Conferences & Symposia
Land Ethics Symposium
Symposium Overview
Each year, this informative conference focuses on ways to create low-maintenance, economical and ecologically balanced landscapes using native plants and restoration techniques. Participants have opportunities to network and share their experiences with peers at this professional program. The symposium is geared toward professionals, including landscape architects, designers, contractors and the green industry, environmental consultants, land planners, managers and developers, and state/municipal officials. Continuing education credits are available.
Symposium 2018 - Save the Date!
The 2018 Land Ethics Symposium will be held Thursday, March 15, 2018. Details about speakers and registration will be available mid-December, 2017.
Symposium 2017
The 17th Annual Land Ethics Symposium. "Creative Approaches for Ecological Landscaping," was held March 9, 2017 at Delaware Valley University in Doylestown, PA, with more than 260 native plant supporters in attendance.
2017 Speakers
Thanks to our 2017 speakers for their informative talks:
- James Brown of New Moon Nursery: Underused and Under-rated Native Perennials
- Dan Duran of Drexel University/MANTIX: Getting to the Source of our Native Plants- Does Provenance Matter?
- Kim Eierman of EcoBeneficial: Dealing with Climate Change - The New Frontier in Landscapes
- Megan Gonzales, RLA of Green Business Certification Inc.: Measurable Sustainability: An Introduction to the Sustainable SITES Initiative
- Kathleen V. Salisbury of Penn State Extension: Dealing with the Dirty Dozen – Educating your client about 12 common woody invasive plants and recommending suitable alternatives.
Full presentation descriptions and speaker bios can be found in the symposium brochure. To be added to our mailing list, please contact Educational Coordinator Kelly Joslin at 215.862.2924 or joslin@bhwp.org.
Continuing Education Credits
The 2017 Land Ethics Symposium has qualified for the following professional credits:
- BHWP is a LA CES™ approved provider. The symposium is approved for five (5) professional development hours (PDH) through LA CES. The Symposium meets LA CES standards for HSW subject matter.
- New Jersey Board of Architects: 5 CEUs
- Pennsylvania State Board of Landscape Architects: 5 CEUs
- Pennsylvania Landscape & Nursery Association (PLNA) recertification: PA Certified Horticulturalist (PCH): 6 hours
- Association of Professional Landscape Designers (APLD): 5 CEUs
- ISA - International Society of Arboriculture:
- Arborist Credits: 5 CEUs
- TW Climber Specialist: 5 CEUs
- Municipal: 5 CEUs
- BMA Science: 2.5 CEUs
- BCMA Practice: 0.5 CEUs
- BCMA Management: 2 CEUs
- TW Aerial Lift: 5 CEUs
- NJ Nursery & Landscape Association, Certified Nursery & Landscape Professionals (CNLP) Credits: 3 plants, 1 professional and 1 environment
2017 Land Ethics Symposium Sponsors
Thanks to our 2017 sponsors for their generous support:
PRESENTING SPONSORS
Delaware Valley University Department of Landscape Architecture & Environmental Science
County of Bucks, Office of Commissioners
PARTNER SPONSORS
Aquascapes Unlimited, Inc.
ArcheWild
Eiseman Construction, Inc.
Ernst Conservation Seeds
Holly Days Nursery & Landscaping
North Creek Nurseries, Inc.
Octoraro Native Plant Nursery
Pinelands Nursery & Supply
Princeton Hydro, LLC
FRIEND SPONSORS
Association of Professional Landscape Designers - PA/DE Chapter
Land Ethics Award
The Land Ethics Award honors and recognizes individuals, organizations, government agencies, community groups and business professionals who have made significant contributions to the promotion of native plants and have exhibited a strong land ethics while promoting sustainable designs that protect the environment.
Nominations may be private individuals, businesses, design professionals including landscape architects and site engineers, conservation and preservation organizations and local, state and federal agencies involved with environmental protection. School groups may also be nominated for relevant team projects.
