Webinar Series with St. Louis County Library
Webinar Series with St. Louis County Library
Embedded Files
2025 Webinars
2025 Webinars
Front Yard Rain Gardens
Front Yard Rain Gardens
Allegra Pierce - Pretty City Gardens & Landscapes
Increased stormwater runoff in our city contributes to water pollution and soil erosion. You can landscape your yard with native plants for both beauty and function to help retain water on your property. In this session, we will dive into native plant selection for water conservation and will discuss elements of rain garden construction and design.
Scott Woodbury - Cacalia Design
Susie Van de Riet - St. Louis Native Plants
Gabe Presley - DTLS Landscape Architecture
Native Garden Design Panel
Native Garden Design Panel
This panel discussion moderated by Jean Ponzi features three experts with unique knowledge and experience in designing beautiful and functional landscapes with native plants.
Monarchs and Mosquitoes: Control the Pests, Protect the Pollinators
Monarchs and Mosquitoes: Control the Pests, Protect the Pollinators
Jean Ponzi - Earthways Center
Control the pests, protect our pollinators and educate your neighbors! Insect ecology - and your mobile phone - are keys to healthy outdoor habitat for all.
Community Care & Conservation: How to Transform Vacant Lots Into Neighborhood Green Spaces
Community Care & Conservation: How to Transform Vacant Lots Into Neighborhood Green Spaces
Aisha Muhammad - Missouri Department of Conservation
Having nature close to home allows both human communities and the natural environment to thrive. By implementing conservation practices and increasing native biodiversity, people can enjoy the beauty and benefits of the outdoors, reduce flooding, improve air quality, and reduce temperatures. Join this session to discover the steps, tools, and practices to revitalize vacant spaces in a neighborhood-centric way.
Pollinator Powerhouses & Keystone Plant Species
Pollinator Powerhouses & Keystone Plant Species
Vivian Bouse - Shaw Nature Reserve
This presentation will discuss the importance of including native keystone plants in your home landscapes. Keystone plants provide necessary sources of food and shelter to butterflies, moths, and bees and benefit birds and other wildlife. Learn about the role native plants play in our ecosystem and how you can garden with them.
Oh, Deer: Dealing with Unwanted Guests in Your Landscape
Oh, Deer: Dealing with Unwanted Guests in Your Landscape
Nancy Newcomer & Diane Donovan, Missouri Master Naturalists
Tips and tricks for creating and maintaining a native garden in a community with a high deer population.
SEEDS! Cultivating Native Seeds in the Landscape
SEEDS! Cultivating Native Seeds in the Landscape
Rachel Williams - Missouri Department of Conservation
An overview of seed dispersal mechanisms, types of seed and dormancies, and preparing the seed and landscape for small-scale home projects!
No Yard Too Small: Missouri Native Trees and Shrubs for Your Urban Landscape
No Yard Too Small: Missouri Native Trees and Shrubs for Your Urban Landscape
Billy Haag - Forest ReLeaf
Not all urban lots have room for a large canopy tree, but that doesn’t mean you have to remove trees from your planting pallet. Here we will take a look through a diversity of smaller Missouri Native Trees and Shrubs that are well suited for an urban landscape.
Consequences of Change: How Climate Impacts Native Plants in the Saint Louis Region
Consequences of Change: How Climate Impacts Native Plants in the Saint Louis Region
Dr. Matt Austin, Curator for Biodiversity Data | Missouri Botanical Garden
Climate change is reshaping ecosystems, and the responses of native plants are some of the clearest signs of this transformation. Join us to explore how the Missouri Botanical Garden is studying these changes in our local flora, including at Shaw Nature Reserve and by analyzing a century and a half of herbarium specimens.
Native Gardening Maintenance Tips, Tricks & Hacks
Native Gardening Maintenance Tips, Tricks & Hacks
Simon Barker - Barker Horticultural Services, Grow Native!
Some ideas that will help keep you, your neighbors and your landscape happy and fun.
2024 Webinars
2024 Webinars
Keynote: Native Plants for Native Pollinators
Keynote: Native Plants for Native Pollinators
Dr. Ed Spevak - Saint Louis Zoo
This talk will focus on the diversity of our native pollinators, from bees to butterflies to beetles to birds, and also the flies. Dr. Ed Spevak will share how these keystone species support our ecosystems, habitats, and food and how you can support them through rewilding your own yard and community.
