Native Garden Design Panel Discussion

This panel discussion features three experts with unique knowledge and experience in designing beautiful and functional landscapes with native plants.

Native Garden Panel Design
Presenters:
• Susie Van de Riet – St. Louis Native Plants
• Scott Woodbury – Cacalia Design
• Gabe Presley – DTLS Landscape Architecture
Moderator: Jean Ponzi – EarthWays Center

About Susie Van de Riet:
Susie Van de Riet loves sharing the benefits of native plants with others. She holds a bachelor’s degree in Women’s Studies, an AAS in Horticulture, and is an ISA Certified Arborist. Passionate about native landscapes since 2009, she founded her consulting, design, and coaching business — St. Louis Native Plants LLC — in 2014. Susie recreates landscapes that work with the natural environment rather than against it, and she loves helping clients do the same.
She has served as Education Subcommittee Chair for Grow Native! and participated as a Habitat Advisor for St. Louis Audubon Society’s Bring Conservation Home program. Susie is a member of Grow Native and Wild Ones and previously worked 5+ years in Forest Park as an intern, gardener, and horticulturist. Her former yard was Platinum Certified with the BCH program, and she has achieved the same certification at her current home.
Susie is also an Association of Nature and Forest Therapy (ANFT) Certified Guide and leads nature and forest bathing walks, helping participants reconnect with the natural world.

About Scott Woodbury:
Scott Woodbury is a native landscape designer and consultant. He started Cacalia Design in 2022, focusing on residential garden design as well as woodland, wetland, and grassland reconstruction. He led development of the Whitmire Wildflower Garden at Shaw Nature Reserve for 30 years and founded the St. Louis Chapter of Wild Ones. Scott currently teaches Native Landscape Practices at St. Louis Community College and writes a monthly column for the Gateway Gardener, Kansas City Gardener, and Missouri Ruralist. He also serves as an advisor to the horticulture program at St. Louis Community College and Grow Native, and works with the small grants programs for the Deer Creek Watershed Alliance and MSD Project Clear.
He received a BS degree in Horticulture from the University of Wisconsin–Madison and has worked at numerous public gardens, including the Whitmire Wildflower Garden at Shaw Nature Reserve, Tudor Place in Washington D.C., Old Westbury Gardens in New York, Longwood Gardens in Pennsylvania, and Castello Di Uzzano in Florence, Italy.

About Moderator Jean Ponzi:
Jean Ponzi serves as a Green Resources Specialist for the Missouri Botanical Garden in St. Louis. A 30-year veteran of the Garden’s EarthWays Center team, she contributes her sustainability expertise to the leadership of the regional initiative BiodiverseCity St. Louis, operates the Garden’s Green Resources Info Service, and supports the St. Louis Green Business Challenge.
Jean has hosted her long-running environmental interview program Earthworms on KDHX FM for over 33 years as part of her volunteer community service. She is widely known as a speaker, writer, and media spokesperson, offering audiences both practical solutions and ecological inspiration. She was recently honored as a Native Plant Ambassador by Grow Native!.