2017 Land Ethics Award Winners
Bowman’s Hill Wildflower Preserve presented their 17th annual Land Ethics Awards at the Land Ethics Symposium on March 9, 2017 at Delaware Valley University in Doylestown, PA. The award honors the creative use of native plants in the landscape, sustainable and regenerative design, and ethical land management and construction practices. The Land Ethics Award is an important part of the Preserve’s efforts to inspire the appreciation and use of native plants and serve as an educational resource for conservation and stewardship.
This year we had an overwhelming response and we’d like to thank our judges–James Bray, Don Borden and Karen Budd–for another fabulous job choosing our winner, United Friends School of Quakertown, PA.
This private Quaker school has integrated three unique garden types into its landscape plantings. These gardens are central to the school’s elementary curriculum, which focuses on land stewardship. The grounds feature a community vegetable garden with a native plant demonstration bed to demonstrate the value of organic vegetable gardening and native plants; a rain garden to teach about storm water harvesting; and a parking island garden to illuminate the benefits of filtration.
The community garden was installed by a third-grade class, who raised money for the initial plantings, and is maintained by parent volunteers throughout the year. The garden is home to a variety of flowers, providing pollen and nectar for the insects that help pollinate its fruits and vegetables. Students visit the garden to learn about native bees, pollination, and plant reproduction, while the community enjoys its bounty with an annual garden party.
The rain garden was recently installed in a location central to all children’s lives, the playground. Fed by rainwater from a downspout on the school, the garden was planted by preschoolers, kindergartners and first-graders. Integral to the children’s daily lives, they play among the plants and visiting insects. Middle school students take advantage of the garden to study and identify native plants and to monitor the life cycle of the monarch caterpillar.
The parking lot island, formerly overrun with weeds, was replanted with native perennials and grasses. It is now a beautiful natural feature, dense with healthy plants that require almost no maintenance or supplemental watering. Located prominently on the school’s perimeter, it serves as a showcase for native landscaping in an urban environment to the surrounding community.
Our judges had this to say about the project:
Educate them when they are young and you have them for a lifetime. That is one of the key components of this student undertaking. This project beautifully illustrates what can be done with a minimum of money in a small space and dealing with an environmentally degraded area.
The most salient feature of this project is that land stewardship is now a vital part of the students’ curriculum and the gardens provide an on-site demonstration as to how to get nature working for us, instead of against us. The well thought-out maintenance plan will cement the project’s environmental gains in the years ahead.
An Award of Merit was presented to Jenkins Arboretum for their its Trout Creek Restoration Project in Devon, PA. In the last six years, the staff and volunteers of the arboretum have re-established the ecological value of the property through an ambitious 10-step, hands-on approach. The value of this ongoing project is readily apparent as a functional watershed replete with beautiful native vegetation. Unilateral buy-in to a long-range restoration and maintenance plan ensures the ecosystem will remain highly functional for years to come.
Congratulations to United Friends School and Jenkins Arboretum!
Past Award Winners
Group Category: Grubs Ecology, Jamison Elementary School and Central Bucks School District, “Project Put Nature Back” Residential Category: Hess Landscape Architects, “Philadelphia Farm to Forest” Residential Restoration Director’s Award: North Creek Nurseries, Inc.
Award of Merit: Weatherwood Design, Petrona Charles Residence
Award of Merit: Pinelands Preservation Alliance
Award of Merit: John Morgan Thomas Landscape Architects, Raab Meadow
Award of Merit: Andropogon Associates, Ltd. & SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry, Gateway Center
Spanning 86-acres, the Meadow Garden showcases native plantings and highlights the relationship between the human and natural worlds. Both sustainably managed and visually artistic, the Meadow Garden blends colorful plantings and grand vistas with best practices in land stewardship.
The Land Ethics Award Jury commented that Longwood’s, “large scale Meadow project has it all: a sweeping landscape, a huge educational component, and the resources to maintain the area.” The judges were particularly impressed by Longwood’s use of corridors to link their meadow habitat to 700 acres of extant natural lands. The jury also admired the, “innovative learning pavilion where guests can not only view the beauty before them but learn how they can turn their home gardens into sustainable enclaves as well.”
