Cornell Cooperative Extension Onondaga County will join with nine local and regional organizations to offer landscape professionals and homeowners in the Skaneateles Lake watershed a four-part educational series about designing beautiful landscapes with native plants that function to buffer heavy stormwater runoff and to provide habitat and food for wildlife.
The first two sessions of the four-part educational series will be presented by renowned landscape designer, Larry Weaner. Larry will explain how to create diversified landscapes with native plants that are beautiful and functional via Zoom webinars on March 23 and April 27 from 8:45 to 10:30 a.m.
The third session will be in person at Doce Lume Farm (home of Go Native! perennials LLC) in Skaneateles on June 24 from 8 to 11 a.m.
At this session, Sam Quinn from the SUNY ESF Restoration Science Center will discuss creating meadows on your property and Larry Weaner will present on woodlands and native gardens. The final session will be held on July 13 from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. and will open with a presentation on building a rain garden to filter downspouts and stormwater at the Skaneateles Public Library. A reception will follow at the John D. Barrow Art Gallery with short presentations on local resources by event sponsors.
Janice Wiles from Go Native! perennials LLC, one of the event co-sponsors, said, “Native plants do what nothing else can. Deep-rooted native plant landscapes buffer our lake and streams from stormwater in a way that short-rooted grass will not. Additionally, native plants are hosts for insects and caterpillars, which are important food sources for birds, fish and other wildlife. And, they are stunningly beautiful. Learning to use them well will only enhance our landscapes.”
Continuing education credits are being offered for landscape professionals through the New York Upstate Chapter of the American Society of Landscape Architects, sponsored by Cornell Cooperative Extension Onondaga County.
For more information and to register, visit skanlakeinfo.org/events/nativeplants. Registration is open for the first two sessions (registration for the final two sessions will open on April 27th).
This event is sponsored by: Cornell Cooperative Extension of Onondaga County (with support from the City of Syracuse), Go Native! perennials LLC, Skaneateles Lake Association, Finger Lakes Native Plant Society, Finger Lakes Land Trust, SUNY ESF Restoration Science Center, Cornell Botanic Gardens, Skaneateles Library, Wild Ones Habitat Gardening CNY, and John D. Barrow Art Gallery.
