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Gardening Green Expo 2023

Join Us for Gardening Green Expo 2023!

Gardening Green Expo 2023 has ended. Please enjoy the videotaped presentations below.

CLIMATE-WISE GARDENING
After the heat and drought of recent years, gardeners are looking for ways to reevaluate their plant choices for future climate extremes. Reducing lawn and incorporating native plants can save water, reduce flooding, and they don’t require fertilizer or pesticides. Native plants and trees require less water once established, and also provide food for pollinators, birds, and animals.

Our featured presenter is renowned author Doug Tallamy. With Bringing Nature Home, Tallamy changed the conversation about gardening in America. His second book, the New York Times bestseller Nature’s Best Hope, urged homeowners to take conservation into their own hands. Now, he turns his advocacy to one of the most important species of the plant kingdom—the mighty oak tree. Oaks sustain a complex and fascinating web of wildlife. The Nature of Oaks reveals what is going on in oak trees month by month, highlighting the seasonal cycles of life, death, and renewal. From woodpeckers who collect and store hundreds of acorns for sustenance to the beauty of jewel caterpillars, Tallamy illuminates and celebrates the wonders that occur right in our own backyards. He also shares practical advice about how to plant and care for an oak, along with information about the best oak species for your area. The Nature of Oaks will inspire you to treasure these trees and to act to nurture and protect them.

ZOOM PRESENTATIONS

Date Time Presentation/Speaker
Monday, March 13 7:00pm The Drought Resistant Yard: Creating Beautiful Spaces Using Native and Non-native Plants with Less Water – Susan Leigh Anthony, Doveflower Cottage Garden Designs – SEE VIDEO BELOW
Tuesday, March 14 7:00pm The Ecosystem Native Plants Support – Blake Dinius, Plymouth County Entomologist – SEE VIDEO BELOW
Wednesday, March 15 7:00pm Composting and Mulching for Climate-Wise Gardening – Ann McGovern,  Compost Specialist, Mass Dept. of Environmental Protection (Retired) – SEE VIDEO BELOW
Thursday, March 16 7:00pm  The Nature of Oaks – Doug Tallamy, Renowned author and Professor in the Department of Entomology and Wildlife Ecology at the University of Delaware – SEE VIDEO BELOW
Friday, March 17 7:00pm Climate Conscious Gardening: Building Sustainable Landscapes – Kristen Nicholson, Blue Stem Natives – SEE VIDEO BELOW

LIVE EVENT PRESENTATIONS

Time Presentation Speaker
10:00am Biochar – For Healthy Plants and a Healthy Planet Debbie Cook, Biochar Afficionado – SEE VIDEO BELOW
11:00am Attract More Butterflies to Your Garden!  Lisey Good, – Founder, Wild Cohasset – SEE VIDEO BELOW
12:00noon Protecting Our Waters Through Gardening Brian Taylor, NSRWA – SEE VIDEO BELOW
1:00pm Building Good Healthy Regenerative Soil in a Changing Climate Jon Belber, Holly Hill Farm – SEE VIDEO BELOW

Congratulations to Our 2023 Gardening Green Expo Prize Winners!

  • A rain barrel and small diverter from the WaterSmart program – Liz Wyatt, East Bridgewater
  • $50 Kennedy’s Country Gardens gift card – Rachel Langlois, Norwell
  • 1lb bag of Biochar – Ann Callanan, Duxbury
  • A 10×10 garden plot ($40 value) at Scituate Community Garden for 2023 – Gigi Mirarchi, Scituate
  • 1lb bag of Biochar – Jacqueline Tower, Weymouth
  • A gift basket from Edible Southeastern Massachusetts – Anne Walsh, Duxbury
  • 1lb bag of Biochar – Liz Carreiro, Marshfield
  • A signed copy of Doug Tallamy’s book ” The Nature of Oaks” – Michelle Littleton, Plymouth
  • 1lb bag of Biochar – Nancy Larson, Weymouth
  • Seeds from Holly Hill Farm – Thomas Lau, Norwell
  • $100 gift card from Blue Stem Natives – Erin Levitsky, Pembroke
  • 1lb bag of Biochar – Peter Johnson, Hanover

