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Featured Events

2021 Spotlight on Natives Photo Contest

Thu, April 1 @ 8:00 am EDT - Mon, May 31 @ 5:00 pm EDT

Between now and May 31, enter your most inspiring photographs of individual native plants or of native plants in a garden setting to ELA's photo contest. You’ll be entered to win a one-year ELA membership.

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Webinar: The Journey of Edible Landscapes

Wed, May 12 @ 12:00 pm EDT - 1:00 pm EDT

Free Walk in the Garden for garden enthusiasts. Edible landscaping is the use of food-producing plants in the residential landscape. It can combine fruit and nut trees, berrying shrubs, vegetables, herbs, edible flowers, along with ornamental plants into aesthetically pleasing designs.

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Webinar: Designing Naturalistic Landscapes & Water Features

Wed, May 19 @ 12:00 pm EDT - 1:00 pm EDT

Free Walk in the Garden for garden enthusiasts. In this presentation, award-winning Canadian landscape designer, Randy Tumber, will share some of the tips, experiences, and philosophies that he has learned throughout his design career.

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Webinar: Growing Vertically with Edible and Ornamental Plants

Wed, May 26 @ 12:00 pm EDT - 1:00 pm EDT

Free Walk in the Garden for garden enthusiasts. Vertical garden systems offer a number of benefits, such as increased accessibility for people with restricted physical abilities, privacy, and vibrancy. Join Irene Barber to learn about budget conscious options, plant and soil materials, and creative vertical garden designs.

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Webinar: Fundamentals of Garden Layers

Wed, June 16 @ 12:00 pm EDT - 1:00 pm EDT

Free Walk in the Garden for garden enthusiasts. When designing any garden, there is an opportunity to eschew the norms of beauty as the only priority. With careful planning, we can create a space that works in harmony with nature, expands biodiversity, builds healthy soil, and nurtures pollinators and other wildlife.

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Upcoming Events

Webinar: Rain Garden Primer – A Good Option for Your Landscape?

Wed, June 2 @ 12:00 pm EDT - 1:00 pm EDT

Free Walk in the Garden for garden enthusiasts. In this webinar, Amanda Sloan describes what rain gardens are, explains the elements that go into a successful rain garden project, and will help you decide if a rain garden is a good option for your landscape.

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Webinar: Native Plants for Bird Friendly Communities

Wed, June 9 @ 12:00 pm EDT - 1:00 pm EDT

Free Walk in the Garden for garden enthusiasts. Join Audubon CT-NY’s Jillian Bell for a presentation focused on bird-friendly plants for your home landscape. With the right plants, any space—from a small container on your patio to an acre of your backyard—can become more bird-friendly.

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Event calendar

Featured Articles

Lawn Murder

By Leslie Duthie

Americans love their lawns yet they provide minimal habitat or ecological value for anything other than humans. From an ecological standpoint, I started to rethink the importance of the “lawn” and to consider a smaller lawn and? or? lawn alternatives that do not require fertilizer, water, or much mowing. Ultimately, I decided the best solution would be to replace the lawn with new gardens. 

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    Five Reasons Synthetics Are No Longer Considered Best Practices

    By Chip Osborne

    All industries eventually arrive at best practices that represent the most productive and efficient method to deliver desired results while at the same time minimizing negative impact. While it is understood that all practices are subject to change over time, our industry changes have been motivated by the knowledge that the synthetics we use may have unintended consequences at times.

     

     

     

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      Echinacea Trials at Mt. Cuba Center

       By Sam Hoadley

      Echinacea, commonly known as coneflower, is experiencing a horticultural renaissance thanks to plant breeders’ hybridization work resulting in the flood of new Echinacea cultivars to the horticultural market. While many of these plants look fantastic on paper, Mt. Cuba aimed to assess their actual garden performance and document their ability to attract insect pollinators.  

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        Notable Natives: Large Shrubs and Small Trees

        by Sarah Middeleer

        Proponents of ecological gardening are urging gardeners to reduce lawn areas and add native plants. Native shrub borders are lower maintenance than perennial borders, making them an excellent solution to this challenge. These plants often provide multi-season interest, including showy flowers, fruit, and fall foliage. Perhaps their best feature is the habitats and food they offer birds and pollinators.

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          Preserving the Body for Occupational Longevity

          By Diana Kiesel

          The landscaping professions’ seasonal demands will continually challenge one’s ability to balance work, family life, and social obligations, leaving little time for self-care. Let us explore how you can incorporate self-care into your daily life, particularly your work life, for a better tomorrow.

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            Recent Articles

            Celebra el Día de la Tierra todos los días- ¡Empiece con estas Eco-Acciones!

            A medida que nos acercamos al Día de la Tierra 2021, comparta la lista de pasos ecológicos de ELA con colegas, amigos y familiares. Aquí hay acciones que todos podemos tomar para hacer que nuestros paisajes sean más amigables con la tierra.

