Views from our Veranda

Celebrate the first of May! Find out what's new with our ongoing restoration of the historic Jay gardens and in a rehabilitaion of the Jay Meadow. Meet Meadow Designer Larry Weaner and Thomas Woltz, principal of Nelson Byrd Woltz Landscape Architects . Cocktail reception at the mansion and site tour. Members $10; Non-Members $20

LARRY WEANER has over 30 years of landscape design and installation experience, combining expertise in horticulture, environmental science, and the traditions of garden design.

His design and restoration work spans more then ten states 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, and ASLA’s “The Dirt” blog. Larry has received numerous awards for his work, including the Landscape Design Award from the New England Wildflower Society for use of native plants in “exceptional and distinctive landscape compositions.” The Garden Club of America recently awarded him an honorary membership.

His approach to creating and managing native landscapes appeals to audiences nationwide. Larry has presented at American Society of Landscape Architects (ASLA) Annual Meetings and state chapter meetings, Association of Professional Landscape Designers (APLD) events, Cultural Landscape Foundation tours, and the Garden Writers Association National Conference. He has also 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, Morris Arboretum of the University of Pennsylvania, the National Arboretum in Washington, DC, the National Wildlife Federation, the Native Plant Center at Westchester Community College, the New England Grows conference, and the U.S. Botanic Garden. He is a founding member of Association of Professional Landscape Designers (APLD), a former member of APLD’s Environmental Committee, and an Affiliate member of the American Society of Landscape Architects (ASLA).

In 1990, Larry developed New Directions in the American Landscape (NDAL), a conference and workshop series dedicated to advancing the art and science of natural landscape design. Co-sponsors of NDAL programs include the Atlanta Botanic Garden, Brandywine Conservancy, Brooklyn Botanic Garden, Connecticut College Arboretum, Holden Arboretum, Morris Arboretum of the University of Pennsylvania, Morton Arboretum, and Tower Hill Botanic Garden, among others. This influential series has a loyal following in the landscape field.

Larry’s book Garden Revolution: How Our Landscapes Can Be a Source of Environmental Change, co-authored with Tom Christopher, will be released by Timber Press in May 2016

THOMAS WOLTZ is the owner of Nelson Byrd Woltz Landscape Architects. He was named the Design Innovator of the Year by the Wall Street Journal Magazine in 2013. In 2011, he was invested into the American Society of Landscape Architects Council of Fellows, among the highest honors achieved in the profession.

During the past 19 years of practice, Woltz has forged a body of work that integrates the beauty and function of built form and craftsmanship with an understanding of complex biological systems and restoration ecology that has yielded hundreds of acres of reconstructed wetlands, reforested land, native meadows, and flourishing wildlife habitat. His design work infuses places where people live, work, and play with narratives of the land that inspire stewardship. Many of these projects focus on restoration of damaged ecological infrastructure within working farmland and create models of biodiversity and sustainable agriculture.

Woltz was educated at the University of Virginia in the fields of architecture, landscape architecture, fine art, and architectural history. He holds master's degrees in Landscape Architecture and Architecture. After working in Venice Italy and Paris France, he returned to the States to launch his career in landscape architecture. Current work includes projects at Hudson Yards (NYC), Memorial Park (Houston), Devonian Botanic Garden (Alberta, Canada), and Cornwall Park (Auckland, New Zealand). Woltz serves on the Boards of Directors of TCLF(The Cultural Landscape Foundation) and MAS (The Municipal Art Society of New York).