Meet Larry Weaner, a nationally recognized leader in the natural landscape field whose work combines ecological restoration with traditions of fine garden design. Thursday, January 19, 10 a.m. to 12 p.m.
Larry Weaner takes you beyond popular buzzwords like “sustainable” and “low-maintenance” to examine some surprising and at times counter-intuitive strategies for eco-friendly garden design.
Weaner’s presentation takes a look at practical, concrete processes for creating easily-managed landscapes that seamlessly combine ecological diversity, cultural expression, and the traditions of garden design. See how his alternative approaches—on everything from selecting plants to arranging, spacing, and weeding gardens—can yield rich landscapes that are more easily maintained, achieving their greatest ecological and aesthetic potential.
Weaner, 58, has created hundreds of native landscapes throughout the eastern United States since 1977. Larry Weaner Landscape Associates has received the top three design awards in 2008 from the Association of Professional Landscape Designers. Their projects include private gardens, public and commercial spaces, meadows, and natural areas.
Joyce H. Newman is the editor of Consumer Reports GreenerChoices.org, and has been a Garden Tour Guide with The New York Botanical Garden for the past six years.
Thursdays, 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. — January 19, February 16, March 15
The New York Botanical Garden invites you to come in from the cold and warm up at the 2012 Winter Lecture Series, featuring three distinguished experts at the forefront of ecology and sustainable practices. Each will be sharing insights and practical advice on crucial challenges confronting today’s gardeners.
January 19 —BREAKING THE RULES: Ecological Design for the Real World
Larry Weaner has been creating native landscapes throughout the eastern U.S. since 1977. His firm, Larry Weaner Landscape Associates, has received several top design awards and has a national reputation for combining ecological and traditional garden design.
In this lecture Weaner shows us new and alternative gardening techniques that can yield richer, more easily maintained landscapes.
Meet Diana Conklin, one of NYBG’s Adult Education instructors teaching a variety of botanical craft classes for the holidays.
Holiday wreath-making expert Diana Conklin was born and raised on a potato farm along the east end of Long Island–that was before the area was taken over by vineyards! And coming from a farming background, Diana’s love of all things botanical is deeply ingrained.
Her studio, Everlastings by Diana, remains on the family farm in one of their barns. There she specializes in creating stunning dried flower arrangements, many of which are displayed at local craft galleries and events.
For the first time in the Holiday Train Show’s 20-year history, you too can learn how to create architectural replicas from natural materials, just like the landmarks featured in our Conservatory displays.
Join Madeline Yanni, The New York Botanical Garden’s expert floral and crafts designer on December 17 for a special, hands-on class. Madeline will help you explore various architectural styles and crafting techniques, after which you can choose from an assortment of dried botanicals, like seed pods, bark, and branches, to make your own model. You’ll need to bring lunch, as well as a box large enough to put your models in.
Transplants can be harrowing occasions, and not solely for the houseplants and conservatory wonders we love so well. It’s just as difficult to find yourself changing pots as a walking, talking outsider, a newcomer not only to the Garden, but the often overwhelming reality of New York City.
The weather, the flora–they’re curious shocks to the system for a Florida boy. There are few evergreen copses where I’m from, and fewer rose gardens. Certainly the leaves don’t flush with shades of citrus and fire when fall makes its appearance. Rather, I’m more accustomed to hurricanes, swamp cypress and banana trees. And we don’t pull the stowed parkas from the crawlspace when October arrives, either; we’re more likely to say a silent “thank you” that the humidity will let up for a few months. Better yet, perhaps the mosquitoes will give it a rest.
The Ruth Rea Howell Family Garden is a New York City treasure. It’s an amazing one-and-a-half acre site where children and families can learn about plants and the natural world through hands-on gardening. Each afternoon children–with help from their parents, volunteers, and staff–are encouraged to dig, weed, compost, plant, tend, and harvest in garden plots. These ongoing gardening activities are complemented by a changing roster of programs that encourage children to explore seasonal garden-related themes.
This month’s theme is Sweet and Stinky! Aromatic alliums such as onions and garlic, and herbs such as basil and oregano love the summer heat. Follow the “sweet and stinky” smells to the Family Garden to discover these culinary champions. Savor the scents and tickle your taste buds at our cooking demonstrations or try these delicious recipes at home!
Calendula officinalis, a flower popular in herbal skin preperations. (Photo by Ivo M. Vermeulen)
Did you catch that story in the New York Times last week about the “modern apothecary?” Did you think to yourself, “That’s all well and good, but what I’d really like to do is learn to make my own skincare?” And why shouldn’t you? You grow your own organic vegetables, cook them with carefully selected ingredients from locally sourced purveyors, you take your vitamins, drink herbal tisanes, and do yoga; you take special care of your inside, so why shouldn’t you take special care of the outside, too? And what could be more natural, or more local, than skincare you make yourself, from ingredients you grow yourself? Forget “farm-to-table!” You’re all about “garden-to-dressing-table!” But where to start?
