Plant systems for the Anthropocene: Strategies for Design and Care featuring Claudia West

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There is an urgent need for ecologically rich, inspiring plantings in the places where we live, work, and play. In this workshop, Claudia introduces her firm’s innovative approach—combining ecological models, computer simulations, and restoration strategies to design resilient, low-maintenance plant systems. These systems address real-world challenges such as tight budgets, tough site conditions, and limited horticultural expertise. Claudia will explore the transformative potential of more autonomous planting strategies to combat habitat loss and species decline in an urbanizing, warming world. Through compelling case studies, she will demonstrate how well-designed plant systems can support biodiversity while enriching the human experience. Participants will engage in hands-on design exercises and group discussions to apply these ideas in practice. This one-day workshop is specifically designed for landscape designers and architects.

Learning objectives

Understand how ecological models and restoration principles can inform the design of resilient, low-maintenance planting systems.
Identify strategies to overcome common barriers in planting design and management, including limited budgets, harsh conditions, and maintenance constraints.
Explore the role of more autonomous planting systems in addressing habitat loss and supporting biodiversity in urban environments.
Discover methods for making resilient plant systems both visually compelling and emotionally evocative.
Apply key concepts through hands-on design exercises that translate theory into practice for real-world landscape challenges.

Registration

$375 for ELA members
$450 for non-members

CEU Information

This daylong workshop has been approved for the following CEU's. Additional CEU's are being sought and will be posted here as they are approved.

Association of Professional Landscape Designers (APLD 4.25)
Chesapeake Bay Landscape Professionals (CBLP 6.0)
Landscape Architecture Continuing Education System (6.0 credits)

Claudia West is a leading voice in the emerging field of ecological planting design. Known for her passionate advocacy of plant-driven design, Claudia is a widely sought out speaker and consultant who applies the technologies of plant systems to bring essential natural functions back into our cities and towns. She has worked on all sides of the green industry—as a designer, a grower, installer, and land manager—grounding her innovative work in pragmatic solutions that address the realities of our urbanizing world. She is the co-author of the critically acclaimed book, Planting in a Post-Wild World.

Having grown up on a family-owned nursery, florist business, and design/build firm in eastern Germany, Claudia was propagating plants before she could walk. Her love of American native plants brought her to the U.S. where she worked at Blue Mount Nurseries in Maryland and immersed herself in the study of American flora and mid-Atlantic ecosystems. Claudia holds a Master’s Degree of Landscape Architecture and Regional Planning from the Technical University of Munich, Germany. Her intense studies of plant habitats and the science of plant community-based design strategies at the renowned school for horticulture in Weihenstephan, Germany built a solid foundation for her current work. Before co-founding Phyto Studio, Claudia was ecological sales manager at North Creek Nurseries, a wholesale perennial grower in Landenberg, PA. Her work was focused on bridging the gap between growers, designers, and land managers as well as introducing more functional and beautiful ecological plants into the nursery trade.

Plant systems for the Anthropocene: Strategies for Design and Care featuring Claudia West

Tuesday Dec 09 2025, 9:00 AM - 3:30 PM
Brookside Gardens
1800 Glenallan Ave.
Wheaton, Maryland
United States
20902

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