GreenScapes Symposium

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Back to Our Roots: Leveraging Native Plants to Restore the Environment

 

Friday, February 19, 2021
9:15 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. ET
*Live Zoom event

 

Years of rapid urbanization have fragmented natural habitats with manicured lawns and barren over-development leading to significant declines in biodiversity. How can you reverse this alarming trend? Join us for a fascinating day of innovative presentations that dig deep into how native plants can restore natural ecosystems in a range of landscapes, from backyards and public gardens to urban and commercial projects.

Experts will tackle the native vs. non-native plant debate: Is a native plant-only prescription necessary? Under what conditions should non-native plants be incorporated, and what are the risks of using cultivars? Join the conversation as experts assess the scope of environmental benefits that native ecosystems create, such as decreasing pollution and fighting climate change.

We’ll explore the latest strategies to combat pollinator population collapse, considering key factors like pollination syndromes, specialist pollinators, plant genetics and floral balance. Speakers will demonstrate the latest tools to assess the sustainability of sites, including best practices for evidence-based designs that maximize the ecological, social and economic benefits of native landscapes.

 

***This will be offered as a series of live online lectures using Zoom with audience Q&A incorporated into the program. Each session will be recorded and a link to watch the symposium will be emailed to all participants. 

 

About GreenScapes

The GreenScapes Symposium, formerly Green Matters, is an annual program sponsored by Brookside Gardens since 2004.   The symposium will continue to concentrate attention on the intersection of horticulture and environmental issues Environmental stewardship is a core value of the Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission (M-NCPPC), Brookside Gardens’ parent organization. As such, we strive to provide timely information and viable solutions to environmental challenges.

 

Registration Information 

Early Bird Fee: $45 p/person until January 8 2020

Standard Fee:   $55 p/person after January 9, 2020

Register using this link ActiveMontgomery.org (Course #87621) or call 301-962-1470.

*Registration includes link to watch recordings of each session after the event.

***If you create a new Active Montgomery account, please check your Inbox for an email with a link to authenticate your account. This must be done prior to adding the GreenScapes event to your cart and checking out.

 

Schedule of the Day

Professional development credit hours will be available for each session (see below).

9:15 am Welcome & Introductions
9:30 am KEY NOTE: Nature’s Best Hope: A New Approach to Conservation that Starts in Your Yard
Doug Tallamy, Professor & Chair, Department of Entomology & Wildlife Ecology, University of Delaware 
Recent headlines about global insect declines and three billion fewer birds in North America are a bleak reality check about how ineffective our current landscape designs have been at sustaining the plants and animals that sustain us.  Such losses are not an option if we wish to continue our current standard of living on Planet Earth. The good news is that none of this is inevitable. Tallamy will discuss simple steps that each of us can- and must- take to reverse declining biodiversity and will explain why we, ourselves, are nature’s best hope.
11:00 am BREAK
11:15 am The Pollinator Victory Garden: Winning the War on Pollinator Decline with Ecological Gardening 
Kim Eierman, Author & Founder, EcoBeneficial LLC   
With pollinator populations crashing, our managed landscapes have never been more important.  But it takes more than a floral buffet to create a resilient “Pollinator Victory Garden” which attracts, supports and increases populations of a diverse array of pollinator species.  Kim Eierman will share ecological best practices for landscapes that consider habitat, pollination syndromes, specialist pollinators, plant genetics and floral balance.  Learn about the latest strategies for defragmenting pollinator habitats.
12:30 pm LUNCH
12:45 pm Sponsor presentations
1:15 pm Selecting & Sourcing Native Plants for Diverse Landscape Needs
Claudio Vazquez, co-owner of Izel Plants
This presentation will help you navigate the difficult task of selecting and sourcing native plants, including the drawbacks and benefits to using cultivars, the challenges with propagating certain plants on a commercial scale, and the importance of local genotype varieties. Claudio will tackle the hot debate of whether a native-only landscape is necessary and help us understand the environmental impact of genetic diversity and its importance in establishing sustainable ecosystems. Learn how to balance your individual needs as homeowners, horticulturalists and professional designers within the context of conservation, while meeting specific aesthetics, resilience and maintenance requirements.
2:30 pm BREAK
2:45 pm Evidence-based Design in Landscape Architecture and Planning for a more Sustainable Future
Emily McCoy, PLA, ASLA, SITES AP:  Associate Professor of Practice in Landscape Architecture and Environmental Planning, North Carolina State University & Landscape Architect at Design Workshop
Gardeners and landscape architects alike understand the importance of designing with native plants but how do we effectively evaluate the environmental benefits of these landscapes?  Emily will draw upon case studies from her work with Andropogon Associates and Design Workshop to demonstrate easy-to-use tools for collecting field data to assess the sustainability of a range of sites before and after design. This presentation will review the latest research focused on landscape performance and best practices that provide layered benefits ecologically, socially and economically, from sites varying in scale and geographic context.
4:00 pm CLOSING REMARKS

Continuing Education

Continuing education units (CEUs) will be available for:

  • American Society of Landscape Architects (LA CES 5.25)
  • Association of Professional Landscape Designers (APLD 5.25)
  • Chesapeake Bay Landscape Professionals (CBLP 5.25)
  • Maryland Certified Professional Horticulturist Program (CPH 1.0)
  • Delaware Master Gardener (5.25)
  • Maryland Master Gardener (5.25)
  • Pennsylvania Master Gardener (5.25)
  • Virginia Master Gardener (contact your local extension agent)

 

Featured Speakers

Doug Tallamy, Professor & Chair, Department of Entomology & Wildlife Ecology, University of Delaware

