WE’RE BACK! How do three extra 90-minute escapes from the seemingly infinite world insanity sound correct about now, with every session providing an up to date have a look at a foundational component of the ecological garden-making and administration equation?
I’ve been buoyed by your persevering with enthusiasm for my “Backyard 2.0” webinar collection, and the prospect to be taught collectively as we did in 2025’s courses from specialists in ecological horticulture. I hope you’ll contemplate persevering with our training within the new 12 months, with a month-to-month gathering for an professional discuss and Q&A (out there to hitch dwell, or watch in replay at a time of your selecting).
With that in thoughts, I’ve invited three presenters whose work I enormously admire to educate us and reply our questions. Each will tease aside a facet of what makes a backyard that thrives ecologically, and can also be stunning, together with:
Not all native vegetation are created equal: The best way to confidently select one of the best ones on your panorama, from straight species to “nativars” and past;
What you might want to know earlier than you design: Key items of important homework to insure not simply robust aesthetics, however a completed backyard’s ecological vibrancy;
What the analysis (not guessing or typical wisdoms!) tells us are one of the best garden-maintenance practices to maximise biodiversity.
The way it all works: For practically 4 years, my Digital Backyard Membership operated solely on a subscription mannequin, the place members bought entry to a complete semester of courses at a time. Final 12 months, I launched a brand new format, which due to your optimistic response is constant.
I’ll as soon as once more host month-to-month 90-minute workshops you should buy individually (or join all three at a 14 p.c low cost!). Attend your alternative(s) dwell, or watch the recorded model for 3 months afterward, at your leisure.
Tickets for these standalone webinars are simply $29, or $75 for the collection.
The lineup to select from:
Jan. 29, 2026 1-2:30 PM Japanese
Joseph Tychonievich
The Cultivar Conundrum
WHEN TRYING to decide on native vegetation for the backyard, we’re confronted with phrases like straight species, wild-type, cultivar, nativar, choice, and ecotype. On this lecture Joseph Tychonievich will dig into what all these phrases imply, the place named plant choices come from, and the way they affect the ecosystem that’s your backyard. Which of them work for the backyard’s important inhabitants, the pollinators and different beneficials, and which of them don’t? You’ll come away with every little thing you might want to confidently select one of the best native vegetation on your panorama.
Joseph Tychonievich is a lifelong lover of vegetation and gardening. He earned his diploma in horticulture from Ohio State College and went on to work for specialty rare-plant nurseries in Japan and Michigan. Joseph is the creator of a number of books, together with “Rock Gardening: Reimagining a Basic Type,” and “The Comedian E book Information to Rising Meals: Step-by-Step Vegetable Gardening for Everybody.” He’s the editor of the North American Rock Backyard Society’s quarterly journal, and has been printed in “Nice Gardening,” “Horticulture,” and “The New York Occasions.” He presently lives and gardens in South Bend, Ind., together with his husband, three cats, and a really extreme variety of vegetation (together with some that he has bred himself).
Feb. 19, 2026, 1-2:30 PM Japanese
Rebecca McMackin
Approaching Design from an Ecological Perspective
WELL BEFORE we select a plant palette and draw beds on a plan, there’s a lot analysis and consideration that go into designing an ecological panorama. The historical past of your land, the ecology of the area, and the present wildlife communities can all be integrated right into a remaining design that has extra integrity than any store-bought butterfly backyard. Be part of ecological horticulturalist and designer Rebecca McMackin to learn to method a yard transformation that considers ecoregions alongside soccer video games, and neighbors alongside wildlife habitat.
Rebecca McMackin is an ecologically obsessed horticulturist, backyard designer, and author. She is Lead Horticulturist for the American Horticultural Society and produces the month-to-month publication and podcast, “Develop Like Wild!” Previous to transferring to the woods of New England, Rebecca was Arboretum Curator at Woodlawn Cemetery within the Bronx, a Loeb Fellow at Harvard, and managed Brooklyn Bridge Park for a decade. She has written for and been featured in Gardens Illustrated, the New York Occasions, the Wall Avenue Journal, NPR, PBS, and her TED discuss on ecological gardening has been watched greater than 1,000,000 occasions. Her backyard for the Brooklyn Museum just lately gained the Perennial Plant Affiliation’s Award of Excellence.
March 19, 2026, 1-2:30 PM Japanese
Max Ferlauto
The Science Behind Leaving Your Leaves (and Extra Backyard-Care Insights)
LONG-HELD garden-maintenance practices are evolving as we be taught extra about their affect on ecology, so what’s “greatest observe” now in caring for our yards? In March 2025, Maryland’s state entomologist, Max Ferlauto, and Karin T. Burghardt, an ecologist and affiliate professor on the College of Maryland, printed outcomes of two years of analysis in regards to the impacts of fall leaf elimination—providing arduous numbers to again up the Cleanup 2.0 name to “go away the leaves” we’ve heard lately. This webinar will develop on the analysis outcomes, and in addition go into depth on subjects comparable to yard biodiversity and soil well being. Max has studied extra components within the “go away the leaves” query—comparable to different planting and administration methods past fall-cleanup ways, and even present us how our yard-biodiversity planning efforts may be tied to the bigger conservation objectives of preserving uncommon species and habitats.
Max Ferlauto, the State Entomologist with the Maryland Division of Pure Assets since November 2023, earned his doctorate diploma in entomology from the College of Maryland. In March 2025, with Karin Burghardt of the College of Maryland, he printed much-heralded analysis on the impacts of leaf elimination ensuing from their two-year examine in 20 residential suburban Maryland yards, lastly placing arduous numbers to the consequences of one among our highest-impact backyard practices: fall cleanup.