Native Plant Gardening 101
Native Plant Gardening 101
Erin Goss - Shaw Nature Reserve
New to native plants and want to the learn more? This is the session for you! We’ll cover basic terminology and concepts, popular native plants for St. Louis gardens, and resources that can be used to answer common questions or help design, install, and maintain a native plant garden.
The Social Benefits of Trees
The Social Benefits of Trees
Rebecca Hankins - Forest ReLeaf of Missouri
Native trees aren't just for the birds. Trees offer people many ecosystem benefits, including cleaner air and energy savings. They offer surprising social benefits too, including improved mental health, connectivity, and ways to address environmental injustices.
Native? Invasive? Exotic? Choose Eco-Logically
Native? Invasive? Exotic? Choose Eco-Logically
Jean Ponzi - Earthways Center
Meet some WILD-ly wonderful options to bio-diversify our home and community lands! Green Jean Ponzi shares how plant choices matter to birds, bugs and people - and why some good-looking plants go bad.
Using iNaturalist in Your Garden
Using iNaturalist in Your Garden
Dr. Nina Fogel - ShutterBee & Washington University
This talk will demonstrate how you can use the platform iNaturalist to catalog the wildlife benefiting from your native plant habitat and give tips for taking photos of animals using your smartphone.
Native Plant Food Gardening Panel
Native Plant Food Gardening Panel
Dr. Nadia Navarrete Tindall - Lincoln University
Matt Lebon - Custom Foodscaping
Dean Gunderson - Seed STL
Moderator: Jean Ponzi
If you like the idea of growing food and restoring our ecosystem at the same time, this panel discussion features three experts who are on the leading edge of growing food as sustenance for wildlife and humans alike.
Kill Your Lawn for the Birds
Kill Your Lawn for the Birds
Emily Connor - Audubon Riverlands & Dan Pearson - St. Louis Audubon
Grass lawn is a landscaping fashion trend that is now among the top drivers of habitat loss for birds and other wildlife in the country. By making space for native plants instead, we can help to improve the health of our ecosystem to the benefit of birds and humans alike. We will explore the natural beauty and practical functionality of native plants as well as resources that can help anyone, anywhere dig into native plants for birds!
Container Gardening with Native Plants
Container Gardening with Native Plants
Joan Klingensmith - Shaw Nature Reserve
You don’t always need a sprawling garden or prairie planting to contribute to the vital movement of native gardening for biodiverse habitat. Container gardening with natives is a great way to add beauty and biodiversity to your space. Learn about the advantages and limitations of growing natives in containers, including tips on container choices, placement, and soil mix preparation. Native plant selection, the year-round maintenance of containers, and some design basics will also be discussed.
Planning for Future Drought with Native Plants
Planning for Future Drought with Native Plants
Shannon Callahan - St. Louis Audubon
Learn about the importance of planning for future droughts. Leave this presentation with an understanding of how climate change is predicted to affect our growing-season precipitation patterns and what Missouri native species you can plant to support wildlife and withstand drought while looking beautiful in your landscape.
Native Landscaping for Butterflies & Moths
Native Landscaping for Butterflies & Moths
Chris Hartley - Sophia M. Sachs Butterfly House
Attracting more butterflies to your yard is sometimes as easy as choosing their favorite plants. This talk will describe the 20 most common butterfly species in Missouri along with their host plants and popular nectar plants. We will also cover a few noteworthy moths that are commonly seen in home gardens.
2023 Webinars
2023 Webinars
Keynote: Birds, Bees, Flowers & Trees
Keynote: Birds, Bees, Flowers & Trees
Desiree L. Narango, Ph.D., Conservation Scientist, Vermont Center for Ecostudies
Learn from a nationally renowned conservation biologist why the plants you choose for your yard matter for wildlife conservation. Dr. Desiree Narango shares the amazing interactions between native plants and wildlife and the biodiversity that you can attract to your own yard.
Homegrown National Park is Growing HERE!
Homegrown National Park is Growing HERE!
