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In the face of dire warnings about collapses in populations of our beloved birds and insects, many of us are turning our backyards and gardens into de facto wildlife sanctuaries. Ms. Summers will briefly discuss why native plants are essential for wildlife to continue to exist. She will explore design issues faced by gardeners as we continue to add more native plants to our landscapes in order to reverse the declines. In addition, she will discuss plants best suited to traditional gardens and provide tips for gardeners more inclined to a naturalistic look that will keep the “weed police” at bay.
Carolyn Summers is the author of Designing Gardens with Flora of the American East. After completing her BSLA (Landscape Architecture) degree at CCNY, she began an atypical career with the Trust for Public Land, producing an open space report for the Harbor Herons Project that has guided preservation efforts to create an urban wildlife refuge on Staten Island. Ms. Summers continued environmental work with New York City’s Department of Environmental Protection as the agency’s first Director of Natural Resources, including implementation of a new native plants policy for all agency construction/restoration projects. Following her work with New York City, she came to the Natural Resources Defense Council, initiating a regional project to preserve and restore wildlife habitat and public access in the New York-New Jersey Bight.
Ms. Summers is currently an adjunct professor for Go Native U, a joint project of Westchester Community College’s Continuing Ed Program and The Native Plant Center (based at Westchester Community College). She and her husband manage Flying Trillium Gardens and Preserve (www.flyingtrillium.com), making it available for public tours so that designers, gardeners, and homeowners will be inspired by the beauty of native plants in both garden and natural settings to create more of the same.
