Building Biotic Community: Gardening and Landscaping for [Insect] Diversity

Name of facilitator: Neil Cunningham

Address: 445 Maria Avenue, St. Paul, MN 55106

E-mail: neil.cunningham@state.mn.us Phone: 651-201-6162

Meeting Time: 6:30-8:30 p.m.
Meeting Dates: Wednesdays: Jan 28, Feb 18, Mar 18, Apr 22, May 13 (optional)
Place: Minnesota Department of Agriculture’s Biological Control Teaching Greenhouse, 445 Maria Avenue, St. Paul

Course description: The intention of this course is twofold: to better understand the roles of plants and insects in the urban landscape, and to discuss how gardeners can add ecological value and bio-diversity to their gardens by adding native perennials.

To accomplish this, this course will open a discussion about the importance of insects (and other organisms) in the context of the food web, composting, pollination, and biological control. Techniques for basic insect identification as well as ways to attract and create habitat for insects will be demonstrated.

The role of perennial plants will be discussed in terms of how plants create habitat for arthropods, conserve resources, and add aesthetic value to landscapes. Through image-rich slideshows and live organisms, course participants will be see the process and techniques of transforming turf landscapes into perennial gardens, and also see how seeds can be collected, processed, and stored from various plants.

At the end of the course, each participant will receive a "sample pack" of native perennial plants in order to apply the concepts discussed in the real world.

Neil Cunningham is a naturalist, bio-control specialist, and environmental educator with the Minnesota Department of Agriculture. He is a self-taught horticulturalist and entomologist, seed collector, and former board member of Urban Earth Flower and Garden Cooperative.

Class size: Minimum _8________ Maximum _20________