Boston Flora

Tag: Larry Weaner

  • Thursday & Friday, January 15 & 16 – Seeing the Forest AND the Trees, Live and Online

    Founded in 1990 by Landscape Designer Larry Weaner and NDAL, this annual two-day symposium has a long tradition of celebrating native plants and innovative ecological practice. Presenters reflect the diverse factors that shape our landscapes including landscape architects, landscape designers, horticulturists, ecologists, historians, anthropologists, artists and others. The series offers in-depth explorations of forward-looking and overlooked topics, always seeking to connect theory with practical application. Join us as we continue to connect the dots between ecological restoration, cultural landscape practice, and fine garden design.

    Special Note: For many years, NDAL has deeply appreciated its partnership with Morris Arboretum of the University of Pennsylvania and Connecticut College Arboretum in jointly presenting the January Annual Symposium. While NDAL will be solely producing the Symposium from this year onward, we would like to gratefully acknowledge the important role these two institutions and their respective team members have played.

    The 2026 symposium, January 15 and 16, is Seeing the Forest AND the Trees: Designing Landscapes that Integrate Regional Specificity with Global Commonality. Incorporating a region’s indigenous plant communities and ecological processes is at the heart of ecology-based design. But no natural system operates in isolation or is forever immune to change…..especially today where the effects of watershed alteration, soil disturbance, plant globalization, and climate change are at play worldwide. Our Symposium will begin by zooming in on techniques for regionally-specific landscape analysis and design. We will then widen the lens and learn how disturbance, ecological science, and cultural land practices across regions can factor into those processes. Finally, we will explore how an expansive view of landscape art can unify this micro/macro divide in landscapes ranging from expansive to intimate.

    The event takes place at Kean University in Union, New Jersey, but there are virtual options available. Early bird registration savings available through December 10. Register at https://www.ndal.org/2026-annual-symposium

  • Thursday, September 18, 6:00 pm Eastern – Meadow Making: A Brains Over Brawn Approach, Online

    Learn how to sow meadow seeds and plant live plants in a manner that puts them in a position to succeed without intensive maintenance requirements. When it comes to planting natives, a conventional approach is often counterproductive. This virtual course on September 18 at 6 pm Eastern is taught by Larry Weaner, FAPLD, and Sara Weaner Cooper. Session recording will be available on-demand for three months after live date. To register, visit https://www.ndal.org/2025-fall-meadow-making

  • Friday, May 23, 10:00 am – 4:00 pm – Planting and Stewarding Native Meadows: An Intensive One Day Workshop with Larry Weaner

    Join Berkshire Botanical Garden on Friday, May 23, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., for a day of planting and stewarding meadows with Larry Weaner. Demand for native meadows, particularly as an alternative to lawn, is increasing dramatically. That said, few planting types are more misunderstood. Many failures are a result of inadequate planning and management, as well as the use of plants that are poorly adapted to the site and unable to survive in a highly competitive meadow environment. Far better results can be obtained when the plants and processes used reflect the ecological character of our native meadow communities. More than “one-year wonders,” meadows modeled on these ecosystems can provide long-term, easily managed landscapes that harbor a myriad of wildlife and provide color and texture throughout the year. The program will begin with landscape designer Larry Weaner discussing the design, implementation and management of native meadows on a variety of scales and in residential and public settings. The remainder of the day will include viewing on-property meadows including a meadow-in-progress and an area of BBG with high potential for a future meadow planting. BBG members $200, nonmembers $230. Complete information on the sessions and registration can be found at https://www.berkshirebotanical.org/events/planting-and-stewarding-native-meadows-intensive-one-day-workshop-larry-weaner-0

  • Tuesday, March 26, 3:00 pm – 4:15 pm Eastern – Sourcing Native Plants and Seeds: A Homeowner’s Guide, Online

