From a gardening and landscape perspective, 2011 was the worst of times.

Unprecedented freezes, extended heat, and drought all took their toll on trees, bushes and gardeners' tenacity – along with the pocketbooks of both gardeners and consumers alike.

If you're wondering how you can better prepare your property (and better prepare your lifestyle, for that matter) for the ever changing Texas climate, grow organic food in your own organic yard, and stay healthy in the process, there's a new way. Here's the scoop!

Urban Sustainable Ecosystems (USE) is a new collective brainstorm of local experts who can help.

They're looking to green your life and your home by offering folks the chance to recover from 2011 and prepare to be successful and sustainable in lots of ways.

The good news is they're offering workshops to get you on the right path.

Randy Johnson, Director of Horticulture at Texas Discovery Gardens, is one of the workshop speakers.

"It's estimated that as many as 500 million trees died in Texas from drought this year."

"I've seen which native Texas trees can withstand long term drought and can help homeowners replace certain trees with better species. It can help protect property values and reduce water bills."

Local eco-preneur and founder of Texas Worm Ranch, Heather Rinaldi, who's written for LH Today on a regular basis, has her own take.

"I'm a mom, and for me it's about helping make Lake Highlands and Dallas a safer place to raise kids."

"That means less chemicals in the yards they play in, clean air to breathe, getting kids to help grow healthy food in their own backyards and teaching us all to conserve and make more sustainable choices."

"It means our children will have resources in the future."

For Lake Highlands residents, the workshops will be within walking or biking distance.

Another new concept, the Dallas Eco-op, will be open just in time to host the Lake Highlands USE seminar next month.

Coming soon to the Shoreview/Ferndale shopping center, the Dallas Eco-op will bring together multiple environmentally-minded and local food-centric small businesses and non-profits under one roof.

The Lake Highlands space will offer Dallas Eco-op the perfect location to teach classes, host meetings and events, and easily serve anyone in Dallas looking to get green (or greener.)

Upcoming two-day workshops are designed for beginning and advanced gardeners and for eco-friendly homeowners who want to move their homes, yards and lives to the next level of sustainability.

First up: homeowners will learn how to redesign better landscapes and manage upkeep more affordably.

The second day will introduce concepts like organic pest management and honeybee, butterfly and hummingbird habitats.

Brandon Pollard, of Texas Honeybee Guild, says that over 30% of the honeybee population has been lost in the last two years alone.

"Without a strong honeybee population, many of the foods we enjoy will no longer be available. Every homeowner that has a small habitat area dedicated to our struggling pollinator species will help the cause."

Full workshop schedules include:

USE Workshop – Day One (beginners to advanced)

• Plan Your Urban Sustainable Ecosystem - John Krause: host of DFW’s #1 Organic Radio Program, Living Natural First

• Soil Ecosystem and Composting - Randy Johnson: Horticulture Director of Texas Discovery Gardens & Co-Owner of Texas Worm Ranch

• Raised Bed Gardening - Heather Rinaldi: Co-Owner of Texas Worm Ranch & Professional Organic Vegetable Garden Installer

• Preserve Your Harvest - Trish Percy: Executive Director of Feed Texas First

• Rainwater Harvesting, Rain Gardens, Water Conservation & Grey Water - Carrie Dubberly of Dubberly Landscapes and Don Dubberly of Catch the Rain

USE Workshop – Day Two (advanced; beginners encouraged & welcome)

• Vermicomposting - Heather Rinaldi, Instructor: Co-owner of Texas Worm Ranch & Professional Organic Vegetable Garden Installer

• Black Soldier Fly Larvae Composting - Robert Olivier, Owner of Compost Mania and inventor of the "bio-pod"

• Integrated Pest Management - Randy Johnson: Horticulture Director of Texas Discovery Gardens & Co-owner of Texas Worm Ranch

• Aquaponics - Dave Pennington: Owner of Synergyfish, expert on symbiotic relationships between fish and plant production

• Creating a Pollinator Habitat - Brandon and Susan Pollard: Owner of Texas Honeybee Guild & Zipcode Honey

• Backyard Poultry - Bob Ritchie: Owner of Custom Coop and longtime urban poultry farmer

By the end of an Urban Sustainable Ecosystem (USE) workshop, students should be able to apply what they have learned on their own homesteads.

Together, the newest eco-friendly businesses in Lake Highlands will help homeowners put more green in their green living.

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Space is limited in each of the workshops, beginning this month.

Dates include January 21st & 22nd, February 11th & 12th in Lake Highlands and February 25th & 26th.

Learn more and register your spot by visiting the Texas Worm Ranch website here.