Our accomplished group of presenters will include Landscape Designer and Regional Planner Evan Abramson, Cornell Botanic Gardens Gardener Krissy Boys, Garden Designer and Wood Thrush Native Nursery Owner Ian Caton, Landscape Designer and Principal of Gardens by Mardi, LLC Mardi Dover, and NDAL Founder and Landscape Designer Larry Weaner.

Or scroll down for session details

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

CEUs available for those marked “Professional” (APLD, LA CES, NOFA)
See here for CEU details & instructions.

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

Photo by Larry Weaner Landscape Associates

Designing Biodiversity through Pollinator-Plant Interactions:
Applied Science at the Landscape Scale

(Professional)

Evan Abramson

“Seeing lots of bees” does not necessarily mean that a landscape is pollinator-friendly. While activity at the pollination scale has repercussions throughout the food web, most current efforts only benefit a few common species, rather than the range of wild pollinators needed for real ecosystem resiliency. In this presentation we will explore scalable, replicable models of plant selection and habitat design for a variety of landscape environments including campuses, conservation properties, public parks, working lands, and residential gardens. We will also explore how each of these landscape types can serve as building blocks for linking intact natural areas across our existing fragmented landscape.

Tuesday, March 19, 2024 | 3:00 - 4:15 PM ET 

Sourcing Native Plants and Seeds: A Homeowner’s Guide

(Non-professional)

Ian Caton

Once you’ve decided what to plant, in what form 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 presentation, 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.    

Tuesday, March 26, 2024 | 3:00 - 4:15 PM ET

Landscape Multitasking: Big Ecology for Small Properties

(Non-professional)

Larry Weaner, FAPLD

By selecting plants in accordance with the environments where they naturally occur, and applying a weed suppressive ground layer, the maintenance of your landscape can be significantly reduced. Consider the specific wildlife associations of those plants, add in the physical elements of habitat creation, and you will also experience an array of pollinators, frogs, dragonflies, and birds. Finally, personalize the landscape through an efficient and creative use of space that accommodates your unique practical needs and aesthetic preferences. In this presentation, Larry will show how your little slice of the world can surpass the sum of its parts, and become a multifaceted vehicle for interacting with nature - up close and personal.

Tuesday, April 2, 2024 | 1:00 - 4:30 PM ET

The Benefits of Grazing in Grassland Restoration
CANCELLED - please stay tuned!

(Professional)

Rick Rath

Prior to European settlement, native grasslands were heavily influenced by fire and the subsequent herbivory of many native grazers including elk and bison. Today, only a small fraction of these once pervasive grasslands exist, leading to a considerable interest in their restoration. Reintroducing a grazing regime to these restored grasslands is essential to capitalizing on the true ecological treasures that prairies possess. As many of these grasslands are working lands, Rick will describe the “conservation grazing” methodology, an approach that falls at the intersection of restoration ecology and ranching, and is of equal value to practitioners of both.

Thursday, April 4, 2024 | 3:00 - 4:15 PM ET

Native “Weeds” as Beneficial Workhorses

(Non-professional)

Ethan Dropkin, MLA

Gardeners spend countless hours pulling weeds. Some of these, however, are native plants that  in the context of ecological gardening, could just as easily be treated as landscaping allies. These tough, often self-sufficient plants can suppress much worse weeds, control erosion, and provide significant habitat value. In the right setting, these plants can be surprisingly ornamental, both as individuals and as contributors to an overall garden composition. Maybe best of all, they often show up for free. By acquiring information on their benefits and learning how to plant or manage them, we can turn these “problem plants” into welcome partners in the naturalized landscape.

Tuesday, April 9, 2024 | 3:00 - 4:15 PM ET

The Business of Ecology-based Landscape Practice

(Professional) 

Mardi Dover, CPLD & Larry Weaner, FAPLD

Part 1: Efficiency, Finance, and Professional Fulfillment: Creating a Healthy Landscape Practice
Mardi Dover
Whether you are working on large scale ecological restorations or nature-based residential gardens, thoughtful systems in your business and operational practices will free up more time for doing what originally attracted you to professional landscape practice - designing beautiful and ecologically rich spaces for your clients. Mardi will share her extensive experience as a landscape designer, entrepreneur, and business consultant. She will illustrate how to streamline your design practice by creating financial and organizational processes that enhance your efficiency, your financial condition, and of equal importance: your professional quality of life.

Part 2: Finding Your Niche: Establishing an Ecological Focus for Your Firm
Larry Weaner

Demand for ecologically beneficial landscapes is dramatically increasing. Consequently, landscape practitioners with an identifiable ecological focus are well positioned to significantly expand their client base. Offering an ecological approach, however, requires a set of specialized skills and operational approaches. This presentation will guide landscape architects and designers through the processes of self-education, ecology-specific niche marketing, and client communication. Larry will also describe how to create an office environment that fosters the intellectual and creative flexibility needed to optimize the value of this rewarding landscape niche.

Thursday, April 11, 2024 | 1:00 - 4:30 PM ET

Native Lawns: Biodiversity, Beauty, and Function

(Professional and non-professional)

Kristine Boys

In this presentation Kristine 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.   

Tuesday, April 16, 2024 | 3:00 - 4:15 PM ET

Landscape Across Cultures: Global Practices for Local Practitioners

(Professional)

Larry Weaner, FAPLD

Throughout the world, people are re-evaluating how they interact with the landscape. From contemporary agricultural practice where monocultures dominate, to modern landscape design where static plant assemblages are managed to suppress successional change, it is clear that more nuanced approaches are needed. Fortunately, formulating these approaches does not require re-inventing the wheel. It does require, however, examining some of the highly sophisticated, ecological process-based practices that traditional cultures employed worldwide over millennia. While plant species and physical environments differ across these regions, many of the practices are surprisingly similar. In this presentation, Landscape Designer Larry Weaner will illustrate how traditional practices from around the world can be adapted to local conditions. While also considering issues of cultural appropriation, he will show how these practices can help solve many of the horticultural, ecological, and even artistic challenges that contemporary landscape practitioners face. 

Friday, April 26, 2024 | 1:00 - 4:30 PM ET

Registration & NDAL Participants Portal

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.

NEW! 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.

NEW! 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.

Student Scholarships | Free Individual Session Attendance
Students and recent graduates are invited to apply for scholarships granting free registration to one of the virtual sessions. Two scholarships per session will be awarded.

Eligibility: Current undergraduate/graduate student or matriculation in 2023/2024.

To apply: Please submit no more than 1 page description of why you’re interested in the particular session you’re applying to attend, and your resume. You are welcome to list multiple sessions as your next choices.

Due date: Applications taken on a rolling basis until filled. You are also welcome to apply after a live session date to view the recording.

To apply: Please email your letter and resume to Sara Weaner Cooper, NDAL Executive Director, at sweaner@ndal.org.

Wild Ones Member Discounts

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.

Questions? Please contact:

Sara Weaner Cooper
Executive Director
New Directions in the American Landscape
sweaner@ndal.org
510-518-0430