By Anne Levin

Staff members from Sustainable Princeton and The Watershed Institute weren’t sure what to expect when they advertised a four-hour landscaping workshop focused on green infrastructure, geared toward local landscapers, and presented in Spanish.

But the event held September 23 at The Watershed Institute drew 16 landscapers from six locally owned businesses, ready to learn about New Jersey’s new stormwater management law, how rain gardens work, and the rules for working in Princeton.

“I was very pleased at how many people turned up,” said Christine Symington, executive director of Sustainable Princeton. “We really didn’t know what kind of attendance we would get. And we had a very positive response from the attendees.”

The workshop was planned for a time of day that would not conflict with landscaping work. “It was a really rainy day, and we knew the rain might have made it difficult,” Symington said. “But it was kind of ironic because one of the topics was stormwater and the importance of green infrastructure, and how to deal with the fact that we are experiencing so much more intense rain.”

Collaborating on the content of the event were Fredy Estrada, a former landscape company owner and community liaison consultant; Lucia Middleton, community water advocate from The Watershed Institute; Molly Jones, nonprofit consultant and former director of Sustainable Princeton; and Jim Purcell, Princeton’s assistant municipal engineer.

Businesses represented at the workshop included Dogwood Lawn Service, Verdant Organic Lawns, Plantlife Landscaping, Guzman Landscaping, Antonio Barillas, and J&J Tree Service.

“The content was based on what we were hearing from the landscaping community about what they wanted to hear about,” Symington said. “They also wanted to know what Princeton has done to implement the stricter stormwater rules, and about increasing interest from homeowners in sustainability and native plants.”

The Watershed Institute provided information about why green infrastructure is important, how it can be incorporated into a business, and how it is related to climate change. Jones talked about the importance of native plants and how to deal with invasive species. Purcell answered specific questions about the town’s stormwater rules, and stressed the importance of talking to customers about why following the guidelines of leaf and branch collection is important.

Materials, communication, and presentations were all in Spanish, the native language of most employees of area landscaping companies. “There just isn’t anything out there geared to the Spanish-speaking community about this,” Symington said.

Based on the response of the participants, presenters of the workshop are planning to do another one next year. “It will include more classroom instruction, as well as outdoor examples of sustainable landscaping practices,” Symington said. “They said they’d like to be able to see more examples that have been implemented.”

“The Watershed Institute was thrilled to partner with Sustainable Princeton to develop and test this program specifically designed for Spanish-speaking landscapers,” said Sophie Glovier, chief operating officer at The Watershed Institute. “The feedback from participants was overwhelmingly positive, and they were interested in learning more. Bringing accessible information about green infrastructure to the landscaping community is vital as we work to combat the climate-related issues of flooding and challenges to our water quality like harmful algal blooms. We will be sharing this program design and lessons learned so that other communities across the state can learn from this successful program in Princeton.”