Lecture by Edwina von Gal

Presented by the Pleasantville Garden Club

Conventional standards of landscape beauty, such as the pristine American lawn, are typically toxic ecological dead zones that are increasingly linked to human disease and cognitive development issues in children and provide little in the way of habitat for our beloved birds, butterflies and pollinator insects. On the contrary, pesticide-free landscapes that contain two-thirds or more native plants are abundant with food and shelter to support all forms of life, and provide safe engaging spaces for children and adults alike. Nature-based landscapes are not only aesthetically pleasing in a complex and asymmetrical way, they are ecologically functional as well. Natural beauty is the magic, and biodiversity follows, creating spaces that also improve human health and wellbeing.

One of the hardest parts of changing to Nature-Based Land Care is learning to appreciate what happens when you let go and trust the system. Much of what we think of as “good” gardening is based on treating a landscape as something to be controlled, something familiar, like our home interiors. Since our idea of neat and tidy is not what nature does naturally, it takes a great deal of time and effort and resources to keep an outdoor space looking like an indoor space.

With simple changes in the way we manage our landscapes, we have the ability to reverse these declines and alter this trend. We need to transition from working against nature to working with nature. If we get to know more about the lives of plants and insects and stop attacking them, we can live peacefully with them in landscapes that are beautiful and healthy. It is not difficult. It is called Nature-Based Land Care. 

It’s THE new way to garden. The hardest part is learning to change our long-held beliefs and habits; to look closely, and let nature, the soil, the place and the plants tell you what they need. Can you trust nature to lead the way? Can you promise to do it no harm and make your gardens safe places for birds and bees and butterflies? (And for you?)

Learn more from Edwina von Gal about the principles of nature-based land care and how to put those principles into practice, to create your own Future PRFCT.

Contact the Pleasantville Garden Club for more information.

The Garden Conservancy National Speaking Tour brings leading thinkers and practitioners within the world of gardening to audiences throughout cities in the US.

The 2023 Spring Tour speaker is Dr. Sue Stuart-Smith, and she will be speaking about her book, The Well-Gardened Mind, and how psychology, mental health, and the natural world are interconnected.

Head to the Garden Conservancy website for more information.