Downloads, Give-aways, and More

Plant Resources
From Kennedy’s Country Gardens, UMass, and CZM

Plant and Garden Resources
From Blue Stem Natives, Doveflower Cottage, Blake Dinius, Doug Tallamy, and National Wildlife Federation, Wild Ones, Mass DEP, and the Buy Nothing Project

Want to see more programs like this? Please make a gift to the NSRWA to protect local waters.

 

 

 

This FREE expo is sponsored by the WaterSmart program, North and South Rivers Watershed Association, and Kennedy’s Country Gardens. WaterSmart is a nonprofit partnership between the NSRWA and 12 towns on the South Shore: Cohasset, Duxbury, Hanover, Hingham, Hull, Kingston, Marshfield, Norwell, Pembroke, Rockland, Scituate and Weymouth. Our programs are based on the belief that education is key. Since its creation, WaterSmart has educated thousands of local school-age children, adults, and businesses on water conservation, stormwater pollution, where their water comes from, and how to care for it. 

See recorded presentations below!

Building Good Healthy Regenerative Soil in a Changing Climate – Jon Belber, Holly Hill Farm

Protecting Our Waters Through Gardening – Brian Taylor, NSRWA

Attract More Butterflies to Your Garden! – Lisey Good, – Founder, Wild Cohasset

Biochar – For Healthy Plants and a Healthy Planet – Debbie Cook, Biochar Afficionado

Climate Conscious Gardening: Building Sustainable Landscapes – Kristen Nicholson, Blue Stem Natives

The Nature of Oaks – Doug Tallamy, Renowned author and Professor in the Department of Entomology and Wildlife Ecology at the University of Delaware

Composting and Mulching for Climate-Wise Gardening – Ann McGovern,  Compost Specialist, Mass Dept. of Environmental Protection (Retired)

The Ecosystem Native Plants Support – Blake Dinius, Plymouth County Entomologist

The Drought Resistant Yard: Creating Beautiful Spaces Using Native and Non-native Plants with Less Water – Susan Leigh Anthony, Doveflower Cottage Garden Designs

Pollinators and Their Host Plants – Blue Stem Natives 

Building an Insect Hotel/Supporting Biodiversity at Home – Angie Daugirda, Organic Plant Magic

Kid-Friendly Gardens – Susan Leigh Anthony, Doveflower Cottage Garden Designs

Garden for Wildlife: Remove Invasives & Plant Natives to Help Birds, Butterflies and Other Wild Creatures
By Lisey Good, Founder, Wild Cohasset – The Lisey Good Zoom presentation video had a conversion error, however, you can download the presentation and listen to the audio with the links below:
Download Lisey Good’s Presentation here.
Listen to Lisey Good’s Presentation here 

The Importance of Insects and Gardening for Native Bees – Blake Dinius, Entomologist Educator at County of Plymouth

Audubon Plants for Birds Presentation by Don Eaton, Bower & Branch

Growing Tasty Edible Greens and Snacks – Jon Belber, Holly Hill Farm

Building a Rain Garden – Samantha Woods, NSRWA

Composting for Zero Waste – Ann McGovern, Retired MassDEP Compost Specialist

Backyard Birding – Doug Lowry, Mass Audubon South Shore Sanctuaries

Watch the 2019-2020 Gardening Green Expo Videos

Blake Dinius, Plymouth County Entomologist
America’s Forgotten Bees

Nature Watch from NSRWA – America Forgotten Bees from Norwell Spotlight TV on Vimeo.

Susan Leigh Anthony, Doveflower Cottage Garden Designs
Native Pollinator Plants and the Pollinators Who Love Them

Nature Watch with NSRWA – Native Pollinator Plants from Norwell Spotlight TV on Vimeo.

