Landscape Design School
Save the Dates – March 26-27, 2024. Course 1, Series 12 – Via Zoom
Landscape Design School was developed by National Garden Clubs, Inc. in 1958 and has been offered by The Federated Garden Clubs of Connecticut, Inc. since 1978. The purpose of this four-part course of study is “to educate garden club members and the public to know good landscape architectural practices and to serve as guardians and critics of the natural and man-made landscape.” Anyone is welcome to attend who wishes to familiarize themselves with the principles and practices of landscape design as stewards of the outdoors. Newscape is the biannual NGC Landscape Design newsletter (published in the spring and fall) which provides news from the various state Landscape Design Councils and news about Landscape Design Schools.
The school’s curriculum offers a wide range of subjects in Landscape Design, including designing landscapes with plants and hardscapes (sidewalks, patios, sculptures), or redesign, with both the historical and future perspective. In addition the school discusses the creation of landscapes that evoke a particular feeling and purpose in both the public and private sectors.
Connecticut Gardens: A Celebration by Caryn B. Davis | Lecture, Lunch & Book Signing
Caryn B. Davis will present an overview of some of the 44 properties showcased in her book, Connecticut Gardens, sharing their fascinating histories, and the human stories behind their inception and design. Elizabeth Park is one of her featured gardens.
Elizabeth Park is one of her featured gardens.
Caryn B. Davis is an award-winning photographer specializing in architecture, interiors, hospitality, and landscape design photography. Her career has spanned the globe taking her to more than fifty countries, and her images and articles have appeared in over sixty publications worldwide including The New York Times, Lonely Planet, Condé Nast Traveler, Town & Country, Travel + Leisure, New Zealand Geographic, and other publications. She has two commissioned photography books, A Connecticut Christmas: Celebrating the Holiday in Classic New England Style, and Connecticut Waters: Celebrating Our Coastline & Waterways. Connecticut Gardens is her third book.
Lecture, Lunch & Book Signing $48 / Book $42.50
Wednesday, March 27
11 a.m. – 2 p.m.
Click HERE to Register and Order Books
We recommend purchasing books in advance and picking them up at check-in. Limited copies will be available for sale on the day of events.
More information on time, etc. will be available soon.
Rain date is June 13.
Susan Fellman offered her place in Goshen and a friend has an alpine garden, too. Lunch will be after the tours, and White Flower Farms is an option.
Program Type:
Lecture/Workshop
Age Group:
Program Description
Description
IN-PERSON PROGRAM
Home composting is one of the most important (and simple) things we can do as individuals to positively impact the environment. Over 25% of products sent to landfills today are organic wastes. We can do better in our own backyards! Creating compost with your own leaves and/or food scraps to add to your lawn and garden reduces runoff and topsoil compaction, enhances biodiversity, and increases vital microbial activity in your yard. Adding compost to your soil increases plant root growth, making plants more resistant to stresses related to weather extremes and climate change. It also largely eliminates the need for toxic synthetic pesticides and herbicides. We will also cover the dos and don’ts of what to compost and what to look for in compost containers and structures.
Presented by Beth Ann Loveland Sennett and Deanna Fontaine-Motyl, UCONN Certified Master Composters and Master Gardeners.
Co-Sponsored by the West Hartford Garden Club.
Registration required.
Registration
You are welcome to arrive at Patty’s home at 10:00 am, find a seat and get settled as the Board meeting will begin promptly at 10:30 am. We plan to adjourn by noon.
Untermyer Gardens: A Garden for the World by Stephen Byrns | Lecture, Lunch & Book Signing
The lecture will describe the creation and design of Untermyer Gardens in 1917 by Welles Bosworth for Samuel Untermyer, who desired that it be the “finest garden in the world.”
Sprawling over 150 acres on the Hudson River in Yonkers, it was maintained by 60 gardeners and supplied by 60 greenhouses. The Walled Garden is the finest Persian garden in the Western Hemisphere, the Vista is the most monumental garden feature in America featuring two ancient Roman columns, and the Temple of Love contains five waterfalls and six cascades. It is a garden of superlatives.
