Transforming your lawn into a rich tapestry of native plants
Who says lawns need to be monocultures or only made of grasses? We can do better than the default landscape material that covers most of the suburban landscape. Discover how to diversify your lawn, transition it to meadow or convert it to layers of native plants to create a rich, wildlife-friendly tapestry.
Join Wild Seed Project founder Heather McCargo for a tour of her Portland garden, where she’ll discuss her rewilding journey, and how she has transformed her yard into a rich and biodiverse native plant habitat in Portland’s West End.
This event is exclusive to Wild Seed Project members. Not a member? Join today!
Join Wild Seed Project Founder Heather McCargo to learn about the native wildflowers, ferns, shrubs, and trees in the mature forest of Robinson Woods. Heather will talk about various native plant species and the threats to their survival, while sharing insights about the plants’ unusual reproductive strategies and edible and medicinal properties. Learning to recognize the native species in our midst is the first step to advocating for their preservation.
This event is the first in a series of Four Season Walks at Robinson Woods, led by Heather. Robinson Woods has a rich array of native plants to observe year-round and this program series provides an opportunity to see them through their full life cycles: from carpets of spring wildflowers, to summer meadows, then fall foliage and fruits, and finishing with snow-covered trees in winter.
Price: $12 for members (discount codes WSPMEM and CELTMEM) and $15 for non-members
This summer, Wild Seed Project is inviting you into the yards of our members to see first-hand what biodiversity looks like at home. Our members will share stories about their personal habitat restoration journeys, and the challenges and joys they have encountered along the way as they have tackled invasive plants, experimented with leaving their leaves in place, cut back on mowing, and restored habitat with rich arrays of native plants. Tours will feature urban oases of bustling backyard meadows, neighbors who are working together to transform a suburban neighborhood, pristine coastal landscapes with formal garden plantings, and much more.
Tour Mary Hodgkin’s lovely coastal garden at her home in Cape Elizabeth. Mary is an inspiring and experienced plant-enthusiast whose yard includes both more formal and more wild spaces. A diversity of native trees, shrubs, vines and wildflowers grow around terraces, stone walls, and a fire pit, while her yard is also replete with a mini woodland, a meadow, a vegetable garden and fruit trees.
Parking: Please arrive on time and park at the Cape Elizabeth Town Hall. WSP staff will coordinate a carpool over to Mary’s home on Two Lights Terrace.
This event is sold out! Join the waitlist here.
The Camden Public Library will host an afternoon of learning and fun at the Stewardship Education Alliance (S.E.A.) Fair in the Amphitheatre. This will be an opportunity for the public to come out and meet representatives from twenty local nonprofits that support responsible stewardship of the environment. Family-friendly activities include a mobile marine tank and Wild Seed Project’s native seed ball making station!
This summer, Wild Seed Project is inviting you into the yards of our members to see first-hand what biodiversity looks like at home. Our members will share stories about their personal habitat restoration journeys, and the challenges and joys they have encountered along the way as they have tackled invasive plants, experimented with leaving their leaves in place, cut back on mowing, and restored habitat with rich arrays of native plants. Tours will feature urban oases of bustling backyard meadows, neighbors who are working together to transform a suburban neighborhood, pristine coastal landscapes with formal garden plantings, and much more.
Wild Seed Project’s Board Chair Erin Clancy invites you to her coastal Damariscotta home. Erin will show you how she has welcomed biodiversity into her yard in so many ways: from formal native gardens in front of the house, to the addition of spongy natives that absorb stormwater from the road, and even successfully replacing Japanese knotweed with flowering raspberry on a steep slope that goes down to the Damariscotta River.
Parking: Please park either in designated spots along Elm St. or in the free parking lot in the town center and walk to Erin’s home on River Lane.
This event is sold out! Join the waitlist here.
The Maine Audubon Native Plants Festival & Sale at Gilsland Farm in Falmouth will feature 50+ species of native wildflowers, shrubs, and tree seedlings for sale, plus workshops, expert advice sessions and more. Wild Seed Project will have publications and merch available for sale, and Anna Fialkoff will present a Native Plants Container Gardening demo at 10am. This event is free and open to the public.
Container Gardening with Native Plants
Kick those petunias to the curb and create a container garden that feeds pollinators and provides blooms, foliage and berries throughout the entire growing season. Anna will talk all things containers, and share guidance on selecting prime native plant combinations to make a show-stopping statement. After the demo, you can buy plants from the sale to put together your own beautiful and wildlife friendly container planting.
This summer, Wild Seed Project is inviting you into the yards of our members to see first-hand what biodiversity looks like at home. Our members will share stories about their personal habitat restoration journeys, and the challenges and joys they have encountered along the way as they have tackled invasive plants, experimented with leaving their leaves in place, cut back on mowing, and restored habitat with rich arrays of native plants. Tours will feature urban oases of bustling backyard meadows, neighbors who are working together to transform a suburban neighborhood, pristine coastal landscapes with formal garden plantings, and much more.
Join founder Heather McCargo for a visit to a beautifully wild coastal home in Falmouth. Inspired by Doug Tallamy’s book Bringing Nature Home, Daniel Hildreth and Lillian Harris have stewarded their yard by employing a light touch and letting nature do most of the work. Over the last decade, they have greatly reduced mowing and strategically removed undesirable plants to make space for native species to return on their own.
Parking:
Park along the paved driveway at 46 Thornhurst Road. If that fills up then cars can continue parking in the circle with the Norway spruce at the end of Thornhurst, and then along Thornhurst Road. Carpooling is encouraged!
This event is sold out! Join the waitlist here.
Who says lawns need to be monocultures or made only of grasses? We can do better than the default landscape material that covers most of the suburban landscape. Discover how to diversify your lawn, transition it to meadow or convert it to layers of native plants to create a rich, wildlife-friendly tapestry.
Learn more and register with the Association to Preserve Cape Cod (APCC).
Choosing native plants for your landscape should be fun and creative, not daunting or complicated! When you consider plants in simple groupings, or guilds, it becomes a lot easier to design a landscape with appealing texture, color, and wildlife value throughout the seasons. Native plant guilds draw on inspiration from natural plant communities in habitats like coastal plains, forests, wetlands, or mountain tops. You’ll come away from this introductory webinar with inspiration and plant lists for various light and soil conditions or landscape functions, as well as with tools to select your own plants for both beauty and biodiversity.
Anna will walk you through the gardens and show you how native plants can be grouped together for various site conditions and applications. Learn more and register with Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens.
