photo credit: Bill Mauzy
Every February the Piedmont Landscape Association hosts an annual seminar. This event strives to bring gardening enthusiasts and landscape professionals together in an educational setting.
NEW: 7.5 CEU's have been approved for Landscape Architects through the LACES program.
LocationThe Paramount Theater
Charlottesville, Virginia RegistrationDue to the high volume of participants and the limited volunteer capacity of our organization, everyone will be directed to register through the Paramount Theater.
Registration may be taken over the phone at 434-979-1333 or online at www.theparamount.net. Items to Note
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Agenda-For Speaker Bios and Topic Descriptions see below.
Rates
Platinum sponsors
Gold sponsors
Silver sponsors
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Speakers
Hannah Lewis |
Harland Patch |
Paul Tukey |
Paul Westervelt |
Hannah Lewis
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Hannah Lewis is the author of Mini-Forest Revolution: Using the Miyawaki Method to Rapidly Rewild the World (Chelsea Green 2022), which was translated into French and Italian and is a winner of the 2023 Nautilus Book Award. Hannah has an MS in Sustainable Agriculture and Sociology from Iowa State University and a BA in Environmental Studies from Middlebury College. She lives in Minneapolis, where she works for the non-profit Renewing the Countryside to build sustainable local and regional food systems and plant mini-forests.
For more information, visit: https://www.hannahlewis.org/ |
Lecture:
Using the Miyawaki Method to Rewild our Communities for Climate Resilience What holds hundreds of species, sequesters 500 lbs. CO2/year, is several degrees cooler than its surroundings, soaks up lots of rainwater, and is co-created by children and their elders in spaces no bigger than a tennis court? A “mini-forest” planted using the Miyawaki Method, of course. After a couple of years of weeding and watering, these nascent forests form a canopy and - like any other healthy ecosystem - become self-sufficient and maintenance free. We'll discuss what a mini-forest is, how it can build climate resilience in your neighborhood, what goes into planting one, and why people all over the world are organizing their communities to plant mini-forests in the small spaces around where they live and work. |
Harland Patch
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Dr. Harland Patch focuses his research on many aspects of pollinator biology from genes to landscapes. His current research is on understanding the biological mechanisms associated with bee nutrition and how nutrition, in turn, affects bee health. Dr. Patch is working with collaborators to understand the underlying factors that contribute to pollinator host plant choice, including the role of annual and perennial cultivars to support pollinator populations. This includes developing an easy-to-use digital tool to determine which cultivars support pollinators and machine learning based insect monitoring systems. He is scientific advisor and Director of Pollinator Programming at Penn State’s Bird and Pollinator Garden, a recently built 4-acre garden based on scientific research. He is also involved in ongoing projects to determine the causes of pollinator declines in the US and in Africa. Dr. Patch has taught Molecular Ecology, Pollination Biology and an undergraduate course on honey bees, among other classes.
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Lecture:
The Biodiverse Pollinator Garden: Lessons from Research and Practice This talk will explore the science behind pollinator and plant communities and how landscapes can be designed and managed to support biodiversity. The main principles of pollinator landscape design will be described and how these principles are used to create and manage Penn State's Bird and Pollinators' Garden. |
Paul Tukey
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President and Founder of Kurisu, LLC, Hoichi Kurisu has been designing and building gardens for 50 years. Born in Hiroshima, Japan, Hoichi spent his childhood among rice fields and the wild landscapes of surrounding mountains. As a small child he witnessed the atomic bomb. In the aftermath of this event, the resilience of the Japanese people and nature’s role in providing hope for the future left a deep impression on Hoichi that would influence his life and work for years to come.
Hoichi joined his father’s small landscape maintenance business in the San Fernando Valley when he arrived in the United States for the first time in the mid 1960s. There Hoichi saw firsthand both the affluence and excess of post-war American life and the impacts of an increasingly industrial society. But despite the beautiful houses and big cars, Hoichi sensed profound imbalances between material wealth and spiritual well-being. At this time, Hoichi became convinced of the power of nature to meet some of humanity’s most fundamental needs. He returned to Tokyo, Japan, to study landscape design and construction under distinguished designer Kenzo Ogata. From 1968 to 1972, Hoichi served as Landscape Director for the Japanese Garden Society in Portland, Oregon, and supervised the construction of the Portland Japanese Gardens, considered some of the finest Japanese gardens outside of Japan. |
Lecture:
An Evolution of Purpose: Japanese Gardens as Healing Spaces Since ancient times, Japanese gardens have been evolving within the context of culture, politics, religion, and economics. Today, the art of Japanese gardens is more relevant than ever. Kurisu LLC will share insights from 50 years of experience creating Japanese-style healing gardens that address some of society’s most urgent needs. |
Paul Westervelt
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Paul Westervelt is a professional plant geek who has run the annual and perennial program for Saunders Brothers Nursery in Piney River, Virginia since 2004, where he grows over 800 varieties across 13 programs. As Director of New Plant Research and Development, he oversees production and ground trials of new varieties for the nursery.
Paul lives and gardens with his wife and two children (propagules) on their farm in central VA. |
Lecture:
The New Perennial Movement and Why it Matters While much of the industry is focused on the latest and greatest, compact, spring blooming whatever, there’s a counter movement afoot. A movement that embraces a more natural look and a different palette of plants all while creating beneficial habitat and food for pollinators. |