Arboretum, Boston Nature Center, Grow Native Massachusetts/Cambridge, and Wellesley College Friends of Horticulture, and will take place from 9:30 am – 12:30 pm in the Hunnewell Building of the Arnold Arboretum, 125 The Arborway, Boston.

  • Thursday, February 17, 1:30 pm – 4:00 pm – Winter Garden Design

    Winter in cold climates drives most gardeners indoors, but with winter garden design tips, the view out the window can be spectacular. Winter interest can be achieved through a wide palate of architectural plants that persist through winter. The New England Wildflower Society staff will expand our considerations beyond evergreens to include the form of many deciduous trees and shrubs, grasses, and a few perennials that remain attractive throughout winter. Co-sponsored by the Ecological Landscaping Association and NEWFS, the February 17 event, which will take place from 1:30 – 4 at Garden in the Woods, 180 Hemenway Road in Framingham, will cost $20 for ELA and NEWFS members, $25 for non members. To register, log on to www.ecolandscaping.com.  Image below from www.theartistichouse.com.

  • Thursday, March 3, 8:00 am – 8:30 pm – 17th Annual ELA Conference and Eco-Marketplace

    ELA brings together all of the essential information on rain gardens that really work, healthy soils for healthy trees, plant choices for food productive landscapes, and more at the 17th Annual ELA Conference and Eco-Marketplace on Thursday, March 3 from 8 am – 8:30 pm. Co-hosted by the Association of Professional Landscape Designers, New England Wild Flower Society, NOFA Organic Land Care Program, Society for Ecological Restoration, New England Chapter, and the Ecological Landscaping Association. Panelists include William Cullina, Dr. Peter Del Tredici, and Jono Neiger, three leading experts in the field of plant selection, who will share their unique perspectives on Native, Introduced, Invasive, and Endangered Plants in the Landscape: Untangling the Roots of the Problem. Visit www.ecolandscaping.org for online registration, or call Penny Lewis at 617-436-5838. The conference will take place at the MassMutual Center in Springfield. Rooms at the Sheraton Springfield Monarch Place Hotel are available to participants for $109/night. Complete package (not including hotel) for members of one of the sponsors is $170 before 2/15, $225 after 2/15; non members $190/$245.

  • Monday, November 8, 8:00 am – 4:30 pm – Season’s End Summit: Taking Stock and Looking Forward

    Join Ecological Landscaping Association on Monday, November 8, from 8 am – 4 pm for a full day of “Taking Stock and Looking Forward.” The day will include morning and afternoon panel discussions with industry leaders in sustainable landscaping practices. Lunch is included and will feature Keynote speaker Laura Solano, from Michael Van Valkenburgh Associates, with over twenty years of designing, building, and restoring award-winning landscapes for for public, private, and corporate clients.  The seminar will be held at the Habitat Wildlife Sanctuary, 10 Juniper Road, Belmont (sumac field pictured below,)  and you may register for $55 if an ELA member, or $75 if a non-member.  For more information, log on to www.ecolandscaping.org.

  • Sunday, September 26, 1:00 pm – 4:00 pm – Boston’s Community Gardens

    Enjoy this Ecological Landscaping Association walking tour through  eleven diverse and plentiful community gardens with our host, Betsy Johnson. Gardens include a wide range of sizes, designs, and plant material and are excellent examples of successful vacant lot restoration. The Sunday, September 26 tour will begin at 1 pm at the Berkeley Community Gardens on East Berkeley Street, between Tremont and Shawmut Streets in Boston.  The cost is $15 for ELA members and $20 for non-members.  Walk ins also welcome.  For more information, email ela.info@comcast.net, or call 617- 436-5838.

  • Thursday, July 15, 2:00 pm – 6:00 pm – UNH Stormwater Center and Land Planning

    The Ecological Landscaping Association, in collaboration with the Thompson School of Applied Science. offers this professionally guided tour at the University of New Hampshire in Durham on Thursday, July 15, from 2 – 6.  The tour will include the BMP solutions at the UNH Stormwater Center, a national research site for the effects of stormwater runoff on downstream ecosystems.  The tour will also include review and site visits of the UNH Master Plan, a model of sustainable planning for New England.  As The Garden Club of the Back Bay begins its year of the examination of water issues, we felt this program would be of special interest.   $20 ELA Member, $25 Non-Member.  To register, email ela.info@comcast.net, or call 617-436-5838.  On line registration is available.

    http://www.furbishco.com/products/roofs/images/stormwatersm.jpg