NDAL Presents Ecology-based Landscape Intensive Virtual Course
Join influential Landscape Designer Larry Weaner and native plant expert Ian Caton as they explore the integration of restoration ecology and fine garden design. Applicable Regions: Eastern and Midwestern U.S. (Florida excluded). Presented by New Directions in the American Landscape (NDAL), the virtual sessions are $105 each and include a 100+ page, login-protected course manual. The session will be recorded live and viewable to registrants for three months after each live session date. Register today.
December 1, 1-4:30 PM EST
The Canopied Landscape: Woodlands, Edges, and Hedgerows
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.
December 2, 1-4:30 PM EST
The Artistic Overlay: Making “Wild” Legible
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.
December 15, 1-4:30 PM EST
Plants of the Open Landscape: Meadows, Old Fields, and Shrublands
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.
December 16, 1-4:30 PM EST
Plants of the Canopied Landscape: Woodlands, Edges, and Hedgerows
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.
