Pittsburgh, Pa. — On March 17, 2015, Phipps Conservatory and Botanical Gardens and Green Building Alliance will present Natural Turf Management: Healthy Landscapes for Healthy People and Ecosystems with nationally renowned expert Charles “Chip” Osborne, Jr. This half-day training event for school and municipal managers, land care professionals, and home gardeners will cover turf and soil science; case studies of high-profile projects; and the logistical and financial considerations of natural turf care.
Osborne, founder and president of Osborne Organics, LLC, has been creating sustainable, healthy athletic fields and landscapes through natural turf management for more than a decade. As a retail nurseryman and a professional horticulturist of 35 years, he has gained a wealth of firsthand knowledge of the pesticides, herbicides and fungicides routinely used in the landscape and horticultural industry, and his experience working with them has prompted him to seek safer ways to grow plants. Osborne’s personal investigation, study of conventional and organic soil science practices, and hands-on experimentation have since propelled him to become a leading expert on natural turf in the U.S.
Along the path to greening his own industry practices, Osborne also became a regular lecturer for the Northeast Organic Farming Association, a board member for Beyond Pesticides, chairman of the Marblehead, Mass. Recreation and Parks Department, and a national speaker on the topic of turf management for athletic fields and landscapes, addressing a wide audience of sports field professionals, state and municipal agencies, and community groups. In 1998, along with Pat Beckett, he cofounded The Living Lawn Project, one of the country’s first natural lawn demonstration sites, in Marblehead, Mass. This space now serves as a living example of how beautiful, healthy grass can be grown without the use of pesticides and synthetic fertilizers. Osborne remains a dedicated environmental activist.
Held from 1 – 4 p.m. in the Special Events Hall at Phipps, the Natural Turf Management training costs $40 per person on or before Feb. 24 and $50 after. Reservations are required and can be made by calling 412/441-4442, ext. 3925. More details and online registration can be found here.
About Phipps: Founded in 1893, Phipps Conservatory and Botanical Gardens in Pittsburgh, Pa. is a green leader among public gardens with a mission to inspire and educate all with the beauty and importance of plants; to advance sustainability and promote human and environmental well-being through action and research; and to celebrate its historic glasshouse. Learn more: phipps.conservatory.org.
