Growing Greener

Paul Tukey, author of the classic guide, The Organic Lawn Care Manual, shares his prescription for listening to, and learning from, the weeds in your lawn

Award-winning environmental journalist Fred Pearce discusses his book, The New Wild, and the positive role he believes that invasive species can play in our changing ecosystems

Nancy Dubrule-Clemente, founder of the pioneering, all-organic garden center and garden service, Natureworks, describes the. chemical-free methods she has developed for coping with weeds

Mary Philips of the National Wildlife Federation details her organization's new program to supply ready-to-plant wildlife gardens, customized for your climate and your garden conditions

Two experts, Dr. Thomas Mather, Director of the University of Rhode Island's Tick Encounter Resource Center, and Kathy Connolly, designer of native gardens and proprietor of Speaking of Landscapes, LLC, discuss ways to avoid tick bites and manage the landscape so it is less hospitable to these dangerous pests

Based in the Berkshire Hills of western Massachusetts, Helia Native Plant Nursery collects its stock locally, preserving and enhancing local genetic variants, while also maintaining a living seed bank to help its plants evolve in response to climate change.

Aimee Code, Pesticide Program Director for the Xerces Society, discusses the problems with many conventional mosquito control programs, and how the same goals can be achieved with less environmental impact

Mark Mandica, Executive Director of The Amphibian Foundation, discusses the threats that are causing a worldwide decline of amphibians, and what gardeners can do to make their home landscapes more hospitable to these essential creatures

Conservationist and gardener Suzanne Thompson goes viral with her organic approach to controlling invasive threat Japanese knotweed

Horticulturist and author Robert Kourik shares his research on understanding and enhancing plant roots in this program originally posted in June of 2019

"Because land doesn't come with a manual," you need the Ecological Landscape Alliance! Board member Dan Jaffe Wilder takes us on a virtual tour of this organization's programs, many of them free to the general public, with others available to dues-paying members from all over the country.

Ecological landscape designer Sarah Middeleer shares her experience in identifying natives that can replace popular, but ecologically less beneficial and often invasive introduced shrubs

Jackie Algon, one of the founders in 2017 of Pollinator Pathways in Wilton, Connecticut describes the ways in which her organization is fostering pollinators and other wildlife, and how it has set off a burgeoning national movement

Author Heather Holm discusses her new book, "Wasps," and the fascination of these maligned creatures and the many beneficial roles they play in our gardens

Greg Peterson, creator of The Urban Farm, a residential "food forest" in Phoenix, Arizona, details the techniques he uses to capture and utilize storm water and gray water on his landscape

Ecological garden consultant Kim Eierman discusses her book, The Pollinator Victory Garden, and easy ways you can turn your yard into a beautiful and hospitable habitat for these essential and threatened creatures.

Organic lawn expert Shay Lunseth details the green-up program she applies to 1,500 lawns every spring

Fruit grower and author Michael Phillips discusses an approach to maintaining an orchard that involves enhancing the ecology rather than a reliance on synthetic pesticides

Horticulturist Krissy Boys describes her project to create a biodiverse "native lawn" at the Cornell University Botanic Gardens

Native plants expert Gregg Tepper discusses the new book he has co-authored with Ruth Rogers, Deer-Resistant Native Plants for the Northeast, and lays out strategies for co-existing with these voracious herbivores

Todd Forrest, vice president of horticulture and living collections at the New York Botanical Garden describes the 50-acre first growth forest flourishing in the Bronx and the lessons it can teach us about gardening and ecological restoration

Tom Coward, head gardener at Gravetye Manor, details the legacy of the garden's founder, William Robinson, the Irishman who revolutionized English gardening in the 19th century.

Dr. Douglas Tallamy, author of best-selling Bringing Nature Home and Nature's Best Hope, discusses a new on-line initiative, Homegrown National Park

Marc Wolf, executive director of the Mountain Top Arboretum, escorts us through its stunning native habitats, homegrown education center, and ecological gardens

Author and garden designer Ellen Ecker Ogden shares her book, The New Heirloom Garden, and details the environmental and culinary advantages of heirloom vegetables and fruits

Mary Menniti describes her program to recognize and document the wonderful, resource-efficient and eco-friendly gardens of the Italian-American immigrant community.

