What to Expect this Year on Grounded Design
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| Tokachi Millenium Forest by Dan Pearson Studio; image by Syogo Oizumi/TMF |
I am inspired by a big idea. It is an idea about a new kind of garden, part designed and part wild, found in every corner our cities and and along every road of our countrysides. It is an idea about planting as an art, perhaps the most important art of this century, expressing both our longing for nature and our loss of it entirely. It is an idea about the potential of designed plantings to be fecund, self-creating communities.
It is not my idea, and it is not entirely a new idea. But for the first time, it is an idea being expressed artfully by some of the world's brightest designers and writers.
This year, Grounded Design will be intentionally more outward focused. We will celebrate the ideas of designers and writers on the edge of this new frontier. There will be a feature article on one of the fastest rising stars in design; there will be an interview with one of the most original thinkers in horticulture; and there will be several exclusive one on ones with internationally renowned plantsmen and plantswomen. And there will be guest posts with focused reviews of some of the most important new gardens of the last year.
So stay warm, and stay tuned!
Wishing you all a very happy New Year.
I will endeavour to do as you say..........! I am inspired by a big idea. It is an idea about a new kind of garden, part designed and part wild, found in every corner our cities and and along every road of our countrysides. It is an idea about planting as an art, perhaps the most important art of this century, expressing both our longing for nature and our loss of it entirely. It is an idea about the potential of designed plantings to be fecund, self-creating communities.
ReplyDeleteIt is not my idea, and it is not entirely a new idea. But for the first time, it is an idea being expressed artfully by some of the world's brightest designers and writers.
Some of us have been playing with this concept for some considerable time!
Keep up the good work Thomas!
Yes, that's right. You are a pioneer in this realm . . . I'd love to get your take on it. I'll be contacting you this year to chat more.
DeleteUmm probably no point Thomas..the 'International' garden world seems to be well skewed towards the '4 seasons' northern Hemi stuff and the rest of the worlds garden 'styles' are to be viewed as odd bods! The tropical sector in particular can put up some fabulous and very refreshing design stuff.. There is only so many Oudolphian dreams to be had! (...)
DeleteThere ARE only so many Oudolphian dreams to be had! (...)
DeleteSure there's every point for exactly the reasons you said. If the world is skewed toward Oudolfian aesthetic, then all the more reason for more voices.
DeleteSounds great - looking forward to it! I too am starting the New Year feeling inspired!
ReplyDeleteWhy are you inspired this year? What ideas have you thinking, Rose?
DeleteI second William Martin's comment, and look forward to seeing how your plans materialize in 2014.
ReplyDeleteThere's so many great things happening in gardens, design, and writing. I'm really trying to make a point to connect better this year and let those ideas shine here.
DeleteLooking forward to seeing and hearing more of this 'big' idea. A very happy gardening 2014
ReplyDeleteHappy New Year to you, Christina!
DeleteWe are on the cusp of a great change in how we think about gardens, and like you I feel 2014 is gonna be a watershed moment. I hope. We need it bad! Look forward to what you have in store for us as we garden more selflessly.
ReplyDeleteYes, it feels that way to me, too.
DeleteHere's a question for you, Ben: Do you think gardening for wildlife can be redefined as self-serving? Pleasurable? To me, encouraging people to garden out of a sense of sacrifice or moral obligation is a weak sales pitch. Unlike Britain or parts of Europe, we have this fabulously diverse native flora, a well of outstanding native plants that's hardly been tapped by the nursery trade. Do you think we can redefine gardening for wildlife as selfish and deeply pleasurable?
Might I butt in and say that surely all 'art' is self serving and to create a garden in whatever style and or reason etc is reason enough. 'Wildlife' is always around in whatever quantities and we can never know what is a goodly 'quantity' etc etc. WE are just as much in the business of survival as all our fellow travelers (wildlife) but of course we can endeavour to be less heavy handed in all that we do and hope that it may make some difference! Whatever that might be!
DeleteAs for that other 'quantity' mentioned..the numbers of plants of the native genre 'available'... A garden can be made (and indeed broad landscapes) with a very small selection of plant material. I think many garden making minds are afflicted by that horticultural malaise of more is best. That concept I believe belongs to another century with all its attendant baggage.
Is all art self-serving? Not sure if that is true. Nor does it strike me as particularly good reason to ignore the potential benefits of our gardens to wildlife.
