Please note if you wish to obtain your LA CES CEU Credit, you must complete this live class in its entirety and pass a quiz.

Planting California natives saves water, reduces maintenance and pesticide use, and invites beneficial pollinators into the landscape. Join us for a discussion on how we can restore a sense of place in our communities, provide important habitat for wildlife, and preserve our very special ecosystem. We will demonstrate how native plants are compatible with a range of aesthetic and landscape design approaches and showcase exemplary landscapes that have utilized natives to their full potential.

Outline: Choosing the right plant for the right place

1. Installation considerations
2. How to learn more about native plants
3. Case study 1-Native garden 1
4. Case study 2-Native garden 2

Objectives:

• Learn the best and easiest way to determine the right plant for your space
• Learn about installation and maintenance considerations
• Understand the benefits of native plants in landscapes

Ann-Marie Benz
Horticulture Outreach Manager
California Native Plant Society (CNPS)

Ann-Marie Benz is the Horticulture Outreach Manager for CNPS, where she gets to spend her days supporting native plant communities and their people. She has spent a decade and a half serving landscapes and watersheds with nonprofits in California and Arizona. She holds a deep passion for plants and landscapes, having served as the Executive Director of ReScape California, a nonprofit educating the large-scale landscape industry throughout Northern California on planning, constructing, and maintaining sustainable landscape. Prior to that she was with Prescott Creeks doing watershed planning and riparian restoration in Northern Arizona. Ann-Marie studied Watershed Management and Sustainable Community Development at Prescott College. Much of this work was driven by a childhood without a watershed, but with a diversity of plant and wildlife.

Tim Becker
Director of Horticulture
Theodore Payne Foundation

Tim Becker is the Director of Horticulture at the Theodore Payne Foundation. Tim, an L.A. native, holds a BA in environmental studies/agroecology and a certificate in ecological horticulture from UC Santa Cruz. Although his passion for horticulture was founded in agriculture, Tim quickly recognized the importance and beauty of California native plants and their role in a sustainable future for Los Angeles and the region at large. Tim has focused much of his energies at the Foundation on improving efficiencies and providing the best plants possible to our customers. He now looks forward to expanding opportunities in the world of native horticulture and helping train the next generation of gardeners and horticulture professionals in our community.