Boston Flora

Tag: Larry Weaner

  • Wednesdays, December 1 and December 15, 1:00 pm – 4:00 pm – Advanced Ecological Design Workshop with Larry Weaner

    Demand for high performing, ecology-based landscapes is increasing faster than the availability of the specialized knowledge needed for practitioners to achieve them. This intensive course will be comprised of two sessions that are three hours each. This design workshop will provide concrete, real-world guidance for selecting and arranging native plants in the landscape (gardens and restoration projects), as well as provide attendees with the opportunity to employ these techniques through an assignment between the first and second sessions.

    Participants will receive login-protected access to an extensive digital manual that documents all aspects of the program, including plant selection criteria, plant recommendations, ecological process-based management specifications, and guidance for maximizing the aesthetic and experiential appeal these landscapes can provide.

    This program is geared toward landscape professionals, including but not limited to landscape designers, landscape architects, and horticulturists.

    COURSE GOALS:
    By the end of the course, participants should be able to:

    1. Examine and translate into design the ecological patterns of native plant communities.
    2. Understand the ecological processes that are relevant to native landscape design including, but not limited to, ecological processes such as disturbance, succession, and competition, and plant proliferation strategies.
    3. Understand how to arrange and select native plants to foster ecology-based landscapes that are aesthetically embraced by clients in a variety of landscape settings including gardens and restoration projects.

    COURSE SCHEDULE:
    Note: Each session will have 3 session hours plus two 15-minute breaks. $190. For complete information visit www.ecolandscaping.org.

  • Thursday, March 25, 11:00 am – 12:00 noon – Larry Weaner: Music Composition and Landscape Design, Online

    For landscape designer and composer Larry Weaner, garden design and music composition have much in common. While one may be visual and the other sonic, both look to explore freedom of expression within formal constraints. Both are endlessly engaging pursuits, where no matter how much you know, there is always more to discover. Working with plants—like playing jazz—is a give and take, a call and response, where every action stimulates a reaction—with sometimes unexpected consequences. Weaner believes that understanding the principles and techniques of composition can help designers create “musical” landscapes that can evoke powerfully direct emotional responses, reveal themselves gracefully over time and the seasons, and incorporate elements of improvisation.

    Larry Weaner is a leading figure in North American landscape design and restoration. His award-winning work has been profiled in The New York Times, Garden Design, and Landscape Architecture Magazine, among other publications. His Garden Revolution: How Our Landscapes Can Be a Source of Environmental Change received the 2017 Book Award from the American Horticultural Society.

    Available CEUs include: APLD and LA CES. To register, visit www.nybg.org.
    This New York Botanical Garden lecture on March 25 from 11 – 12 is funded in part by the Barbara Cushing Paley Fund. Live captioning will be provided.

  • Monday, September 25, 4:00 pm – 5:00 pm – The Liberated Landscape: Letting Nature Do the Work Webinar

    Over thousands of years plants have evolved to reproduce and proliferate on their own, yet we often go to great effort and expense to carefully place every plant in our designed landscapes. How can we capitalize on the reproductive abilities of plants and actively encourage planted as well as existing species to colonize our landscapes? In this lecture, well-known landscape designer Larry Weaner will discuss principles and protocols for creating dynamic, ecologically rich landscapes where nature does much of the planting.

    This Ecological Landscape Alliance September 25 webinar from 4 – 5 pm will include detailed case studies that demonstrate how practical plant proliferation strategies can be applied at diverse scales, from the intimate garden to large multi-acre landscapes. Larry Weaner has been creating landscapes focusing on native plants since 1977. His firm Larry Weaner Landscape Associates has a national reputation for combining ecological restoration with the traditions of garden design. The firm’s work has received numerous awards, been featured in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Garden Design, and Landscape Architecture Magazine, among other publications, and been included on tours with The Garden Conservancy, The Cultural Landscape Foundation, and the American Horticultural Society. Larry lectures throughout the U.S., and in 1990, he founded New Directions in the American Landscape, a conference series with a national following. He recently coauthored Garden Revolution: How Our Landscapes Can Be a Source of Environmental Change.

