SUSTAINABILITY AND STEWARDSHIP – A CONVERSATION with BRENT "FIG" FIGLESTAHLER
- Jennifer Jewell
- May 28
- 4 min read
This week on Cultivating Place, we discuss public gardens as living classrooms, the quiet power of trees in city life, and how tending landscapes can cultivate resilience, curiosity, and belonging.
Host Abra Lee is in conversation with Brent “Fig” Figlestahler, horticulturist, landscape architect, educator, and devoted steward of public green spaces from the cultivated collections and urban woodlands of Cylburn Arboretum based in Baltimore, Maryland. Fig shows what it means to care deeply for plants — and for the people and places connected to them.
From Abra: Today I’m so happy to welcome Brent “Fig” Figlestahler. Friends, Fig’s work invites people into deeper relationship with trees, public gardens, and the living landscapes that shape our everyday lives. Whether he’s teaching plant identification, tending urban woodlands, or helping cultivate community green spaces, his approach reminds us that gardening is never just about plants — it’s about connection, stewardship, curiosity, and care. Cultivating Place family, please join me in welcoming Brent “Fig” Figlestahler as we explore public gardens, urban trees, lifelong plant love, and the ways cultivated places help nourish both communities and the human spirit.
Follow Brent online:
All photos courtesy of Brent Figlestahler, All Rights Reserved.
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Thinking out loud this week...
Hey, y'all, it's Abra—
Talking with Fig has me reflecting on the quiet relationships we build with
the plants and landscapes around us — especially the ones we pass every
day without even realizing it. The tree outside your window, the community
garden down the block, the shady path through a neighborhood park…
these places shape how we feel, how we gather, and how connected we
are to where we live.
This week, I invite you to pay attention to one living thing in your everyday
environment. Maybe it’s a tree you’ve never learned the name of, a
neglected patch of soil, or a public green space you’ve overlooked. Spend
a little time with it. Notice it. Care for it, if you can. Because cultivating your place doesn’t always begin with grand gestures. Sometimes it starts with simple attention — and the decision to see ourselves as part of the living landscape, not separate from it.
One thing I keep thinking about from my conversation with Fig is how public
green spaces become meaningful because people choose to care for them.
Gardens, parks, street trees, community spaces — none of them thrive on
their own. They depend on attention, stewardship, and people who believe
these places matter.
So this week, I invite you to engage a little more deeply with a shared
outdoor space in your community. Maybe that means visiting a local
garden, learning the name of a tree on your block, volunteering for a
cleanup, or simply spending more time outside noticing what’s growing
around you.
The health of our landscapes and the health of our communities are deeply
connected. And often, care begins with something small: showing up,
paying attention, and recognizing that these places belong to all of us.
WAYS TO SUPPORT CULTIVATING PLACE
Cultivating Place is a co-production of North State Public Radio, licensed to Chico State Enterprises. Cultivating Place is made possible in part listeners just like you through the support button at the top right-hand corner of every page at Cultivating Place.org
The CP team includes producer and engineer Matt Fidler, with weekly tech and web support from Angel Huracha, weekly communications support by Sheila Stern and Carley Bruckner, and regular hosting by Founder, Jennifer Jewell, as well as Abra Lee in Atlanta, Georgia, and Ben Futa in South Bend, Indiana. We’re based on the traditional and present homelands of the Mechoopda Indian Tribe of the Chico Rancheria. Original theme music is by Ma Muse..
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