Doug Tallamy is a professor in the Department of Entomology and Wildlife Ecology at the University of Delaware, where he has authored 104 research publications and has taught insect related courses for 40 years. Chief among his research goals is to better understand the many ways insects interact with plants and how such interactions determine the diversity of animal communities. His book Bringing Nature Home: How Native Plants Sustain Wildlife in Our Gardens was published by Timber Press in 2007 and was awarded the 2008 Silver Medal by the Garden Writers’ Association. The Living Landscape, co-authored with Rick Darke, was published in 2014. Doug’s new book ‘Nature’s Best Hope’ released by Timber Press in February 2020, is a New York Times Best Seller. Among his awards are the Garden Club of America Margaret Douglas Medal for Conservation and the Tom Dodd, Jr. Award of Excellence, the 2018 AHS B.Y. Morrison Communication Award and the 2019 Cynthia Westcott Scientific Writing Award.

  

Image of Doug Tallamy

Doug Tallamy

Kim Eierman, Author & Founder, EcoBeneficial LLC

Kim Eierman is the Founder of EcoBeneficial. She is an environmental horticulturist and ecological landscape designer specializing in native plants. Based in New York, Kim teaches at the New York Botanical Garden, Brooklyn Botanic Garden, The Native Plant Center in NY, Rutgers Home Gardeners School and several other institutions.  Kim is an active speaker nationwide on many ecological landscape topics, presenting for industry conferences, “green events,” Master Gardener groups, garden clubs, nature centers, Audubon Society chapters, beekeeping groups, and other organizations interested in environmental improvements.  Kim also provides horticultural consulting and landscape design to homeowners and commercial clients.

In addition to being a Certified Horticulturist through the American Society for Horticultural Science, Kim is an Accredited Organic Landcare Professional, a Steering Committee member of The Native Plant Center, and a member of The Ecological Landscape Alliance and the Garden Communicators International.

Kim is the author of the new book, The Pollinator Victory Garden: Win the War on Pollinator Decline with Ecological Gardening.

 Photo of Kim EIerman

Kim Eierman

 

Claudio Vazquez, co-owner of Izel Plants

IzelPlants.com is a marketplace for plants native to the contiguous US. It is the brainchild of co-founders Claudio Vazquez and Amanda McClean, two photographers with backgrounds in advertising and marketing. Both are avid gardeners, who were frustrated with the difficulties they encountered trying to find reliable native plant information and user-friendly websites for their purchases. Their database is a resource for detailed plant information, including species characteristics, descriptions, cultivation guidelines, county level maps of recorded native range, and more.

 Claudio Vasquez

Claudio Vazquez

Emily McCoy, PLA, ASLA, SITES AP:  Associate Professor of Practice in Landscape Architecture and Environmental Planning, North Carolina State University & Landscape Architect at Design Workshop

Emily McCoy is Office Director of Design Workshop’s Raleigh Studio, and a professor of practice and researcher at NC State University. She was formerly a Principal and the Director of Integrative Design Research at Andropogon Associates.  Emily approaches every project as an opportunity to celebrate the intersection of natural and cultural narratives of place through design. Her professional practice and research are focused on projects which seek to blur the line between infrastructure and landscape to provide immersive, equitable and high-performance places for all. Throughout her 15 year career she has worked on a wide range of award-winning projects across the world that are models for integrating environmental, social and economic sustainability, such as the US Coast Guard Headquarters in Washington, DC; Shield Ranch in Austin, Texas; Bartam’s Mile, Philadelphia, PA; and Shoemaker Green, Philadelphia, PA.

Internationally, Emily leads conversations within the design and planning communities on maximizing landscape performance to perform social and environmental services. Emily’s passion to create high-performance landscapes are reflected in her service to organizations such as the Landscape Architecture Foundation Board, Pennsylvania State University Stuckeman School Board, and the Awesome Raleigh Foundation. She recently completed the LATIS publication, A Landscape Performance + Metrics Primer for Landscape Architects, and  received national ASLA research and planning awards for her work at Shoemaker Green, for the US GSA Site Commissioning White Paper, and for the Shield Ranch Master Plan. Emily holds a Master of Landscape Architecture degree from NC State University, and a Bachelor of Science degree in Ecology, Evolution and Environmental Biology from Appalachian State University.

  

Emily McCoy

Emily McCoy

Registration Information 

Early Bird Fee: $45 p/person until January 8, 2021

Standard Fee:   $55 p/person after January 9, 2021

Register at ActiveMONTGOMERY.org (Course #87621) or call 301-962-1470.

 

Past GreenScapes Symposiums

Brookside Gardens has hosted the popular GreenScapes Symposium each year since 2004. With topics ranging from Water-Wise Landscapes to 2012’s Urban Farming Pioneers, GreenScapes aims to build awareness of the positive role plants and horticulture play in improving environmental quality.

  • 2020: Practical Solutions For Ecologically Sustainable Landscapes
  • 2019: Garden by Design: Creative Approaches to Diverse Landscapes
  • 2018: Restoring and Renewing Our Urban Landscapes
  • 2017: Plant Solutions in The Age of Climate Change
  • 2016: Garden Gateways
  • 2015: Protecting our Pollinators
  • 2014: Gardening in a Changing Climate
  • 2013: The New American Landscape
  • 2012: Urban Farming Pioneers
  • 2011: Real Food Renaissance
  • 2010: Food for Thought
  • 2009: Water-Wise Landscapes
  • 2008: Sustainable Landscapes
  • 2007: Trees: Urban Re-Leaf
  • 2006: After the Rain

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Last Updated: February 12, 2021