Chris Wiesinger of The Southern Bulb Company describes his adventures in exploring the back roads and rural homesteads of Texas in pursuit of regionally adapted, heirloom flower bulbs.

Author and horticulturist Kelly D. Norris discusses his brand new book, New Naturalism: Designing and Planting a Resilient, Ecologically Vibrant Home Garden

Sculptor Dan Snow shares the process by which he creates structures both practical and fantastic with stone, building without the use of mortar and commonly with materials collected from the landscape.

Kathleen Groll Connolly of, noted creator of native landscapes, details natural, herbicide-free techniques she uses to clear a site of invasive species and prepare it for replanting

Carrie Brown-Lima, Director of the New York Invasive Species Research Institute, discusses the evolving threat from invasive plant and animal species, and how they are reacting to a changing climate

"Sustainable" gardening is not enough, according to landscape designer Trevor Smith, past president of the Ecological Landscape Alliance. Trevor's goal is to restore the landscape to full health with his "regenerative landscaping."

Distinguished horticulturist and in-demand speaker Wambui Ippolito discusses her experience as an East African immigrant in American gardening, and the special gifts that immigrants can and have brought to the re-invention of the American landscape

Distinguished horticulturist and author Robert Kourik shares his research on the benefits – and potential liabilities – of garden mulches, with tips on how to use this garden stand-by most effectively.

Dr. Matthew Koski of Clemson University describes his research into the colors of common wildflowers and their response over the last 75 years to changes in the climate and resulting changes to levels of ultraviolet light. These color changes threaten to affect relationships with pollinators and the flowers' reproductive success.

Distinguished horticulturist Abra Lee shares her research into the stories of her African-American predecessors and how their contributions helped shape the American landscape

Horticulturist and forager Ellen Zachos discusses her book, The Wildcrafted Cocktail, about incorporating the flavors of wild-collected plants into a unique and delicious mixology

Dr. Chantel White of the University of Pennsylvania uses archaeological techniques to identify plants that grew in the garden of pioneering plant collectors John and William Bartram. Thanks to her work, a long-gone garden is re-emerging into the light.

Panayoti Kelaidis, Senior Curator and Director of Outreach at the Denver Botanic Gardens, discusses his love affair with the rock garden plants of Colorado and how he has traveled the world seeking adapted plants from climatically similar "steppe" regions

Nicholas Geron of Clark University describes his research into the effects of tree cover on urban landscapes, and how economically disadvantaged communities are, due to lack of trees, already experiencing the heat predicted elsewhere for the next generation of global warming.

Dr. Desirée Narango of the University of Massachusetts Amherst describes her research that reveals the essential connection of songbird breeding success with the percentage of native plants in the surrounding landscape.

Dr. Enrique Salmon, a native American of the Raramuri people and professor of ethnic studies at California State University East Bay, discusses his new book, Iwigara about the ethnobotanical traditions and science of American Indians

Laura Hansplant, Director of Design at RoofMeadow describes her firm's pioneering work with "elevated landscapes" and the habitat for wildlife and people it creates on roof tops

Merlin Tuttle, founder of Bat Conservation International and Merlin Tuttle's Bat Conservation, details the important roles of bats in the garden and the environment, and addresses the charge that they are the source of the Covid-19 virus.

Rick Carr, Master Composter and Farm Director of the Rodale Institute, share tips for easy, more effective composting

Willie Crosby of Fungi Ally discusses the wonders of fungi and the cultivation of mushrooms for the home gardener

Award-winning garden blogger, Helen Battersby of Toronto, Canada details the success of the cosmetic pesticide ban in her province – with potential lessons for U.S. gardeners

Plant Explorer Daniel Hinkley discusses his new book, Windcliff: A Story of People, Plants, and Gardens, and the ecology that underpins his collection of exotic plants

Ethan Dropkin of Larry Weaner Landscape Associates describes the invaluable role our native annuals can play in the ecological landscape

Dr. Carole Cheah of the Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station describes her institution's successful program to protect eastern hemlocks, a foundational species of woodland habitats, from the hemlock woolly adelgid, an introduced pest that has too often proved fatal in other regions.