The Walled Garden is based on the concept of the Garden of Eden, which is a shared concept of Christianity, Judaism, and Islam. Untermyer’s career as a leading progressive Jew in America brilliantly reflects this multicultural aspect of the garden.
Owned by the City of Yonkers, the garden was in very poor condition and little known until the establishment of the Untermyer Gardens Conservancy in 2011 by Stephen Byrns. Since then, ten gardeners have been hired, 175,000 visitors came in 2023, and many features of the garden have been restored.
The lecture contains beautiful photos of the garden in its heyday, its descent into ruin, and its rebirth. It also reviews the many historical accomplishments of Samuel and Minnie Untermyer.
Stephen F. Byrns founded the Untermyer Gardens Conservancy in 2011 and is its president. A graduate of Princeton and Columbia Universities, he was a founding partner of BKSK Architects, a successful architectural firm in New York City that was established in 1985. He was appointed by Mayor Bloomberg to serve as a Landmarks Preservation Commissioner on the NYC Landmarks Preservation Commission from 2004–2010. He served on the Board of Wave Hill from 2000-2010.
A native of Michigan, Steve discovered Untermyer Gardens when he lived in Yonkers in the 1990s and became involved with local preservation efforts. He revisited it in 2010 when told that the fountains had been turned on after decades of disuse and proceeded to immerse himself in its history and become a volunteer. The more he learned about Samuel Untermyer’s garden, the more he was convinced that a conservancy should be established to work with the City of Yonkers to make it once again one of the greatest gardens in America.
Lecture, Lunch & Book Signing $48 / Book $25
Wednesday, April 3
11 a.m. – 2 p.m.
Click HERE to Register and Order Books
We recommend purchasing books in advance and picking them up at check-in. Limited copies will be available for sale on the day of events.
APRIL 4, Thursday, 12:00 noon
“Spring Flower Arrangements”
Speaker: Kate Brunson
Floral Designer, Maple & Mum, Branford, CT
Kate will create arrangements with flowers and materials from local farms.
OPEN MEETING, Guest donation $10.00
Program: Joan Martin
Flower arrangement: Bela Mandavilli
Tea sandwiches, cookies and beverages will be served.
You are welcome to see what we are doing to prepare for our club records for archival storage at the Noah Webster House.
Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About Ginkgo But Were Afraid to Ask by Peter Del Tredici | Lecture, Lunch & Book Signing
Join Dr. Peter Del Tredici of the Arnold Arboretum in Boston for an in-depth look at one of the most ancient and fascinating trees on the planet.
Peter has been studying the natural history and evolution of this tree for the last thirty-five years and is a world authority on the subject. His travels have taken him to remote areas in eastern and southwest China in search of wild-growing Ginkgos as well as to old estates and botanical gardens in Europe and the United States. He is an expert on the cultivation of Ginkgo trees for ornamental purposes as well as for the production of leaves used in the production of medicinal extracts.
Peter Del Tredici is a botanist specializing in the growth and development of trees. He retired from the Arnold Arboretum of Harvard University in 2014 after working there as a plant propagator, editor of Arnoldia, Director of Living Collections, and Senior Research Scientist for 35 years. He taught in the Landscape Architecture Department at the Harvard Graduate School of Design for 24 years, and the Urban Planning Department at MIT for three years. He has published over a hundred scientific articles on a wide variety of subjects including: the taxonomy and cultivation of hemlocks and Stewartias, the history of plant introductions from Japan and China, the ecology and evolution of the Ginkgo tree, and the morphology of vegetative regeneration in trees. Since 2004, his research has focused on urban ecology and climate change, and in 2010 he published the widely acclaimed, Wild Urban Plants of the Northeast: A Field Guide (Cornell U. Press, 2010; 2nd ed. 2020).
Lecture, Lunch & Book Signing $48 / Book $34.95
Wednesday, April 10
11 a.m. – 2 p.m.
Click HERE to Register and Order Books
We recommend purchasing books in advance and picking them up at check-in. Limited copies will be available for sale on the day of events.