ONLINE: Beyond Buckthorn & Bluegrass: Transitioning Overlooked & Underutilized Spaces to Host Native Plants

Friends of Allen Centennial Garden Winter Presentation Series. Registration for FACG members is free, the fee for nonmembers is $10 per session.

press release: Speaker: Stephanie Judge, Conservation Project Manager, The Nature Conservancy in Wisconsin

Does most of your lawn see activity only when it’s mowed, watered or sprayed? Have you wanted to remove that wall of invasive buckthorn and other brush but aren’t sure how to handle it? This session will help attendees reconsider the underused and overlooked areas of their urban yards and explain how those large swaths of traditional green lawns or areas massed in invasive shrubs along edges can be reclaimed for their wildlife habitat and ecosystem service potential. Stephanie will share how processes The Nature Conservancy uses to restore land at scale can be applied to a residential setting, specifically discussing key tools and techniques. Topics covered will include Site Selection & Border Options, Site Preparation including Lawn & Brush Removal, Seed Mix Selection, Planting and Stabilizing, Standard Maintenance and “Watch Out” Weeds.

Bio: Stephanie Judge joined The Nature Conservancy in 2007 while studying Landscape Architecture at UW-Madison and is an expert in land restoration and conservation real estate who leads several Conservancy projects across Wisconsin. As an avid gardener with a passion for healing damaged land and limiting the often-negative impacts of certain traditional planting options, Stephanie loves to integrate native and edible plants into urban spaces. Stephanie completed her first UW-Madison degree – a B.A. in Journalism and Political Science – in 2003 and graduated with a Professional Degree (B.S.) in Landscape Architecture from the UW in 2010.