Go Wild with Your Gardening
January 25, 2025
You Have the Power to Make a Difference
Gardening for nature explored from six different angles by published authors, community educators and professors. It is easier to go wilder with your gardening when you understand where you and your location fit into the bigger picture.
Access to nature is rare in many urban environments but you can transition to a more wildlife-friendly garden or greenspace and enhance your connection with nature. All levels of gardening experience are welcome for this full day of learning. Join us and find the tools you need to make your garden positively contribute to our natural Georgia network.
How we garden at home and in the community makes a big difference in the natural world.
Details
>> Includes keynote speakers, general sessions, light breakfast, boxed lunch, vendors, and opportunities to gain knowledge and connections.
>> Books published by our keynote and recommended by our speakers will also be available for purchase.
>> Pre-order books from Eagle Eye Book Shop and pick them up at the symposium (link coming soon)
>> Doors open at 8AM for check-in
Ages 14+; $90 general public/$75 CNC Members. Advanced Registration Required by Wednesday, January 22.
Registration coming soon!
Symposium Schedule
Keep scrolling to learn more about the speakers
8AM: Doors Open for Registration
& Vendor Booths Open
9AM: People the Planet Needs Now with Dudley Edmondson
Black and Brown people around the globe have always had an interdependent relationship with nature. In fact, in many cases, they were crucial to the health of the environment because they created cultural traditions that acknowledged stewardship of the land because of their longstanding belief that humans and nature are one.
Underscoring the critical role of environmental justice today and the need for diverse voices to ensure sustainable solutions, Dudley will be joined by Alex Troutman, a passionate wildlife biologist, and Corina Newsome, an ornithologist and advocate for environmental justice and diversity in science. Together, they’ll share insights from their own experiences and discuss the critical need to address pressing global challenges.
People the Planet Needs Now showcases personal stories from 24 Black and Brown storytellers.
10AM: PLANTS WE LOVE TO HATE: IDENTIFYING & CONTROLLING EXOTIC PEST PLANTS ONE SQUARE YARD AT A TIME with Gary Crider
An introduction to the identification and control of invasive, non-native pest plants that thrive in our gardens and green spaces. Attendees will learn about some of the major “offenders” on the Georgia Piedmont and how these plants cause ecological harm to native plant communities and wildlife.
With the right strategies, tools and techniques, these invasive plants can be brought under control, reducing their impact and improving the ecological function of affected sites. Gary will outline a variety of safe, practical and effective control methods provide descriptions of tried and proven specific tools and inspire us to action with detailed strategies for some of the high-priority species.
10:45AM: Break | Vendors Open, Plant Sale, and Wildlife Encounters
11:15AM: Adventures in Ecological Horticulture with Rebecca McMackin
Who doesn’t love butterflies? Habitat cultivation is a vital component of creating ecologically healthy landscapes, particularly in urban settings. But traditional landscaping practices rarely take biodiversity into consideration, and there is a dearth of effective guidelines to inform this goal.
For ecological horticulturist Rebecca McMackin biodiversity is central to landscape management. In her 10 years as Director of Horticulture at Brooklyn Bridge Park, Rebecca oversaw 85 acres of diverse, organic landscapes, all managed to support birds, butterflies, and soil microorganisms.
Join us to learn how to use ecological insight and experimentation to develop new management strategies – and why careful observation and documentation of the insects, birds, and other wildlife in your gardens is crucial to their success.
12:15-1PM: Lunch | Vendors Open, Plant Sale, and Wildlife Encounters
1:00PM: Bring Back the Pollinators with Denise Wilson
Pollinators are essential to the health of our environment and to bountiful crops that feed the world. Many pollinators are in decline, but you can help! Come learn about our native pollinators, why they are threatened, and four essential ways we can help them with Xerces Society Ambassador Denise Wilson. You will also receive helpful publications to take home.
About the Xerces Society:
The Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation is an international nonprofit organization that protects the natural world through the conservation of invertebrates and their habitats. As a science-based organization, we both conduct our own research and rely upon the most up-to-date information to guide our conservation work. Our key program areas are: pollinator conservation, endangered species conservation, and reducing pesticide use and impacts.
2:00PM: WHY ARE WE SO OBSESSED WITH LAWNS? | EXPLORING OUR GREEN OBSESSION & NATIVE GRASS ALTERNATIVES with Zachary Wood
An exploration of Georgia’s historic landscape through archived accounts and botanical evidence, this presentation examines horticultural changes over time from our first European gardening tendencies to present day maintenance requirements and the needs of the nature around us. With grasses and hardy pollinator plants in mind, he explores how to meet the multiple objectives of a typical home landscape while still taking meaningful conservation actions.
