Four photos of native plants blooming with overlaid text that says

Native by Design: Gardening for a Sustainable Future

The Arboretum’s native gardening conference is held every September to promote sustainable gardening practices and use of native plants in home landscapes. Expert-led workshops inspire and inform gardeners, homeowners, and landowners to create and maintain native gardens or small-scale restorations where they live. The program welcomes people with a range of interests and experience.

The 2025 conference will take place September 14 at the Visitor Center. The all-day event features expert-led workshops, lunch, a keynote speaker, tours of the Wisconsin Native Plant Garden, a resource packet, and ample time for questions and conversations.
Presentations cover topics such as: garden design, native trees and shrubs, gardening challenges and solutions, garden planting and management, nature journaling, native plant identification, and native bees.

The keynote by Micah Kloppenburg, Arboretum restoration outreach coordinator, will explore native plant gardens as insect habitat.

Registration for the 2025 conference will open soon. Please check back.

Early bird registration: $65, through July 21
Regular rate: $70, starting July 22
Students (with ID): $35

The registration deadline is September 4 but the conference may sell out sooner. Some sessions have limited capacity. Early registration is recommended.

2025 Conference Schedule

Welcome and Introduction: 8:45–9 a.m.

Session I: 9–10:30 a.m.

How to Design a Native Garden – Evelyn Howell

Learn how to begin a native garden, including how to analyze your site, employ basic design principles of native gardening, and choose the right combination of plants. Evelyn is a professor of landscape architecture at UW–Madison. Her background is in plant community ecology.

Native Shrubs and Trees – David Stevens

Learn about incorporating native woody plants in your home landscape to attract and sustain birds and pollinators. David is the curator of Longenecker Horticultural Gardens, the Arboretum’s living collection of woody plants.

Garden Questions – Susan Carpenter

In this interactive session, share and learn about native plant gardening challenges and solutions. Bring one or two questions from your garden. Indoor and outdoor discussion and activities, weather permitting. Susan is the curator of the Arboretum’s Native Plant Garden. Limited to 20 people.

Session II: 10:45 a.m.–12:15 p.m.

Plant and Manage Your Native Garden – Susan Carpenter

Explore native gardening in the home landscape from initial planting to long-term management. Learn how to maintain diversity, manage invasive species, and enhance plantings as your garden develops. Susan is the curator of the Arboretum’s Native Plant Garden.

Nature Journaling in Your Garden – Anne Pearce and Maddie Smith

Journaling brings endless possibilities for engaging with your garden and cultivating curiosity. Practice using words, numbers, and images to explore your garden, from the tiny details to the big picture. (Materials will be provided, but you may bring your own.) Anne is the education program manager and Maddie is the community education coordinator at the Arboretum. Limited to 25 people.

Native Plant Identification – Jessica Ross

Learn important characteristics, terms, and tools to identify plants. This session will focus on plants actively blooming in the garden, like goldenrods, asters, and grasses. Jessica is a scientist with the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources Rare Plant Monitoring Program. Limited to 20 people. (Also offered in session III.)

Lunch: 12:15–1:15 p.m.

Session III: 1:15–2:45 p.m.

Native Plant Identification – Jessica Ross

Learn important characteristics, terms, and tools to identify plants. This session will focus on plants actively blooming in the garden, like goldenrods, asters, and grasses. Jessica is a scientist with the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources Rare Plant Monitoring Program. Limited to 20 people. (Also offered in session II.)

Native Bees in Your Garden – Celeste Mezera

Discover the surprising diversity of native bees in Wisconsin gardens and landscapes. Learn about native bee life cycles, identification, and monitoring bees in your garden. This session will include indoor and outdoor activities, weather permitting. Celeste is an entomologist, ecologist, and educator. Limited to 25 people.

Native Plant Garden Tour

Explore and discover our diverse gardens. Experts will point out highlights for native plant gardeners and answer your questions.

Keynote: 3–4:15 p.m.

Habitat as Home: Native Plant Gardens and Insect Life – Micah Kloppenburg

Native plants are not just resilient and beautiful. In our gardens and landscapes, they also provide important habitat – food, shelter, nesting, overwintering, and more – for a broad range of invertebrates and other members of food webs. Discover these sometimes-hidden relationships and the importance of connected habitats you can create in your garden and across our communities.

Micah is the restoration outreach coordinator at the UW Arboretum. He has worked on various environmental initiatives that build community connections through farming, gardening, and the stewardship of wild spaces and native habitat. Most recently, Micah worked for the Xerces Society supporting anyone and everyone in creating habitat for and learning about the curious world of our native Wisconsin pollinators. Micah holds a master’s degree in restoration ecology from the UW–Madison, where he studied plant community change in remnant hillside prairies along the Kickapoo River.