Meadows Matter: How to create a meaningful meadow

Details:

Learn from experts how to create a meadow in your yard, and visit some successful meadows in the area.

During this full day symposium, you will hear from five experts on the why meadows are important, various types, implementation, maintenance and the cultural importance. After lunch, participants will be able to sign up and visit various types of meadows locally.

Schedule:

8:45: Arrival and Welcome

9:00am: Session 1: Janis Butler: Who needs a Meadow?

9:35am: Session 2: Erin Muir: To Seed or Not to Seed?

10:10am: Session 3: Bryan Quinn: Creating Meadows in the Hudson Valley

10:45am: Coffee Break

11:05am: Session 4: Toshi Yano: Setting Slow Meadows in Motion

11:40am: Session 5: Professor Scott Manning Stevens: A Clearing in the Woods

12:15pm: Lunch

1:00pm: Panel Discussion

2:30pm: Site tour 1

3:00pm: Site tour 2

Speakers:

Janis Butler: Janis Butler holds a Certificate from the Native Plant Center in Valhalla, NY, and frequently lectures on native plants, plant/insect relationships including pollinators, invasive species, and related topics. She is also a Master Gardener and Master Forest Owner.

Erin Muir: Erin J Muir is co-founder of The Figure Ground Studio an Architecture and Landscape Architecture Firm. Erin is a Landscape Architect, a NOFA certified organic landcare professional, and facilitator of the Work That Reconnects. For over 20 years, Erin has been collaborating with plants, stone, soil, wood, water, and people to create beautiful, resilient gardens that provide habitat and nourishment for pollinators. The Figure Ground Studio has focused on working with clients to replace their lawns with meadow-like pollinator gardens, consulted on the management of existing meadows, and designed and managed their own meadow in Cold Spring, NY.

Bryan Quinn, One Nature: Bryan is an accomplished applied ecologist and artist who has cultivated a unique, experience-based perspective on ecosystem restoration specific to the Hudson Highlands. He pursues his passion for ecologically-centered landscapes through his work at One Nature, a mission-based Certified B Corp he founded in 2004 to provide integrated consulting, construction, and plant propagation services. From small gardens to city parks to large-scale ecological restorations, Bryan and his team have built hundreds of native-plant landscapes across the region.

Toshi Yano, Perfect Earth Project: Perfect Earth Project’s mission is to educate, engage, and inspire individuals, land care professionals, and decision makers to adopt toxic-free, nature-based, and climate-responsible landscaping practices necessary for a healthier, more sustainable—and beautiful—environment for all. 

Prof. Scott Stevens, Syracuse University:

Scott Manning Stevens (Akwesasne Mohawk citizen) is Associate Professor and Director of the Native American and Indigenous Studies Program at Syracuse University. There he also teaches in Department of Art History. Dr. Stevens’ areas of interests include the cultural history of the Haudenosaunee and the political and aesthetic issues that surround museums and the Indigenous cultures they put on display. He is a coauthor of Art of the American West and co-editor and contributing author for Why You Can’t Teach United States History without American Indians. He has published numerous articles in refereed journals and edited collections and exhibition catalogs. Stevens is also the recent Founding Director of the Center for Global Indigenous Cultures and Environmental Justice and Syracuse University.

Presented by: Boscobel, Philipstown Garden Club, Hudson Highlands Land Trust, Perfect Earth Project, Hudson Valley Shakespeare Festival, The Garden Conservancy, One Nature.