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Gardening Green Expo 2025

Gardening Green Expo 2025 will be a hybrid event this year, and it is scheduled for March 10-15. We will be doing live Zoom presentations during the week at 7:00pm, and will have a live event at Kennedy’s Country Gardens on Saturday, March 15 from 10am-2pm. Doug Tallamy will be doing a Zoom presentation on Wednesday, March 12.

Our theme this year is: Making a Difference in Your Own Backyard
You can make your backyard a haven for wildlife and a comforting oasis for you. A yard with native plants provides a natural habitat for local wildlife, including birds, butterflies, and bees, by offering food sources like nectar and seeds, while also requiring less water and maintenance due to their adaptation to local climate and soil conditions. At Gardening Green Expo you will learn about:

  • Planting more heat and drought tolerant native plants
  • How to convert lawn into gardens
  • Managing invasive species
  • Pollinator friendly plants
  • And more!

Our featured presenter is renowned author Doug Tallamy. With Bringing Nature Home, Tallamy changed the conversation about gardening in America. His second book, the New York Times bestseller Nature’s Best Hope, urged homeowners to take conservation into their own hands. This year he will be presenting a talk from his upcoming book, How Can I Help? Saving Nature with Your Yard.

Tallamy says, “Nearly every day I get emails from people who have read my books and heard my talks and yet still have questions about ecological landscaping. These are good, thoughtful questions about ecology and evolution, biodiversity, invasive species, insect declines, native and non-native plants, conservation and restoration, residential and city landscapes, urban issues, oak biology, keystone plants, Homegrown National Park, monarchs, supporting wildlife at home, and more. In this talk I address as many of these queries as I can with hope that my answers will further motivate people to help restore ecosystem function where they live, work, play, worship, and farm.”

Zoom Presentations at 7:00pm

  • Monday, March 10 – MA Native Plant Palette Web App – Jason Duff & Anne Carroll, DCR Office of Water Resources
  • Tuesday, March 11 – Less Lawn, More Plants! – Rebecca Warner,  Author of The Sustainable-Enough Garden
  • Wednesday, March 12 – How Can I Help? Saving Nature with Your Yard – Doug Tallamy, Professor of Agriculture in the Department of Entomology and Wildlife Ecology at the University of Delaware, Author, and Founder of Homegrown National Park
  • Thursday, March 13 – Ways to Honor Nature in your Home Landscape – Susan Leigh Anthony, Doveflower Cottage Garden Designs
  • Friday, March 14 – Permaculture: How to Design Resilient Systems for People and Planet – Jessica Fox, South Shore Permaculture

Live Presentations at Kennedy’s

  • The Benefits of Growing Fungi (culinary mushrooms ) in Your Outdoor Garden and Compost – Sally Rossi-Ormon, Scituate Community Garden
  • Ecological Justice: Identifying, Removing and Managing Invasive Species and Restoring Ecological Balance – Samuel Mohnkern, Restoration Landcare
  • Help for Hummingbirds – Seven Common Mistakes Gardeners and Bird Lovers Make That Harm These Amazing Birds – Lisey Good, Founder Wild Cohasset
  • Topic TBA – Kristen Nicholson, Blue Stem Natives

Vendors at Kennedy’s

Register to Win Prizes!

Give-aways, Downloads, and More

Plant Resources

From Kennedy’s Country Gardens, UMass, and CZM

Plant and Garden Resources

From Blue Stem Natives, Doveflower Cottage, Blake Dinius, Doug Tallamy, and National Wildlife Federation, Wild Ones, Mass DEP, and the Buy Nothing Project

Want to see more programs like this? Please make a gift to the NSRWA to protect local waters.

 

 

 

This FREE expo is sponsored by the WaterSmart program, North and South Rivers Watershed Association, and Kennedy’s Country Gardens. WaterSmart is a nonprofit partnership between the NSRWA and 12 towns on the South Shore: Cohasset, Duxbury, Hanover, Hingham, Hull, Kingston, Marshfield, Norwell, Pembroke, Rockland, Scituate and Weymouth. Our programs are based on the belief that education is key. Since its creation, WaterSmart has educated thousands of local school-age children, adults, and businesses on water conservation, stormwater pollution, where their water comes from, and how to care for it. 

