Boston Flora

Tag: Tom Benjamin

  • Thursday, October 18, 9:00 am – 5:00 pm – Sustainable Site Design

    This New England Wild Flower Society one-day intensive seminar on October 18 from 9 – 5 at Garden in the Woods, taught by Tom Benjamin, explores the fundamentals of integrating buildings within landscapes and reducing maintenance needs through landscape design. Participants investigate sustainable design strategies that address the ecological, water, energy, and food systems. Topics include design principles and process, native plant community restoration and maintenance. Participants complete a short design assignment. Cosponsors: Ecological Landscape Alliance and Boston Society of Landscape Architects. $106 for members of sponsoring organizations, $128 for nonmembers. Register at www.newenglandwild.org.

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  • Thursday, October 1, 9:30 am – 4:30 pm – Sustainable Site Design Basics

    Delve into the fundamentals of sustainable landscape design, focusing on integrating existing and new buildings sustainably into a landscape, in this New England Wild Flower Society class taught by Tom Benjamin on Thursday, October 1 at Garden in the Woods in Framingham, beginning at 9:30 am. You will investigate sustainable design strategies addressing the ecological, water, energy, and food system links between buildings and their supporting sites. The LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) rating system and forthcoming SITES (Sustainable Sites Initiative) system will be used. Fee is $108 for NEWFS and Ecological Landscape Alliance members, $127 for nonmembers. Register on line at http://www.newfs.org/learn/our-programs/sustainable-site-design-basics.

  • Friday, June 5, 9:30 am – 3:00 pm – Sustainable Sites Tour of Rhode Island

    Visit two notable sustainable landscapes in Rhode Island with the Ecological Landscape Alliance. The first is Kent Hospital, where an award-winning landscape design transformed the 40-acre campus into a showcase for sustainable design practices; we will see rain gardens and healing gardens. The second site is a small urban lot that was redesigned to reflect Rhode Island native plant communities, demonstrate enhanced storm water management, and promote biodiversity. Bring a bag lunch.  $68 for ELA members, $85 for nonmembers. Register and see more at: http://www.ecolandscaping.org/event/sustainable-sites-tour-rhode-island/#sthash.ode0GjV8.dpuf

    Tom Benjamin is an independent registered Landscape Architect and LEED Accredited Professional (AP BD+C) practicing design and sustainability consulting and is Principal of Wellnesscapes. Tom has more than 20 years experience in environmental design and sustainability work often focused on green design, including energy, waste, water and food systems. In addition to residential restoration, Tom’s site planning work emphasizes low cost, low maintenance landscape solutions for healthcare, academic and senior institutions, public facilities, commercial and residential developments, large-scale solar farms and community farms/gardens. Tom teaches sustainable landscape design at the University of Massachusetts. He is the recipient of multiple awards, including three for his sustainable landscape design work at Kent Hospital located in Warwick, RI. Tom is also a Board Member of the Ecological Landscape Alliance (ELA).

  • Friday, December 5, 1:00 pm – 2:00 pm – Webinar: Landscape Design – Therapeutic Wellness Gardens

    Ecological landscape professionals have long understood the connection between healthy landscapes and human health. Landscape Architect Tom Benjamin takes this connection one step further by creating therapeutic wellness gardens in the midst of healing facilities such as the Kent Hospital in Rhode Island. In this Ecological Landscaping Alliance webinar, Tom Benjamin will share his insights and the techniques that he has used to integrate human “well-being” and environmental health into wellness designs for heavily developed sites. Tom’s December 5th presentation will cover the planning, implementation, and maintenance of therapeutic wellness gardens as components of campus scale efforts to transform conventional landscapes to green infrastructure. As part of the overall design, he will cover passive stormwater management, soil rejuvenation, habitat enhancement, aesthetic and maintenance considerations, and the nexus between human wellness and the health of the environment. Innovative methods of reusing onsite materials to reduce our carbon footprint and control Operations & Maintenance costs will be addressed as well. The role of sustainable landscapes to inspire larger facility-wide sustainability initiatives will also be discussed.
    Thomas (Tom) Benjamin is an independent registered Landscape Architect and LEED Accredited Professional (AP BD+C) practicing design and sustainability consulting and is Principal of Wellnesscapes. Tom has more than 20 years experience in environmental design and sustainability work often focused on green design, including energy, waste, water and food systems. In addition to residential restoration, Tom’s site planning work emphasizes low cost, low maintenance landscape solutions for healthcare, academic and senior institutions, public facilities, commercial and residential developments, large-scale solar farms and community farms/gardens. His work has often encompassed enhancement of natural stormwater filtration systems. His design experience includes upland, wetland, and coastal zone restoration using low tech bioengineering solutions. Tom teaches sustainable landscape design at the University of Massachusetts. He is the recipient of multiple awards, including three for his sustainable landscape design work at Kent Hospital located in Warwick, RI. Tom is also a Board Member of the Ecological Landscape Alliance (ELA). – See more at: http://www.ecolandscaping.org/event/webinar-therapeutic-wellness-gardens/#sthash.n9GHHoJn.dpuf.

  • Thursday, January 16, 8:30 am – 4:30 pm (Snow Date January 17) – Managing Large-Scale Landscapes Sustainably

    Join the Ecological Landscaping Association (ELA ) and Wellesley College on Thursday, January 16, from 8:30 – 4:30 at the Wellesley College Science Center for a symposium on the development and maintenance of large-scale landscapes that utilize fewer inputs, are designed and maintained with the environment in mind, and become more sustainable over time. Experts who work daily in successful, sustainable large-scale landscapes will lead four panel discussions. If you are interested in sustainable landscapes for colleges, parks departments, public agencies, cemeteries, golf courses, forests, land trusts, public gardens, or other large landscapes, this event is for you.

    Maintaining Large-Scale Landscapes
    Landscapes Over Time, Soil Compaction, Invasive Plants, Recycling Organic Matter, and Sourcing Quality Compost

    Panelists: Dennis Collins, Mount Auburn Cemetery, John Forti, Strawbery Banke Museum, and Stuart Shillaber, Rose Kennedy Greenway Conservancy.  Please note that both Dennis Collins and John Forti are past Garden Club of the Back Bay presenters.

    Large Lawns: Ecological Approaches
    Mowing Frequency, Inputs, Pests, Disease, and Alternative Energy Mowers

    Panelists: Richard Luff, Sagamore Golf, Fred Newcombe, PJC Ecological, and Anthony Ruggiero, Rose Kennedy Greenway Conservancy

    Runoff as Resource: Large Scale Stormwater Solutions
    Erosion to Irrigation, Collection Options, Dealing with Large Rain Events, Water Quality, Minimizing Demands of Potable Water

    Panelists: Tom Benjamin, LA/Sustainable Designer, Brad Buscher, Groundwork Lawrence, Eden Dutcher, GroundView, and Kate Venturini, University of Rhode Island

    Managing Semi-Wild Landscapes

    Designating “Semi-Wild” areas, Identifying Invasive Plant Threats, Setting Management Priorities, Tackling What is Feasible (and Leaving the Rest)

    Panelists: Tobias Wolf, Wolf Lighthall, Heidi Kost-Gross, G/S Associates, and Sandy Vorce, Mass Audubon

    Registrations are limited – Use This Link to Register Online Now

    For more information: ela.info@comcast.net

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  • 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.