This beautiful no-lawn landscape, originally designed by Larry Weaner Associates, was augmented to include a variety of flowering bulbs to increase curb appeal in this native plant landscape. Early blooming spring perennials and ground covers (green mulch) were added to invite pollinators and reduce the need for expensive, labor-heavy weeding and removal of invasive species.
This is a fabulous example of a hybrid native/non-native landscape planting. In the first photo at the top of this post, the yellow flowers are Packera aurea (golden ragwort), a perennial native to eastern United States woodland and bog environments. It is a fabulous spring bloomer that supports local pollinators and wildlife. For early spring bulbs, we planted a mixture of native (above white flower is our native trout lily – Erythronium albidum) and non-natives like daffodils and hyacinths to maximize the sequence of early spring blooms.
Not quite a novel landscape, this garden endures as a most productive ecosystem in a part of town where most properties are chemical-dependent lawns with little to no native plants or potential habitat for birds and pollinators. This property is a shining example of a joint effort between design, education and sustainable management in the anthropogenic age of resilience.
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Jay Archer
Landscape Ecologist, Designer, President
914-560-6570
