Online course
Bringing Forests Home
A cutting edge online ecological gardening course, for anyone who wants their own patch of ground to come alive.
Seven weeks, seven modules
Led by Ben Porchuk
Ecologist, forest therapy guide and trainer. The course is in its final preparations before launch. Join the wait list and you will hear the moment enrolment opens.
Ben and Diana Beresford-Kroeger, cohosting a video for Telus on the importance of native plants in the garden.
Course summary
What we cover, week by week
Beyond the how, this course is about reconnecting. For us, and for the nature around us.
- Week 1
Your Land’s Past Stewards
Who lived here before you? Before the subdivision, before the farm. Learning about Indigenous and settler stewardship of your specific land is where meaningful ecological work begins. This module grounds everything that follows.
- Week 2
Sense of Place and Your Bioregion
Your yard is part of a watershed, a soil type, a climate zone. We learn to read what nature is already telling us about what belongs here, so your design works with the land instead of against it.
- Week 3
The Three Rs: Rejuvenation, Restoration, Recovery
The heart of the course. If your garden does not restore you, it is not worth building. We use these three principles, drawn from forest therapy and ecological science, to shape every design decision.
- Week 4
Major Native Garden Types
Woodland, prairie, wetland, savanna. We break down the major habitat types of Eastern North America and which native plants belong in each. More colourful and more interesting than you think.
- Week 5
Design, Sourcing and Installation
From sketch to shovel. How to design your space, where to actually find native plants, and how to get them in the ground right. Includes how to get help when you need it.
- Week 6
Becoming an Ecosystem Guide
Maintenance, yes, but more than that. You become a spokesperson for what you have built, sharing plants, knowledge and enthusiasm with neighbours, friends and community.
- Week 7
When You Build It, They Will Come
Birds. Butterflies. Frogs. Insects you have never seen. This module is about the joy of watching your creation come alive, and understanding who shows up and why.
Meet your instructor
Ben Porchuk
Ben speaking about native plants to a sold out crowd in London, Ontario. Drawing from personal stories of the 250 species he invited back home, his observations of returning wildlife take you on a journey of the imagination, almost as though you had experienced it yourself.
Ben’s your guy for this course. A legit pro with credentials that read like a nature all star’s resume: wildlife researcher, restoration ecologist, former Head of Conservation at Royal Botanical Gardens, native plant encyclopedia, designer and builder of Nature Sense Grounds, certified forest therapy guide and trainer.
Over the years Ben has become a highly sought after speaker. Book Ben to speak.
More about the course
Why now
Can you think of a better time to fashion a wonderful creation of nearby nature, right out your front or back door?
I teach a sense of poetry in action, combining technical and thought approaches to help settle you and your landscape into a beautiful form for reconnection. Looking and sensing around the world at this moment, it is needed now. Maybe yesterday, but certainly not tomorrow.
Personable, enjoyable, so informative. This guy is so much fun to work with, and the gardening creations within which we thrive and feel the impacts, both inside of us and out, is something you have to experience.
Wait list
Be there when it opens
The course launches soon. Leave your details and you will get the link the day enrolment opens.