Sara Weaner Cooper
In April of 2022, Sara and Evan Cooper moved into their new home in a suburban Philadelphia neighborhood. After one spring and summer of consistently mowing their ~5,000 square foot front lawn, Sara eagerly initiated the process of transitioning the lawn into a native wildflower meadow. She wanted to avoid two things, however: herbicide and heavy physical labor. Leaving the turf in place, she began a turf-to-meadow conversion process that relied on actions that simultaneously weakened the lawn and strengthened her newly planted meadow. After two growing seasons, the results have exceeded expectations. Learn the practical steps they took, the successes and challenges they have so far encountered, and their plans for guiding the meadow to maturity.
Category: Home Gardener
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 today: Session 1 individual or Full Bundle
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 today: Session 2 individual or Full Bundle
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 today: Session 3 individual or Full Bundle
