Designing with Nature: Creating Beauty and Balance with Native Plants
Saturday, January 30th at 1 PM | Fred Heutte Garden
Beautiful gardens can do more than look good. They can support wildlife, protect our waterways, conserve resources, and create thriving landscapes that work in harmony with nature.
Join us at Fred Heutte Garden for a special Fred Talk with Trista Imrich, acclaimed landscape designer, conservation advocate, and owner of Southern Branch Nursery and Wild Works of Whimsy. Trista will lead an engaging, practical introduction to designing with native plants, demonstrating how thoughtful plant selection and design can create gardens that are beautiful, resilient, manageable, and ecologically valuable.
Whether you're planning an entirely new garden, rethinking an established landscape, or simply curious about incorporating more native plants, this class will offer useful principles, fresh ideas, and inspiration you can put to work in your own backyard.
Join Us by Registering
$20 Suggested Donation
Meet Trista Imrich
Trista brings an extraordinary combination of scientific knowledge, professional experience, and environmental commitment to her work.
A U.S. Navy veteran and former Surface Warfare Officer, Trista holds a Master of Science in Environmental Policy and Management. She is a Virginia Certified Horticulturist, a Virginia Society of Landscape Designers Certified Designer, a Level 2 Chesapeake Bay Landscape Professional in Design and Installation, and a certified Landscape for Life instructor.
Her professional experience extends well beyond traditional garden design. Trista spent six years working with Lynnhaven River NOW and has extensive experience in conservation landscaping, stormwater management, rain gardens, living shorelines, and projects designed to protect the Chesapeake Bay watershed.
She also helped write and edit the respected Native Plants for Southeast Virginia guide, an important resource for gardeners and landscape professionals throughout our region.
In recognition of her environmental leadership, Trista received the Virginia Nursery & Landscape Association's 2023 Environmental Steward Award.
As owner of Southern Branch Nursery, a Hampton Roads institution founded in 1981, Trista has championed the use of native plants and sustainable landscape practices. Through her design firm, Wild Works of Whimsy, she helps homeowners and organizations create landscapes that combine ecological responsibility with exceptional design.
Good Design. Healthy Gardens. A Better Environment.
This Fred Talk is an opportunity to learn from someone who understands both the art and science of gardening. Trista's approach demonstrates that environmental stewardship and beautiful garden design aren't competing goals—they belong together.
At Fred Heutte Garden, we believe horticultural education should be accessible to everyone. Our Fred Talks bring knowledgeable, engaging speakers to our community and encourage gardeners of every experience level to learn, experiment, and grow.
Admission is FREE, with a suggested donation of $20. Donations help us continue offering accessible educational programming and maintaining Fred Heutte Garden as a free public garden for everyone to enjoy.
Space is limited, and advance registration is required.
Come discover how to create a garden that's not only beautiful, but makes a difference.