Dale Batchelor is the owner of Gardener by Nature, which offers landscape consultations, garden talks, and workshops focusing on habitat gardens. As a frequent contributor to Triangle Gardener Magazine, she writes about native plants and sustainable landscape practices. Dale’s home garden is Swiftbrook Gardens, a woodland garden recognized as a Native Plant Habitat by the North Carolina Native Plant Society and a Backyard Wildlife Habitat by the National and North Carolina Wildlife Federations.

When it comes to creating a sustainable home landscape, much can be accomplished by doing less. In this presentation, Landscape Designer Dale Batchelor covers some basic conservation principles with examples from her own and clients’ gardens. Discussion includes how eliminating pesticides, increasing the number and variety of native plants, and managing rainwater responsibly can create a healthy, functioning ecosystem that benefits its inhabitants and the surrounding community.