Learn how to balance beauty, wildlife value, and your garden workload! Kennebec Estuary Land Trust (KELT) is pleased to welcome Anna Fialkoff, program manager at The Wild Seeds Project, for a lecture on gardening for habitat and pollinators. The virtual lecture will take place on Thursday, April 21 at 6 p.m. and will detail garden management practices that best promote local wildlife. Participants are welcomed and encouraged to ask questions during the Q&A portion of the lecture.

In our beloved gardens, our plant choices determine which creatures visit, stay, or pass by. When and how we decide to clean up leaves or cut plants back affects life cycles of salamanders, bees, birds, moths, and butterflies. Learn how to create habitat in the garden year-round while balancing your workload and garden aesthetics. Registration is free and required to receive the Zoom link for the presentation. For more information and to sign up, visit www.kennebecestuary.org/upcoming-events or call 442-8400.

Wild Seed Project encourages using native plants in all landscapes to safeguard wildlife habitat, support biodiversity and mitigate the effects of climate change. A nonprofit organization, Wild Seed Project sells seeds of wild-type native plants, educates the public, and promotes rewilding efforts in Northeast landscapes. As Wild Seed Project’s program manager, Fialkoff works to further the organization’s educational programming, deepen relationships with partner organizations, and catalyze a movement to rewild Maine.

Before joining Wild Seed Project, Fialkoff was most recently senior horticulturist at Native Plant Trust’s Garden in the Woods in Framingham, Massachusetts, where she designed and installed native plant gardens, managed interns and volunteers, and taught the public ways to incorporate native plants in their own gardens. With over a decade of experience, she brings with her a deep knowledge of native plant ecology, horticulture, conservation and ecological landscape design. She holds a bachelor of arts in human ecology from College of the Atlantic and a master of science in ecological design from the Conway School.