Boston Flora

Tag: ELA

  • Friday, December 4, 8:00 am – 4:00 pm – ELA Virtual Ecological Plant Conference

    Friday, December 4, 8:00 am – 4:00 pm – ELA Virtual Ecological Plant Conference

    As greenery unfurls in spring, our deep relationship with nature renews us and lifts our spirits. But this spring with COVID threats and uncertainties, reconnecting with nature took on more significance than ever.

    On the most basic level, plants nurture our bodies and souls. Our relationship with plants, however, is more complex than simply food and survival. For millennia, plant-based medicines have been used for healing and time spent in the forest or garden has been recognized for its ability to reduce stress while improving health and well-being.

    On December 4th, The Ecological Landscape Alliance invites you to spend a day reconnecting with familiar plants, learning about new plant options, exploring garden insects, and reconsidering our relationship to plants. Five experts will invite us to examine different attributes, uses, and values of plants and the insects that inhabit our gardens.

    Innovative tools and interactive collaborations will ensure that this online conference provides participants with an engaging and inspiring experience. Dan Jaffe Wilder will speak on How To Grow Food Anywhere, Nadia Ruffin will present Garden Insects: Good Bug? Bad Bug? Who’s Who and What Do They Do?, Uli Lorimer will discuss Native Species, Hybrids, Selections and Cultivars, Abra Lee’s lecture is entitled Power to the Trees, and finally, Rebecca McMackin presents Pollinator Ecology. Full descriptions and biographies, and registration links, are found at https://www.ecolandscaping.org/event/ela-ecological-plant-conference-2020/ $139 for nonmembers.

  • Wednesday, September 23, 12:00 noon – 1:00 pm – Why Rain Gardens Fail and Tools for Success Webinar

    Rain impacts each of our lives. Past generations developed methods that quickly whisk the rain from roofs, roads, and plazas on its journey to the ocean. The contemporary stormwater model features the design and installation of landscapes that mimic nature, capturing, storing, and infiltrating the water close to its source. Rain gardens and bioretention facilities are two practices in the green infrastructure toolbox, and they are often the first choices for designers, contractors, public agencies, and landowners due to their relatively low cost, large stormwater treatment capacity, and perceived ease of installation. However, complaints ranging from unsightly weedy holes to mosquito breeding water can leave agencies and landowners wishing for another stormwater alternative. With appropriate planning, design, construction, and maintenance, these stormwater treatment workhorses can be an artistic part of our landscapes, gardens, streetscapes, and public spaces.

    Steven Torgerson is a Registered Landscape Architect and the Director of Landscape Architecture at AMT Landscape Architecture + Design Division. He has nationwide experience in planning and design within an ecologically resilient framework and is passionate about creating spaces that are a catalyst for people to interact with their environment and community. Mr. Torgerson’s multidisciplinary design approach encourages alternative solutions to complex rainwater problems. He delights in community engagement and the opportunity to integrate public preferences into the design outcome. Before coming to AMT, Mr. Torgerson served as the Cultural Landscape Architect at Yosemite National Park and was the lead landscape architect for the Forest Service during the 2002 Winter Olympics. He has won numerous awards for his work in landscape architecture including the 2018 ASLA Potomac Chapter Honor Award for Brookside Gardens and the 2017 ASLA, Potomac Chapter Honor Award for Greening DC’s Streetscapes. Mr. Torgerson holds a Master in Landscape Architecture from the Pennsylvania State University with an emphasis in watershed planning and a Bachelor of Landscape Architecture from Utah State University.

    This ELA webinar is free for ELA members, $10 for nonmembers, and you can register at https://www.ecolandscaping.org/event/webinar-why-rain-gardens-fail-and-tools-for-success/

  • Saturday, September 12, 4:00 pm – 6:00 pm – Eco-tour of Private Gardens in Rye, New York

    The Ecological Landscape Alliance is sponsoring a tour of two responsibly landscaped gardens in Rye, New York on Saturday, September 12 from 4 – 6 pm. The tour will be professionally led by Green Jay Landscaping out of Rye.

    Garden #1 is a New American Garden of Egalitarian Elegance. In the midst of habitat loss, it is a welcome relief to see evidence of landscapes that support pollinators and enhance biodiversity – all while providing a restful and rejuvenating space for humans. The image is Old World Tudor meets Contemporary Ecological Playscape at this Rye property.

    Garden #2 (pictured below) is The Secret Garden of Celestial Happiness.

    These gardens represent a complete landscape renovation. The private property of tour guide and landscape designer, Jay Archer. He refers to his own landscape as an ever-evolving project!

    At the heart of this project was the complete removal of the entire backyard – formerly a large lawn.

    As with all of Jay’s projects, this design is based in nature-based principles and is rich with habitat features that are anchored with native plant material. This garden is a model of biodiversity, resource conservation and is a pollinator paradise!

    Features include:

    • A native plant garden with stone, gravel and mulched paths
    • A constructed fish pond, waterfall and stream
    • A unique wetland boardwalk

    Design choices based upon ecological principles, plant selections, and maintenance practices are all critical elements in creating healthy ecosystems. As a landscape ecologist, Jay Archer has successfully combined all three elements and these two resulting landscapes are models of biodiversity and resource conservation.

