Start Date
05/09/2025
End Date
05/09/2025
Description
No chemical use, no hauling, no digging, no smothering - no early-stage ugly phase.
Sounds too good to be true.
Yet by gradually applying a series of light touch actions, you can achieve this organic transition without breaking your back, sparking ecological angst, or infuriating your neighbors. These actions can include timed mowing, selective height cutting, pH manipulation, and organic herbicide application.
In this session, Sara will discuss her lawn to meadow conversion (featured in The New York Times, 2024), including 2025 updates and plans, illustrating a homeowner’s perspective. Larry will explore case studies exemplifying the technical underpinnings behind this approach, from a landscape designer's perspective. This brains over brawn approach can transform the experience of creating residential meadows from daunting to uplifting.
Distance Learning
Yes
Course Equivalency
No
Subjects
Residential Design
Sustainable Development & Design
Health, Safety and Welfare
Yes
Hours
1.25
Learning Outcomes
1. Learn about a transitional, organic approach to lawn-to-meadow conversion that includes such "light touch" actions as timed mowing, selective height cutting, pH manipulation, and organic herbicide application.
2. Learn how these "light touch" actions can be implemented to achieve neighborhood approval, less labor, and a more ecologically-sound meadow creation process.
3. Understand the challenges and successes from both the expert landscape designer perspective and the homeowner/client perspective.
Instructors
Larry Weaner, FAPLD & Sara Weaner Cooper
Course Codes
Provider
New Directions in the American Landscape