9th Annual SALT Seminar

Nov. 6, 2011 -- At the last minute, finding a few hours to spend on the self-enrichment front, I signed up for the SALT Seminar at Connecticut College yesterday. SALT stands for Smaller American Lawns Today.

The event, co-sponsored by Connecticut College Arboretum and the Conn. Mountain Laurel Chapter of Wild Ones, had a good group of speakers with a good mix of subjects, so I came away with some ideas -- and that's the whole reason for going, right? (Except maybe for the food, which is usually very humdrum, but Kathy Dame, CCA's organizer, put out an exceptional spread.)

The first presentation, titled "Stairway to Paradise," was given by Sharee Solow, who has a wonderfully active imagination. She led us down a hundred different paths -- which was sort of the theme -- and engaged us in a blue-sky, outside-the-box examination of how paths look and function. Very good brain exercise to get the day started!

Next, Carolyn Summers gave a talk that reflects the content of her book, Gardens Filled with Life: Designing with Northeastern Flora. I was delighted that she closed the loop on some questions I had after Doug Tallamy's lecture last year at a NOFA gathering. Doug used some of her slides and touched on her design ideas but went off in his own direction so I was left wondering. Carolyn explained how to use indigenous plants within your own design parameters, and gave useful examples of cultivars that mirror traits we depend upon in non-indigenous conifers, trees, etc. I bought her book and can tell it's going to become a staple.

C. Colston Burrell ("Cole") gave us a great look at "Intimate Gardens for Outdoor Living." Though the bulk of his examples appeared to be from the Northwest (or just all the ones I really liked) they nonetheless were enough to keep me awake after the big lunch, and many have stuck in my memory.

I left before the final speaker, Catherine Zimmerman, who was to speak on "Meadowscaping in Urban and Suburban Spaces." I had the pleasure of hearing her at the same NOFA conference referred to earlier, and it was time to head home.

All in all, a very impressive event, and I hope we can grow it a bit for the sponsors next year. The venue is beautiful -- the view clear across the Sound past New London Harbor is worth the trip alone, and the campus-as-arboretum makes the breaks a lot more interesting.

Thanks to Kathy Dame, the arboretum and Wild Ones for the 9th annual SALT seminar. I highly recommended it for everybody's schedule next year!

-- Anne Rowlands