special event
Saturday, May 3, 2025
Join the Movement: 125th Anniversary Symposium
Join the Movement is for first- and long-time gardeners, lovers of the natural world, environmental advocates, and curious learners who want to explore both why and how to work with native plants. Our panelists will offer their expert perspectives on how to select plants, work with the space you have, and maintain your plantings across all four seasons. Attendees will leave with a well-rounded approach to starting their own ecological garden and will be provided with take-home materials to guide their journey.
Build community with other new and experienced gardeners, and join the movement to increase the beauty and resiliency of New England and the planet, one native plant at a time.
The symposium will be recorded, and the recording will be available for three months following the event.
Speaker Sessions
Uli Lorimer - Seventy Percent to Save the World: Why and How to Plant New England Native Plants
The movement to plant with and to advocate for New England native plants begins with small, approachable steps. Learn the fundamental principles of ecological gardening, and find out how to apply these principles to your own garden from Uli Lorimer, Native Plant Trust’s Director of Horticulture and The Boston Globe’s “Ask a Gardener” columnist. Nature lovers, gardeners of all experience levels, and environmental advocates will come away from this presentation with clear reasons why to plant New England native plants and suggestions for how to work with them, including expert recommendations for plants to add to your own space.
Uli Lorimer is the director of Horticulture at Native Plant Trust and the Boston Globe’s "Ask the Gardener" columnist. Uli has worked with native plants in public gardens for over twenty years, with positions at the Brooklyn Botanic Garden, Wave Hill Garden, and the US National Arboretum. He is the author of The Northeast Native Plant Primer.
Edwina von Gal - Starting from the Inside: Gardening in Collaboration with Nature
The process of incorporating beautiful northeast native plants into spaces of all sizes can offer us solace, joy, and an outlet for our creativity, particularly when we choose to work with the material that our immediate environments provide. Renowned landscape designer and founder of the PerfectEarth Project Edwina von Gal will teach you how to arrange and care for your plantings in collaboration with the Earth. Listen in to gain approachable tips for designing with native plants in your own space, and discover how to interact with the resources available within the “closed loop” of your garden in order to support wildlife, nurture soil, and promote both biodiversity and beauty.
A leading voice in sustainable gardening and landscape design, Edwina von Gal founded the Perfect Earth Project in 2013 to promote nature-based, toxic-free land care for the health of people, their pets, and the planet. As principal of her eponymous landscape design firm since 1984, Edwina has created landscapes with a focus on simplicity, sustainability, and beauty for private and public clients around the world. She is a member of Native Plant Trust’s Council.
Trevor Smith - From the Ground Up: Using Water and Soil to Nourish Your Native Plantings
As gardeners and explorers of the natural world, we expect (and even love) to get our hands dirty and our feet wet. Learn about the intricacies of the ground beneath you, and your plants, as you explore how water moves within different kinds of soil and how to capture water in order to support your plantings. Join stormwater superhero Trevor Smith, past president of the Ecological Landscape Alliance, current board member, and Weston Nurseries’ Design and Education Director, as he shares practical suggestions for restoring the natural water cycle in spaces of all sizes. You’ll leave this presentation with an increased awareness and appreciation for how soil and water interact with each other and with plants, as well as practical strategies for increasing the water efficiency in your space to help your plants thrive all year long.
Trevor Smith is a regenerative landscape designer, Design and Education Manager at Weston Nurseries, and longtime instructor for Native Plant Trust. A past President of the Ecological Landscape Alliance and current Trustee, he specializes in green stormwater infrastructure, including permeable pavers and rain gardens. Trevor recently collaborated with the Social Impact Collective to install thirty green roof bus shelters in Boston.
Dan Jaffe Wilder - Rethinking Lawn
When ecologically-minded individuals like us hear the phrase “replace your lawn,” we often experience a mixture of excitement and overwhelm. Join this presentation to ground yourself in small-scale, pragmatic ways to begin re-enlivening your outdoor spaces and increasing their ecological benefits. Dan Jaffe Wilder, Director of Applied Ecology at Norcross Wildlife Foundation and author of Native Plants for New England Gardens, will share a variety of ways to grow the biodiversity and resiliency of your surroundings, ranging from maintenance strategies to lawn alternatives to whole-lawn replacement. You’ll walk away with plentiful, manageable tips to incorporate as you re-imagine, re-engage with, and replace the lawns around you.
Dan Jaffe Wilder is an ecologist, horticulturist, and botanist with over 15 years’ experience working with native plants and their associated ecology. Dan is currently the Director of Applied Ecology for the Norcross Wildlife Foundation. He published Native Plants for New England Gardens in 2018.
| Date/time details | Saturday, May 3, 2025, 9 AM - 1 PM |
|---|---|
| Location | Zoom |
| Fee | $125 |