From garden tyrant to garden steward

This home gardener-oriented series will examine ecology-based landscape practice through the eyes of one of its most highly respected and influential practitioners. Our expansive format will allow Landscape Designer Larry Weaner to provide an in-depth guide for creating wildlife inclusive, ecologically productive, and highly manageable residential landscapes. Throughout the program Larry will interweave garden aesthetics with garden ecology, demonstrating how home environments can be both ecologically productive and experientially rich. The course will include a brief presentation by Sara Weaner Cooper on her organic lawn-to-meadow transition, as seen in The New York Times.

Attendees will receive a login-protected 50+ paged course manual including chapters on meadows, shrublands, woods, fine gardens, weed control, and wildlife. 

Please note: This course will be less applicable to those residing in subtropical climates (ie. Florida) and arid climates (ie. Nevada, Arizona, etc.). 

or scroll down for individual session details

Registration will be open and recordings will be viewable for 3 months after each live session date.

Group and Gift Orders
Student & Wild Ones member discounts available
Scroll down below the session descriptions list for registration and discount details.

“If you want to know about ecological design, NDAL classes are a must.”

-Barbera B., 2024 participant

Above photo: Lawn-to-meadow landscape in its second year

Registration includes a Conversation and Q&A virtual session with the instructors on January 3, 2025 from 6 - 7 PM ET.

Register for the Full Bundle (Sessions 1-3) - $125
or individual sessions - $48 each
(click the sessions above to register individually)

Instructor Bios

  • Larry Weaner, FAPLD, founded Larry Weaner Landscape Associates in 1982 and New Directions in the American Landscape in 1990. His nationally recognized work combines horticulture, landscape design, and ecological restoration, and spans more than twenty U.S. states and the U.K. He has been profiled in national publications. His book, Garden Revolution: How Our Landscapes Can Be a Source of Environmental Change (Timber Press, 2016) received an American Horticultural Society (AHS) Book Award in 2017. In 2021 he received the AHS Landscape Design Award and the Association of Professional Landscape Designers (APLD) Award of Distinction.

  • Sara Weaner Cooper, New Directions in the American Landscape (NDAL)'s executive director, began her role with NDAL in 2018 as educational program coordinator. In addition to programs for landscape professionals, Sara has added programming for home gardeners, students, and educators. She holds a M.A. in anthropology and education from Teachers College, Columbia University, and a B.A. in anthropology and education from Bryn Mawr College. One of her passions and long-term goals is to work with schools on eco-cultural land stewardship curricula. In 2024 NDAL received the American Horticultural Society (AHS) Award for Horticultural Innovation, which recognizes an individual/organization “whose innovations have made the field of horticulture more sustainable and accessible to all.” 

 
“I have attended multiple NDAL presentations and they are the greatest! I always leave them inspired with new ideas for my landscape.”
— Audrey W., 2024 participant
“Rather than just considering a property as just a cleanable slate for my designs, Larry’s programs alway encourage me to evaluate the existing environment and think deeper about how I can use that as canvas and paint for my works.”
— Barbara Y., 2024 participant
“Larry provided foundational concepts clearly, then reinforced these by giving us examples from his own experience working with ecologically-designed landscapes! He’s also a storyteller, and these stories help us connect concepts to real life. ”
— 2024 participant

Photo by Mark Weaner

Previously Held:

(Register to view recordings for 3 months from live dates)

Featured
Session 3: Managing | Landscaping with Nature: Turning Battles into Partnerships (Home Gardener Intensive)
Dec 19
Session 3: Managing | Landscaping with Nature: Turning Battles into Partnerships (Home Gardener Intensive)

Larry Weaner, FAPLD

“Relative ecological stability” is a term used by ecologists to describe a highly competitive vegetative composition that allows few new individuals to enter the system. In garden-speak, that translates to “low maintenance.” In our final session we will illustrate how piggybacking on this and other ecological processes can change garden management from a battle to a partnership. Using examples from his own property as well as diverse client projects, Larry will share how a brains-over-brawn approach can result in compelling, easily managed landscapes that liberate both plants and people. 

