Written by: Mary Petres, Horticulture Manager for Capital Trees
Last week landscape professionals, home gardeners, and a host of others interested in learning more about the connection between gardens, resilient landscapes, and resilient people came together at Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden for their annual Winter Symposium and CVNLA (Central VA Nursery and Landscape Association) Short Course. Led by a host of thoughtful and knowledgeable speakers, participants explored how gardens of all sizes and shapes can heal individuals, strengthen communities, and support a healthier planet.
The variety of topics and speakers spoke to all aspects of how the natural world intersects with and improves our daily lives. Even the more technical presentations illustrated how closely human development and well being depends on the other flora and fauna on the earth.
I was particularly interested in presentations given by Juliet Sargeant and Preston Montague. Both spoke to their personal and professional journeys from creating gardens primarily for the aesthetics to designing for the well being of all that inhabit the planet. Juliet spoke to the importance of designing for the client as well as the ecosystem. At Capital Trees we consider it very important to garner community input for the projects we champion, and the greenspaces we create are designed to better both the environment and the people who visit them.
Preston shared a method for designing projects driven by stewardship practices that improve the planet while also creating welcoming spaces where people feel at home. I look forward to sharing these projects with partners as we work on planning and designing new greenspaces.
For my work at Capital Trees, I will continue to build relationships with the volunteers who help maintain the gardens, the visitors to the gardens, and our partners. These relationships are important because when working with us, people become aware of how important greenspaces are to humanity and the planet, and they carry our mission further.
