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Gardening Green Expo 2026

Monday, March 16 – Friday, March 20 – Zoom lectures @ 7:00pm
Live Expo at Kennedy’s Country Gardens on Saturday, March 21 from 10:00am-2:00pm

The theme for this year is: Help Heal the Planet
Most of us remember a time when windshields needed frequent cleaning from insects and yards were alive with birds and butterflies. Fields once held cocoons, chrysalises, and egg cases, and backyards teemed with insect and bird life. Today, these are far less common, raising the question: where have all the birds and bugs gone?

Since the 1970s, North America has lost more than three billion birds—nearly one-third of its population. Insects, the foundation of the food web, have declined by over 40%, with some regions experiencing losses of up to 75% of flying insects. A single chickadee requires nearly 9,000 caterpillars to raise one brood; when insects disappear, birds cannot survive. Habitat loss, pesticide use, and climate change are the primary drivers of these declines.

We can do our part to help heal the planet by making thoughtful choices at home. Planting native species that require less water and fertilizer, avoiding pesticides and herbicides, and creating backyard habitats for insects can make a meaningful difference. Gardens can become vital links in pollinator corridors, helping restore ecosystems one plant choice at a time.

Zoom Presentations at 7:00pm

Monday, March 16 – Garden for LIFE: Using Native Plants in the Landscape to Support Wildlife – Kristen Nicholson, Blue Stem Natives

Tuesday, March 17 – Next Steps for Nature – Doug Tallamy, entomologist, conservationist, author, and professor at the University of Delaware

Wednesday, March 18 – Restoring Personal Ecology: How Principles of Nature Heal Our Overwhelm – Todd Breitenstein, South Shore Permaculture/Our Grateful Garden

Thursday, March 19 – When the Lights Go Out: The Secret World of Fireflies – Blake Dinius, Plymouth County Extension

Friday, March 20 – Habit to Habitat: Transforming Landscapes into Resilient Ecosystems, from Conception to Maintenance – Evan Abramson, Founder and Principal of Landscape Interactions

REGISTER FOR ZOOM PRESENTATIONS

Live Presentations at Kennedy’s

10:00am – The Path to the Perfect Plants – Chris Kennedy, Owner, Kennedy’s Country Gardens

11:00am – Less Raking, More Biodiversity – Lisey Good, Founder, Wild Cohasset

12:00pm – Changing Forests: Beech Leaf Disease, Emerald Ash Borer and Other Invasive Pests Affecting Our Landscapes – Abraham Monahan, Bartlett Tree Experts

1:00pm  – Caring for the Soil, Making Compost and Leaving the Leaves – Jon Belber, Holly Hill Farm

Register to Win Prizes!

REGISTER TO WIN PRIZES

Give-aways, Downloads, and More

  • $35 Special NSRWA NEW Member Deal with $25 Kennedy’s Gift Card and $10 Explore South Shore Guide Map (For NEW NSRWA members only)
  • Order your rain barrels and composters
  • FREE Tree Saplings from Bartlett Tree Experts (While supplies last)
  • Free native plant seeds
  • FREE Edible Southeastern Massachusetts magazines
  • Get your FREE Help Save Water lawn sign
  • Download our 16-page Greenscapes Guide  – With tips on how to create a beautiful healthy yard the natural way. (After filling out the online form you will be redirected to the guide.)
  • FREE Help Save Water lawn signs
  • Watch past Gardening Green Expo videos below

Exhibitors and Vendors at Kennedy’s Country Gardens on Saturday, March 21 from 10:00am-2:00pm

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. 

Please Enjoy These Videos From Past Expos

The Magic of Butterflies – Blake Dinius, Plymouth County Entomologist Educator

Planting for the Future: The MA Native Plant Palette – Jason Duff & Anne Carroll, DCR Office of Water Resources

Less Lawn, More Plants! – Rebecca Warner, Author of The Sustainable-Enough Garden

How Can I Help? Saving Nature with Your Yard – Doug Tallamy – Author, and Founder of Homegrown National Park

Ways to Honor Nature in your Home Landscape – Susan Leigh Anthony, Doveflower Cottage Garden Designs

Permaculture: How to Design Resilient Systems for People and Planet – Jessica Fox, South Shore Permaculture

Myco-Gardening: Companion Planting with Culinary Mushrooms for Soil, Compost and Human Health – Sally Rossi-Ormon, Sally RO Outdoors

Ecological Justice: Identifying, Removing and Managing Invasive Species and Restoring Ecological Balance – Samuel Mohnkern

Help for Hummingbirds – Seven Common Mistakes Gardeners and Bird Lovers Make That Harm These Amazing Birds – Lisey Good, Founder Wild Cohasset

Bokashi: 30 Day Composting – Peter Swanson, Sustainability Project – Honduras

The Secret Lives of Bugs – Blake Dinius, Plymouth County Entomologist

I Know You’re Very Busy but… I Want to Learn More About Nature Gardening – Doug Tallamy

The Nitty-Gritty of Building a Sustainable Garden – Kristen Nicholson, Blue Stem Natives

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Achieving a Beautiful Garden with Drought Tolerant Plants – Susan Leigh Anthony, Doveflower Cottage Garden Designs

The Joy of Composting – Turning Garbage to Gold – Ann McGovern, Mass DEP (Retired)

Rain Gardens: Gardening for a Greener Future! – Brian Taylor, NSRWA

Rewilding 101: Attract More Wildlife While Saving Time and Money: Step-by-step guidelines on how to let nature reclaim a tiny portion of your lawn – Lisey Good, Wild Cohasset

Nibbling on Native Plants in Your Back Yard and Beyond – Russ Cohen, Naturalist and Wild Edibles Instructor

Regenerative Farming and Our Practices at Holly Hill – 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

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

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 

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.