DeleteAnd I certainly agree that a garden can be made with minimal plant material. I concurred with you on that point on a previous post and I’ve celebrated fantastic gardens on this site that used few (and almost entirely non-native species) on this site.
William, who is afflicted with the “the horticultural malaise of more is best”. Are you referring to promoters of diversity for the sake of wildlife? Or to the Oudolf New Wave planting style that you like you mock? It’s hard to tell who exactly you are poking at . . .
Hi, Thomas. We haven't yet met, but I'd like to butt in too, because I think the answer to the question you posed of Ben is a resounding YES. While some of us may feel that all life has intrinsic value and that is reason enough to build/preserve habitat, for many others, caring for plants and animals yields definite personal rewards. Stimulation for our senses and our curious minds, emotional and physical connections with other living things, making or finding comfortable, refreshing, riveting places to spend time outdoors... all of these are possible in a wildlife-friendly garden.
DeleteI too am looking forward to reading more of your writing in 2014.
Cheers! -Evelyn Hadden
Great to connect with you Evelyn. I'm a big fan of your advocacy of alternatives to lawn. You're showing people the range of great options out there. Glad to meet a sympathetic soul.
DeleteHappy gardening to you.
It's nice to see you embracing the idea of letting go a little bit in the garden and allowing the plants to do their own thing.
ReplyDeleteHa! Yes, I'm definitely interested in letting plants do their own thing.
DeleteThough the "idea" that I'm interested in is still pretty focused on aesthetics. If wildlife gardening does not serve the soul, is not seen as something attractive to a larger public, then real change cannot happen. But I don't think you and I are really too far apart on that issue.
Keep up the great work, Mike. And stay warm up there.
Looking forward for some welcomed topics
ReplyDeletect
I'm very much looking forward to your future posts...Happy 2014, Thomas!
ReplyDeleteSame to you, Scott.
DeleteThomas, I'm excited by the direction you're planning to take this blog and very much looking forward to the posts. Happy New Year. -Jean
ReplyDeleteA very happy New Year to you, Jean.
DeleteI guess I have to read you blog for yet, another year, Thomas. Happy New Year! Looking forward to your upcoming posts.
ReplyDeleteHappy New Year, Michael!
DeleteYour focus on the merger of planned and naturalizing - exactly. And as to William in AU (and the enviable climes of California, the Mediterranean, even the desert), our blend of that is good too, even if oddball.
ReplyDeleteOudolf's work is so obviously humid climate, and only remotely applicable to dry or tropical or Med climates. So substitute Martins, Martino, Jungles, Ten Eyck, etc. for their unique ecoregions, on how to interpret. The whole world is interested in any inviting space, as it seems all want to visit places like here for sun and open spaces - and not find Milwaukee knock-offs in the nearby built environment.
Happy New Year, my fellow LA!
Great point! Love your optimism about non-temperate climates. Happy New Year to you, David.
DeleteHi Thomas,
ReplyDeleteSounds like a rocking good design plan. There's a zeitgeist in motion and the more we include each other, the greater our collective impact will be.
Well said, Tony.
DeleteLong time reader, first time posting. I love this blog. Can't wait to read all the new articles and interviews! Happy New Year
ReplyDeleteI would like to chime in on the gardening for wildlife thread. I think there is a way to "sell" wildlife gardening in a way that does not use shame tactics or argue a moral obligation.
ReplyDeleteI think a garden can be an absolutely thrilling place when it is humming and buzzing with life. Gardens that neglect wildlife are always missing that one component. I renovated the garden at the front of my house (formerly cedars, junipers and not much of anything with flowers) to one festooned with flowering perennials (Joe Pye weed, coneflower, oxeye sunflower, blazing star, sneezeweed, foxglove beardtongue, and asters to name just a few). My parents call it their "jungle" and the difference was astonishing. We would spend afternoons sitting quietly on the porch watching bees, and even the occasional hummingbird.
The act of watching wildlife is not only a spectacle, but can be psychologically transformative. I will never forget the feeling of absolute elation to come home and find a Viceroy butterfly in my garden and thinking that what I had created was more than a garden, it was home to an array of other species. It fosters a mindset of cooperation and cohabitation that is a mindset society at large would do well to adopt. It prompted me to write my fourth-year BLA research paper on that very subject.
Wildlife gardening is something that enlivens the gardener as much as the creatures they are hoping to accommodate.
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