A seminar on sustainability, aesthetics, and gardens with integrity

The Garden Conservancy’s Sixth Annual Garden Design Seminar at the Presidio is produced with support from the Garden Conservancy's George W. Rowe Education Fund.

The seminar is cosponsored by:

Program and Speakers:

Stephen Orr, garden writer, New York City, on Tomorrow‘s Garden

Mark Simmons, ecologist, Austin, on Urban Transformations through Horticulture and Ecology

Rosalind Creasy, garden and food writer, Northern California, on Edible Landscaping

W. Gary Smith, landscape architect/artist, Toronto, on Local Sensibility: a Sense of Place in the Garden 

Christine Ten Eyck, landscape architect, Phoenix/Austin, on Harsh Beauty: the aesthetic of a tough environment

The individual talks will be followed by a panel with the speakers and moderator.

Seminar Description
Gardens that adhere to some principles of design, maintain solid ecological infrastructure, reflect their region through horticulture and materials, and are beautiful in the eye of their creators and visitors, we can call gardens with integrity. This seminar brings together a garden writer, a landscape architect, an artist and garden designer, and an ecologist to remind us not to forget “beauty” as we create outdoor places that entertain us, relax us, and allow us to convene with nature and ourselves. A local designer, horticulturist, and garden activist will join our speakers for a lively discussion of collective vision following the talks.

Location

Golden Gate Club

Presidio of San Francisco
135 Fisher Loop

San Francisco, CA 94129

Click here for directions to the Presidio.

Time

Friday, April 15, 2011
Registration: 8:30 a.m.
Lectures begin promptly at 9 a.m. and continue to 5 p.m.

Admission
Members $135
Subscribers $145
General Admission $155

Admission fee includes buffett lunch with beverages.

Participants in this seminar also receive priority for the June 18 tour of Exuberant Gardens Along Route 101.

Speaker Bios:
Stephen Orr is the new gardening editor for Martha Stewart Living magazine and the author of Tomorrow’s Garden: Design and Inspiration for a New Age of Sustainable Gardening (Rodale Press, 2011). Previously, Orr was the garden editor at both House & Garden and Domino magazines. He has also written extensively for the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, and other publications. Stephen lives and works in New York City.

For an extended bio of Stephen Orr, click here.

Mark Simmons graduated from University of Cape Town with a masters degree in botany and received his ecology Ph.D. from Texas A&M University. For the last ten years, he has been the lead scientist and environmental consultant for the Landscape Restoration Program at the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center at the University of Texas. His research and consulting projects focus on sustainable and regenerative landscapes include green roofs, native turfgrass, prescribed fire, invasive species control, and urban prairie restoration.

For an extended bio of Mark Simmons, click here.

Rosalind Creasy is a garden and food writer, photographer, and landscape designer from Northern California with a passion for beautiful vegetables and ecologically sensitive gardening. She began her career in horticulture in the 1970s as a landscape designer and restaurant consultant and continues to share her knowledge of gardening and cooking by writing, lecturing nationwide, appearing on television and radio, and working as a consultant to restaurants, growers, and seed companies. The completely revised version of her classic book Edible Landscaping (1981) was published in November 2010.

For an extended bio of Rosalind Creasy, click here.

W. Gary Smith is a landscape architect and artist who specializes in botanical gardens and arboretums as well as public art installations and private gardens, weaving together local ecological and cultural themes. He studied landscape architecture with Ian McHarg at the University of Pennsylvania and fine arts at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts. He is the author of From Art to Landscape: unleashing creativity in garden design (2010, Timber Press). He currently lives in Toronto, Ontario.

For an extended bio of W. Gary Smith, click here.

Christine Ten Eyck is a landscape architect from the dry lands of Arizona and Texas. She works with climate, regional materials,and native and other plants that can tolerate extremes. She believes in creating places that people can use and in mixing social interaction and wildlife habitat. She and her firm are reinventing city streets and gathering spaces that will create a healthy and beautiful live/work environment for the urban dweller with a distinct regional quality.

For an extended bio of Christine Ten Eyck, click here.