Scheduled Programs
Learn with us!
Browse our upcoming virtual & in-person programs, and register to view virtual session recordings.*
*Program recordings are listed at the bottom of this page for registration and are available for 3 months from their respective live session dates. Go to “On Demand” under Programs in the Menu for more recordings.
Featured program!
36th Annual Design Symposium
Landscape, Ecology & Culture
January 9 - 10, 2025 | Ambler, PA
January 16 - 17, 2025 | New London, CT
Virtual options available
From theory to practical application, the series explores forward-looking and frequently overlooked landscape topics. Join us as we continue to connect the dots between ecological restoration, cultural landscape practice, and fine garden design.
Landscape, Ecology & Culture: 36th Annual Design Symposium | PA Location (Virtual options available)
Founded in 1990, 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.
Category: Professional
Landscape, Ecology & Culture: 36th Annual Design Symposium | CT Location (Virtual options available)
Founded in 1990, 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.
Category: Professional
Landscape, Ecology & Culture: 36th Annual Design Symposium | Virtual Only
Founded in 1990, 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.
Category: Professional
Foundational Ecological Principles (Feb-Mar 2025 Virtual Intensive Session 1 of 7)
Instructor: Larry Weaner, FAPLD
*Recommended prerequisite for all other Sessions
Our opening presentation will examine the species traits, vegetative patterns, and ecological processes found in spontaneous plant communities. The patterns and processes explored will include disturbance, succession, competition, and relative ecological stability. This session will serve as the theoretical basis for the practical design, planting, and management procedures detailed in all subsequent sessions.
Registration is open and the recording is viewable for 3 months after the live session date.
Ecology-based Design (Feb-Mar 2025 Virtual Intensive Session 2 of 7)
Instructor: Larry Weaner, FAPLD
*Recommended prerequisite for all other Sessions
Larry will expand upon the ecological principles described in Session 1 by illustrating them in the context of landscape plans, planting protocols, and management procedures. He will also describe often-neglected plant characteristics that are crucial to ecology-based practice. These will include habitat fidelity, colonization patterns, seasonal growth period, life spans, spatial and temporal niche, and proliferation strategies.
Registration is open and the recording is viewable for 3 months after the live session date.
The Open Landscape: Meadows, Old Fields, & Shrublands (Feb-Mar 2025 Virtual Intensive Session 3 of 7)
Instructor: Larry Weaner, FAPLD
Wildflower meadows and native grasslands are in high demand, but effective protocols for successfully achieving them are in short supply. Here we will delve into the nitty gritty of meadow design: site analysis, species selection, seed mix formulation, live plant inclusion, planting and management. The inclusion of shrub thickets and drifts will also be covered, including the arrangement of clonal vs. clump forming species, and the use of shrublands as ecological and visual “connective tissue” between meadow and woods.
Registration is open and the recording is viewable for 3 months after the live session date.
Plants of the Open Landscape: Meadows, Old Fields, & Shrublands (Feb-Mar 2025 Virtual Intensive Session 4 of 7)
Instructor: Ian Caton
In this session, native plant authority Ian Caton will examine plants of the open landscape that exemplify the ecological characteristics described by Larry Weaner in previous sessions. His presentation will span the successional period from herbaceous meadow, to mixed woody/ herbaceous old field, to the ecologically important but often neglected clonal shrub thicket. He will also present a group of “workhorse” native species for the sunlit landscape that combine reliability and weed suppression with attractive aesthetic character.
Registration is open and the recording is viewable for 3 months after the live session date.
The Canopied Landscape: Woodlands, Edges, & Hedgerows (Feb-Mar 2025 Virtual Intensive Session 5 of 7)
Instructor: Larry Weaner, FAPLD
An ecology-based approach to woodland design is more like guiding a vegetative process than implementing a static planting plan. Guided succession can foster the orderly transformation from an open field to a multi-tiered forest through planting, managed natural recruitment, or a combination of the two. Under existing canopy, where few herbaceous species can be established through direct seeding, we will discuss the planting of small “seed source colonies,” and management strategies to encourage their proliferation into the larger landscape. Management techniques that are unique to woodlands including selective height cutting, sunlight manipulation, and assisted seed dispersal, will also be described in detail.
Registration is open and the recording is viewable for 3 months after the live session date.
Plants of the Canopied Landscape: Woodlands, Edges, & Hedgerows (Feb-Mar 2025 Virtual Intensive Session 6 of 7)
Instructor: Ian Caton
In this session, native plant authority Ian Caton will examine plants of the canopied landscape that exemplify the ecological characteristics described by Larry Weaner in previous sessions. His presentation will include plants found at all of the woodland’s vertical layers, from canopy to understory. He will also discuss their specific abilities to integrate with the unique colonization strategies inherent in woodland development and enhancement. Finally, Ian will present a group of “workhorse” native species for the woodland, including those that combine reliability with desirable aesthetic characteristics.
