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Larry Weaner

Just outside of Allentown, Pennsylvania lies the 165-acre former estate of the founding family of Bethlehem Steel. By the time our clients purchased the property, the old mansion and gardens were long gone. The landscape consisted of corn and hay fields, lying within a network of hedgerows of Norway Spruce and volunteer trees.

The new owners contacted our firm in 1997 to formulate a program for the property that could be managed easily, would provide habitat for local wildlife, and exhibit a naturalistic aesthetic. Our initial design work began on the natural areas of the property before the architecturals for the house were even completed. Forty acres of native meadows, tree groves and shrub thickets were planted, and well established, by the time the owners moved into the house. Subsequently, native gardens and complimentary constructed elements were created in the house environs to compliment the wild character of the property, albeit in more refined compositions.

Freestanding walls snaking through a thicket form the centerpiece of the front entry gardens.

The rear of the house and a substantial stone terrace are blended into the landscape by utilizing the composition suggested by the “lone wolf tree in the meadow” found in the view beyond

Sunken, to render it hidden from the rear terrace and house, the pool provides multiple functions, including a shallow play area, a lap section, and a secluded getaway with prominent meadow views.

The planted natural areas and native gardens of the property are now well established, including the meadows, which are six years old. Our clients have enjoyed not only the visual character of their landscape, but the experiential aspects provided by the plants, birds and butterflies that now inhabit their property. This project has also been quite rewarding for all of those involved from our firm, from the initial design, to continuing involvement in the management of this very stimulating landscape.

Short:
Larry Weaner is a landscape designer, author, lecturer and educator who has been practicing professionally since 1977. In 1982 he founded Larry Weaner Landscape Design Associates, Inc . in Glenside , Pennsylvania , where his practice focuses on the integration of garden design and ecological restoration. Mr. Weaner developed the New Directions in the American Landscape Conference series in 1990, co-sponsoring events throughout the Eastern U.S. He is a past Board of Directors Member and Environmental Chair of the Association of Professional Landscape Designers. You can learn more about Larry Weaner and his work at www.lweanerdesign.co

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