About me

Michelle is a native plant consultant and ecological planting designer in the Pennsylvania Piedmont. Inspired by inherent relationships in the natural world, she believes in the art and science of ecological gardening to inform a modern, intelligent, and compassionate approach to landscape stewardship through the use of native plants, unique in their capacities to support native insects, birds, and other animals. She believes that humans can help preserve Earth’s diminishing biodiversity by re-envisioning residential, commercial, and public landscapes—learning to steward outdoor spaces with greater purpose on behalf of our shared environment.

Seeing animal species in native garden spaces—butterflies, birds, native bees, caterpillars, dragonflies, fireflies and more—inspires her interest in helping others to create living landscapes. Michelle is a Pennsylvania Master Naturalist program volunteer in the Southeastern Plains and Southeastern Coastal Plains ecoregions and the president of her local civic association where she works with neighbors to foster ecologically-friendly approaches to landscape stewardship. She also worked for 6 years at Redbud Native Plant Nursery in Media, PA advising customers on site-appropriate native plants for their projects.

Lower Merion Township and the Borough of Narberth awarded her the 2023 ‘Go for the Green’ award for long-time efforts in community education around creating and maintaining green spaces with native plants, for leading projects to green and steward civic spaces with native plantings, and for leading a community mural installation project by artist Eurhi Jones inspiring ecological stewardship through representations of local flora and fauna.

Michelle is passionate about public space gardening, helping to transform local parks, school gardens and other public spaces with ecologically-valuable native plantings and creating stewardship plans for long-term improvements.

With partner organizations, she recently established the first Pollinator Pathway program in Pennsylvania. The Lower Merion and Narberth Pollinator Pathway is a collaboration meant to encourage a growing network of healthy habitat between public and private properties as participants incorporate native plants, remove invasive species over time, avoid chemicals in the landscape, and leave winter habitat for pollinators. Benefits of this new approach to landscape stewardship across traditional property lines not only serves pollinators but also the entire food web, the watershed, and the environment under pressure from climate change.

Inspired by Dr. Doug Tallamy’s work, Michelle gives well-attended educational ecological garden programs to help spread the word about the importance of stewarding and reintroducing habitat in the built landscape and recommends some of the highest value plants for generalist and specialist species.

Michelle has a B.A. in Biology from the University of Texas at Dallas and an M.A. from Johns Hopkins University SAIS. Continuing education in ecological landscape design, entomology, taxonomy, ecology, native plant communities, natural history, green infrastructure, meadow making, forest management, climate change, geology, ecological land stewardship, global public policy, international cooperation, tree tending, and gardening for wildlife inform a decade of experience in planting and tending native plants, observing them in natural settings and studying their cultural habits through time in her space and beyond.

Join her on this journey to plant with purpose by experimenting with native plants for ecological stewardship. Explore this site for inspiration on planting native plants, resources for further research, and images of native flora and fauna with an eye towards the science and beauty of plant/insect interactions and the many benefits of supporting a healthy ecosystem for all life.

Contact Michelle for services if she can help to provide a fresh perspective on your space.

Recent talks and articles - Click photos to view webinars