Registration is open and the recording is viewable for 3 months after the live session date.
The Artistic Overlay: Making “Wild” Legible (Feb-Mar 2025 Virtual Intensive Session 7 of 7)
Instructor: Larry Weaner, FAPLD
Ecological design need not be a bitter aesthetic pill that our clients must swallow to do the right thing. The order inherent in our wild native landscapes is widely considered beautiful. By translating that ecology-based order into the aesthetically-based language of fine garden design, the results can be much more universally embraced by our clients. In addition, Larry will illustrate how highly gardenesque - and even formal - elements can gracefully interact and intermingle with wilder woodland, shrubland, and meadow compositions. This approach can result in landscapes that are both ecologically productive and visually pleasing to clients with a variety of aesthetic preferences.
Registration is open and the recording is viewable for 3 months after the live session date.
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)
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)
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
Transitioning from Lawn to Meadow without Spray, Turf Removal, or Plastic (Fall Virtual Series)
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
Spicing Ecological Restoration with a Dash of Garden Design (Fall Virtual Series)
Steven Handel, Ph.D., Hon. ASLA and Larry Weaner, FAPLD
Restoration ecologists are primarily concerned with advancing a strong biodiversity agenda. How their projects are perceived by visitors is generally not considered ecologically relevant. But restoration projects that elicit a positive public response are more likely to receive management resources, trigger project expansions, and even provide inspiration for restoration at other sites. Public “fear of nature” and dislike of a “wild” look are hurdles that can be overcome however, through plant arrangement, management protocols, path placements, and other moves that make “wildness” more legible to them. In this session Restoration Ecologist Steven Handel and Landscape Designer Larry Weaner will discuss how cross-pollination between these two disciplines can marry site ecology and visitor experience, to the benefit of both.
Category: Professional
Creating & Enjoying a Bird Oasis (Fall Virtual Series)
Pam Karlson
Pam will use her widely published Birds in the Garden: Creating & Enjoying a Bird Oasis to illustrate how, even in a densely populated area like urban Chicago, she has attracted over 100 bird species and a wide variety of pollinators. In addition to native plant selection, her presentation will delve deeply into lesser examined aspects of habitat creation including nesting requirements, dietary needs, migratory routes, and various other forms of supplemental support. She will also discuss how tapping into community science can refine your efforts, and help you interpret the results. Join us to learn how your home property can exemplify the ecological power of urban lots.
Category: Professional and Home Gardener
At Home With Nature: Beauty, Ecology, and Experience (Fall Virtual Series)
Larry Weaner, FAPLD
Even on the smallest residential property, sharing garden decisions with nature changes everything. In this eye opening presentation, Larry will illustrate how an ecology-based, brains-over-brawn approach to home landscaping can reduce management needs, increase desirable wildlife habitat, and enhance the visual and intellectual experience of being in your yard.
FREE SESSION
Category: Home Gardener
Meadowcraft Across Regions: Native Plant Communities Meet Globalized Vegetation (Fall Virtual Series)
Stephanie Frischie (Upper Midwest & Spain), Eric Lee Mäder (Pacific NW) & Larry Weaner (Eastern U.S.)
Each speaker will discuss native meadow establishment techniques that are unique to their specific region, as well as the disturbed landscapes and invasive plants that they all commonly encounter. Our accomplished group of presenters will illustrate protocols for site analysis, plant selection, initial establishment, and management that optimize the competitive advantage of native meadow and prairie species. Finally, they will highlight the importance of understanding each site's native diversity potential, allowing practitioners to align their goals with what can actually be achieved. The program will conclude with a panel where all three presenters will compare notes, field questions and comments, and discuss new research that is affecting the future horizons of meadow restoration.
Category: Professional
The Artistic Overlay: Making “Wild” Legible | Recording (Virtual Intensive Session 7 of 7)
Instructor: Larry Weaner, FAPLD
Ecological design need not be a bitter aesthetic pill that our clients must swallow to do the right thing. The order inherent in our wild native landscapes is widely considered beautiful. By translating that ecology-based order into the aesthetically-based language of fine garden design, the results can be much more universally embraced by our clients. In addition, Larry will illustrate how highly gardenesque - and even formal - elements can gracefully interact and intermingle with wilder woodland, shrubland, and meadow compositions. This approach can result in landscapes that are both ecologically productive and visually pleasing to clients with a variety of aesthetic preferences.