Jean Ponzi, EarthWays Center of Missouri Botanical Garden
Whether our place has pots on the patio or rolling acres, each of us can contribute to the vital movement to restore biodiverse habitat. Local habitat is proliferating, in concert with the national program Homegrown National Park. Native plant advocate and practitioner "Green Jean" Ponzi, from the Missouri Botanical Garden, details what this landscape transformation means, offers, and is growing on sites across our region - and how YOU can join this movement.
Container Gardening with Native Plants
Container Gardening with Native Plants
Mervin Wallace, Missouri Wildflowers Nursery
While many folks grow annual bedding plants outside in containers, and there are many articles about that topic to be found in gardening magazines, this presentation focuses on using native perennials in containers. Topics covered will include choosing plants, potting soil, mulch, fertilizer, watering, and winter care. Included will be growing emergent water plants in containers that hold water. Look at how some plants have held up over time. A list, including helpful information and comments about plants that have worked in pots, will be available.
Transforming a Yard from Invasives to Natives
Transforming a Yard from Invasives to Natives
Carrie Coyne - St. Louis Community College
When Carrie moved into her home, the yard was choked with invasive plants. With a plan and determination, she and her husband transformed their St. Louis County property into an oasis of native plants. Learn how they did it, and how you can too. Topics include the existing conditions when they moved in, their desires for change, the planning process, the grant process, installation, and ongoing maintenance.
Rainscaping Solutions
Rainscaping Solutions
Allison Joyce, EarthWays Center of the Missouri Botanical Garden’s and Roland Biehl, MSD Project Clear
Rainscaping utilizes native plants to allow rainwater to soak in where it falls. Learn about sustainable landscaping practices that are good for rainscaping and the benefits of native plants. Learn about resources, funding opportunities, and success tips to enhance your landscape with rainscaping.
How Native Landscaping Makes a Difference
How Native Landscaping Makes a Difference
Dr. Gerardo Camilo, Billiken Bee Lab at St. Louis University
Dr. Gerardo Camilo from St. Louis University presents his lab’s research investigating birds, bees and mosquitoes in native plant gardens enrolled in St. Louis Audubon Society’s Bring Conservation Home program.
Our Garden is for the Birds!
Our Garden is for the Birds!
Margy Terpstra, St. Louis Audubon Society’s Bring Conservation Home Program
When we take care of birds, we help heal our local ecosystems for many species that are in trouble, including bees, butterflies and other beneficial insects. Learn about the status of our native birds, both resident and migratory, and what they need to thrive. Resources and practical tips will help you take steps in adding keystone native plants and simple water features to your gardens, making them attractive to birds and to neighbors!
Shade Gardening with Native Plants - It's a Shady Business
Shade Gardening with Native Plants - It's a Shady Business
Erin Goss of Wallflower Design/Bring Conservation Home and Susie Van de Riet of St. Louis Native Plants
Gardening in the shade can seem like a daunting prospect, but when approached mindfully can offer a bright and beautiful oasis in a sea of darkness. In this talk we'll walk through the process of planting a native shade garden from beginning to end: How does one determine the light conditions of a space? What types of wildlife will be attracted by a shade garden? What are some tried and truly stunning shade plant combinations? Lastly, are there best practices for maintaining the garden once it's installed? We'll dive into these questions (and more!) and offer an outline for creating and caring for your very own native shade garden.
Understanding Native Trees and Shrubs
Understanding Native Trees and Shrubs
James Faupel, Litzsinger Road Ecology Center
Planting any tree or shrub can seem very easy at first, but a lot of time and forethought should be given to know how to care for and understand your plants' long-term needs. This presentation covers what considerations to look for when selecting a woody native plant for your site; details on understanding their biology, lifecycles, native habitat/soil needs, reproduction and cultivation; and the basics of planting, pruning, and other long-term care of your woody plants.
Native Landscaping with Hungry Deer
Native Landscaping with Hungry Deer
Panelists: Garry Guinn - Humane Wildlife Solutions, Erin Shank - Missouri Department of Conservation, Betty Struckhoff - St. Louis Wild Ones
Moderator: Jean Ponzi
During this panel discussion, learn about a range of tactics and tools to help with establishing and maintaining native landscape in areas with heavy deer populations. More about the panelists and their experience
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