2:45PM: Break | Vendors Open, Plant Sale, and Wildlife Encounters
3PM: ECOLOGICAL GARDENING FOR BEAUTY AND BIODIVERSITY: A 10-STEP BLUEPRINT FOR SUCCESS with Joe Lamp’L
For centuries, gardens have existed for one main purpose: to bring beauty to our lives. Today, we know that gardens can offer so much more than that. Considering habitat loss, alarming increases in threatened wildlife species now on the verge of extinction, and the ever-increasing threats from climate change, it’s time to think beyond gardening for just us. The new gardening ethic considers gardening in a way that enhances the surrounding environment for the benefit of all other lives as well through the practice of ecological gardening. This presentation will explore how we’ve gotten to this point, why now, and provides a solid, 10-step blueprint for success that we can all implement no matter where we live or garden. It’s not only important that we act now, but also essential!
3:55-4PM: Closing Comments & Symposium Ends
About the Speakers
Dudley Edmondson
Over the past 32 years, Dudley Edmondson has become an established photographer, author, filmmaker, and presenter. His photography has been featured in galleries and publications around the world, most recently in Australia and Italy.
In 2006, Dudley set out to create a group of outdoor role models for the nation’s African American community by writing the landmark book, Black & Brown Faces in America’s Wild Places. During the Obama Administration, Dudley’s book landed him an invitation to the White House for the signing of America’s Great Outdoors Initiative.
Dudley currently lives in Duluth, MN and serves on the board for the Bell Museum of Natural History as well as the Lessard-Sams Outdoor Heritage Council.
Gary Crider
Invasive Plant Control Technician, State Botanical Garden of Georgia
Over the past dozen or so years, Gary has taught classes and workshops on invasive plant control and has led numerous invasive plant removal projects with the Athens Land Trust Youth Conservation Stewards, Clarke County Memorial Park Weed Warriors and others.
He serves on the boards of the Oconee Rivers Audubon Society and Sandy Creek Nature Center, Inc. and is a member of the Athens-Clarke County Community Tree Council. In 2013, Gary received the Alec Little Environmental Award, which is given annually for environmental stewardship, activism and education in the Athens area.
Gary majored in horticulture at UGA and currently works part time at the State Botanical Garden of Georgia as an invasive plant control technician.
Rebecca McMackin
Arboretum Curator, Woodlawn Cemetary
Rebecca McMackin is an ecologically obsessed horticulturist and garden designer. She writes, lectures, and teaches on ecological landscape management and pollination ecology, as well as designs the rare public garden. Her garden for the Brooklyn Museum recently won the PPA’s Award of Excellence.
Rebecca is currently Arboretum Curator for historic Woodlawn Cemetery, managing one of the best tree collections in the state. She spent a decade as Director of Horticulture of Brooklyn Bridge Park, where she managed 85 acres of diverse parkland organically. She has been published by and featured in the New York Times, the Landscape Institute, on NPR and PBS, and somehow gave a TED talk.
Denise Wilson
Xerces Society Ambassador
Denise Wilson has a passion for pollinators. As an outreach ambassador for the Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation, she brings their scientific research on pollinator and habitat conservation to the public, engaging people of all ages in discovery and empowering them to protect the life that sustains us.
Denise is an environmental educator and Georgia Master Naturalist. She gives presentations and leads workshops, taking joy in learning and sharing about our tiniest wild neighbors and how we can help them. Denise coaches people on ecological home landscape practices, and she gets her hands in the soil at Grow2B sustainable agriculture education farm, where she is an advisor.
Zachary Wood
Georgia Grasslands Coordinator, State Botanical Garden of Georgia
Zach serves as the Georgia Grasslands Coordinator for the Southeastern Grasslands Institute and the State Botanical Garden of Georgia at UGA. He assists with and promotes grassland conservation efforts in this role, primarily in North Georgia. Zach is also currently leading the Georgia Native Seed Network. Prior to coming to SGI and SBG, his work focused on prescribed fire implementation in the coastal plain region of Georgia and South Carolina. He holds a B.S. in Natural Resource Management from Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College.
Joe Lamp’l
Joe Lamp’l is the Creator, Host and Executive Producer of the Emmy-award-winning national PBS series, Growing a Greener World®, Founder of joegardener.com, host of The joe gardener® Show podcast, and creator of the joe gardener Online Gardening Academy™. He is also the previous host of Fresh from the Garden on DIY Network, as well as on-air contributor to The Today Show, Good Morning America and The Weather Channel. Past awards include The American Horticultural Society’s B.Y. Morrison Communication Award, which recognizes effective and inspirational communication—through print, radio, television, podcasts and other online media. He has authored several gardening books including his newest one, The Vegetable Gardening Book.
