Strategic conservation in farmed and urban landscapes can disproportionately increase biodiversity. Nick Haddad has worked for three decades to understand how to conserve landscapes to benefit pollinators and other species. He has created large experiments to test the role of targeted conservation efforts. For example, landscape corridors through urban and farmed landscapes can created superhighways...
A book about planting for monarchs (and for motivated readers and gardeners) is not quite as wondrous as monarchs and their individual life cycles, their host relationship with milkweeds, or their annual migrations in North America, but it is something of a miracle. Only a few decades ago, the concept of creating native-plant gardens was...
MARCH 29 -- ECOLOGICAL LAND CARE Ecological Land Care sounds easy, but as we learn, actually integrating horticulture with ecology takes time and patience. This session will help us understand how we, as gardeners, can meld horticulture and ecology practices to positively impact gardens and ecosystems. We will also explore why traditional garden practices (ie,...
JULY 12 -- PLANT LAYERING OPTIONS FOR MORE COLOR, DIVERSITY & HABITAT Learn how to enhance the landscape you already have. Identify your yard and garden's (boring) gaps and explore native plant options for a variety of seasonal colors and wildlife benefits. These choices increase the diversity of your landscape, as well as create healthier...
AUGUST 17, 2023 -- ORGANIC TURF CARE: A PRACTICAL APPROACH This practical webinar will share a step-by-step development to implementation of Organic Turf Care programs. We will look at a variety of approaches and details including the principles of organic turf care through the lens of our Healthy Turf Circle. Attendees will learn how to...
AUGUST 23, 2023 -- FERNS - THE GREEN WONDERS OF NATURE Often times by the dog days of summer, some plants in the garden are looking weary. These plants may need some help -- or even needed deadheading. It’s possible, with enough heat, a wholesale cutting back is required. Ferns, though, are surprisingly hardy. As...
AUGUST 30, 2023 -- OAKS, FIRE & CLIMATE CHANGE Natural landscapes in the US and Canada have been drastically altered by human activities such as infrastructure development, logging, overgrazing, introduction of invasive species, and fire suppression. However, prior to Euro-American settlement, highly functional and biodiverse oak and/or pine grassland systems dominated throughout much of the...
September 12, 2023 -- DESIGNING YOUR POLLINATOR GARDEN: HOW TO CREATE A 'BUZZ' IN YOUR GARDEN In this presentation Asia Scudder discusses how to design a garden with native perennials. Keywords: Plant selection, Designing with pollinators in mind, Maintenance, and Budgeting for your pollinator garden. Presenter Bio Asia Scudder’s landscape designs are...
September 19, 2023 -- NATIVE PLANT COMMUNITIES FOR (MIDWEST) URBAN GARDENS Native plants can help us turn our gardens into beautiful, ecologically functioning plant communities; for Midwestern city gardeners, this means looking to the plants of our great prairies, woodlands, and savannas. These natural plant communities are really big, but our gardens are small. How...
October 12, 2023 -- NATURALISTIC PLANTING DESIGN There have been some significant developments in recent years towards a more naturalistic approach to planting design that borrows concepts from both ornamental horticulture and ecological restoration in an attempt to create plant communities that provide a balance of aesthetic value and ecological benefits. This webinar will provide...
October 19, 2023 -- BUILDING RESILIENT LANDSCAPES In the changing world in which we find ourselves, it behooves us to build resiliency into every landscape. The days of landscapes dedicated to beauty alone are passing. Customers are demanding ecologically sensitive landscapes; they want reduced maintenance and greater wildlife value. Join Dan Jaffe Wilder, author, and...
November 8, 2023 -- The Secret Lives of Wild Bees You’ve probably heard “Save The Bees!” but do you know which bees need saving? Over 4000 species of bees inhabit North America, and most don’t live in hives or make honey. Wild bees come in every size, shape, and color you can imagine, and they...
