Our goal as both professionals and home gardeners is to create habitat for all. In order to achieve this, we must design with an ecological sensibility, implement with an ecological sensibility and manage our landscape with that same ecological sensibility. Over time all landscapes evolve and we try to set a path for the design to follow, to create the palette we envision, but it could also take a surprising and scenic turn depending on plant/animal/insect/human interactions. The way we care for our designs can have a pretty significant impact on that design and considerations such as light, noise, and carbon emissions should be part of our plans. Our goal is to create habitat, a functioning ecosystem for all. So, are we getting it right?

This Ecological Landscape Alliance fall conference on October 27 at New England Botanic Garden at Tower Hill has engaged five professionals to tell their stories of landscape interaction of plants, the environment, the management and the creatures that rely on them (including humans). Two Landscape Architects will talk about projects over time – what surprises they found, whether maintenance or management impacted their design and what accommodations they felt were necessary. We also have speakers who will address plant selection, the function of native, nativar and non-native plants in the landscape and importance of the plant selection on pollinator and insect/plant interactions. Does our plant selection affect the wildlife that uses it and do certain plant groups create greater impact. All of these stories also rely on the way that we manage and its implications on the landscape. Learn about new directions in management and the difference they can make to your design.

Attend Season’s End in person and get the value of visiting New England Botanic Garden at Tower Hill and its acres of varied landscapes. Or attend virtually from anywhere in the country and get the benefit of hearing these great stories from experienced professionals.

Sam Hoadley will present Knockout Natives. Sam is the Manager of Horticultural Research at Mt. Cuba Center where he evaluates native plant species, old and new cultivars, and hybrids in the Trial Garden. Sam earned his degree in Sustainable Landscape Horticulture from the University of Vermont.

Next comes Fostering Pollinator Populations: New Ideas and Other Ecological Perspectives with Pawel Pieluszynski. He specializes in ecological horticulture at Brooklyn Bridge Park with a keen interest in entomology and native plant communities. He is currently pursuing a Master’s Degree in Biology at CUNY College of Staten Island.  The talk is followed by Mark Richardson and Robert Graham on Making the Move to Green Equipment.

Finally, Toby Wolf speaks on Designing for Change at Brooklyn Botanic Garden. Toby Wolf is the owner of Wolf Landscape Architecture, whose designs connect people with the natural world. He has developed master plans, site designs, and planting designs for Wellesley College, the Native Plant Trust, Cornell Botanic Gardens, Colby College, Mount Auburn Cemetery, and homeowners throughout the Boston area. Mr. Wolf is a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania and Cornell University. He has taught at Cornell, RISD, and SUNY ESF and has served as President and board member of the Ecological Landscape Alliance and the Horticulture Committee of the Friends of the Public Garden.

$149 for nonmembers of ELA, for either virtual or live attendance. Register at https://www.ecolandscaping.org/event/ela-summit-2022/