Purchase Event Tickets Sponsor Native Plant Conference Cultivating Ecological Stewardship Save the Date! Friday, June 12 Formerly named the Land Ethics Symposium, this full-day conference is the Preserve’s education and engagement in action. The day features multiple industry speakers, including …
This program is brought to you, in part, thanks to the generous support of the Bucks County Foundation.
All too often in our gardens and landscapes we think of static compositions of carefully placed and managed plants. But our approach can be more dynamic—and arguably more rewarding—by taking advantage of natural plant abilities to reproduce and proliferate. Learn how designer Larry Weaner, FAPLD, combines design with the reproductive abilities of plants and ecological processes to create compelling, ever-evolving landscapes that bring new meaning to partnering with nature. Using examples from his own property and diverse client projects, Weaner will share how this give-and-take approach can result in compelling, low-maintenance landscapes that free plants to perform according to their natural abilities and liberate people from having to cater to their landscapes’ every need.
Larry Weaner, FAPLD, founded Larry Weaner Landscape Associates in 1982 and established New Directions in the American Landscape in 1990. He is nationally recognized for combining expertise in horticulture, landscape design and ecological restoration. His design and restoration work spans across the U.S. and in the U.K. and has been profiled in numerous national publications. His book Garden Revolution: How Our Landscapes Can Be a Source of Environmental Change (Timber Press, 2016) received an American Horticultural Society (AHS) Book Award in 2017. In 2021 he received AHS’s Landscape Design Award and the Association of Professional Landscape Designers (APLD) Award of Distinction.
Tickets are:
BHWP members: please present your membership card at the event.
This lecture has been approved for 1.0 hours of CEUs through the LA CES
We are excited to announce that The Crossing will be returning to Bowman’s Hill Wildflower Preserve for a reprise of The Forest, their choral performance that quickly sold out at the Preserve last October, during their Month of Moderns 2021 …
Learn all about how and why to foster native plants in your landscape Per Class: $30 in-person with guided walk; $25 virtual only The Knowing Native Plants series is an annual seasonal deep dive into the native plants of the …
Why Native Plants MatterAs more and more of the land around us is developed and/or degraded, the home landscape is becoming increasingly important in the preservation of healthy, balanced ecosystems. We now know how important it is to change our …
Transitioning Your GardenThe Preserve promotes the concept of “transitional gardening” as a beneficial practice to follow in your home landscape. The next time you want to add to your garden, please consider planting locally grown native plants, vines, shrubs and …
This presentation captures the conception, design, current state of plant establishment and stewardship of a native plant landscape and sculpture park—The Bower—as told by the founders, Bill and Jane Allis. Begun in 2018, this “rural renewal” enhances and diversifies a 36-acre property situated in the Ridge and Valley ecoregion of the Northern Appalachian range in Shermans Dale, PA. Large native plant gardens, shrub drifts, enhanced natural meadow and savanna habitat, a series of small constructed wetland pools and forest combine gracefully with significant sculptures, providing visitors an immersive experience. Stewarded organically with renewable energy and limited staff, The Bower opened in 2021—free by appointment only—and continues to develop with evolving visitor enhancements and public programming. The project was recently awarded one of the Preserve’s 2023 Land Ethics Awards.
Bill Allis retired as an environmental engineer for Gannett Fleming, an international consulting firm, in 2018. As a designer, project manager and business leader, his practice focused on large municipal civil infrastructure. Beyond his current role as The Bower’s co-founder and manager, Allis is engaged in landscape conservation and enhancement as a board member and the stewardship committee chair of the Central Pennsylvania Conservancy. He lives full time at The Bower—his homestead of almost 50 years.
Jane Allis completed a 40-year career as an early childhood educator and administrator in 2016. Her career highlights include education program development and serving as project manager for the land acquisition, consultant selection and design build of The Londonderry School—one of the first LEED accredited school designs in Pennsylvania. Beyond her current role as The Bower’s co-founder and manager, Allis is engaged as a property holder in a public and private pilot conservation project: the Catoctin Stewardship Initiative in Maryland. She also serves as chapter president of the Wild Ones of South-Central Pennsylvania. Jane lives full time at The Bower—her homestead of almost 50 years.
Program Fee: $15 (Members, enter your code at checkout to receive your 20% discount.)
All lectures will be held virtually using Zoom. They will be recorded and shared with everyone who registers for a short time.
What is the Native Plant Advocate Program? The Native Plant Advocate Program is the updated revision of our beloved naturalist program. We have realized that the information presented during the previous training sessions is of value and interest for more …
Explore the creative process of landscape design—from how to use texture, color and constructed aspects—to how to choose the best native plant solutions for your landscape. With each class building upon the last, this extensive course will help you design a customized garden area perfect for your property. In this expanded six-part series, retired landscape architect Don Borden—a former professor at Temple and Delaware Valley universities—will utilize his 16 years of teaching experience to help you understand the ins and outs of the design process and help you create a personalized landscaping plan.
Those attending should select a project area they would like assistance with and bring photographs and a sketch or plan of the area to the first class. Seminar participants should also bring soft pencils, markers, colored pencils and yellow tracing paper to each class.
Don Borden is a retired registered landscape architect who earned degrees from Rutgers University in landscape architecture and Temple University in landscape design. He has 47 years in professional practice and taught landscape design at Temple University and landscape architecture at Delaware Valley University.
Dates and Times: 10 am – 1 pm
Admission: $225; Members: $180 (with discount code)
Our Staff PETER COUCHMAN, Executive Director 215.862.2924 x104 Peter Couchman is a hybrid between a vegetable gardening father and an ornamental horticulturist mother, germinated and grown in Gettysburg, PA. While still a teenager, Peter began a career as a professional …