ReThink Red Deer

Naturally Beautiful: Balancing Aesthetics with Ecology

Location: Red Deer College - Margaret Parsons Theatre

Tuesday April 13th, 2010
6:30 pm - 9:30 pm

ReThink Red Deer has partnered with the Native Plant Producers Society of Alberta, Red Deer River Naturalists, and RDC Green Campus to host the "Naturally Beautiful" workshop.

Registration fee is $125.00 which includes G.S.T., for the course and up to 150 native plants for your project - delivered to your desired location in June/July. Retail value of the plant plugs is $337.00. For participants taking the course, but no plants, the registration fee is $80.00, which includes G.S.T. More info can be found below.

This event is limited to the first 25 registered people. Please RSVP to nativescape@telus.net  or call 780- 916-8851 if you are confirming your participation. Payment for registration can only be taken at the door. Cash only please - a receipt will be provided. If we have more than 25 people interested we may hold a second event later in April.

Cheers,

Rene Michalak
Coordinator (volunteer)
ReThink Red Deer
403-505-4550

www.rethinkreddeer.ca
www.sustainablereddeer.com

Naturally Beautiful
"Balancing Aesthetics with Ecology: Sustainable Landscaping"
Creating bountiful and beautiful green spaces both at home and across the province!

Our urban areas can be dynamic, healthy spaces full of pollinators, birds and flowers. By shifting yard maintenance techniques, plant species and styles we can create eco-landscaping alternatives to conventional landscaping. Conventional landscaping and yard management minimizes natural biological diversity, has a huge environmental footprint, and requires a lot of work!

We are providing an introductory course in eco-landscaping with native plants. This is a hands-on interactive workshop, which delves into the benefits of native ecosystems verses conventional horticultural communities common in yards today. We will teach you to identify the major components of your yard, and how to create vibrant and low environmental impact native plant communities. To ensure you can implement your “Nativescape”, you will also receive up to 150 native plants, in early June 2010, as part of our course registration. The perfect time for planting.

Your instructors are Bruce Bashforth, co-owner of Bedrock Seed Bank, and Michael Rawson Clark, a Masters student in Plant Ecology at the University of Alberta. Bruce has been wild-crafting, growing and installing native plants for over 15 years. Michael has studied the impacts of bison, elk, deer and cattle on the prairie, plus climate change, invasive species and the behavioral changes required to shift to sustainable actions. Both bring extensive knowledge and practical skills to support you to incorporate “Nativescaping” principles in your yard!

This course will assist homeowners in creating a native plant garden in their yard. It will cover the aspects of soil and plant ecology, ecosystem functions, plant species, integration, physical installation and the ongoing care of the site.

Participants will receive extensive course material on all aspects plus receive up to150 native plant plugs delivered to their location in June/July. Retail value of the plant plugs is $337.00

The plant plugs will be mixed native flowers and grasses in flats of 72 or 96 plugs. Plant plugs containing mixed species were the most popular, by far in 2009, plus this delivery method simplifies both the production and implementation phases while maintaining ecological diversity. To learn more about the plants visit:

http://www.nativescapealberta.com/New_Folder/theplants.htm

Proceeds from this course will go to support the “Partners in Nativescaping” program.