PRFCT EVENTS

The Future PRFCT: Ground Rules for Gardening in a Changing World

Wednesday, June 18, 2025
5:00 to 6:30 p.m.

The Polly Hill Arboretum
809 State Street
West Tisbury, MA 02575

Event is free, but space is limited. Those who are pre-registered will be admitted first.

Register here.

Sponsored by the Betsy and Jesse Fink Family Foundation

Do you want to do something truly beneficial—for your family, your community, and the environment? It all starts with how you relate to your land. Join Perfect Earth Project’s Edwina von Gal for an inspiring and practical talk on ecological land care. She’ll explore what it means to work with—not against—your landscape by eliminating toxic chemicals, reducing maintenance stress, and fostering resilience, biodiversity, and beauty. Learn how simple changes can create a healthier, more sustainable outdoor space that supports pollinators, wildlife, your pets, and you.

After the talk, Edwina will be joined by local experts for an interactive Q&A and discussion. Bring your questions on topics like toxic-free lawn care, habitat creation, tick and pest management, and cost-saving alternatives to conventional landscaping.

Sponsored by the Betsy and Jesse Fink Family Foundation.

Managing Invasives:
Mindful Ecological Approaches

Wednesday, May 7, 2025
Stone Barns Center for Food & Agriculture
630 Bedford Road
Tarrytown, NY 10591

Tickets are available!

Doors open at 8:00 a.m. for check-in, coffee, and what we think are the world’s best muffins!

Tickets $150

Order Tickets here.

Mark your calendars! We’re returning to Stone Barns Center for Food & Agriculture for a daylong symposium on managing invasive plants without chemicals. Hear from experts on techniques like timed cutting, solarization, steaming, and smothering. Learn about the latest invasive plant research and how to prevent their spread. See an equipment show-and-tell. And enjoy a buffet lunch from the Café at Blue Hill at Stone Barns.

Schedule

8:00 – 9:00 Check-in, coffee, muffins

9:00 – 9:30 Welcome by Edwina von Gal

9:30 – 10:30 Beyond Removal: Proactive Strategies for Protecting Ecosystems
Eve Beaury (Assistant Curator, Center for Conservation and Restoration Ecology at the New York Botanical Garden) and Rebecca McMackin (Lead Horticulturist, American Horticultural Society)

10:45 – 12:15 Managing Mugwort: Four Strategies
Claire Davis (Owner, Starflower Gardens),  Ashley Gamell (Owner, Studio Hopeland LLC), Michael Hagen (Curator of the Rock Garden and Native Plant Garden, New York Botanical Garden), Sarma Ozols (Horticulture Supervisor, Trust for Governors Island), Mia Wendel-DiLallo (Owner, Seedhead Gardens), moderated by Julia Snook (Curator, Lenoir)

12:15 – 1:45 Buffet lunch from the Café at Blue Hill at Stone Barns

1:45 – 2:45 Managing Woodies: Three Strategies 
Budd Veverka (Director of Land Management, Mianus River Gorge), Annabel Roberts-McMichael (Owner, Tend and Gather), Penn Marchael (COO/President, Pennington Grey), moderated by Rashid Poulson (Director of Horticulture, Brooklyn Bridge Park)

3 – 3:45 Managing Invasives at Stone Barns: An Integrated Approach
Elijah Goodwin (Director of Ecological Monitoring, Stone Barns Center for Food and Agriculture) 

3:45 – 4:30 Equipment Show-and-Tell 

The event is geared towards horticulture professionals (including landscapers, designers, restoration practitioners, and public garden staff), but will welcome land care enthusiasts of all kinds. 

The symposium has been approved for the following continuing education credits: APLD (1 credit hour per hour of instruction, up to 4 for the day), SER (1 credit hour per per hour of instruction, up to 4 for the day), LA CES (1 credit hour per hour of instruction, up to 4.5 for the day), and NOFA AOLCP (2.5 credit hours for the day).

Thanks to our Sponsors! 

Platinum: Elkes Foundation, Piazza Horticultural, a nature-based branch of Whitmores

Gold: Field Studies Flora, Izel Native Plants, Pleasant Run Nursery, Stone Barns Center for Food & Agriculture, 

Silver: Bedford 2030, Compostwerks, The Garden Conservancy, Maranatha Farm, Plan it Wild, Scenic Hudson

Bronze: Avant Garden Designs, Jayni Chase, Grace Fuller Design, Hortulus Animae, Lady Farmer, The Native Plant Center at Westchester Community College, Pinelands Nursery, Society for Ecological Restoration – Mid-Atlantic Chapter,  Susie’s Smart Cookie

Supporter: Glover Perennials, Green Jay Landscaping Design, Leslie Needham Design, Manitoga, Pennington Grey, Silva et Pratum

Thank you to our organizing committee! 

Lower Hudson PRISM, The Native Plant Center at Westchester Community College, Partners for Climate Action Hudson Valley, Stone Barns Center for Food & Agriculture

If you’re interested in becoming a sponsor of this event, please email Charlotte DeFazio-McElrath at Charlotte@perfectearthproject.org.