Landscaping with Virginia Natives Webinar Series

Have you heard that using native plants in your yard helps improve the environment for you, your community and Virginia's wildlife, but you are not sure where to start?

Plant Virginia Natives partners collaborated to offer a series of 12 Landscaping with Virginia Natives webinars. Recordings of the webinars are available and will guide you through the why and how to turn your home garden into a beautiful retreat for your family and a native habitat for birds and other wildlife. 

Learn more about the webinars and link to the recordings below.

Recent headlines about global insect declines, the impending extinction of one million species worldwide, 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 shares simple steps that each of us can- and must- take to reverse declining biodiversity and explains why we, ourselves, are nature’s best hope.

Dr. Tallamy’s presentation was funded by the Virginia Coastal Zone Management Program.

 

The Shrub Layer
Peggy Singlemann, Maymont Foundation, Host of Virginia Home Grown

Between the tall tree canopy and the herbaceous floor grows a myriad of shrubs that thrive in the varying light conditions of a forest. This middle layer is composed of plants that provide shelter and food for pollinators and mammals alike. Sorry. A recording of this webinar is not available, but please seed recordings of Virginia Home Grown episodes at https://www.vpm.org/virginia-home-grown

 

The Humane Gardener: Nurturing Habitat for Wildlife     
Nancy Lawson, author The Humane Gardener

In this myth-busting talk, we learned how common growing methods divide the natural world into false dichotomies and perpetuate misperceptions about wild species living among us. Nancy shared ways to put humane, eco-friendly gardening philosophies into action by protecting nesting sites; eliminating hazards; nurturing natives; and resolving conflicts with commonly misunderstood creatures. Sorry. A recording of this webinar is not available. We encourage you to read Nancy’s book - The Humane Gardener: Nurturing a Backyard Habitat for Wildlife and visit her blog at https://www.humanegardener.com/

 

With a little bit of planning your native garden can look beautiful in all seasons, even as flowers fade. Discover how to extend the color show and textural interest in your landscape through fall and winter with beautiful foliage, striking structure, and colorful branches, berries and seed pods.  And, support the wildlife around you while you enjoy the show!

Presentation funded by the Virginia Coastal Zone Management Program

 

Invasive plants are a real problem for Virginia. This presentation will give an overview of why invasive plants are a problem in Virginia (and elsewhere); review the most common invasive plants you might see in your forest, field, or backyard easily identified in the fall; offer control options; and, some native alternatives to those invasive plants that are often used in landscaping.

 

Learn to see the garden in a different way, and how to add more native plants into your landscape—and why it matters. By using native plants, employing sustainable techniques and layering our gardens, we become a ‘part of nature’ rather than ‘apart from nature’!

 

Landscaping with Layers
Trista Imrich, Wild Works of Whimsy

Learn more about landscape choices inspired by nature. What do natural plant communities show us about the importance of layers in your yard, from the ground to the tops of the trees? How can you attractively recreate their form and function in your own landscape? What plants are companions in the nature’s garden and would be right at home together in your own?

 

Plight of the Pollinator: How to Support Pollinating Insects
Celia Vuocolo, Habitat & Stewardship Specialist, Piedmont Environmental Council

Pollinators and other native insects need a diverse array of native plants to survive and thrive. Learn who's who in Virginia's bee community, the basics of providing pollinator habitat, and how to broadly support some of Virginia's smallest residents by making your yard seem like a national park for insects!

 

Conservation Landscaping with Natives
Carol Heiser, CBLP-1 (Retired DWR Habitat Education Coordinator and Education Section Manager)

Every yard makes a difference and native plants are the backbone of a healthy conservation landscape.  Learn the key principles for using natives to protect soils, improve habitat, and keep our waterways clear.  These principles are informed by “The Eight Essential Elements” of the Chesapeake Conservation Landscaping Council.  All of the principles are practices we can use statewide. 

Invasive plants are a real problem for Virginia. This presentation will give an overview of why invasive plants are a problem in Virginia (and elsewhere); review the most common invasive plants you might see in your forest, field, or backyard easily identified in the spring; offer control options; and, some native alternatives to those invasive plants that are often used in landscaping.

 

The Right Plant in the Right Place
John Magee, Magee Design

Finding plants that will thrive under certain environmental conditions - such as streetside spaces, dry shade, rain gardens, small spaces, wet shade, near house/foundation plantings - can be challenging. Learn how native plants are up to the task!

 

How to build a forest on your front yard
Jim McGLone, Virginia Department of Forestry

Learn about forest layers and how to select species for your front yard forest. Also learn about what to look for when buying a tree or shrub and how to plant them when you get them home.

 

Webinar Planning and Sponsorships:

The Plant Virginia Natives Landscaping with Natives webinar series is being coordinated and funded, in part, by the Virginia Coastal Zone Management Program through grants from the NOAA Office for Coastal Management to the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality. 

The webinar was also sponsored and hosted by Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden and Blue Ridge PRISM. 

The planning team for the webinars included the following Plant Virginia Natives partners:
Virginia Coastal Zone Management Program, Virginia Native Plant Society, Virginia Master Naturalists, Virginia Tech, Blue Ridge PRISM, Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden, Richmond Audubon Society, Chesapeake Bay Foundation, The Natural Garden, PlanRVA, Piedmont Environmental Council, Maymont Foundation, James River Association, James River Garden Club, Virginia Dept of Transportation/Pollinator Habitat Program, New River Valley Regional Commission, Virginia Dept of Forestry, Enrichmond Foundation, Henricopolis Soil and Water Conservation District, Colonial Soil and Water Conservation District, Hanover Master Gardeners, Northern Virginia Regional Commission, George Washington Regional Commission, Crater Planning District Commission, James River Soil and Water Conservation District, Chesterfield Cooperative Extension, Albemarle County, Henrico Master Gardeners, James River Park System, Arlington Regional Master Naturalists, Reedy Creek Environmental, The Berkley Group