Home Landscaping in a Changing Climate: Fire Smart, Water Wise, Biodiverse

Saturday, February 29, 2020 |  8:30am – 4:00pm
Marin Art & Garden Center
30 Sir Francis Drake Blvd, Ross, CA 94957

Co-sponsored by MCL, the California Native Plant Society and Bee Audacious

As the climate warms and the weather gets less predictable, Bay Area home gardeners find themselves facing contradictory directives from public agencies that are each trying to address one part of the looming problem. It seems as though we may be facing a lot of hard choices. Or can we find a way to work with nature to have home landscapes that are resilient to fire and drought, yet still thrive and offer beauty and habitat both for us and other creatures? 

We are putting on this symposium because we believe we can have it all. Taking an integrated and diversified approach simplifies maintenance, produces healthier living spaces and creates natural resilience to temperature swings. Come hear a gathering of experts tell of methods to manage water, enrich soil, and build fire-wise landscapes with thriving plants that encourage biodiversity. Go home reenergized, full of nature-affirming ideas you can apply to your own land. Renewal can happen anywhere. Why not start with your favorite place?

Click here for registration.

Schedule
8:00-9:00 am. Registration and continental breakfast
9:00 am. Opening remarks: Katie Rice, Marin County Supervisor

9:15-9:45 am. KEYNOTE
“The Worst Is Yet to Come But So Is The Best: Pollinator Gardening, Biodiversity, and Our Role in Building 21^st Century California,” Dan Gluesenkamp, Executive Director, California Native Plant Society

9:45-10:15 am: “The Soil Sponge,” Diana Donlon, Director, Soil Centric

10:15-10:30 am. Break

10:30-10:45 am: “Biodiversity and Climate Change: The Missing Links," Paul da Silva, Professor, Life and Earth Sciences, College of Marin

10:45-11:15 am: “Creating Healthy Habitat in the Urban Environment: Low Input, High Impact,” Patricia Algara, ASLA, Co-founder, BASE Landscape Architecture

11:15-11:45 am: “Watershed Approach to Landscaping,” Keith Bancroft, Water Conservation Supervisor, Marin Municipal Water District

11:45-12:15 pm: “A Less Toxic Approach to Gardening,” Suzanne Bontempo, IPM Educator, Our Water Our World

12:15-1:15pm. Lunch by Panera Bread

1:15-2:00 pm: “Defensible Space, Vegetation Management, and Home Hardening to Reduce Wildfire Impacts,” Todd Lando, FireSAFE Marin Council Coordinator

2:00-2:45 pm: "Using Native Plants for Fire Resistant Landscapes," Greg Rubin, founder, California’s Own Native Landscape Design

2:45-3:00 pm. Break

3:00-4:00 pm: Panel Discussion. Ask The Experts: What’s Bugging You About Your Garden?

4:00-6:00 pm. Wine reception

Click here for registration