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Award Winning Landscapes: Meadow lands
1 Aug, 2008 By: Michael Seuffert Landscape ManagementLarry Weaner hopes that visitors to his clients' properties don't talk about how great the landscaping is. If he's done his job right, the land should look so natural, so fitting, that his role goes almost unnoticed.
 The pool, designed as a pathway, has a secluded opening with views of the meadows. |
"I want people to think 'This is a great place,' not 'This is a great landscape job,'" says Weaner, president of Larry Weaner Landscape Design in Glenside, PA.
Since 1982, Larry Weaner Design has specialized in natural landscapes, combining environmental science with the artistic traditions of garden design. The company's specialty lately has become native meadows, offering clients a low-maintenance, ecologically beneficial alternative to traditional open fields of grass.
 A meadow inspired garden transitions more refined landscaping to seeded meadows futher out. |
This approach recently caught the eyes of the Association of Professional Landscape Designers, earning the company a Gold Award in the residential category at the APLD's Annual Landscape Design Awards. The Beans Property, as the project is known, was also unanimously chosen as the overall "Best of Show" winner.
A life of its own
The Beans Property is 165-acre single-family residential property in Saucon Valley, PA. The designed area consists of nearly 2 acres of landscaped garden and 35 acres of planted natural areas, including meadows and reforestation. The project was completed over a three-year period, with the meadow planted prior to completion of the house.
 A zigzag interaction of stone and plants creates undefined space in the landscape. |
"The owners were open to the idea of the gardens and planting being native, community-based vegetation," says Weaner. "They were interested in creating a wildlife habitat, particularly to bring in as many birds as possible.
"Surrounding the property are spectacular views of mature trees, open fields, mature hedgerows, and a large stream; we decided that a native composition that complemented this native character was preferable to one that competed with it."
 Native shrubs and upright grasses soften the terraced walls that provide the grade variation between the house and pool areas. Steel umbrellas reflect the property's history. |
One of the challenges of this property was to give it a natural look without looking unkempt. Weaner accomplished this with a gradual transition from highly arranged natural gardens around the home to the "wild areas" further out. The idea is that "the designer's hand becomes increasingly less evident as one moves out to the farther reaches of the property."
Now that the property is established, it is relatively easy to maintain. One person visits twice a week for upkeep, and a designer visits several times during the growing season to advise on any areas that may need attention.
But to get to this point was a long process, years in the making. When the meadows were first planted, Pennsylvania went through a prolonged summer drought, which kept nearly anything from growing. Non-native plants were crowding out the native pants Weaner installed. Eventually the rains came and the project came together the way the designers and owners intended.
 Native wildflowers comprise 35 acres of planting and completely encompass the house and entry drive. |
"Now we have things coming up all over the place that weren't planted," Weaner says. "There are so many seeds flying everywhere that most of the 'weeds' that come up are desirable. It feels like the property has a life of its own. Speaking artistically, it's a perpetually regenerating composition."
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