6:00 - 7:15 PM ET

Register to view the recording: Session 3 individual or Full Bundle

Session 2: Planting | Landscaping with Nature: Turning Battles into Partnerships (Home Gardener Intensive)
Dec 12
Session 2: Planting | Landscaping with Nature: Turning Battles into Partnerships (Home Gardener Intensive)

Larry Weaner, FAPLD & Sara Weaner Cooper

In this session we will learn how “light touch” planting techniques can increase plant survival and reduce post-planting maintenance. The disturbance that results from deep digging, soil enhancement, and soil replacement always stimulates a flush of weeds. Applying fertilizer helps those weeds grow faster. In this session we will learn to match the plant to the soil, not the soil to the plant, an approach that avoids weed-enacting soil disturbance and places plants in soils that are familiar and conducive to their survival. We will also discuss how to select nursery plants that are most likely to thrive and proliferate in your landscape. Sara Weaner Cooper will conclude by presenting her chemical-free/no kill lawn-to-meadow transition project, now in its highly successful second year.   

6:00 - 7:15 PM ET

Register to view the recording: Session 2 individual or Full Bundle

Session 1: Design | Landscaping with Nature: Turning Battles into Partnerships (Home Gardener Intensive)
Dec 5
Session 1: Design | Landscaping with Nature: Turning Battles into Partnerships (Home Gardener Intensive)

Larry Weaner, FAPLD

Designing with site-adapted native plants is a good thing, but designing with the ecological processes that govern those plants in the wild is even better. Our opening session will examine a series of garden-relevant concepts from the ecological sciences including plant community, plant proliferation, competition, and ecological succession. Each concept will be defined and followed by a concrete example of its incorporation into a residential design. While rarely considered in traditional garden design, these ecological characteristics are actually key to achieving the environmental, aesthetic, and maintenance promise of ecology-based garden design.

6:00 - 7:15 PM ET

Register to view the recording: Session 1 individual or Full Bundle

Registration Details

  • When registering on the NDAL Participants Portal you will be asked to either sign into your existing account or create one. This account will give you exclusive access to the session recordings and course materials. These materials will be available until three (3) months after the live event dates.

    Group Orders: To register multiple people/staff members at once, go to your chosen course, click Register, then enter the number of registrations needed under Quantity on the left side. You will receive an email with an invite link to send to all the registrants in your group. Please note if you are registering yourself as well, you will NOT be automatically registered under a Group Order; you will also need to click the invite link to redeem your registration.

    Gift Orders: To purchase a course as a gift for someone else, go to your chosen course, click Register, then check off “This is a gift.”

    Students please email verification of student status (ie. course schedule, student ID) to info@ndal.org for student discount code.

    Registration will be refunded only if notification is received before ten (10) working days prior to the live event date less a $10 processing fee.

  • If you’ve already emailed for Wild Ones Member discount codes in the past, please keep an eye out for an email with the new code, as we are sending it to anyone who has previously used a Wild Ones-NDAL discount code.

    If you haven’t used a code previously, please email info@ndal.org with your Wild Ones member ID # or other verification of membership for the Series discount code.

FAQs

  • The entire course will be recorded and available (not downloadable) to all registrants after the live session ends for three (3) months. If you are registered, you do not need to attend the live session in order to access the recording.

  • You can register for 3 months past the live session date, and access the materials - including the recording - until that point.

  • Zoom Webinar. Please make sure to download the Zoom application (https://zoom.us/download) and download the latest Zoom update if needed prior to the live course. We recommend that you join ~5 minutes prior to the start time. The instructor(s) will use PowerPoint presentations. If you have any technical difficulties during the session and need to contact us, please email Sara Weaner Cooper, NDAL Executive Director, at sweaner@ndal.org instead of calling.

  • As this is not a professional course, no CEUs are offered.

Questions? Please contact:

New Directions in the American Landscape
info@ndal.org
510-518-0430

NDAL receives the 2024 AHS award in Horticultural Innovation!

We are thrilled and honored to announce that NDAL has received the 2024 Horticultural Innovation Award by American Horticultural Society (AHS). This award is part of AHS’s annual Great American Gardeners Awards, in which six individuals/organizations are recognized. The Horticultural Innovation Award is presented to an individual/organization “whose innovations have made the field of horticulture more sustainable and accessible to all.”

Expand your company’s reach and support ecology-based landscape practice!