    Another key feature of healthy habitats is the way a property is maintained. Jay’s gardens are completely organically maintained for the health of people, pets, pollinators, and the planet.

    Address and directions will be provided after registration. $33 for nonmembers of ELA, and a discount will be provided to ELA members. Sign up at https://www.ecolandscaping.org/event/eco-tour-private-gardens-in-rye-ny/

  • Saturday, August 22, 1:00 pm – 4:00 pm – Shade Gardens: Embracing the Dark Side

    Creating lush and vibrant gardens in the shade tends to frustrate even the best gardeners. How do we infuse more color, adventure, and intrigue into those spaces? The mood, plants, and conditions act as our guide. This workshop on August 22 from 1 – 4 at Garden in the Woods in Framingham blends site-specific assessment, design strategies, and plant options to help enliven your imagination. Bring your project to participate in a flash design collaboration.

    Co-sponsored by The Native Plant Trust and the Ecological Landscape Alliance. $45 for sponsor members, $54 general admission, limited to eight participants in compliance with State COVID-19 guidelines. Advance registration required at https://www.ecolandscaping.org/event/shade-gardens-embracing-the-dark-side/ or at http://www.nativeplanttrust.org/events/shade-gardens-embracing-dark-side/?highlight=Embracing%20the%20Dark%20Side

    Instructor: Cheryl Salatino is a Landscape Designer, with a Certificate in Landscape Design from Radcliffe Seminars of Harvard University and a Certified Massachusetts Horticulturist. Cheryl is the owner of Dancing Shadows Garden Design and specializes in landscape design and installation that emphasizes manageable maintenance.

  • Wednesday, July 1, 12:00 noon – 1:00 pm – Specialist Bees Webinar

    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.

    Free but registration required at https://www.ecolandscaping.org/event/webinar-specialist-bees/

  • Monday, March 23, 12:30 pm – Protecting Pollinators Webinar

    Monday, March 23, 12:30 pm – Protecting Pollinators Webinar

    We should thank a pollinator at every meal. These diminutive creatures fertilize a third of the crops we eat. Yet half of the 200,000 species of pollinators are threatened. Birds, bats, insects, and many other pollinators are disappearing, putting our entire food supply in jeopardy. In North America and Europe, bee populations have already plummeted by more than a third and the population of butterflies has declined 31 percent.

    This Ecological Landscape Alliance Protecting Pollinators online presentation on March 23 at 12:30 EDT explores why the statistics have become so dire and how they can be reversed. Jodi Helmer breaks down the latest science on environmental threats and takes readers inside the most promising conservation initiatives. Efforts include farmers reducing pesticides, cities creating butterfly highways, volunteers ripping up invasive plants, gardeners planting native flowers, and citizen scientists monitoring migration.

    Along with inspiring stories of revival and lessons from failed projects, participants will find practical tips to get involved. They will also be reminded of the magic of pollinators—not only the iconic monarch and dainty hummingbird, but the drab hawk moth and homely bats that are just as essential. Without pollinators, the world would be a duller, blander place. Helmer shows how we can make sure they are always fluttering, soaring, and buzzing around us.

    Jodi Helmer is an author and lecturer specializing in topics about food, farming, and the environment. Ms. Helmer’s work has appeared in publications like Sierra, Entrepreneur, NPR, National Geographic Traveler, AARP, Farm Life, Hemispheres, Civil Eats, The Guardian, JSTOR Daily, Smithsonian.com, Hobby Farms, Out Here/Tractor Supply Company and many more. She is the author of six books, including Protecting Pollinators: How to Save the Creatures that Feed Us. She lives on a small homestead in rural North Carolina where she grows flowers and vegetables, keeps bees and raises chickens, goats and one very spoiled donkey.

    Free for ELA members, $10 for nonmembers. Register at https://www.ecolandscaping.org/event/webinar-protecting-pollinators/

  • Wednesday, March 4 and Thursday, March 5, 8:00 am – 5:00 pm – ELA Conference and Eco-Marketplace 2020

    Looking for New Ideas? Solutions? Inspiration? From the practical to the applicable, join the Ecological Landscape Alliance in March for the 26th Annual ELA Conference & Eco-Marketplace at the UMass Campus Center, Amherst, MA. Immerse yourself in a two-day exploration of ecological concepts as our speakers share their experiences and expertise.

    Forests and natural systems are under enormous pressure from the effects of climate change, insect damage, invasive plants, and rapid urbanization. What can you do to protect these systems? Join us to learn more about how to restore lost ecological connections, better manage urban land, and create beautiful, highly functioning landscapes!

    Wednesday features two educational workshop tracks. Track One – explore soils from “micro to macro” with a dive into the intricacies of soil…. hear about the latest research, and learn how to apply new practices for results in the landscape. Track Two explores the detailed workings of meadow ecosystems and what it takes to make a successful meadow project and more.

    Thursday offers a broad range of sessions. Delve into landscape design elements from native shrubs to playscapes and larger ecological landscapes, including rain gardens and modern agricultural models. Enjoy a presentation or join an idea exchange to engage with your peers on timely topics.

