essays on sustainable urban landscapes, gardens & culture

the art of ecological, whole system design

Sustainable living, focused through garden design is the main focus of this section of the website, exploring crucial issues relating to urban living, gardens, landscape, sustainability, carbon footprint, peak oil, food security, design psychology, spiritual balance and ecological futures.

This site is not for everyone; many of you will find some of the topics too challenging. After all, we are used to light, whimsical garden-chat-show thinking and superficial gloss. I'm not really very good at that, and prefer to work on deeper levels. I freely acknowledge that this can put people off, especially when reading from a website, where 30 seconds of attention is a long time; therefore this site is really dedicated to the few who can persevere, who want a deeper knowledge. To those who do, I hope you find it worthwhile. In all cases, I welcome your comments and feedback, especially on how things can be improved.

Current thinking on garden and landscape design is dominated by materials-focused contemporary style, without addressing fundamental issues such as the psychology of spatial layout, low-carbon footprint, future food security and the interlocking of small green spaces and gardens into wider landscape patterns. These are all explored here.

By 2015 we are certain to see the accepted norms of our global society and economies being severely tested by issues of climate change and energy decline. As we move away from recession, oil will once again become increasingly expensive as demand exceeds supply, modern intensive agriculture will be strained to the breaking point, food abundance will become a thing of the past and scarcity will become the norm. People will look to their gardens to supplement the available food supply and the good news is that there is a huge amount of food we can grow in the form of edible landscapes and forest gardens, where we combine ornament and aesthetics with practicality and productivity - a richer, multi-layered way of thinking and designing.

This site aims to explore these issues and find out how we can all adapt our landscapes and gardens to be beautiful, secure and productive spaces, to spend our time and enjoy our lives, in coming times of global recession and energy decline. Acted on en-mass, the good use of gardens and landscape can literally save the world...