    Free for ELA members, $10 for nonmembers. Register at http://www.ecolandscaping.org/event/webinar-liberated-landscape-letting-nature-work/

  • Saturday, November 19, 8:30 am – 4:30 pm – SALT Conference: Deconstructing the American Landscape

    Professional landscapers, gardeners, and designers are choosing to use native plants for many reasons — not only because they are beautiful and hardy, but also because they provide essential food and shelter for wildlife and help to maintain a unique sense of place. Join the New England Wild Flower Society and the Connecticut College Arboretum for this day-long conference on Saturday, November 19 from 8:30 – 4 at Connecticut College in New London, Connecticut to discuss the demise of the American lawn, the definition of “native,” and the future of native plants in our built landscapes.

    Conference Highlights

    Keynote: The Future of Native Plants in the Built Landscape, Larry Weaner, Principal, Larry Weaner Landscape Associates

    Award: New England Wild Flower Society will present the Regional Impact Award to New Directions in the American Landscape

    Presentations:

    The Evolving American Lawn, Judy Preston, Connecticut Outreach Coordinator, Long Island Sound Study
    Low-maintenance Plants for the Deconstructed Landscape, Dan Jaffe, Horticulturist, New England Wild Flower Society
    Ecological Functions of Native Plants, Claudia West, Author and Ecological Sales Manager, North Creek Nurseries
    Roundtable Discussion: Defining Native, moderated by Mark Richardson, Director of Horticulture, NEWFS

    Registration is $65 before November 1 and $80 thereafter, for NEWFS members, and $75 before November 1 and $90 thereafter for all others. On line registration at www.newenglandwild.org.

  • Saturday, July 30, 2:00 pm – Digging Deeper: A Native Meadow on Wononskopomuc Lake

    The Garden Conservancy will host a session on Digging Deeper: A Native Meadow on Wononskopomuc Lake, the Montgomery-Glazer Property, with Larry Weaner on Saturday, July 30 beginning at 2 pm.  This property in the Berkshires is located at 120 Millerton Road in Lakeville, CT. Once just barren turf, this lakeside property now features a diverse native meadow in full floral display, embodying the aesthetic and ecological impact that can be created on even a modestly sized property. Explore this site with acclaimed landscape designer Larry Weaner, and discuss his design process – combining ecological restoration with traditions of fine garden design – presented in his new book Garden Revolutions: How Our Landscapes Can Be a Source of Environmental Change (Timber Press, May 2016). A book signing will be held afterwards. $15 for members of the Garden Conservancy, $20 for nonmembers. Your registration includes Open Days admission to this garden destination—a $7 value. The Montgomery-Glazer Property will be open to general Open Days visitors on this date from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. To register, visit https://www.gardenconservancy.org/events/all-events/digging-deeper-a-native-meadow-on-wononskopomuc-lake-the-montgomery-glazer-property-with-larry-weaner  For more information, call the Garden Conservancy’s Open Days at 845-424-6502.

  • Wednesday, February 3, 7:00 pm – 8:30 pm – Native Plant Gardens: Learning By Example

    Landscaping with native plants is becoming the rule rather than the exception, but good examples can be hard to find. Come to the Cambridge Public Library, 449 Broadway in Cambridge, on Wednesday, February 3 at 7 pm for a visual tour of some truly instructive native plant gardens, large and small, public and private. A diversity of styles, ranging from formal to naturalistic, will illustrate the usage of native plants in both residential and public landscapes. Our tour will travel from Sara Stein’s garden in Pound Ridge, NY, to the New World Garden designed by Larry Weaner, to the High Line in NYC, and include many others along the way. Accompanied by design and how-to tips, this talk will be valuable for everyone from novice gardeners to seasoned professionals.

    Carolyn Summers is author of Designing Gardens with Flora of the American East and an adjunct professor at Go Native U, a joint project of Westchester Community College and The Native Plant Center. She and her husband recently opened their country home, Flying Trillium Gardens and Preserve, for public tours and to showcase the importance of native plants to all landscapes. This free program is sponsored by Grow Native Massachusetts. For more information visit www.grownativemass.org.

  • Wednesday, April 1, 7:00 pm – 8:30 pm – Native Meadows: Let’s Get Real

    Native meadows are increasingly popular, particularly as alternatives to lawn, yet few types of landscapes are more misunderstood. Inadequate planning and use of poorly adapted plants commonly lead to failure. Better results can be achieved when the patterns and processes of naturally occurring meadows are incorporated into all aspects of design, installation, and management. More than one-year wonders, meadow plantings modeled on actual meadow communities provide long-term, easily managed landscapes that harbor a myriad of birds and butterflies, and provide color and texture throughout the year.