Group Category 2015: Ralph "Ozzie" Oswald and Buckingham Friends School
Ralph “Ozzie” Oswald and Buckingham Friends School received the Group Award for their work on forest regeneration on the school grounds. Founded in 1794, Buckingham Friends School in Lahaska, PA is a Quaker day school for grades K-8. The 44 acre campus provides both traditional classroom and outdoor experiential learning. Approximately 30 acres of the site are wooded with a series of marked trails throughout.
In 2013 the woodlands were suffering due to gypsy moth infestations, disease, aging, torrential rains, Superstorm Sandy, and over-browsing by deer. Under the leadership of Mr. Oswald, students and community volunteers began work on a 10 year forest regeneration and management plan. They removed invasive plants, implemented erosion control measures, identified and protected young tree seedlings, planted new trees, and installed deer protection fencing. Each grade is assigned an area of campus and a section of trail that they maintain throughout their school career. In the process they study plant life, soil, erosion, and environmental issues. By involving the entire school community in the program, the hope is to have both students and their parents better understand their environment and aid in its improvement and maintenance.
Residential Category 2015: Jules Bruck and Sue Barton, Applecross
In the residential category, the 2015 Land Ethics Award was presented to Sue Barton and Jules Bruck of the University of Delaware for the Applecross residential demonstration project. The jury commended the project for serving as a model for suburban residential properties. Designed and installed by researchers and students at the University of Delaware, a project goal was to introduce ecosystem services to a typical suburban residential yard, keeping in mind the homeowner’s desire to maintain a sense of community and overall curb appeal. Although the design incorporates a 6,000-square-foot meadow and a 3,000-square-foot reforestation area it maintains enough mowed lawn for play and entertaining. “The idea was to show people that you can incorporate a meadow and a forest into a residential landscape,” said Sue Barton, associate professor of plant and soil sciences at UD.
“Almost all the plants are native and they’re quite showy. Sometimes native plants have a connotation of being less formal, less colorful, a compromise, and they’re not a compromise at all. It’s a very dramatic landscape. There’s almost always something blooming,” said Barton. The awards jury was impressed with how this project, “clearly demonstrates what can happen when several partners collaborate to change a sterile home landscape into one of environmental value.”
Our award recipients were selected by our 2014 Land Ethics Award jury, a group of experts who reviewed each award submission. The jury consisted of: Don Borden (Delaware Valley College; Quercus Studio), James Bray (Lower Makefield Township Environmental Council) and Pam Newitt (Naturalist and Educator).
CONGRATULATIONS TO HAVERFORD TOWNSHIP’S HAVERFORD RESERVE COMMUNITY RECREATION & ENVIRONMENTAL EDUCATION CENTER CO-DESIGNERS: KIMMEL-BOGRETTE ARCHITECTURE + SITE & THINKGREEN LLC
Notes from the 2014 Land Ethics Award Jury:
What was impressive was the large scope of this project and the importance attached to environmental design parameters. This LEED certified building touches the land lightly and its sustainable design features infiltration basins, native meadows and vegetated native plant swales that result in capturing nearly 100% of the site’s storm water. We were also incredibly impressed with not only the building’s wonderful functional design but with the sheer beauty of the facility itself; it is literally breath-taking.
CONGRATULATIONS TO BUCKS COUNTY SPCA- UPPER BUCKS SHELTER CO-DESIGNERS: PRIZER DESIGN GROUP, INC. & WEATHERWOOD DESIGN, LLC
Notes from the 2014 Land Ethics Award Jury:
We were especially impressed with the functionality of design of the facility and how artfully it blended into the Upper Bucks County side. The grass roots funding also played a significant factor in our decision. The choice of native plants in the design was also well thought out and helped create the low maintenance, environmentally sustainable landscape that was one of the main project goals.
