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Advanced Design Workshop | Ecology, Culture & Art: A Landscape Design Workshop in Real Time with Larry Weaner

September 24 @ 9:00 am - 3:30 pm

| $375 – $450

This intensive full-day workshop will be held at Stoneleigh, a historic estate and stunning natural garden in Philadelphia’s suburban Main Line.

Here, Landscape Designer Larry Weaner will explore the underlying and often hidden characteristics of “place”; the consideration of which can lead to designed landscapes with deep ecological and cultural connections. He will describe important native plant characteristics that are often left on the table during the plant selection process, including root structure, competitive levels, longevity, and levels of conservatism (specialist vs. generalist species). He will also explore the ecological processes and landscape interactions that guide their compositional change over time, including proliferation strategies, succession, and disturbance. Finally, he will show how a highly personalized artistic overlay can be applied to enhance the aesthetic appreciation and experiential richness encountered by those who live, work, and visit these multifaceted landscapes.

The program will begin with a presentation by Larry that describes how the above-described characteristics can be incorporated into a designed landscape or ecological restoration. That session will be followed by a field visit to a workshop ‘design site’ on the Stoneleigh property. There, Stoneleigh personnel will provide the institutional history of the site, while Larry provides guidance on the historic and ecological site analysis process that will feed into the participants’ designs. The remainder of the day will be spent creating individual plans for the visited site. Participants can choose to work alone or in a small interactive group on that plan. Larry will roam the room to provide guidance as needed, and the session will conclude with a group discussion of completed plans.

The rich historic narrative and contemporary native gardens at Stoneleigh, combined with Larry’s innovative design approach, is sure to provide a highly productive educational environment that will enhance participants’ ability to integrate deep ecology and fine art into their work.

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MEET YOUR INSTRUCTOR

Larry Weaner, FAPLD is the founder and principal of Larry Weaner Landscape Associates, and founded its educational affiliate New Directions in the American Landscape (NDAL) in 1990. His firm’s design and restoration work spans more than twenty U.S. states and the U.K., and has been profiled in national publications, including The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Landscape Architecture Magazine, Garden Design, American Gardener, Wildflower Magazine, North American Native Plant Society’s The Blazing Star, and ASLA’s The Dirt blog. Larry has received numerous awards, including the Landscape Design Award from the New England Wildflower Society for use of native plants in “exceptional and distinctive landscape compositions” and the Lady Bird Johnson Environmental Award from The Native Plant Center. The Garden Club of America awarded him an honorary membership in 2015, and the American Horticultural Society recognized him with the 2021 Landscape Design Award. This award is presented to an individual whose work has demonstrated and promoted the value of sound horticultural practices in the field of landscape architecture. In 2021 the Association of Professional Landscape Designers (APLD) presented him with its Award of Distinction, and Wild Ones – Native Plants, Natural Landscapes named him an Honorary Director for the 2021 – 2025 term.

Larry’s approach to landscape design appeals to audiences nationwide. He has presented at American Society of Landscape Architects (ASLA) national and state meetings, Cultural Landscape Foundation tours, and the Garden Writers Association National Conference. He has spoken at the Institute of Ecosystem Studies, the New York Botanical Garden, the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center, the Mad Gardeners Conference, the Millersville Native Plant Conference, the National Arboretum in Washington, DC, the Native Plant Center at Westchester Community College, the New England Grows conference, and the U.S. Botanic Garden, among many other venues. He is an APLD founding member, a former member of APLD’s Environmental Committee, and an Affiliate member of the American Society of Landscape Architects (ASLA). He received his Associate’s degree in Ornamental Horticulture from Pennsylvania College of Technology.

Larry authored Garden Revolution: How Our Landscapes Can Be a Source of Environmental Change with Tom Christopher (Timber Press, 2016). Their book received a 2017 Book Award from the American Horticultural Society.

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