For years I've taught garden design to mature students. We have a module on edible gardens - how and where to grow fruit and vegetables, and a module on how to work with nature. We take a field trip to a local garden centre and then to a supermarket, to see what is considered 'essential supplies' for the home gardener. It is illuminating.
The biggest product range is generally related to pest control. The second is devoted to improving the soil. Both of these 'problems' can be avoided with some simple changes in attitude and practice. As attitudes are generally hardest to shift we will look at them first. How we use local materials to create beautiful gardens is a creative challenge that as a design consultancy we respond to on a daily basis.
Many home gardeners want perfection. They want prize blooms, record sized produce and not a blemish on their carefully managed landscape. When we walk slowly into a natural environment, or even a local park, we will see that nature is not perfect. It aims for balance. Some bugs get to eat some plants. Some predators get to eat some bugs. We get to see the big picture, which is about nature working towards a balanced state of equilibrium.
When students say to me that they aspire to a perfect lawn, with no 'nasty worm casts' I assure them that without the worms their grass will require more and more inputs to achieve the same level of greenness, the same level of growth and resistance to drought. When you poison a worm you poison the soil. With companion planting you can boost the vigour of your chosen plants, fertilise your soil, and keep pesky bugs at bay.
We need to design our gardens and then develop and manage them in a nature-friendly way. Eco-friendly gardens are not a fad. With climate change and a global financial situation requiring us to be aware of inputs and outputs in a way we haven't considered for hundreds of years, we must change our attitudes towards nature.
In practice it means we have to let go a little, and allow ourselves to work with nature. Instead of laying poison, if we encourage natural predators into our gardens they will provide the balance for us. Nature friendly gardens are an art and a science. Greenstone Design's research team are constantly looking at new ways of developing healing gardens that are nature friendly, revitalising house and garden design to make the most of the local natural environment.
Eco garden design is design that makes a difference to the triple bottom line, to human health and well-being and hence to society, to the local economy and to the environment. We do that in an ethical way. It's what makes us a bit different.
The biggest product range is generally related to pest control. The second is devoted to improving the soil. Both of these 'problems' can be avoided with some simple changes in attitude and practice. As attitudes are generally hardest to shift we will look at them first. How we use local materials to create beautiful gardens is a creative challenge that as a design consultancy we respond to on a daily basis.
Many home gardeners want perfection. They want prize blooms, record sized produce and not a blemish on their carefully managed landscape. When we walk slowly into a natural environment, or even a local park, we will see that nature is not perfect. It aims for balance. Some bugs get to eat some plants. Some predators get to eat some bugs. We get to see the big picture, which is about nature working towards a balanced state of equilibrium.
When students say to me that they aspire to a perfect lawn, with no 'nasty worm casts' I assure them that without the worms their grass will require more and more inputs to achieve the same level of greenness, the same level of growth and resistance to drought. When you poison a worm you poison the soil. With companion planting you can boost the vigour of your chosen plants, fertilise your soil, and keep pesky bugs at bay.
We need to design our gardens and then develop and manage them in a nature-friendly way. Eco-friendly gardens are not a fad. With climate change and a global financial situation requiring us to be aware of inputs and outputs in a way we haven't considered for hundreds of years, we must change our attitudes towards nature.
In practice it means we have to let go a little, and allow ourselves to work with nature. Instead of laying poison, if we encourage natural predators into our gardens they will provide the balance for us. Nature friendly gardens are an art and a science. Greenstone Design's research team are constantly looking at new ways of developing healing gardens that are nature friendly, revitalising house and garden design to make the most of the local natural environment.
Eco garden design is design that makes a difference to the triple bottom line, to human health and well-being and hence to society, to the local economy and to the environment. We do that in an ethical way. It's what makes us a bit different.
5 comments:
As a blogger it's always interesting to know who reads your posts. Thanks for the feedback. I am passionate about a landscape-led approach to health and well-being. Without ecological health there can be no human health.
You can see some of my other thoughts and ideas on my Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/GreenstoneDesign?ref=hl
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