CONGRATULATIONS TO NJ AUDUBON – STEWARDSHIP DEPARTMENT Lifetime Achievement Award Winner
Notes from the 2014 Land Ethics Award Jury:
One of many things we admire about the Stewardship Department is the synergy developed by its link with other organizations, especially large corporations that have the assets to make things happen. Their link to the NJ Corporate Stewardship Council (CSC), an organization of 18 NH companies promoting a common goal of environmental sustainability and responsibility, has been incredibly productive and resulted in major habitat restoration projects throughout the state. The effects of their work is far reaching and long lasting.
Notes from the 2013 Land Ethics Award Jury:
We were impressed with this project’s focus on protecting wildlife for which there is far too little public awareness and funding. The inclusion of site work to control invasive plants adds real habitat modifications to foster their goals. This project is especially deserving of recognition because of the difficulty of accomplishing environmentally innovative projects in the context of municipal government. The project is also worthy due to the high caliber of scientific support and the extensive use of social media for public education.
Nomination for Award - Haycock Community Wildlife Habitat
Our three recipients accepted their 2013 Land Ethics Awards at the Preserve's annual Land Ethics Symposium. Recipients were represented by: Dr. Julie Fagan (Haycock Community Wildlife Habitat), Thom Almendinger (Duke Farms Foundation), Peter Johnson (ThinkGreen LLC) and Seth Budick (University City District).
Our award recipients were selected by our 2013 Land Ethics Award jury, a group of experts who reviewed each award submission. The jury consisted of: Don Borden (Delaware Valley College; Quercus Studio), James Bray (Lower Makefield Township Environmental Council) and Leslie Sauer (author of The Once and Future Forest and land conservation advocate).
Duke Farms' Skeet Shoot Field in 2012
Congratulations to Duke Farms Foundation
Notes from the 2013 Land Ethics Award Jury:
Duke Farms has become a premier institution for sustainability in the region by its dramatic transformation from a farm and garden into a naturalized public park. We urge every reader to visit this striking demonstration of sustainability. We also recognize and commend the extraordinary financial commitment made to this effort.
Design for 42nd St & Woodland Ave in Philly
Congratulations to ThinkGreen LLC and University City District's Woodland Green Pedestrian Plaza
Notes from the 2013 Land Ethics Award Jury:
This project achieved a total site transformation, bringing nature and a garden into the harshest of urban environments. This is an excellent example of re-greening to re-inhabit our cities. We appreciated the expansion of the original goals including stormwater management and the introduction of a tiny woodland habitat on Woodland Avenue. In addition the project appears to have accomplished a lot for a modest budget and overcame severe site restrictions. Long-term maintenance is included which is important to the project’s long term success.
Nomination for Award - Woodland Green Pedestrian Plaza
2013 Nominations of Excellence
Green roof at the Taylor Residence
Margot Taylor - SITES Pilot Project at Taylor Residence
Notes from the 2013 Land Ethics Award Jury:
Hopefully this beautiful example of ‘green’ will inspire others to follow suit. The demonstration value of this project will have a wide impact due to its connection to the developing Sustainable Sites Initiative (SITES) program. Hopefully this landscape will be monitored over time in this program. For this project in particular it would have been helpful to have more knowledge of the before conditions and what kind of grading and other site modifications were undertaken.”
Nomination for Award - Taylor Residence
Notes from the 2013 Land Ethics Award Jury:
A sustainable future is definitely dependent upon individuals such as Nancy who work unflaggingly in everything they do to demonstrate plant stewardship. Both as a professional and a dedicated volunteer, Nancy has been an important bridge between traditional horticulture and the use and protection of native plants. As the application noted, Nancy is an inspiration to us all.
Nomination for Award - Nancy Beaubaire
Floodplain creation in Trenton, NJ
Notes from the 2013 Land Ethics Award Jury:
This project epitomizes the state of the art in urban stream restoration, including the community networking, grant finding, and construction oversight that make such a project possible. Its presence in the City of Trenton only adds to its importance and educational value. We are especially impressed by the implementation of monitoring for this project, including the use of the Plant Stewardship Index.