Your Natural Garden: Caring for an Ecologically Vibrant Garden
with Kelly D. Norris, author and founder, The Public Horticulture Company
Thursday, February 27, 2025 from 7-8 p.m. ET
Virtual
$15 AHS members/$20 non-members
This program is approved for 1 CEU with the Association of Professional Landscape Designers.
In this engaging lecture based on his 2025 book, Your Natural Garden: A Practical Guide to Caring for an Ecologically Vibrant Home Garden, renowned plantsman and designer Kelly Norris offers essential guidance on stewarding the beauty and ecological richness of naturalistic landscapes. As gardens designed to mimic nature grow in popularity, many wonder how to care for these vibrant, biodiverse spaces properly. How does a gardener’s relationship with place change when plants take the lead? Norris reveals how tending to a natural garden differs from traditional methods by emphasizing a connection to the broader environment and embracing dynamic processes. With stunning examples and practical advice, this lecture will inspire and equip gardeners to embrace natural rhythms and processes while celebrating natural abundance and complexity in the places we live and work.
Kelly D. Norris is one of the leading horticulturists of his generation. In his practice, he explores the narrative of place through site-specific plantings and landscape interventions. An award-winning author and plantsman, Kelly’s work in gardens has been featured in The New York Times, Better Homes and Gardens, Martha Stewart Living, Fine Gardening, Garden Design, and numerous television, radio, and digital media appearances. His book Your Natural Garden from Cool Springs Press publishes in early 2025.
Kelly’s interdisciplinary studio works in public and private places across North America. He’s the founder and curator of The Public Horticulture Company, an emerging ecological landscape startup based in Des Moines, Iowa. The studio annually produces the New Naturalism Academy, a virtual school for enthusiastic designers, as a commitment to continuing education and lifelong learning.
He is the former director of horticulture and education at the Greater Des Moines Botanical Garden, where for eight years, he directed efforts in design, curation, programming, garden, and facility management after serving as the owner’s representative to nearly $20 million in capital projects.
