Chapters in Tennessee

This seminar will be streamed live via Zoom.

Join us for an insightful seminar led by Lisa Huff, an East TN Regional Stewardship Ecologist at the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation. In this session, Lisa will share tips and strategies for installing and maintaining small-scale native plantings. 

Attendees will gain insight into the importance of native plantings, their role in fostering biodiversity, and how to effectively create various native landscapes. 

From selecting the right native species to understanding soil requirements and ongoing maintenance, Lisa will cover key considerations for successful native plant installations. Participants will learn about best practices, common pitfalls to avoid, and how to nurture thriving ecosystems in their own backyard or community spaces.

Don't miss this opportunity to learn from a seasoned expert. Join us as we delve into the fascinating world of native plantings and discover how you can make a positive impact on the environment while enhancing the beauty of your surroundings.

Lisa Huff manages or co-manages 20 state natural areas in East Tennessee for the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation, including the ecological and recreational aspects of those properties.

Josh and his wife moved to Johnson City from Montgomery, AL in late 2021. Since the spring of 2022, he has been slowly removing the turf from their sloping 1/3-acre plot, and replacing it with mostly native perennials, shrubs, and trees. He works as an architect, and regional design is something he thinks is very important, both in architecture and landscape design. He likes to grow native plants because they give a "sense of place" to a landscape - and he thinks Appalachian Highlands residents are with some amazing plants to choose from! He also recently started a small backyard nursery and landscaping design business called Paragraph Designs. His main frustration was the lack of access to affordable plug/small potted plants available to the home gardener, since he believes that is the most cost effective and environmentally-friendly way to get more plants into the landscape. His hope is to make more plug plants available while growing as many as possible from local seed.
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Several of our members will share photos and growing tips on their favorite natives. 

We will continue to meet via Zoom for our chat meetings.  

These are informal and mostly unstructured meetings where anyone can ask questions related to native plants and related topics. Have a question about using native plants in your yard? Have some comments or pictures you want to share? This is the place to be.  Everyone is welcome.

The Zoom Link will open at 6:45 PM.

Not all valley properties are the same, but they all reside in lowland areas that differentiate them from nearby mountain properties. In this class you will learn about the unique conditions of valley locations and how to select native plants that are suitable for them. You will also learn how to best use those plants in the native landscape. Native plant selection tools and plant lists will be provided.