    Once you’ve decided what to plant, in what form and where do you obtain those plants? This can be a challenge, as the nursery and seed industry has not kept up with the altered requirements of  the burgeoning native plant movement. In this NDAL online presentation on March 26 at 3 pm Eastern, Ian Caton will draw on his extensive experience as both a garden designer and plant grower to provide guidance on sourcing often hard to find native plants and seeds, determining the best plant size for your application, the use of horticultural cultivars, when and how to obtain plants grown from local seed sources, and how to determine the likely survivability of the plants you are purchasing. He will also show how seeds, both purchased and collected, can help to overcome nursery industry shortfalls, and provide an inexpensive supplement to live plant installation.    $42. Register at www.ndal.org

  • Friday, October 20, 3:00 pm – 4:15 pm Eastern – Artful Plant Community Design: Selection, Arrangement, Stewardship, Online

    Selecting and arranging plants is central to – if not the heart of – fine garden design. Plant community-based design is no different; it simply uses natural vegetative models as its primary template. In this online New Directions in the American Landscape (NDAL) presentation, Larry Weaner will illustrate how to associate plants with their preferred environment, create plant compositions that function as integrated communities, and accommodate compositional change over time. But the word garden is not lost in this “wild” shuffle. He will conclude by revisiting fine garden design to show how an ecology-based plant palette can express, and even enhance, many different landscape styles. The October 20 session begins at 3 pm but will be recorded and viewable to registrants for 3 months following the live presentation date. $42. Register at https://learning.ndal.org/courses/artful-design-2023

  • Friday, April 21, 2:00 pm – 3:15 pm Eastern – At Home in a Wild Landscape, Online

    Thoughtfully arranged native plantings can reduce maintenance, improve the environment, and enhance the beauty of any residential property. Achieving these goals however, requires a basic understanding of the patterns and processes that govern plants in the wild, and an effort to apply that understanding to a designed environment. Through a series of detailed case studies, including his own small suburban property, Larry Weaner, FAPLD, will show how artistically composed native plant compositions can result in both ecologically healthy and experientially rich home landscapes. The webinar takes place April 21 from 2 – 3:15 Eastern, and is $42. Register at https://learning.ndal.org/courses/at-home-wild-landscape-2023 The session will be recorded and viewable to registrants for 3 months after the live session date.

    Larry Weaner, FAPLD, founded Larry Weaner Landscape Associates in 1982 and established NDAL in 1990. He is nationally recognized for combining expertise in horticulture, landscape design, and ecological restoration. His design and restoration work spans more than twenty U.S. states and the U.K., and has been profiled in numerous national publications. His book Garden Revolution: How Our Landscapes Can Be a Source of Environmental Change (Timber Press 2016) received an American Horticultural Society Book Award in 2017, and in 2021 he received American Horticultural Society’s Landscape Design Award.

  • Saturday, September 17, 10:00 am – 4:00 pm – Planting and Stewarding Native Meadows: An Intensive One-Day Workshop with Larry Weaner

    Demand for native meadows, particularly as an alternative to lawn, is increasing dramatically. That said, few planting types are more misunderstood. Many failures result from inadequate planning and management; as well as the use of plants that are poorly adapted to the site and unable to survive in a highly competitive meadow environment. Far better results can be obtained when the plants and processes used reflect the ecological character of our native meadow communities. More than one-year wonders, meadows modeled on these ecosystems can provide long-term, easily managed landscapes that harbor a myriad of wildlife and provide color and texture throughout the year. The September 17 Berkshire Botanical Garden program will begin with Landscape Designer Larry Weaner discussing the design, implementation, and management of native meadows on a variety of scales and in residential and public settings. The remainder of the day will include viewing on-property meadows including a meadow-in-progress and an area with high potential for a future meadow planting.

    Session 1 | Ecological Principles in Meadow Design

    While meadows are in high demand, effective protocols for designing and implementing them are in short supply. This session will delve into the nitty gritty of meadow design: site analysis, species selection, seed mix formulation, live plant inclusion, planting and management. The inclusion of shrub thickets and drifts will also be covered, including the arrangement of clonal vs. clump forming species, and the use of shrublands as ecological and visual “connective tissue” between meadow and woods.

    Session 2 | Field Visit: Observation & Exploration

    Through an exploration of the Berkshire Botanical Garden landscape, this session will examine how the principles presented in the introductory presentation play out in various types of meadows.

