Kim Eierman's Speaking Topics:
EcoBeneficial Landscaping 101: Boosting the Ecosystem in any Landscape
Even the most beautiful landscapes are not always healthy ecosystems. A landscape is more than a combination of trees, shrubs and perennials – it’s complex system where all living things are connected. Landscaping with an ecosystem approach contributes to species diversity, attracting and supporting more birds, butterflies, pollinators, and beneficial insects. Kim Eierman explains how the design choices you make, the plants you select, and the maintenance practices you use can make a huge difference in creating a beautiful, healthy ecosystem, filled with life.
The Pollinator Victory Garden: Winning the War on Pollinator Decline
Many pollinator species have suffered serious declines in recent years. It’s a serious problem for all of us since pollinators are responsible for the pollination of 80% of all flowering plants, and at least 30% of the food that we eat. Unfortunately, most of our landscapes offer little in the way of appropriate habitat and forage. With simple strategies, you can attract and support not just bees, but an array of pollinators that have different requirements. Learn how to create a Pollinator Victory Garden to help win the war on pollinator decline.
Native Pollinators and the Native Plants That Feed Them
Our native pollinators include many different species of bees, beetles, butterflies, moths, birds, flies, and even wasps. These different species of pollinators are attracted to and can utilize different native plants. A successful pollinator garden must feed all of them. Learn about our native pollinators and the native plants that feed them.
EcoBeneficial Gardening Strategies for Climate Change
Climate change is here and it is impacting our landscapes – increased flooding, more frequent droughts, more extreme weather events and increasing temperatures. Ecological mismatches, record losses of native species and an increase of invasives are now the norm. Want to help fight climate change at home? Learn how the plants you choose and the landscape practices you use can help reduce the impacts of climate change and improve the environment around you.
Photo Credit: Flickr - Kelly Colgan Azar
Plant It and They Will Come: Creating a Bird Friendly Landscape
Attracting birds to your landscape requires an ecological approach – different species have different requirements. Learn the best landscaping techniques and native plants that provide the food, shelter and nesting sites, which these birds depend upon. The bonus is a beautiful landscape with a vastly improved ecosystem that benefits many living creatures.
Great Native Plants for Containers
Learn which native plants are the best choices to plant successfully in containers. Invite butterflies, beneficial insects, and hummingbirds into your yard, patio, deck or balcony with the great native plants that support them. Have you run out of room to plant in your garden? Can’t grow certain plants because you don’t have the right soil conditions? Tired of replacing annuals in containers? Native container gardening is the new frontier – beautiful and eco-beneficial!
Photo Credit: Flickr - Rod Halley
Attracting Nature’s Pest Control: Gardening for Beneficial Insects
Put down the pesticide and pick up your gardening trowel instead! Kim Eierman explains how to reduce garden pests, without the collateral damage from hazardous pesticides. Learn how to attract beneficial insects, nature’s pest control, with the habitat and native plants that support them. Think all organic pesticides are safe? Think again. Kim explodes these common myths and shows how we can become better environmental stewards of our own landscapes.
Photo Credit: Flickr: Jay Sturner
Native Trees for Small Spaces: Big Ecological Benefits in Small Sizes
Even with limited space you can still plant beautifully and ecologically with a wide array of small native trees. Learn which choices are most suitable for your region and provide important ecological services including: nectar, pollen, fruit, seeds, nuts and berries, cover, and bird nesting sites. Get the information you need to source and correctly plant the best small native trees.
Replacing the Green Desert: Native Plant Alternatives to Turf
The great American love affair with the Green Desert (aka lawn) has a long tradition with a very high ecological cost. Exotic grass lawns are virtual wastelands in our local ecosystems, providing little to our native species, while demanding tremendous amounts of water, labor and fertilizer. Kim Eierman explains how to turn a lifeless lawn into a thriving ecological system filled with native plant alternatives.
Nativelicious: Gardening With Edible and Ornamental Native Plants
Native plants can add beauty to your garden while providing you with edible fruits, nuts, and berries. Kim Eierman shares the best choices of edible native plants that actually improve your backyard (and front yard) ecosystem, supporting beneficial insects, birds and valuable pollinators. Have you ever tasted a Juneberry pie or served PawPaw ice cream at a dinner party? Kim explains how you can use these nutritious, edible native plants in your garden and in your kitchen.
Meadowscaping at Home: How to Make a Native Meadow
Tired of that lifeless, boring lawn? Want to plant something that is beautiful, low maintenance, deer-resistant and ecologically-beneficial? Learn how to create a meadow or a meadow-like garden in your own landscape, using the best native plants. Kim Eierman explains the different techniques for meadowscaping in any landscape – from a pocket meadow to a large landscape.
Intro to Native Gardening
Native gardening can be incredibly rewarding – if you know what plants are native to your area and appropriate for your landscape. And it doesn’t stop there – some native plants need “partners” for cross-pollination or to develop fruit for birds, some are extremely particular about soil acidity, some are pollinator magnets, and some excel at attracting beneficial insects. Discover the secrets of native plants with as Kim Eierman unravels their mysteries.
