Suburban Yard to Native Paradise
Course | Registration opens 5/19/2025 12:00 AM EDT
You have made the commitment to "go native" with your landsacpe. But how do you begin? Connie and Mike Schmotzer will share how they converted a typical 1/2 acre suburban lot into a landscape with more than 200 species of native plants, rain gardens, a small woodland and meadow gardens. Come away with ideas and a general roadmap for your own gardens.
(Participants will be invited to visit Connie and Mike's native yard at a date TBD.)
Michael Schmotzer
Michael Schmotzer was raised in an Army family spending several years in Europe. After serving in the Marine Corps, he worked in the Defense Contract Management Agency for thirty years. Schmotzer embarked on an extensive investigation of all things Waterloo (and Gettysburg) and would like to share it with like-minded students of history. He has a B.A. in European history from the College of William and Mary and a M.A. in the History of science from Montana State University.
Connie Schmotzer
Connie Schmotzer has been gardening with native plants for thirty years and finds that there is always something new and exciting to learn. She is retired from her job of twenty-two years as consumer horticulture educator for Penn State Extension, where she concentrated on gardening for pollinators. Prior to joining Penn State Extension, Connie taught school in Williamsburg, Virginia and worked as a naturalist with the National Park Service in Wyoming. She has a B.A. from Dickinson College and has done graduate work at Montana State. Her husband, Mike, is her partner in native gardening.