The Sustainable Garden - No. 1 - An Introduction

Welcome to The Sustainable Garden

How do we design gardens that are not only beautiful and meet our aspirations but also help keep our planet healthy? This blog will seek to explore that question, starting here by putting the issue in the broader context and asking ‘why now’?

Climate change is presenting us with new challenges that require us to adapt our lives, including how we garden. This series of articles is intended as a resource for people who are interested in their gardens rising to that challenge and being more environmentally balanced.

Whilst the emphasis will be on design and aesthetics, providing advise and inspiration to create 'greener' gardens that we still love to look at and be in, it will inevitably also cover some practical matters.

It will not be a definitive and exhaustive guide (as there will always be more to learn) but rather is intended to point the way. Many will have their own take on the issue and have developed good ideas through experience - so please feel free to share.

The series will start with a broad look at sustainability and the garden, how to see new potential, will offer a fresh perspective and discuss design techniques. It will then go on to focus on specific elements such as materials, water, planting and maintenance.

But first, by way of introduction, to answer the serious question ‘why now’?

In truth the move towards a more sustainable design approach has been a long time in coming. The science has been pointing to the need for it for years.

The reality is though that, while nature and the environment have always provided inspiration, the constraints of the system (the products and resources available) and the nature of the market (what people want and expect) have always tempered the extent to which ‘green’ design could be overtly promoted.

A lot happened in 2019. More even, it seems, than previous years to remind and persuade us that ‘business as usual’ is no longer a tenable position. Not least the UK government declared a climate emergency, as did many local & city authorities around the world, and companies large and small.

Extreme weather events seemed to intensify, from forest fires in Australia the likes of which had never been seen, to serious flooding in the UK, only this time in both summer and autumn. And the State of Nature Report in the UK yet again highlighted the continued decline of the nation’s flora & fauna (albeit while also showcasing many exciting conservation initiatives).

2019 was the year the UN concluded one million species were heading for extinction and the year when ‘12 years to limit climate change catastrophe’ became 11.

I’m sure you get the message. Not wanting to be pessimistic or alarmist (far from it as the hope here is to encourage people to see new potential in their gardens and to enable a new approach), nonetheless the situation is sufficiently serious to warrant significant change in the way we do things.

And while the most important thing is that governments around the world rise to the challenge of implementing appropriate policy, we as individuals can at least endeavour to change our lifestyles. Thus 2020 seems like a good time to develop a clearer vision for our future gardens.

So, what exactly can we do? The answer is plenty. From using good design, to opening our eyes to new ideas, from sourcing better materials and selecting more appropriate plants to adjusting the way we look after our gardens. The potential for our gardens to satisfy our hopes, needs and aspirations remains as great as ever.

Of all the things in our lives that can be green surely the garden is one.

First up – what sustainability has to do with our garden and visa versa?