Kill Your Lawn
Part of our 2020 WaterWatch Lecture Series
Mark Richardson, Tower Hill Botanical Director – According to NASA, in the United States more surface area is covered by lawn than by any other single irrigated crop. Lawns are resource-heavy, requiring irrigation, fertilizer, and pesticides to thrive in our climate. Learn how to replace your lawn with beautiful and environmentally friendly native plantings from Tower Hill Botanic Garden’s director of horticulture Mark Richardson, co-author of Native Plants for New England Gardens, with photographer and author Dan Jaffe. This lecture is sponsored in part by Wild Ones – South Shore MA Chapter.

NATURE WATCH – KILL YOUR LAWN from Norwell Spotlight TV on Vimeo.

Please enjoy these 2019 Gardening Green Expo videos thanks to Norwell Spotlight TV.

Katie Banks Hone, The Monarch Gardener
Saving the Monarch, One Yard at a Time

NORWELL NATURE WATCH – SAVING THE MONARCH, ONE YARD AT A TIME from Norwell Spotlight TV on Vimeo.

Jon Belber, Friends of Holly Hill Farm
Planting Organic, Big and Small

NORWELL NATURE WATCH – PLANTING ORGANIC, BIG AND SMALL from Norwell Spotlight TV on Vimeo.

Jean Devine, Meadowscaping for Biodiversity
Saving the Planet Starts in Your Backyard: How to Garden with Native Plants to Help Pollinators, Birds and Your Community

NORWELL NATURE WATCH – SAVING THE PLANTS STARTS IN YOUR OWN BACKYARD: HOW TO GARDEN WITH NATIVE PLANTS TO HELP POLLINATORS from Norwell Spotlight TV on Vimeo.

Blake Dinius, Plymouth County Entomologist
Little Bee, Big World: Challenges of Solitary Native Bees

NORWELL NATURE WATCH – CHALLENGES OF SOLITARY NATIVE BEES from Norwell Spotlight TV on Vimeo.

Suzanne Mahler, SuzanneMahler.com
Creating a Garden for Pollinators

NORWELL NATURE WATCH – CREATING A GARDEN FOR POLLINATORS from Norwell Spotlight TV on Vimeo.

Ken Pearl, Magical Moon Farm Bee Keeper
The Importance of Pollinators and What We Can Do for Them

NORWELL NATURE WATCH – THE IMPORTANCE OF POLLINATORS AND WHAT WE CAN DO FOR THEM from Norwell Spotlight TV on Vimeo.This FREE expo is sponsored by the WaterSmart program, North and South Rivers Watershed Association and Kennedy’s Country Gardens.

How to Build a Rain Garden

Want to stop having standing water in your yard? Live near a waterbody and want to reduce polluted runoff? Want to create bird and butterfly habitat? These are just some of the potential benefits of building a rain garden on your property! Learn how to build a rain garden that helps save our water, uses native plants, and makes your property even more attractive to homebuyers and wildlife. NSRWA, WaterSmartSouthShore, and Wild Ones partnered for a Zoom meeting on How to Build a Rain Garden. Samantha Woods, Executive Director of the NSRWA gave a tour of some local rain gardens to visit on the South Shore, and Environmental Educator Brian Taylor provided instructions on how to build them. Britt Drews, Co-president of Mass Wild Ones – South Shore chapter shared her knowledge of the right plants for your rain garden, the advantages of using native plants, the benefits to wildlife, and where to source your native plants.

Other Rain Garden Resources:

Visit these South Shore Rain Gardens

 

 

 

WaterSmart is a nonprofit partnership between the NSRWA and 12 towns on the South Shore: Cohasset, Duxbury, Hanover, Hingham, Hull, Kingston, Marshfield, Norwell, Pembroke, Rockland, Scituate and Weymouth. Our programs are based on the belief that education is key. Since its creation, WaterSmart has educated thousands of local school-age children, adults, and businesses on water conservation, stormwater pollution, where their water comes from, and how to care for it.