Please Enjoy These Videos From Past Expos

The Secret Lives of Bugs – Blake Dinius, Plymouth County Entomologist

I Know You’re Very Busy but… I Want to Learn More About Nature Gardening – Doug Tallamy

The Nitty-Gritty of Building a Sustainable Garden – Kristen Nicholson, Blue Stem Natives

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Achieving a Beautiful Garden with Drought Tolerant Plants – Susan Leigh Anthony, Doveflower Cottage Garden Designs

The Joy of Composting – Turning Garbage to Gold – Ann McGovern, Mass DEP (Retired)

Rain Gardens: Gardening for a Greener Future! – Brian Taylor, NSRWA

Rewilding 101: Attract More Wildlife While Saving Time and Money: Step-by-step guidelines on how to let nature reclaim a tiny portion of your lawn – Lisey Good, Wild Cohasset

Nibbling on Native Plants in Your Back Yard and Beyond – Russ Cohen, Naturalist and Wild Edibles Instructor

Regenerative Farming and Our Practices at Holly Hill – Jon Belber, Holly Hill Farm

Building Good Healthy Regenerative Soil in a Changing Climate – Jon Belber, Holly Hill Farm

Protecting Our Waters Through Gardening – Brian Taylor, NSRWA

Attract More Butterflies to Your Garden! – Lisey Good, – Founder, Wild Cohasset

Biochar – For Healthy Plants and a Healthy Planet – Debbie Cook, Biochar Afficionado

Climate Conscious Gardening: Building Sustainable Landscapes – Kristen Nicholson, Blue Stem Natives

The Nature of Oaks – Doug Tallamy, Renowned author and Professor in the Department of Entomology and Wildlife Ecology at the University of Delaware

Composting and Mulching for Climate-Wise Gardening – Ann McGovern,  Compost Specialist, Mass Dept. of Environmental Protection (Retired)

The Ecosystem Native Plants Support – Blake Dinius, Plymouth County Entomologist

The Drought Resistant Yard: Creating Beautiful Spaces Using Native and Non-native Plants with Less Water – Susan Leigh Anthony, Doveflower Cottage Garden Designs

Pollinators and Their Host Plants – Blue Stem Natives 

Kid-Friendly Gardens – Susan Leigh Anthony, Doveflower Cottage Garden Designs

Garden for Wildlife: Remove Invasives & Plant Natives to Help Birds, Butterflies and Other Wild Creatures
By Lisey Good, Founder, Wild Cohasset – The Lisey Good Zoom presentation video had a conversion error, however, you can download the presentation and listen to the audio with the links below:
Download Lisey Good’s Presentation here.
Listen to Lisey Good’s Presentation here 

The Importance of Insects and Gardening for Native Bees – Blake Dinius, Entomologist Educator at County of Plymouth

Audubon Plants for Birds Presentation by Don Eaton, Bower & Branch

Growing Tasty Edible Greens and Snacks – Jon Belber, Holly Hill Farm

Building a Rain Garden – Samantha Woods, NSRWA

Composting for Zero Waste – Ann McGovern, Retired MassDEP Compost Specialist

Backyard Birding – Doug Lowry, Mass Audubon South Shore Sanctuaries

Watch the 2019-2020 Gardening Green Expo Videos

Blake Dinius, Plymouth County Entomologist
America’s Forgotten Bees

Nature Watch from NSRWA – America Forgotten Bees from Norwell Spotlight TV on Vimeo.

Susan Leigh Anthony, Doveflower Cottage Garden Designs
Native Pollinator Plants and the Pollinators Who Love Them

Nature Watch with NSRWA – Native Pollinator Plants from Norwell Spotlight TV on Vimeo.

