Boston Flora

Tag: NDAL

  • 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, March 27, 3:00 pm – 4:15 pm Eastern – Into the Weeds: How to Garden Like a Forager, Online

    Many a gardener, flower lover, or backyard farmer hates that most dreaded of garden chores: getting rid of weeds. Tama Matsuoka Wong offers a new approach to many plants deemed undesirable: manage them, turn them into delicious food, teas, structures….in other words reap their abundance. A self-described “failed” gardener turned garden contrarian, she looks to cues as to what plants grow wild naturally in situ and, besides that, sells many pounds of invasive weeds to markets and chefs. On a more personal level, she will share with you the “why” of her latest book Into the Weeds: How to Garden Like a Forager (Hardie Grant North America 2024): why weeds sit at the juncture of our food, environment and health, and how to use the most common weeds that grow around you. This New Directions in the American Landscape webinar will take place March 27 at 3 pm. $42. Register at www.ndal.org

  • Tuesday, April 16, 3:00 pm – 4:15 pm Eastern – Native Lawns: Biodiversity, Beauty, and Function, Online

    In this April 16 NDAL online presentation, Kristine Boys will illustrate the results of her multi-year native lawn experiments at Cornell Botanic Gardens. She will discuss the species selection criterion, planting protocols, and management procedures that were employed. She will also discuss the native plant/insect/animal interactions that occurred during these trials, as well as the experimental lawn’s ability to sustain itself over time with minimal additional inputs. Particularly when associated with other native plantings, these lawns can provide a key component for the maintenance reduction, habit creation, and visual delights that so many of today’s property owners desire.  $42. Register at https://learning.ndal.org/courses/native-lawns-2024 The session will be recorded and viewable to registrants for 3 months after the live session date. 

  • 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

  • Tuesday, November 28, 12:00 noon – 1:15 pm Eastern – The Bridge Between Horticulture and the Environment, Online

    Horticulture is going through a revolution, as our fragile environment becomes increasingly in need of our care. The observation and analysis that is so embedded in this process, and the craftsmanship of tending for a garden, are perfect gateways to thinking about the neglected and overused places beyond the garden. Dan Pearson, whose painterly-natural landscapes are renowned in Britain and beyond, will demonstrate how landscape design can be the medium that brings together the worlds of nature, agriculture, and garden. This NDAL webinar will take place November 28 at noon, but the session will be recorded and available to registrants for 3 months following the live presentation. $42. Register at https://learning.ndal.org/courses/bridge-horticulture-environment

    Dan Pearson is a British landscape designer, horticulturist, writer, and gardener. He trained in horticulture at RHS Gardens’ Wisley, the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh, Jerusalem Botanical Gardens, and the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Since 2014 he has been a Garden Advisor to the National Trust at Sissinghurst Castle. In 2013 Dan was the subject of an exhibition at The Garden Museum, London, Green Fuse: The Work of Dan Pearson, and was awarded an OBE in 2022 for services to horticulture. Dan’s books include Spirit: Garden Inspiration (Fuel Publishing, 2011) and Home Ground: Sanctuary in the City (Conran, 2011), and his most recent: Tokachi Millennium Forest: Pioneering a New Way of Gardening With Nature (Filbert Press, 2021). He is a Contributing Editor to Gardens Illustrated magazine and writes his own weekly blog, “Dig Delve.” 

  • Thursday, October 26, 7:00 pm – 8:15 pm Eastern – Lenape Gardening: A Native American Perspective, Online

    Over the last year there has been a rising interest from various partners to provide information on Lenape plants and practice, and to consult on existing gardens in order to provide native species and medicinal herbs. This has come about at a time when it is crucial to instigate horticultural practices that will increase the production of organic foods, re-introduce native plants into the earth, and provide instruction on the use of medicinal herbs, all of which will help to ensure that the next seven generations of our children will be able to consume natural, nutritious food. This is the goal! The New Directions in the American Landscape organization will present an online session with Clan Mother Shelley DePaul on October 26 at 7 pm Eastern. The session will be recorded and available for viewing for 3 months to registrants. $42. Register at https://learning.ndal.org/courses/lenape-gardening

    Clan Mother Shelley DePaul serves on the Council of the Lenape Nation of Pennsylvania as Lenape Language Specialist and Treaty Signer Liaison. She teaches Lenape Language classes and presents educational programs on Lenape History and Culture. DePaul has conferred with numerous organizations regarding Lenape horticulture and medicinal plant practices. She is a PA State certified teacher with a BS in Secondary Education, English, and a MA in History.

  • 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.

  • 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.

  • 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.

  • Tuesday, August 17, 1:00 pm – 2:30 pm – “Like Painting a Picture”: Gardens of Black Americans, Online

    From George Washington Carver to Zora Neale Hurston and more lesser-known self-taught horticulturists, Black Americans have laid out the blueprint for garden design in their own personal spaces. In this NDAL online presentation and conversation with Abra Lee on Tuesday, August 17 at 1 pm, we will discuss these historic legacies and the plants they used to beautify homes and communities.

    NDAL has presented programs throughout the U.S. focusing on the theory and practical application of an expansive vision of “Ecology-Based Design.” Programs draw from a variety of disciplines including landscape design, the ecological sciences, anthropology, art, history, and agriculture.In 2016, NDAL received the first Regional Impact Award from the Native Plant Trust. $35. Register HERE.