Exciting news! The re-envisioned Advocacy section of the APLDCA.org website has been launched.

I am very proud of this body of work curated by the Advocacy Committee's Website Working Group! As you will see, the Committee, as a whole, has been quite active. My thanks to everyone who contributed, reviewed, etc., to Frank Weaver, our webmaster, for his patience and creativity, to PROEspacio for the graphics, and to the Chapter for your unwavering support. Many thanks and kudos to all!

— Cheryl Buckwalter, APLD CA Advocacy Chair, advocacy@apldca.org

APLD’s in-depth study of production, use, disposal, and environmental impact of horticultural plastic containers culminated in a white paper published in July 2020. The research revealed that plastic pots significantly contribute to the proliferation of plastic pollution, with numerous adverse environmental effects. For that reason, the APLD has established the Healthy Pots, Healthy Planet Initiative.

Please watch this short video from APLD CA Chapter President Martin Carrion van Rijn. 

Click here to add your name in support of our ground-breaking Initiative to find alternatives to using plastic horticultural pots.

Join the Coalition today!

Show the Flow Tour: Upcycle

AMEND. Landscape Designers are problem solvers, it’s what we do. We adjust, adapt and make the best use of resources at hand in an ever-changing environment. Traits of resilience and creative flexibility are some the best qualities we can offer our clients. These qualities are hard won, grounded in the laboratory of our design practices, toughened by the school of Nature.

It’s March 2020. The COVID pandemic hits the scene as we are 2 weeks from launching our interactive watershed bus tour Show the Flow in south Sacramento County, California. Exhaling from that last minute shut down, we still want the educational event to happen, but with major REVISION. Because as Designers, we adapt and adjust, right?

And ADAPT we did. Intrepid trio Martin Carrion van Rijn, Cheryl Buckwalter, and Soleil Tranquilli thrice cancelled the Show the Flow Tour (STFT) before ultimately taking it to video. Enter Show the Flow Video Tour or STFVT; everything we wanted, but without the galoshes. To be fair, we filmed during a droughty Spring, so no raingear was needed. But that’s really our point! Time to normalize water sequestering strategies in every landscape design: public, private, and institutional. Every garden space contributes to the water cycle; each decision we make as landscape designers has cumulative impacts on our environment. 

Our partners are keen to make impacts as well. The APLD Sacramento District and APLD CA Board members rallied and added expertise to the films, as well as making sure the event remained funded and viable each year since 2019. Local experts and site hosts have remained loyal and willing to support our efforts despite all odds. Our grant partners have been patient and generous, Sacramento Regional Sanitation, the City of Sacramento, and the APLD CA Chapter. And, we have a new partner—the City of Sacramento’s Stormwater Quality Improvement Program. Faith Baby, Faith!

Here we are today. It’s a wrap! Filming has been completed, and we are going into the editing phase for five educational watershed videos. Kind of a watershed moment in and of itself! Save the date—October 13—for our Show the Flow Video Tour webinar event—an interactive screening event presented by APLD Sacramento. The event will feature the videos along with a lively panel of experts and you! Bring your umbrellas for good luck if you like!

If you attended the APLD 2019 Watershed Wise Landscape Certification training sponsored by the APLD CA Chapter, City of West Sacramento, and Sacramento District, then it’s full circle round. This tour is intended to be the fun field trip after that in-class education that takes our training outside and into the real world. 

It’s OK to get rowdy in the back of the bus folks…  

Landscape Design Education Update

In the Winter 2022 issue of CLD, we reported that an Advocacy Committee priority is to develop a comprehensive Regenerative Landscape Design Education program in which one course would build upon another and another over time. We are pivoting to focus our near-term efforts on the more immediate issues of fire and water-resiliency. Of course, the issue of biodiversity and emphasis on the use of native plants are key components that will be included in this condensed webinar series. We are excited to be collaborating with top-notch subject-matter experts. While we still have the comprehensive program outlined, we want to respond to the urgent need and opportunity for our members to help residential clients sooner than later. 

Stay tuned for Slow the Burn: Creating beautiful native landscapes in the face of water scarcity and fire.