Kill Your Lawn
Part of our 2020 WaterWatch Lecture Series
Mark Richardson, Tower Hill Botanical Director – According to NASA, in the United States more surface area is covered by lawn than by any other single irrigated crop. Lawns are resource-heavy, requiring irrigation, fertilizer, and pesticides to thrive in our climate. Learn how to replace your lawn with beautiful and environmentally friendly native plantings from Tower Hill Botanic Garden’s director of horticulture Mark Richardson, co-author of Native Plants for New England Gardens, with photographer and author Dan Jaffe. This lecture is sponsored in part by Wild Ones – South Shore MA Chapter.

NATURE WATCH – KILL YOUR LAWN from Norwell Spotlight TV on Vimeo.

Please enjoy these 2019 Gardening Green Expo videos thanks to Norwell Spotlight TV.

Katie Banks Hone, The Monarch Gardener
Saving the Monarch, One Yard at a Time

NORWELL NATURE WATCH – SAVING THE MONARCH, ONE YARD AT A TIME from Norwell Spotlight TV on Vimeo.

Jon Belber, Friends of Holly Hill Farm
Planting Organic, Big and Small

NORWELL NATURE WATCH – PLANTING ORGANIC, BIG AND SMALL from Norwell Spotlight TV on Vimeo.

Jean Devine, Meadowscaping for Biodiversity
Saving the Planet Starts in Your Backyard: How to Garden with Native Plants to Help Pollinators, Birds and Your Community

NORWELL NATURE WATCH – SAVING THE PLANTS STARTS IN YOUR OWN BACKYARD: HOW TO GARDEN WITH NATIVE PLANTS TO HELP POLLINATORS from Norwell Spotlight TV on Vimeo.

Blake Dinius, Plymouth County Entomologist
Little Bee, Big World: Challenges of Solitary Native Bees

NORWELL NATURE WATCH – CHALLENGES OF SOLITARY NATIVE BEES from Norwell Spotlight TV on Vimeo.

Suzanne Mahler, SuzanneMahler.com
Creating a Garden for Pollinators

NORWELL NATURE WATCH – CREATING A GARDEN FOR POLLINATORS from Norwell Spotlight TV on Vimeo.

Ken Pearl, Magical Moon Farm Bee Keeper
The Importance of Pollinators and What We Can Do for Them

NORWELL NATURE WATCH – THE IMPORTANCE OF POLLINATORS AND WHAT WE CAN DO FOR THEM from Norwell Spotlight TV on Vimeo.This FREE expo is sponsored by the WaterSmart program, North and South Rivers Watershed Association and Kennedy’s Country Gardens.

How to Build a Rain Garden

Want to stop having standing water in your yard? Live near a waterbody and want to reduce polluted runoff? Want to create bird and butterfly habitat? These are just some of the potential benefits of building a rain garden on your property! Learn how to build a rain garden that helps save our water, uses native plants, and makes your property even more attractive to homebuyers and wildlife. NSRWA, WaterSmartSouthShore, and Wild Ones partnered for a Zoom meeting on How to Build a Rain Garden. Samantha Woods, Executive Director of the NSRWA gave a tour of some local rain gardens to visit on the South Shore, and Environmental Educator Brian Taylor provided instructions on how to build them. Britt Drews, Co-president of Mass Wild Ones – South Shore chapter shared her knowledge of the right plants for your rain garden, the advantages of using native plants, the benefits to wildlife, and where to source your native plants.

Other Rain Garden Resources:

Visit these South Shore Rain Gardens

 

 

 

WaterSmart is a nonprofit partnership between the NSRWA and 12 towns on the South Shore: Cohasset, Duxbury, Hanover, Hingham, Hull, Kingston, Marshfield, Norwell, Pembroke, Rockland, Scituate and Weymouth. Our programs are based on the belief that education is key. Since its creation, WaterSmart has educated thousands of local school-age children, adults, and businesses on water conservation, stormwater pollution, where their water comes from, and how to care for it.