All Scheduled Programs
Meadow Making:
A Brains Over Brawn Approach
A 4-part Virtual Intensive Course for Home Gardeners
Upcoming Live:
Previously Held:
(Recordings available for 3 months from live date)
Landscaping with Nature:
Turning Battles into Partnerships
A 4-part Virtual Intensive Course for Home Gardeners
Individual Sessions:
Ecology-based Landscape Practice
A 7-part Virtual Intensive Course for Professionals
Individual Sessions:
Previously Held Live:
(Register to view recordings for 3 months from live date)
Landscaping with Nature: Turning Battles into Partnerships | Session 4 of 4 | Conversation and Q&A
Larry Weaner, FAPLD
After a two-week opportunity to digest the information provided in the previous three sessions, attendees will have the opportunity to ask questions and discuss the course information. The freewheeling format will allow for exploration of the many variations inherent to an ecology-based approach.
6:00 - 7:15 PM ET
Register today for Landscaping with Nature
Photo by Steve Ford
Meadow Making: A Brains Over Brawn Approach | Session 4 of 4 | Conversation and Q&A
Larry Weaner, FAPLD and Sara Weaner Cooper
After a two-week opportunity to digest the information provided in the previous three sessions, attendees will have the opportunity to ask questions and discuss the course information. The freewheeling format will allow for exploration of the many “variations on the meadow theme” that can arise from the individual experiences and interests of course attendees.
6:00 - 7:15 PM ET
Register today for Meadow Making
Photo by Steve Ford
Meadow Making: A Brains Over Brawn Approach | Session 3 of 4 | Managing
Larry Weaner, FAPLD
Meadow management, particularly in the first two years, is every bit as important as planning and planting. Here we will show how piggybacking on ecological processes can preserve the meadow’s long term integrity without the need to add supplements, cut incessantly, and endlessly pull weeds. In scientific terms this vegetative condition is called “relative ecological stability.” In landscape terms it is called “low maintenance.”ir questions and individual meadow-making experiences.
6:00 - 7:15 PM ET
Registration includes Sessions 1 - 4.
Into the Weeds: How to Garden Like a Forager (Spring Virtual Series)
Tama Matsuoka Wong
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.
Fee: $42
Landscaping with Nature: Turning Battles into Partnerships | Session 3 of 4: Managing |
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
Meadow Making: A Brains Over Brawn Approach | Session 2 of 4 | Planting
Larry Weaner, FAPLD and Sara Weaner Cooper
From rototilling to fertilizing, many garden planting techniques are actually counterproductive when it comes to meadow making. In this session we will illustrate how to sow meadow seeds and plant live plants in a manner that puts them in a position to succeed without the intensive maintenance requirements of turf grass or traditional gardens. This session will also include a brief presentation by Sara Weaner Cooper who will describe her chemical-free/no kill lawn-to-meadow transition project, now in its highly successful second year.
6:00 - 7:15 PM ET
Registration includes Sessions 1 - 4.
Ecology and Beauty: DIY Strategies for Creating a Landscape Full of Life (Spring Virtual Series)
Sarah F. Jayne
As the biodiversity crisis deepens, what you do matters. If you are eager to boost the ecological value of your own landscape or a community space, this fast-paced, practical workshop is for you. We’ll look at beginner to advanced strategies and resources for protecting the wildlife on your property; making room for ecologically beneficial plants; choosing the specific plants that your local caterpillars, native bees, and birds require for survival; procuring plants on a budget; and designing and caring for attractive plantings with wildlife in mind, all while ensuring community acceptance for a more natural landscape. Along with a detailed handout, you’ll come away inspired and empowered to fill your landscape with life.
Fee: $42
Landscaping with Nature: Turning Battles into Partnerships | Session 2 of 4: Planting |
Larry Weaner, FAPLD
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.
6:00 - 7:15 PM ET
Meadow Making: A Brains Over Brawn Approach | Session 1 of 4 | Design
Larry Weaner, FAPLD
In our opening session we will illustrate how to select the meadow plants that are most likely to thrive on your property as well as fit your aesthetic and practical preferences. This will include guidance for site analysis, seed mix formulation, and the potential to hasten meadow development through the supplemental addition of live plants.
6:00 - 7:15 PM ET
Registration includes Sessions 1 - 4.
Landscaping with Nature: Turning Battles into Partnerships | Session 1 of 4 | Design
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
At Home With Nature: Beauty, Ecology, and Experience
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