Above: Sara & Evan Cooper’s front landscape as of summer 2026, four years after starting the transition from turf grass.
Lawn to Meadow:
A Light and Gradual Transition
(with 2026 updates)
Larry Weaner, FAPLD & Sara Weaner Cooper
No chemicals, no smothering, no scraping and hauling, 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 transition organically without breaking your back, sparking ecological angst, or infuriating your neighbors. These actions can include strategic plant selection, timed mowing, selective height cutting, pH manipulation, organic herbicide application, and a phased planting approach. In our first session, Larry will illustrate case studies that exemplify the technical underpinnings behind this approach from a landscape designer's perspective. Next, Sara will discuss her lawn to meadow conversion from a homeowner’s perspective. Her meadow, now in its fourth growing season, has been featured in the The New York Times (2024) and the BBC (2025). Together, they will illustrate how the experience of meadow making can be transformed from daunting to uplifting.
Wednesday, Nov. 18th, 2026 | 3:00 - 4:15 PM ET
Category: Home gardener
Fee: $38
Student & Wild Ones member discounts - email info@ndal.org for discount codes
Group and Gift Orders (follow instructions upon registering)
Registration open & recording viewable for 3 months after live date.
Instructor Bios:
Larry Weaner, FAPLD, founded Larry Weaner Landscape Associates in 1982 and New Directions in the American Landscape in 1990. His nationally recognized work combines horticulture, landscape design, and ecological restoration, and spans more than twenty U.S. states and the U.K. He has been profiled in national publications. Larry’s approach to landscape design appeals to audiences nationwide. He has presented at American Society of Landscape Architects (ASLA) national and state meetings, Cultural Landscape Foundation tours, the Garden Writers Association National Conference, the Institute of Ecosystem Studies, the New York Botanical Garden, and the National Arboretum in Washington, DC, among others. His book, Garden Revolution: How Our Landscapes Can Be a Source of Environmental Change (Timber Press 2016), co-authored with Tom Christopher, received an American Horticultural Society (AHS) Book Award in 2017. In 2021 he received the AHS Landscape Design Award and the Association of Professional Landscape Designers (APLD) Award of Distinction.
Sara Weaner Cooper is owner and principal of NDAL, and has expanded its curricular and geographic reach since 2018. She holds a M.A. in anthropology and education from Teachers College, Columbia University, and a B.A. in anthropology and education from Bryn Mawr College. One of her passions and long-term goals is to work with schools on eco-cultural land stewardship curricula. Sara has presented on NDAL’s ecological landscape design curriculum for the 2026 American Horticultural Society National Children & Youth Garden Symposium. In 2017 Sara worked for the educational nonprofit Transcend as a research associate, where she researched learner outcomes & development and helped produce resources for school communities. Her and her husband Evan Cooper's home landscape was featured in a BBC article in 2025 and The New York Times article in 2024, which illustrates an experimental yet highly successful organic transition from lawn to native meadow. Sara has presented about this transition for the Ecological Landscape Alliance's Annual Conference and Grow Native MA, among others. In 2024 NDAL received the American Horticultural Society (AHS) Award for Horticultural Innovation, which recognizes an individual/organization “whose innovations have made the field of horticulture more sustainable and accessible to all.”