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Earth Day Festival

Sunday, April 21, 2013 12:00- 4:00pm

Check here for 2013 Earth Day Craft Fair and Event Schedule

Green Matters Symposium

Friday, February 22, 2013 8:30am- 4:00pm

Green Matters Symposium Feb. 22, 2013 8:30am-4:00pm

Schedule of the Day  | Featured Speakers | Registration Information
Join Brookside Gardens on the final Friday in February each year for a daylong symposium dedicated to sustainable horticulture. In 2013, Green Matters: The New American Landscape , will focus on the next chapter of American horticulture and the emphasis on sustainability that will drive landscape design in the coming decades.

GMS: The New American Landscape ~ Schedule of the Day

8:30am Registration & Refreshments
9:00 Welcome & Introductions
9:15

Integrated Design Strategies for Small Scale Sites and Residential Landscapes
Heather L. Venhaus, Principal at Regenerative Environmental Design
Sustainability has entered the mainstream. We see it associated with our food, building materials, and even the Olympics, but what does it really mean and how does it apply to landscape design? Join Keynote speaker, Heather Venhaus as she examines the broad issue of site sustainability and discusses the potential of small-scale sites and residential landscapes to improve ecosystem function and benefit human health and well-being. Heather will explore trends in sustainable design and provide guidance for becoming a leader in the green building movement.

10:30 Break
10:50 Ecological—and Beautiful—Stormwater Management
Steven Torgerson, ASLA, RLA; A. Morton Thomas & Associates, Inc.
With recent revisions from local, state, and federal agencies about how to treat stormwater, new designs (rain gardens, microbioretention, etc.) are cropping up in many types of landscapes. However, while these tools for stormwater management have proved to be practical and effective, they are often treated solely as an engineered solution, while the ecological and aesthetic aspects of their design have been largely ignored. In this presentation, Steve will discuss strategies to implement stormwater management solutions that both meet regulations and enhance site appeal.
12:00pm Lunch
1:00pm Creating Diverse and Sustainable Gardens Inspired by Nature
Rick Lewandowski, Horticulturist, Naturalist, Lecturer and Consultant
Gardens inspired by native habitats can provide great beauty while teaching us important lessons about environmentally responsible practices. In this lecture, Rick will explore how nature-inspired gardens can be developed with richly layered and diverse plant elements. He will also discuss how proper siting can enhance designed spaces, exemplifying regional character, promoting positive environmental and wildlife impacts, and providing enormous enjoyment to the gardener.
2:15 Break
2:45

Sustainable in the Material World
Meg Calkins, ASLA, LEED AP, Ball State University
Native plants and rainwater harvesting can go a long way toward creating a sustainable landscape, but what about the environmental and human health impacts of the construction materials that the pavement, walls, decks and fences on the site are constructed with? These impacts can be substantial both on your site and in the remote locations where the materials are extracted, processed and manufactured.
Join Meg as she discusses the environmental and human health impacts from common landscape construction materials and suggests ways to reduce the impacts through use of reclaimed, recycled content and alternative materials and constructions.
4:00 Book Signing
4:30-5:30 Happy Hour (additional $15 registration fee)

Featured Speakers:

Heather L. Venhaus
Using her background in landscape architecture and ecological restoration, Heather Venhaus works with teams of scientists, designers, and educators on projects emphasizing sustainable development, land restoration, and environmental education. Ms. Venhaus facilitated and led the development of the Sustainable Sites Initiative Guidelines and Performance Benchmarks 2009 and worked with the U.S. Botanic Garden to developed the educational content and teaching materials for Landscape for Life TM . Heather is a contributing author to the Sustainable Sites Handbook and author of Sustainable Site Design: Integrated Design Strategies for Small Scale Sites and Residential Landscapes. Ms. Venhaus is the principal of Regenerative Environmental Design, a sustainable design-consulting firm that strives to connect natural and built systems in mutually beneficial ways. Heather has held several leadership roles in the American Society of Landscape Architects and the U. S. Green Building Council at both local and national levels.