Photo Credit: Kim Eierman
Native Gardening to Support Butterflies, Skippers and Moths
Lepidoptera (butterflies, skippers and moths) are some of the most beautiful creatures to grace our gardens. Unfortunately quite a few species are declining, not just the iconic Monarch butterfly. Learn how to provide these treasured insects with the habitat, native host plants and native nectar plants they need to flourish.
Photo Credit: Flickr - NY State IPM Program
Replacing Invasives: Competitive Native Plants for Challenged Landscapes
Whether your landscape is plagued by Japanese Stiltgrass, Burning Bush, Porcelain Berry, Garlic Mustard, or any other troublesome invasive plants – there are great native plants that can take their place. Discover what regional native plants are the best, and most ecological, alternatives for your landscape.
Gardening Inspirations from the Smoky Mountains
The Smoky Mountains boast some of the healthiest ecosystems and greatest biodiversity in North America. Our Northeastern landscapes have quite a few of the same native plants, but far less healthy ecosystems. Learn how the beauty and the ecology of the Smoky Mountains can be modeled in your own landscape. Boost your own garden ecosystem with these gardening inspirations from the Smokies.
Ecological Workhorse Plants for the Native Garden
Whether you have limited gardening space or a large landscape, you can significantly boost the environment by using native plant “workhorses.” These hardworking plants perform multiple ecological duties – whether offering nectar and pollen, serving as host plants for butterfly caterpillars, providing fruit for hungry birds or preferred habitat for wildlife. Get the information you need to make better plant choices and turn your landscape into an ecological wonderland!
Creating a Succession of Bloom in the Native Garden
If you want to attract and support pollinators, succession of bloom is an absolute imperative in any landscape. From early spring through late fall, different species of pollinators look for different types of plants at different times of year. And, some plants are much more useful to pollinators than others. Is your garden ready? Learn what you need to know to make your garden beautiful and ecologically-supportive throughout the growing season with great choices of natives.
The 4-Season Native Garden
With a little bit of planning your native garden can look beautiful in all seasons, even as flowers fade. Discover how to extend the color show and textural interest in your landscape through fall and winter with beautiful foliage, striking structure, and colorful branches, berries and seed pods. And, support the wildlife around you while you enjoy the show!
Tough Natives for Rough Spaces: Hellstrip & Streetscape Gardening with Native Plants
When it comes to hellstrips and streetscapes, putting “the right plant in the right place” has never been more important. Road salt, soil erosion, leaching from cement walkways, reflected heat and frequent neglect, all require plants that can stand up to the abuse. Learn the realities of rough & ready native gardening and the ecologically-valuable native plants that can stand up to the challenge.
Photo Credit: Flickr: Kate Fries
Exploring EcoBeneficial Native Herbs
Many of the herbs we choose to plant are exotic plants from the Mediterranean. Why not try gardening with native herbs, that have culinary or medicinal uses and support your ecosystem at the same time? Discover which native herbs you can grow successfully, how to use them, and what creatures they support in our backyard ecosystems.
Native Gardening in the Shade: From Wet to Dry
Frustrated by your shady landscape? Gardening in the shade can be both beautiful and ecologically supportive with the right selection of native plants. Whether you have dry, average, moist or wet conditions, part shade, full shade or filtered shade, Kim Eierman will show you how to create a beautiful native garden that supports your ecosystem.
Taking Landscapes to the Next Level: From Leveraging Ecosystem Services to Changing Cultural Norms
With increasing development and diminishing natural areas, our landscapes have become the final frontier for environmental improvement. Learn the latest tools to take any landscape to the next level. Leveraging ecosystem services, emulating natural systems, enhancing biodiversity, moderating climate change, utilizing advanced plant selection techniques, and using cues to care, are just some of the strategies Kim Eierman will share.
Best Native Gardening Practices for Beekeepers
As beekeeping grows in popularity so does the demand for forage resources. Learn how to keep your honey bees well fed, productive and making healthful, tasty honey using native plants. Kim Eierman explains the forage needs of bees, the principles of honey bee garden design, and the best native plant choices for nutrition and accessibility. Whether you are planting in a large landscape or on a rooftop you will learn what you need to keep your honey bees well fed.
Audience Reviews on Great Garden Speakers.com
“Good motivator! Kim inspired us with her exceptional knowledge on how to bring more pollinators into your own "eco-system" by using more natives and less pesticides.” “Kim Eierman is a trove of knowledge about the importance of rediscovering native plants. She is a dynamic speaker who combines information about the "big picture" of gardening with native plants with practical ideas for your own garden.” “I had the great pleasure to have Kim Eierman as my table partner at The Garden Bloggers Conference in Atlanta, Ga. What an amazing and personable talent this lady has. Her speaking venues: Brooklyn Botanic Garden, NY Botanical Garden, should tell you the depth and breadth of her knowledge. Kim's specialties are native plants and ecology, plus she speaks on numerous other horticulture topics....A true 5 star speaker!”
