PRFCT EVENTS
The Future PRFCT: Gardening in a Changing World
Saturday, May 10, 2025
1:30 p.m.
Shepaug Valley High School Auditorium
159 South Street
Washington, CT
Free and open to the public
Presented by the Washington Garden Club
Learn how to have a beautiful and biodiverse yard! Come hear Edwina von Gal Edwina von Gal talk about ecological gardening including how to be toxic-free in your landscape, lawn alternatives, habitat creation for pollinators, native plant selection, and tick and pest management.
Managing Invasives:
Mindful Ecological Approaches
Wednesday, May 7, 2025
Stone Barns Center for Food & Agriculture
630 Bedford Road
Tarrytown, NY 10591
Doors open at 8:00 a.m. for check-in, coffee, and what we think are the world’s best muffins!
Tickets $150
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.
Interested in having Edwina or another PRFCT team member speak at your event? Fill out our Speaker Request Form HERE.
Testimonials
We are profoundly grateful to Edwina Von Gal for sharing her invaluable insights on nature-based landscaping practices with our community. Her expertise in harmonizing with Mother Nature to create landscapes that are not only visually stunning, but also promote the health of our families, pets, and vital ecosystems is truly inspiring. Thank you, Edwina, for taking the time to guide us toward nurturing more vibrant and sustainable environments.
~ Eileen Mullen, The Lion Head Beach Association
[Edwina’s] presentation was inspirational, entertaining & filled with a joyous sense of freedom – all while imparting such important information & a new way of looking at landscapes & plantings. I am so interested in getting as many of our residents as possible to understand a new perception of beauty.
~ Jean Thatcher, Three Harbors Garden Club
We received wonderful, positive feedback from so many of the attendees who said that they felt informed and empowered to make changes in their home landscape practice towards a more ‘magical’ and sustainable model.
~Lisa de Guzman, Three Harbors Garden Club
My husband and I are totally inspired! And the feedback today says…so are the 175 + guests listening last night.
~ Laura Blumin, Three Harbors Garden Club