Meg Calkins
Meg Calkins is an Associate Professor of Landscape Architecture at Ball State University where her work focuses on sustainable site design and materials in construction. Meg is the Editor and a contributing author to the Sustainable Sites Handbook (2011) and the author of Materials for Sustainable Sites (2008). She is a frequent Contributing Editor to Landscape Architecture magazine where she writes on green landscape construction materials. As an officer of the American Society of Landscape Architects (ASLA) Sustainable Design and Development Professional Practice network, Meg was part of a small team that approached ASLA about forming the effort that eventually grew into the Sustainable Sites Initiative (SITES). She continues to shape the Initiative as a member of the SITES Technical Advisory Group. Meg holds master's degrees in both Landscape Architecture and Architecture from the University of California at Berkeley and has practiced in both fields in San Francisco and Washington, D.C.

Rick J. Lewandowski
Rick Lewandowski is a consummate plantsman with a unique, yet practical, perspective on the lessons nature can provide in helping humans build more environmentally responsible, ecologically functional, and aesthetically pleasing gardens. As the former director of Mt. Cuba Center, Rick spent 13 years leading the transformation of the former private country estate of Mrs. Lammot du Pont Copeland to become an iconic woodland wildflower garden and native plant center. Prior to Mt. Cuba, Rick worked for 16 years at the Morris Arboretum of the University of Pennsylvania helping to enhance the gardens, expand the living collection, conducting international and domestic plant exploration trips, and working with the pharmaceutical industry. He brings his enthusiasm and knowledge of plants to every lecture in order to help gardeners improve their own gardens.

Steven Torgerson
Steve Torgerson is a Registered Landscape Architect with 13 years of experience in integrating sustainable design practices into the built environment. He has designed in several unique regions of the United States, including the California Sierra Mountains, the Intermountain Region of Utah, the Ridge-and-Valley Appalachians of Central Pennsylvania and throughout the Mid-Atlantic. He is currently a Senior Landscape Project Manager for AMT Engineering and focuses his design work on developing stormwater solutions that are ecologically sound and aesthetically pleasing. Mr. Torgerson received his Bachelors of Landscape Architecture at Utah State University and his Masters of Landscape Architecture at The Pennsylvania State University. When not finding solutions for water resources, he spends his time running after his 16 month old daughter.

Registration Information

Friday, February 22, 2013 8:30am-4:00pm
Course # 212968 Fee: $89; Register Online or download a 2013 Registration Form.
Brookside Gardens Visitors Center Auditorium

After the Symposium, relax, unwind and enjoy refreshments and conversation with conference participants from 4:30- 5:30pm.
Green Matters Happy Hour Course #224799 Fee: $15
Visitors Center Atrium

2013 Green Matters Sponsors

Thank you to our generous sponsors:

  • Friends of Brookside Gardens
  • Neighbors of the Northwest Branch
  • Renee’s Garden Seeds
  • Margie Richards
  • Silver Spring Garden Club
  • Takoma Horticulture Club
  • University of Maryland Extension Home and Garden Information Center
  • Association of Professional Landscape Designers (DC.MD.VA. Chapter)
  • George Washington University Sustainable Landscape Design Graduate Certificate Program
  • Winding Orchard Citizens Association

Past Green Matters Symposia

Brookside Gardens has hosted the popular Green Matters Symposium each year since 2004. With topics ranging from Water-Wise Landscapes to 2012's Urban Farming Pioneers, Green Matters aims to build awareness of the positive role plants and horticulture play in improving environmental quality. For more information about past Green Matters Symposia, visit our Green Matters Symposium Archive page.

  • 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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Brookside Gardens sends a periodic e-newsletter with information about our upcoming programs and events as well as seasonal gardening tips and educational resources. Click here to join our e-newsletter mailing list and get instant notification when the Xperience Guide to Programs and Events is available to download online. You may choose to cancel your registration at any time.

Date of last update: Jan. 4, 2013