GreenScapes Symposium
Designing With Purpose
Friday, February 17, 2023
9:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. EST
*Live Zoom Event
Take advantage of this learning opportunity to effect positive environmental change whether in your home garden or through professional work. Explore the latest advancements in landscape design strategies to achieve a range of goals, from public gardens that engage diverse audiences to landscapes that reduce carbon footprints and are resilient to climate change. Speakers will also explore innovative design and maintenance practices that bring visual order to naturalistic gardens, making them recognizable assets to neighbors and HOAs. Though these landscape goals may seem unrelated, they can all be achieved by selecting the right building materials, understanding plant communities, and leveraging creative plant combinations. Join us to learn how!
*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. Registration includes access to watch recordings of each session after the event. Professional development credit hours will be available for each session.
About GreenScapes
The GreenScapes Symposium is an annual program sponsored by Brookside Gardens since 2004. The symposium explores the latest topics related to landscape sustainability and the environment. This event appeals to a broad audience ranging from landscape architects and designers to master gardeners, horticulturalists, and urban planners. 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 that help create a healthy planet for all people, plants and living things.
Registration Information
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.
- Register using ActiveMontgomery.org (Activity # PBG0057) or call 301-962-1407.
- Early Bird Fee: $45 (ends Friday, January 13, 2023)
- Standard Fee: $55
Schedule of the Day
| Time | Agenda |
|---|---|
| 9:15 am | Welcome & Introductions |
| 9:30 am | Quest for Climate Resiliency: Adaptive Strategies for Sustainable Plant Design Laura Hansplant, landscape architect and co-owner at Studio SustenaHow should changing weather patterns affect the way we design our landscapes? This lecture will examine resilience strategies that help landscapes successfully respond to climate change. What critical ecological functions need to be protected over time? Why is density and species diversity important to adaptation? Through case studies ranging from home gardens to commercial projects, you’ll learn how to interpret plant community dynamics and structure to foster robust and adaptable sites. The importance of cultural expectations and their impact on ecologically based planting design will also be reviewed. |
| 10:45 am | Break |
| 11:00 am | Soak it up: Carbon Sequestering Sites Pamela Conrad, landscape architect, founder of Climate Positive Design, and current Loeb Fellow, Harvard Graduate School of DesignThe reduction and storage of carbon levels from the atmosphere is critical to fighting climate change. Learn about the opportunities for carbon sequestration through site development and design in a range of landscapes. How can soil health, functional plant diversity and sustainable maintenance practices reduce and capture carbon? What are the best techniques and available tools for calculating the carbon balance of these landscape materials and design strategies now and over time? Discover how site and infrastructure design can support other co-benefits such as biodiversity, resilience, and equity. |
| 12:15 pm | Lunch |
| 12:45 pm | Sponsor Presentations |
| 1:15 pm | On This Land: Connecting Minority Communities to the Natural World Veronica Tyson-Strait, landscape designer, educator, artist, and Horticulture Manager at Randall’s Island Park AllianceRapid population growth threatens the livability of our cities, which disproportionately affects minority communities. This inequity can be effectively addressed by connecting diverse ethnic and socio-economic groups to the natural world through our limited urban green spaces. Veronica will highlight key strategies on how to design and manage landscapes that engage immigrants and communities of color and provide them with a sense of belonging. How can we balance the priority of native plant gardens with the need for new residents to connect with culturally familiar yet foreign florae? Which mainstream expectations around garden maintenance and design aesthetics are at odds with minority cultures and communities? What can we learn from those who are more closely connected to their horticultural heritage? As an immigrant from the Caribbean designing and managing landscapes in New York City, Veronica is uniquely positioned to answer these questions and share lessons from her hands-on experience. |
| 2:30 pm | Break |
| 2:45 pm | Unlawning Suburbia: Lessons in the Design and Management of Nature-Inspired Landscapes Benjamin Vogt, Author & Owner, Monarch GardensTwo of the greatest challenges in creating a naturalistic garden are demonstrating that the space is intentional and appeasing HOAs, city ordinances, and finicky neighbors. These issues are closely related and come down to choosing the right native plants based on plant behavior and arranging them with purpose, all with an understanding of how plants can be instrumental in their own effective management. This lecture will cover core design principles that bring visual order to naturalized gardens and that can be adapted to your local native plants. Successful strategies to appease the human community will be explored while looking at landscape examples and success stories from around the country. |
| 4:00 pm | Closing Remarks |
Continuing Education
The following are the CEUs offered for the 2023 GreenScapes Symposium.
- American Society of Landscape Architects (LA CES 5.0)
- Association of Professional Landscape Designers (APLD 5.0)
- Chesapeake Bay Landscape Professionals (CBLP 5.0)
- DC Master Gardener (5.0)
- Delaware Master Gardener (5.0)
- ISA BCMA Science: 1
- Practice: 0
- Management: 4
- Climber Specialist: 5
- ISA Certified Arborist: 5
-
- Utility Specialist: 5
- Municipal Specialist: 5
- Aerial Lift Specialist: 5
- Maryland Master Gardener (5.0)
- New Jersey Master Gardener (5.0)
- New York Master Gardener (5.0 – contact your local extension agent)
- Pennsylvania Master Gardener (5.0)
- Virginia Master Gardener (5.0 – contact your local extension agent)