Stamford, CT – The Stamford Museum & Nature Center’s Salon Series of adult programming helps usher in the new year on Thursday, January 26, with “Naturescape Your Yard”, a discussion and slide presentation by Connecticut garden photographer, writer and eco-friendly garden coach Karen Bussolini about how to look to nature as a guide for creating sustainable, low-care, high-satisfaction gardens.
SM&NC Salon Series events begin with a 6 pm reception, with wine and small bites served; the discussion follows at 6:30 pm and concludes with a book signing. Tickets may be purchased at www.stamfordmuseum.org. Admission prices: $35 for one and book; $45 admission for two and book; $25 for one and no book.
Karen has photographed six books on gardening and garden design, including The Naturescaping Workbook: A Step-by-Step Guide for Bringing Nature to Your Backyard (Timber Press), by Oregon landscape designer Beth O’Donnell Young. The Chicago Tribune has called The Naturescaping Workbook “an uncommonly useful aid to anyone in thinking through how to create a landscape that suits the climate, the site, the local wildlife and ecosystem, and the gardener.”
Karen now shares her experiences of naturescaping with audiences in the Eastern states, while Beth O’Donnell Young addresses the Western region of the country. Both are on the same wavelength when it comes to teaching gardeners how to lower their carbon footprint and landscape more sustainably.
Naturescaping in the East means emulating the ecosystems we have here by planting in layers and covering ground, thinking about plant communities, planting for wildlife, choosing plants that want to be in the soils we have rather than constantly disturbing and amending soil. It means paying attention to where water comes from and where it goes and designing to allow water to infiltrate the ground rather than running off. It means looking at leaves, garden clippings, sticks, and even dead trees as resources to return to the soil rather than waste problems. It means using local and recycled materials for construction. Learning how to use natural processes makes our yards easier to maintain, more conserving of time and resources, less polluting, more beautiful and enjoyable.
When photographing, Karen sees the world through the eyes of a gardener and painter. She is also a NOFA Accredited Organic Land Care Professional. Drawing on her own gardening experience, love of nature and techniques learned from ecological landscapers, she launched an eco-friendly garden coaching practice, devoted to teaching homeowners how to garden more sustainably. Although Karen travels far and wide, her roots are sunk deeply into the soil of a deer-infested mountainside in South Kent, Connecticut.
Karen’s discussion in the SM&NC’s Bendel Mansion on January 26, 2017, about Naturescaping Your Yard promises to be an instructive, inspirational evening for Connecticut gardeners pining and planning for spring planting. Visit stamfordmuseum.org to purchase tickets; for more information, please contact Allison Biele at abiele@stamfordmuseum.org or 203.977.6546.