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Thursday, March 4, Focus on Practice

Presentation Descriptions

9:00-10:00am EST

Taking on the Big Places: How to Build and Maintain Self-Sufficient Landscapes
Dan Jaffe Wilder, Norcross Wildlife Sanctuary

There are a variety of strategies for landscape maintenance that gardeners employ, but mulching, weeding, planting, and various other tasks become problematic when we start looking at acres instead of square feet. How does one manage a woodland as opposed to a woodland garden? What strategies can be applied to multi-acre meadows? How can we manage for specific species when getting down on our knees and weeding is not a viable option? Join Jaffe Wilder, author and ecological horticulturist, to explore how to manage the big places. With case studies from Norcross Wildlife Sanctuary he will explain various strategies for creating and maintaining large landscapes with ecology and self-sustainability at the forefront.

10:15-11:15am EST

Nature’s Sanctuary: Challenges of and Solutions for a SITES Gold Landscape
Gregg Tepper, Arboretum at Laurel Hill and West Laurel Hill Cemeteries

Join Horticulturist Gregg Tepper to learn about and understand the history and challenges of a SITES Gold landscape and real-world solutions to achieve the desired results. From the site’s creation in 2008 and original design intent, to 2020 and its evolved management plan, Tepper will share the difficulties faced and detailed, pragmatic solutions needed to overcome them. The topics include invasive species and stormwater mitigation, native plant choices, and maintenance strategies effectively utilized for this managed-succession site. From its current existence as a meadow through its future progression to a late-succession woodland, you’ll learn what Tepper has planned, and you’ll find the revealed surprise of this truly unique site.

12:45-1:45pm EST

Understanding Soil Health and Principles for Improving Landscape Resilience
Yamily Zavala, Chinook Applied Research Association

Up your understanding of the part soil plays in developing resilient landscapes. This presentation provides an overview of soil health. Learn the properties of healthy, resilient soils; find out how we assess soil health; and discover the importance of soil biology in the development of soil resilience.

2:00-3:00pm EST

Regenerating Suburbia One Garden at a Time
Nadia Malarkey, Nadia Malarkey Design

Landscape design professionals can play a key role in regenerating our monocultural suburban landscapes. Understanding why this work is so vitally important and how we can create beautiful (even luxuriant) landscapes that capture carbon, create habitat in support of our native pollinators, and contribute to the cooling of the earth’s atmosphere.

I will share the philosophy that drives my work in the regeneration of landscapes, showing images from my own commissioned residential projects. These examples illustrate the use of a spatial design aesthetic for viable bio-diverse functional landscapes. These gardens have inspired my clients with a deeper sense of environmental stewardship as well as drawn their friends and neighbors to the native plant aesthetic. 

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