On Tuesday, July 26, the Garden’s Adult Education department will be hosting a workshop at our beautiful Midtown Center, Herbal Spa Workshop: A Natural Approach to Beautiful Skin, from 6:15-8:15 p.m. The class, taught by herbalist Ursula Basch, will teach you how to use natural products to make herbal clay masks, moisturizers, lip balms, skin toners, foot scrubs, and more. You will also design your own essential oil blend and have the opportunity to sample various products, including the herbal clay mask, so dress appropriately! The class is $61 for Members, $65 for non-Members. The price includes a $20 materials fee.
So grab a girlfriend and learn about the next big trend in locavorism! The Midtown Center is located just two blocks away from Bryant Park, so after your evening of pampering, you can make an evening of it, and head over to the park and listen to live jazz under the stars (see listing for July 26).
Jonathan Billing is GreenSchool Science Education Intern.
The GreenSchool is a classroom and a laboratory for school groups from New York City and beyond, but it’s not just the students who are in for a treat. Teachers and chaperones are also likely to be delighted by any trip to the GreenSchool. The journey of discovery begins as you step into the incredible Enid A. Haupt Conservatory, wend your way through the fascinating houses, and emerge into the Deserts of the Americas. Descend the stairs and turn right, you’ll see a turtle petroglyph carved by the Lenape tribe, and a mysterious set of slatted green doors labeled, “GreenSchool.” Behind those doors lies a world of wonder and scientific exploration.
My name is Jonathan Billig and it is my honor and privilege to work as the GreenSchool Science Education Intern. I have been here for the last seven months, and in two more I’ll have to move on, to make way for another eager educator. He or she will learn how to use inquiry-based education, perform administrative tasks such as arranging the GreenSchool schedule, and do a lot of minute work for a very great cause; I’m about to prepare 300 bean sprouts for kindergarteners to pry open and observe in next week’s Life Cycle classes.
Our greatest resources at the GreenSchool are the curiosity of our students, our amazing instructors, and the living library that is The New York Botanical Garden. Classroom work is important, don’t get me wrong, but kids really blossom when they can put their learning into a living context. “What? A Kapok tree sends water to its leaves 250 feet in the air so that it can do photosynthesis?” “What are those lines on the leaves? Are they like the veins in our arms?” The varied environments of the Conservatory, and the diverse collections outside, provide a wealth of educational experience that students rarely forget.
In the three rooms of the Green School, instructors help students explore the scientific wonders of botany, gardening, ecology, and more. Students visiting the GreenSchool might practice microscope skills by observing an Elodea leaf at 400x, or examine the flowers, stems, seeds, roots and leaves that make up our botanical diet, like broccoli. “Broccoli is a flower!? And it tastes so good. This is changing my life!” That was said by a second grade boy from the Bronx.
The GreenSchool is at its best when you see kids connecting first-hand experience to advanced scientific concepts. We teach about the water cycle first by asking kids to observe where they notice water in the Conservatory, or where they think it might be. Then, through drawing, discussion, and explanation in our classrooms, we contextualize that information. It’s a wonder to see students begin to understand how water moves through every ecosystem, from a distant rain forest to a tiny apartment!
So the next time you see those mysterious green slatted doors, hopefully you will be with a school group so you can come in and learn with us. If not, rest assured that there’s a whole lot of wonder behind those doors, and a whole lot you can learn outside of the GreenSchool, no matter your age!
In case you’ve missed some of the previous installments, NYBG photography instructorRich Pomerantz has a series of how-to videos specifically designed for garden photographers. In this episode, Rich talks about the age-old technique known as the “Rule of Thirds”.
Rich has an upcoming class that will be based out of our Midtown Education Center but will take photo trips to the High Line Park. Be sure to sign up while spots are still available. The flora should be amazing in May!
Do you have a burning question garden photography question that we can pose to Rich? Maybe your question will turn into the next tutorial! You can leave your suggestions in the comments.
But, we know that not everyone can get here easily. So we got together with Rich in the Conservatory and filmed this short video tutorial, the first in what will be a five-part series. We hope you like it!
Do you have a burning question garden photography question that we can pose to Rich? Maybe your question will turn into the next tutorial! You can leave your suggestions in the comments.
Larry Weaner takes you beyond popular buzzwords like “sustainable” and “low-maintenance” to examine some surprising and at times counter-intuitive strategies for eco-friendly garden design.
