What looks like an ordinary pile of sticks to nature writer Nancy Lawson becomes a natural habitat for her yard. The sticks are used to make brush piles for birds, frogs, turtle, butterflies, and other wildlife. The sticks are also used to make natural paths through the yard. “The deadwood is just as important as live plants,” Lawson said. “It provides food and shelter for countless wildlife species.”.

HOUGHTON — Award-winning author Nancy Lawson will deliver the keynote address Saturday at the Sixth Annual Keweenaw Native Plant Symposium, co-sponsored by the Sustainability Demonstration House.

The symposium is free and runs from 9 a.m. to noon on Zoom. To register, visit keweenaw.wildones.org.

In addition to Lawson, two Michigan-based experts will be featured, including Stephanie Graef, who will discuss shoreline protection, and Erwin “Duke” Elsner, PhD, who will speak on the use of native plants to attract beneficial bugs to the garden.

Lawson is the author of “The Humane Gardener” and “Wildscape.” She will present “A World of Discovery: How Science and Heart Can Make You a More Ecological Gardener.” Lawson will discuss how plants and animals perceive the world around them, the unintended consequences of noise, light and odor pollution, and how we can mitigate these disruptions and create sensory refuges in an increasingly noisy world.

Erwin “Duke” Elsner, PhD, is a Michigan State University Extension educator emeritus. He will speak on “Plant Selection to Attract and Support Predator and Parasitoid Insects.” The larvae of many species of predatory insects, including wasps, eat many garden pests. However, once these immature wasps become adults, they change their diet and rely instead on flower nectar and pollen. Elsner will provide examples of wasps’ favorite flowers and show how planting them near vegetable gardens can control many pests.

Stephanie Graef, owner of Eagle Shoreline Protection, in Chassell, will present “Living Shoreline: Benefits to the Ecosystem.” Graef installs living shorelines: protected, stabilized coastal edges made of natural materials such as plants, sand, or rock. Unlike a seawall or other hard structure, which impedes the growth of plants and animals, living shorelines provide wildlife habitat, as well as natural resilience to communities near the waterfront.

The symposium is co-sponsored by the Keweenaw Land Trust, Keweenaw Wild Ones, the Keweenaw Garden Club and Michigan Technological University’s Sustainability Demonstration House.

For more information and to register, visit keweenaw.wildones.org.