Garden Bees

An Experiential Ecolandscaping Course

with Kate Brittenham

Native Landscape Designer & Author

In another time, “quilting bees” were a common way to help your neighbor, build community, and learn new skills. We’d like to bring that tradition back with something new…… Garden Bees: An Experiential Ecolandscaping Course!

If you've ever looked at your yard and thought,  “I know it could be something more, I just don't know how to get it there,” then Garden Bees was designed for you. 

Over five Tuesday evenings this Fall (Sep 23 & 30, Oct 7, 14, 21), you will learn how to actually read your garden the way an ecological designer does. You'll learn everything from what your soil is saying to how to layer plants and build plant communities. Most importantly, you will have a chance to bring the vision in your head to life in your own yard!

In the end, you will have a new native garden, a new community of native plant loving friends, and a whole new level of knowledge about how to design and install native plant gardens now and in the future.

It's hands-on, collaborative, and capped at 16 participants.

Program Details

Dates: Tuesday evening classroom instruction & garden design time: Sep 23 + 30, Oct 7, 14 + 21

Time: 6:30 - 8:30 PM

Location: First United Methodist Church, 428 Kenwood Ave, Delmar. Location of gardening: at your home and that of others in your garden bee group! (**See more below.)

Note: Additional time to be scheduled through mid-November with your small learning group to install a garden at both your home and at theirs. (Fall is an optimal time for planting perennials!)

Participants will learn:

  • Native plants that are suitable for our area and their ideal growing conditions, including and understanding of:

    • ecotypes and ecoregions,

    • the importance and function of native plants, and

    • how to stretch your landscaping budget

  • How to design a native garden that is both ecologically productive as well as aesthetically pleasing, including:

    • site analysis

    • matrixing

    • layering

    • seasonality

    • plant communities

    • transition and evolution - building dynamic spaces

  • How to install a native plant garden, including:

    • soil preparation

    • plant installation best practices

    • early care, and

    • ongoing care and maintenance

Participants will:

  • Attend 5 two-hour hands-on classroom sessions on native landscape design and how plants function in relation to each other and to the surrounding ecosystem

  • Design and develop a native garden for their own yard (up to 40 square feet)

  • Select plants from IMAGINE Native Plant Farm

  • Work with a learning group of 2 to 3 other participants to collaboratively prepare and install gardens in each other’s yards 

Cost: $750, includes:

  • 10 hours of in-class instruction and design supplies

  • $600 worth of native plants

  • Instructor approved landscape design, site analysis, and coaching

  • Experiential small learning group support to prepare and install your garden

**Interesting in pulling together your own small learning group? Bring 2 or 3 others with you and receive a 10% discount!

Enrollment: Limited to 16

To enroll, click here!

Accepting enrollment applications through September 20, 2025