What is a contemporary garden? - you might be surprised.

The cloistered monastic gardens of the middle ages where protected, contemplative places designed with orderly symmetry and restful greenery. They were both an antidote to turbulent times and reflection of the religious imperatives of the day.

In the late seventeenth century, the English landscape garden evolved, at least in part, as a political statement. A rejection of French style formal gardens that coincided with a century of wars with our nearest neighbour.

Later, the ‘arts & crafts’ garden, in many ways the classic English country garden of rolling lawns, herbaceous borders and gentle formality, developed in the early twentieth century as a reaction to industrialisation, an attempt to restore artisanal values being lost.

The point is that gardens have always changed to reflect the issues of their day. So what are the issues of our era, that might define the contemporary garden? There is really only one that matters.

Climate change and global environmental degradation have placed our gardens on a frontline, and what we decide to do with them matters. But a shift towards a more sustainable way of designing, building and maintaining our gardens does not mean simply handing it over to nature. It is still possible, with some thought and effort, to create beautiful and functional gardens that satisfy our needs.

It does though probably require a slight shift in mindset. The essential consideration is reducing the resources (and therefore the energy) consumed and increasing the ecological benefits created. In a nutshell, less paving and more planting, less lawn and more meadow, less garden ‘room’ and more garden ‘habitat’.

Simple design techniques can be used to keep us feeling in control, and maintenance, while changing, need not be more. Our gardens may seem small but combined they represent a vast area, which if used wisely can provide a huge resource for nature.