Wild Ones with Joey Santore
Mar 18, 2026
virtual webinar
In the Wild Ones National Webinar Rethinking Horticulture with Real Ecology, Joey Santore, examines how inherited design norms like straight lines, uniform spacing, tidy edges, & color-grouped plantings shape expectations for native landscapes. These conventions, rooted in European garden traditions & reinforced by modern lawn culture, continue to influence how native plant gardens are judged, managed, & defended, often at the expense of biodiversity, soil health, & long-term ecological resilience.
Event Details
Title: Rethinking Horticulture with Real EcologyPresenter: Joey SantoreDate: Wednesday, March 18 at 5 p.m. MT (link provided with registration)
About the Webinar
In this candid Wild Ones National Webinar, Joey Santore invites participants to step back & examine where those expectations came from & what they cost us ecologically.
Joey explores what real plant communities actually look like when allowed to organize themselves. He unpacks how plants interact in space, how disturbance shapes vegetation, and why irregular, dense, and sometimes “messy” growth often signals ecological strength rather than neglect. This conversation challenges some of the most common assumptions in native plant gardening & landscape advocacy.
Participants will come away with a deeper understanding of:
How inherited horticultural aesthetics shape expectations for native landscapes
What natural plant communities look like across disturbance gradients
Why spacing, symmetry, and tidiness can reduce ecological function
How embracing ecological form can strengthen advocacy and public acceptance
Ways to reframe “messy” landscapes as intentional, resilient systems
More info/registration: https://wildones.org/joey-santore/