    Session 3 | Meadows on the Garden Scale

    Meadow-like plantings need not be consigned exclusively to large open spaces like

    Pastures, abandoned fields, and mowed turf areas. In this session, Larry will illustrate how the meadow establishment techniques described in the earlier sessions can be altered to create refined meadow gardens on the small scale. Alterations to plant selection and arrangement, planting procedures and management techniques will be covered.

    Larry Weaner, FAPLD, founded Larry Weaner Landscape Associates in 1982 and established its educational affiliate New Directions in the American Landscape in 1990. He is nationally recognized for combining expertise in horticulture, landscape design, and ecological restoration. His design and restoration work spans more than twenty U.S. states and the U.K. and has been profiled in numerous national publications. His book Garden Revolution: How Our Landscapes Can Be a Source of Environmental Change received an American Horticultural Society (AHS) Book Award. In 2021 he received the AHS Landscape Design Award and the APLD Award of Distinction. He is also an Honorary Director (2021-2025) of Wild Ones – Native Plants, Natural Landscapes.

    $165 for BBG members, $185 for nonmembers. Register HERE.

    Connecticut meadow garden with native wildflowers; Larry Weiner Design

  • Wednesday, March 16, 7:00 pm – 8:15 pm – Close Encounters with Nature: Native Design in the Residential Landscape, Online

    Few home landscapes can provide the stunning vistas of a Yosemite National Park, a vast midwestern prairie, or an ancient Appalachian mountain range. They can however, provide a far more intimate and interactive natural experience than visits to those landscapes ever could. In this March 16 New Directions in the American Landscape online session Larry Weaner will interweave a series of practical, ecologically-interactive landscape techniques, with the rich experiential rewards that applying those techniques can engender. $25. Register at www.ndal.org.

    It is time for native landscapes – and knowledge about how to foster them – to become mainstream. As we spend more time at home, gardeners who understand the ecologies of their home landscapes will be better equipped to make those landscapes both ecologically beneficial and aesthetically beautiful. Schools can similarly benefit, where administrators and educators can weave ecological gardening and landscaping principles into the curriculum.

  • Wednesday, March 9, 1:00 pm – 2:30 pm – Craft, Conservation, & Cattle

    Frequently, the side tangents that presenters don’t have time to explore are as enlightening as their core material. In this New Directions in the American Landscape online session, landscape designer Larry Weaner will conduct an informal interview, conversation, and “note comparing” session with landscape architect Thomas Woltz (pictured below). Given his education in the fields of architecture, landscape architecture, fine arts, and architectural history, it is not surprising that Thomas takes a broad approach to designing landscapes. Throw in a love of “working lands’’ and “wild places” derived from growing up on a North Carolina farm and you have an individual who defines landscape architecture much more expansively than most. In this March 9 session we will explore the many paths that intersect at Nelson Byrd Woltz, a firm that received 11 ASLA awards in 2020 alone. Cosponsored by Wild Ones – Native Plants, Natural Landscapes, the American Horticultural Society, and the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center. $45. Register at www.ndal.org.

  • Tuesday, February 15, 7:00 pm – 8:15 pm – Native Meadows: Let’s Get Real, Online

    Wildflower meadows were introduced to the American gardening public in the 1960’s along with tie dye tee shirts and kaleidoscopic acid trips. But just like those 60’s acid trips, the colors never lasted. Alternatively, by planting site-adapted native perennials, managed according to the ecological processes that govern open field vegetation in the wild, long-lived vibrant meadows can be consistently achieved. In this August 12 online presentation by Larry Weaner, plant selection criteria, planting procedures, and management techniques will be illustrated through a series of residential case studies, including some over two decades old. $25. Register at www.ndal.org

    NDAL (New Directions in the American Landscape) was founded in 1990 by Larry Weaner, and has presented programs throughout the US focusing on innovative theory, practical application, and an expansive vision of “Natural Design.” Programs also draw from a variety of disciplines, including agriculture, anthropology, history, and fine art. In 2016, NDAL received the first Regional Impact Award from the Native Plant Trust. This talk is cosponsored by the American Horticultural Association, the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center, and Wild Ones – Native Plants, Natural Landscapes.