Phipps Conservatory Hosts Wild & Neat: Successful Stormwater Management Planting Workshops Sept. 24 - Sept. 25

The Phipps Conservatory and Botanical Gardens in Pittsburgh will host two Wild and Neat: The Solution To Successful Stormwater Management Workshops September 24 and September 25.  Participants can register for one or both days.

Sept. 24

Wild and Neat: The Solution to Successful Stormwater Management Planting will feature Claudia West is the co-author of the critically acclaimed book, Planting in a Post-Wild World.

Our planet is rapidly losing its foundation of life — the very plants that sustain us and most other creatures on earth. 

We know that planting more native plants in our gardens is an important part of the solution. However, many native plant gardens that focus on ecological benefits (such as stormwater management) often suffer for aesthetic challenges and fail to inspire the public. 

Great planting design is an essential part of the solution. Join us as we analyze archetypal landscapes and translate their principles into smaller garden spaces to help you create the native plant oasis of your dreams that will blow you away with stunning beauty while capturing stormwater! 

Sept. 25

Functional and ecological plantings, such as rain gardens and meadows, are gaining in popularity but also face severe challenges. They often fail to wow the public, offer a low level of ecological functions, and limited budgets for maintenance challenge plant survival and the effective management of stormwater. 

We won’t solve these issues if we continue to compare planting design to painting on canvas and perceive plants as individual objects in space. It is time for a new approach — a plant-community-based method which has evolved in the world of ecological science. 

Join us as we translate ecological principles of wild plant communities into planting design tools that will help you create better planting for high performing functional landscapes for stormwater management. 

This interactive workshop will introduce you to the science behind stable and lasting plant combination. 

You will learn the skill of creating plant communities in hands-on design exercises and practice this technique in a hypothetical planting project at the end of the workshop.

This workshop will feature Claudia West and Barton Kirk is an ecological engineer whose core expertise lies at the nexus of energy, water, climate and community. For the past decade he has helped communities develop durable decisions about their built and natural infrastructure utilizing research, analysis and design.

Click Here for more information and to register.

For more information on programs, initiatives, upcoming educational events and how you can get involved, visit the Phipps Conservatory and Botanical Gardens website.