    Join native meadow expert Larry Weaner on Wednesday, April 1 at 7 pm at the Cambridge Public Library, 449 Broadway in Cambridge, to learn concrete, practical ways of creating dynamic and stunning long-lived meadows. Case studies of both multi-acre projects and small-scale residential meadows will be shown.

    Larry Weaner has been creating native landscapes since 1977. His firm has a national reputation for combining ecological restoration with garden design traditions. His projects have received numerous awards and been included on tours given by the American Horticultural Society, The Cultural Landscape Foundation, and many other organizations. He is the founder of New Directions in the American Landscape, a conference series with a national following that has run for more than two decades. This free program is sponsored by Grow Native Massachusetts.

  • Thursday, August 7, 1:00 pm – 3:00 pm – A Native Meadow: 40 Acres and Over 10 Years of Success

    More than a decade ago, Larry Weaner Landscape Associates designed and installed 40 acres of native meadows and prepared management plans for extensive woodlands on a 400 acre estate in northwest Connecticut, Twin Maples.  A series of pocket landscapes were also created to highlight and enhance the property’s diverse array of existing microhabitats.  In the 10 years since installation, the introduced native paltns have been dispersing seeds and invasive species have been carefully controlled.  The property’s dynamic has now shifted to the point where native species dominate and are even proliferating into unplanted areas.  Upkeep is consequently a fraction of that needed for comparably sized properties.  Yet it is the raw beauty of this place and its evolution in concert with thoughtful management that is most compelling and uplifting: to experience it is to understand how humans can engage in a dance with the land itself.

    On Thursday, August 7, the Ecological Landscape Alliance will sponsor a tour of the property with Larry Weaner, from 1 – 3 pm.  To register, call 617-436-5838, or email ela.info@comcast.net.

  • Thursday, July 18, 9:30 am – 12:30 pm – Meadow Gardening at its Very Best

    This Berkshire Botanical Garden sponsored field study will give participants an in-depth look at an exceptional ten-year-old New England meadow, designed by meadow expert Larry Weaner. Tour this amazing 40-acre upland meadow at the height of its bloom with head gardener Deb Munson and learn about planting, maintenance, plant selection, weed control and more. Additionally, tour the beautiful formal gardens surrounding this Georgian home and enjoy spectacular views of the northwest corner of Connecticut. The owner will make a presentation on the development of the garden and has graciously invited participants to picnic on the lawns of this exceptional estate. A mere 40-minute drive from Berkshire Botanical Garden, this extraordinary horticultural gem is a wonderful place to spend a summer morning.

    Deb Munson is a horticulturist with a strongly environmental and sustainable ethic in her gardening practices.  BBG members $50, nonmembers $60, and full directions will be sent upon registration at www.berkshirebotanical.org.  You may also call Elisabeth Cary at 413-298-3926.

    http://www.berkshirebotanical.org//srv/htdocs/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/Meadow.jpg

  • Saturday, July 14 and Sunday, July 15, 2:00 pm – 4:00 pm – Garden Dialogues: Connecticut

    The Cultural Landscape Foundation will provide exclusive access to private gardens in Connecticut on Saturday, July 14 and Sunday, July 15.  Hear directly from the landscape architects and their patrons about the design process.  How do patrons and designers work together?  What makes for a great, enduring collaboration?  Garden Dialogues provides unique opportunities for small groups to visit some of today’s most beautiful gardens created by some of the most accomplished designers currently in practice.  On Saturday, July 14,  from 2:00 pm – 4:00 pm, see Twin Maples Farm, owned by Douglas and Wilmer Thomas, designed by Larry Weaner Landscape Associates.  This 450-acre northwest Connecticut estate features dramatic vistas, more than 40 acres of seeded meadow and shrubland, and an environmentally sensitive integration with the surrounding woodlands.

    Sunday, July 15, from 2:00 pm – 4:00 pm, see Diamond Hills Gardens in Redding, designed by Richard Hartlage, AHBL (see his book Bold Visions for the Garden below.)  This eight-acre estate garden features native meadows, a sunken garden, woodland walks, sculpture and beautiful water features.  The garden artfully balances rustic and sophisticated through the use of local stone and salvaged barn wood.  Register for either or both tours ($35 per person) at www.tclf.org.