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            Celebrate Earth Day Every Day – Get Started with these Eco-Actions!

            As we approach Earth Day 2021, share ELA’s list of ecological steps colleagues, friends, and family. Here are actions all of us can take to make our landscapes more earth friendly.

            Read more

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            Conferences

            Conferences

            ELA’s one- and two-day regional conferences offer cutting-edge knowledge, useful information, CEU’s, and invaluable opportunities for engagement with fellow professionals. Conference sponsors present their ecologically-focused products and services while supporting ecological education.

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            Webinars

            Webinars

            A Focus on Sustainability – This Fall/Winter series is geared to landscape professionals and anyone who stewards the land. Webinars are taught by nationwide experts on ecological landscape topics.
            Wednesday Walks in the Garden – This free Summer/Spring webinar series was begun in 2020 and offers a wide range of topics to engage and educate garden enthusiasts on ecological principles.

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            Classes, Eco-Tours & Workshops

            Classes, Eco-Tours & Workshops

            ELA programming offers classes, tours, and hands-on workshops to expand your skills from design and soil management to incorporating edibles and managing rainwater.

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            I just wanted to let you know I thought the conference was fantastic. It was so informative and the speakers where great! Thanks so much.

            Kim H. Kim Hoyt Architect & Landscape Architect P.C.

            I am an avid consumer of your web information and webinars. Keep up the excellent work!

            Judy P. Connecticut Sea Grant

            I wanted to thank you for an excellent Walk in the Garden series. The webinars were all-around professional, fact-filled, and pertinent presentations. I've learned a lot and am inspired to implement some changes!

            Margaret R.

            I especially enjoyed the Conference and felt like I learned quite a bit. I plan to make attending an annual event, either for me or one of my work colleagues.

            Michele A.

            I learned so much from David Seiter’s webinar.  I love the scientific approach and thinking differently about some plant species in terms of services, design, interaction with people, etc. Thank you!

            Missy F

            Thank you everyone for the energy you put into ELA. These programs shine from your involvement, expertise, and love of nature. I’m excited for what the next year will bring.

            Mark H.

            Thanks so much for organizing a great informative Mid-Atlantic conference. The speakers were all excellent and very enlightening, I came away with lots of new knowledge. I also enjoyed meeting and networking with lots of like minded professionals.

            Mark E. MSE Landscape Associates, LLC

            Laura and I were just talking about how much we get from all of the ELA events and webinars…. The good "vibes" abound at ELA events.

            John K, Land Design Inc.

            The whole day on soils was particularly educational. I really liked the on-topic, varied discussions.

            Erica B.

            I met and made new friends with great topics to discuss.

            Timothy M.

            You do a wonderful job with your newsletters. Everything might as well be a MUST Do with the way you present the programs.  We appreciate your dedication to doing a good job, and are most impressed with ELA.

            Ginny S. Talbot Ecological Land Care

            I really love ELA. Can't believe I only discovered y'all last year!

            Laura B

            Thank you for a full day’s worth of insightful material! Thank you for organizing this great event every year.

            Karen C.

            Speakers were very good, but meeting landscapers at the talks & in the lobby was best.

            Cathy B.

            Thank you Penny for making this delightful series available to members of the GCFM. [A Walk in the Garden webinars] have been one of my favorite hours each week this springtime. The speakers have been top notch subject experts who have excellent teaching skills to boot. Their photo presentations have been beautiful and informative. All around an excellent series!

            Linda N

            Thank you for a lovely and informative conference at BBG this past December. [It was] very well run and a joy to attend.

            I salute you on the excellent conference today at BBG! It's cheering and edifying for my staff and me to be among so many people, old friends and new, who value horticulture and ecology.

            Thank you for offering...courses via webinar - it really helps to save the professional development budget & travel time from my job. I find these information sessions very interesting, inspiring and informative.

            Thanks for providing the great professional society that I have been long searching for.... I am definitely a better, more informed practitioner for it.

            I am really enjoying all the webinars that the Ecological Landscape Alliance is offering. Thank you so much for organizing them and making them available for FREE! I spread the news about them on my Constant Contact page for the NJ Native Plant Society. 

            Susan H.

            Just want to say again how very much I appreciate the “Walk in the Garden” series. The quality of your programs is tops! A “Walk in the Garden” is so much more than a series of slideshows. It is a celebration of how all life is connected. It is great to have this positive reminder amidst the scarier reminders!

            K.R. Watkins

            Being an ELA member has allowed me ready access to resources that inspire and inform our new coastal landscapes initiative. I'm very thankful they exist!

            Gloria P, North Carolina Sea Grant, North Carolina State University

            I love the new website. It’s clean and clear and the articles you highlight have great, inspiring content.

            Meg H Plant Me a Rainbow