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Douglas Tallamy: Why Home Gardening 'Transcends the Needs of the Gardener'

Noted author Douglas W. Tallamy will be the keynote speaker at the Tennessee Valley Wild Ones'2015 Plant Natives symposium, which will take place Saturday, January 24th.  Tallamy wrote Bringing Nature Home: How Native Plants Sustain Wildlife in Our Gardens, and he co-wrote The Living Landscape: Designing for Beauty and Biodiversity in the Home Garden.

Tallamy, who is also professor and chair of the department of entomology and wildlife ecology at the University of Delaware in Newark, Delaware, joins us for a conversation about the impact of home gardening on biodiversity.

"My central message," he writes in Bringing Nature Home, "is that unless we restore native plants to our suburban ecosystems, the future of biodiversity in the United States is dim."

Fortunately, he says, "restoring native plants to most human-dominated landscapes is relatively easy to do."

In this interview, he discusses practical tips for selecting plants that will help sustain local and regional ecosystems.

From the Tennessee Valley Wild Ones Web site:

The Living Landscape is the theme of this year’s native plant symposium and who better than Dr. Doug Tallamy to keynote the program. An entomologist by profession, Doctor Tallamy has written award-winning books on the subject of supporting wildlife through landscaping practices, including his recent publication “The Living Landscape: Designing for Beauty and Biodiversity in the Home Landscape” which he co-wrote with Rick Darke. The fourth annual Native Plant Symposium was created with both casual and experienced gardeners in mind. You will leave with practical tips and suggestions on landscape design and plant selection. The symposium features practical information and advice on how to create a “living landscape” that is attractive and healthy for both humans and the ecosystem. Learn about the many benefits of using native plants in a natural 1andscape. Find out how to attract butterflies and other desirable wildlife to your garden and to promote a healthy environment. The Humanities Auditorium at Chattanooga State Community College is conveniently located on the main campus at 4501 Amnicola Highway. “Native Plant Symposium” signs on the campus will direct you to the Humanities Building, where ample free parking is available. After this symposium, you will know how to put what you’ve learned into practice. We hope that you will be inspired to create your own natural landscape and get to take home a door prize.

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