Embrace Nature's Beauty with Sustainable Garden Design
A new garden season is upon us and with it brings a renewed celebration of nature and revealing beauty in the humble plant, says landscape designer Franchesca watson
We live in a more demanding world, especially when it comes to climate. Beauty in gardening is no longer enough — we need to work within our environmental constraints and make smart decisions that shape our gardens in kinder and more sustainable ways. We need plants that are adaptable and undemanding, and to make conscious choices when it comes to the materials, garden objét and furniture in our gardens
Natural, loose-style planting is the de rigueur expression of us embracing and working with nature. It allows a more flexible approach, placing plants as they would be happiest instead of herding them into formal shapes and lines. This allows the garden to employ a larger quantity of species, encouraging biodiversity and cushioning against failure. Planting styles this season are about celebrating nature not fighting against it. Humble, everyday plants are often best and, if chosen carefully, can achieve enormous effect in the garden.
A few I intend to use this season are hardy rosemaries, light and airy Gaura lindheimeri, a variety of fennels for their frothy foliage, brightly coloured Aster novi-belgii, Felicia echinata for texture, Pelargoniums and Erigeron Karvinskianus,which are marvellous spilling over a pot edge or to fringe the back of stair treads. Grasses are a good example too — there is a grass adapted for almost any situation. My best finds for the new season are Stipa dregeana (Stipa grass) for shady areas, Heteropogon contortus (black spear grass) for sunny spots, and Imperata cylindrica (Cogon grass) for wet, water- retaining soils. Depending on the climate of your garden, there is a range of dependable plants that will almost always work. Don’t be concerned if they are commonplace, the beauty is revealed in the way you use and combine them.
To complement the free-flow garden, natural materials look best. Think stone, wood, bamboo, gravel, slates, rock and pebbles. Even better, upcycle or reuse existing items and use local, naturally occurring materials and plants that thrive your area. This will likely create a colour palette that seems well-fitted and harmonious with the natural light in the garden.
There are many ways to lay pebbles, edge lawns or build steps. Ingenuity is the watchword. For example, decking is wonderful when curvaceous; and curved steps can be achieved by using neat, curved strips of Corten steel for the risers. Gravel can be edged with low stones of varying sizes, or even with a thick planting of greenery that performs beautifully as an edge, such as Mondo grass.
Special lighting is a great technique to maximise the beauty and drama at night — and there are an abundance of new lighting options. Some of my favourites include ring lights at the base of trees; lights that can be concealed in hand rails and water features; moon lights to hang in trees; and small, discreet ground lights that provide illumination from ground level.
Garden furniture has gone light in weight, gentle in shape and easy to move about, bringing with it great versatility. Materials are sustainable and neutral in palette. Relaxed and light-hearted is the mood we’re going for this season.
Text by Franchesca Watson