It’s not often that I get to plagiarise two of my favourite artists in one go.
Wendy MacNaugton is an artist who offers sometimes witty and always thoughtful illustrations of day to day life. I am particularly fond of her take on flowcharts and Venn diagrams of modern dilemmas, such as the one about ‘Medical Sources’ or ‘Should I check my emails?’ (https://www.wendymacnaughton.com/drawings)
In a completely different register, I am also an admirer of Catherine Dee’s work. Her books on landscape architecture are timeless, providing simple, wise understanding on how gardens and landscapes can function and their essential role in our lives, beyond mere ornementation (https://catherinedee.co.uk/).
Drawing inspiration from both artists, I wanted to represent what a good garden is, without getting too entangled with words and concepts. Voilà.
that any office powerpoint presentation would be proud of.
Like any other industries, garden and landscape design generates its fair amount of jargon and terminology. Sustainability, wildlife gardens, biophilic design, permaculture, green and blue infrastructures, regenerative design, forest gardens, rewilding…many well-meaning all encompassing concepts, which can often become meaningless on the ground. I can fall myself down the trap of using these terms to describe the making of gardens and landscapes. I do remain vigilant though, and my ‘rubbish’ radar gets in alert mode as soon as somebody (including me) starts using these terms a little too frequently in conversations, it is a full blown red alert when all these get thrown into one sentence.
So, in a time when we seem to have become disconnected from nature whilst getting busy conceptualising it, I go back to Catherine Dee for a simpler approach. Her ingredients for a successful garden are: nature, utility and art. Those can be adapted with whatever a site will allow you to do now and over time. It is the careful balance between them that leads to good spaces for people and nature.
Whilst pondering on the new (and old) gardening jargon and all the talk about environmental disconnections, I came across some new research in how we perceive nature. Re-assuringly, it seems that for now, we still know what a place rich in wildlife looks like. A recent study showed that participants being given different photos and sound recordings representing forest types, could pretty well match the level of measured biodiversity with what they perceived, just from visual and acoustic clues, no need for an ecology degree here. https://besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/pan3.70087
So, maybe, we just need to trust ourselves a little bit more, and not follow fashions, of which there are many in the gardening industry, but follow our instinct and pause before deciding which way seems the most sensible and beneficial for us and all other life around us.
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All photos and artwork are my own.
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