    Registration fees range from $20 to $330. Register online and get complete details at https://www.ecolandscaping.org/event/ela-conference-eco-marketplace-2/

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  • Tuesday, December 3, 12:30 pm – 1:30 pm – Bell’s Woodland: Creating a Native Garden from Disturbed Woodland at Chanticleer Webinar

    Developing a native woodland garden, in suburban areas, comes with specific challenges such as soil degradations and erosion, abundance of invasive exotic plant species, and a need to manage stormwater runoff.

    In his online Ecological Landscape Alliance presentation on December 3 from 12:30 – 1:30, Przemek Walczak will discuss soil restoration, evaluating the effectiveness of different methods for a variety of situations; invasive plant species removal eradication versus suppression; and Hugelculture both as a way of gardening and as a tool for restoring woodland soil by addressing surface runoff and creating specific conditions for plants. Free for ELA members, $10 for nonmembers. Register at https://www.ecolandscaping.org/event/webinar-bells-woodland-creating-a-native-garden-from-disturbed-woodland-at-chanticleer/

    Przemek Walczak is a horticulturist at Chanticleer Garden, his place of employment for the past 22 years. Before that he interned as an arborist at Morris Arboretum of University of Pennsylvania and Winterthur Museum and Garden in Wilmington, Delaware. In Poland, prior to moving to the United States, Continued from previous page Mr. Walczak worked in the Studio for Applied Dendrology at The Center for the Preservation of Historic Landscapes. He lectures and teaches classes on topics such as pruning, native plant gardening, springs wildflowers and ephemerals, ferns, moss gardening, native pollinators, gardening for the birds, aquatic gardening, and woodland and shade gardening. Mr. Walczak graduated from Academy of Life Sciences in Warsaw, Poland as a Master of Economics and Agriculture.

  • Tuesday, September 24, 1:00 pm – 3:00 pm – Eco Tour: Effective Invasive Plant Management, Chemical-Free and So Damn Cute

    Meadows are an important ecosystem for biodiversity. They host numerous native plant and wildlife species, but without natural occurrences, such as fire, these open spaces would revert to forest. Mechanical mowing creates disturbance that promotes invasive plants, one of the greatest threats to the nature of Massachusetts because they out-compete, displace, or kill native species. Non-native species—many introduced to Massachusetts accidentally or on purpose for garden or landscape use—thrive and proliferate in disturbance.

    To manage meadows and control invasive plant species, Habitat has incorporated a small herd of resident Nigerian Dwarf goats. The goats happily graze on invasive plants such as bittersweet, buckthorn, and multiflora rose, as well as successional saplings. The hungry herd clears several acres of meadowland each year. By using goats as lawn mowers Habitat reduces the use of fossil fuels, eliminating carbon emissions. Using this strategy, Habitat preserves the current native plant communities by removing invasive plants and encouraging natural propagation.

    Join Ecological Landscape Alliance tour guide, Sandy Vorce, on September 24 at 1 pm at the Habitat Education Center & Wildlife Sanctuary, 10 Juniper road in Belmont, to learn more about meadow management including control of invasive species using the ecological alternative of goats. $22 for ELA members, $32 for nonmembers. Register at www.ecolandscaping.org.

    Sandy Vorce is a nature enthusiast currently employed at Mass Audubon’s Habitat Education Center and Wildlife Sanctuary. Sandy tends everything from gardens to goats and enjoys working with volunteers of all ages and backgrounds in caring for the property and its inhabitants. She is a former ELA board member and now participates with local Land Trusts and Friends groups.

  • Thursday, August 15, 10:00 am – 12:00 noon – Eco-Tour: Sustainable Production at Amherst Nurseries

    Since 2001, when John Kinchla began growing nursery stock in addition to providing landscape construction and maintenance services, Amherst Nurseries has focused on sustainable production systems. The nursery now grows thousands of trees and shrubs on over 100 acres of farmland in western MA. The business strives to provide exemplary service while minimizing use of resources and environmental impacts. Sustainable measures include reducing water use; moving away from ball and burlap to grow bags, a process that reduces soil removal, fuel use, and labor costs; utilizing compost made from local resources of leaf litter and manure; and using electric equipment fueled by solar panels.

    Join John on August 15 from 10 – 12 for a guided walk through the growing areas, following the early life of a tree at the nursery. You’ll see equipment and practices in use now and learn about sustainable options the nursery is exploring for the future.

    Bring a bag lunch to enjoy following the tour. The nursery is located at 200 Bay Road in Hadley, Massachusetts, and the event is $23 for Ecological Landscape Alliance members, $33 for nonmembers. Register at www.ecolandscaping.org

    John Kinchla, owner of Amherst Nurseries, began working in the landscape as a teenager. He opened the nursery in 2001 after earning a BS in Horticulture and an MS in Resource Economics from UMass Amherst. Using fewer resources to increase company profitability has been an overriding principle of his business. Amherst Nurseries grows trees, shrubs, and perennials on over 100 acres in and around Amherst, MA and offers both retail and wholesale sales. The company also offers complete landscaping services from design through construction and maintenance.