This presentation explores the powerful connection between keystone plants and the insects that depend on them. You’ll learn how to implement “Soft Landings” in landscapes of all scales from home gardens to larger managed sites. This innovative habitat design and management strategy focuses on creating mini ecosystems beneath native trees to support pollinators throughout their life cycles. Participants will learn what defines a pollen specialist, discover examples ofthese fascinating bee-plant relationships, and understand how keystone plants function as foundational species in our ecosystems.

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You’ll benefit from practical strategies on site preparation methods, herbicide considerations, and building a resilient plant matrix of sedges, cool-season grasses, and flowering keystone species. By the end of the presentation, participants will be equipped to design and install a Soft Landings planting that transforms conventional landscapes into thriving sanctuaries for bees, caterpillars, and other beneficial insects.

This event will NOT be recorded.

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Screening of Ghost in the Making, a short film, followed by a talk and questions with Libby Shafer, urban ecologist, onthe RPBB and local sightings

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