Naturalistic gardens are informal gardens designed to mimic nature. Working in partnership with nature, they idealise the true potential of a given site. In fact these gardens are celebrations of the serendipity achieved through organic change. Soil conditions, surrounding landscape, climate and native flora underpin their design (Brine, 2010). With no clear symmetry or geometry they flaunt the subtle beauty of wild nature.
Each naturalistic garden is unique. The site’s geography and climate play a great role in its identity (Brine, 2010). A naturalistic garden in South Australia is different from the one in Victoria (Fig. 1). Despite their glaring visual differences, what makes them both naturalistic gardens? In this essay I will seek an answer to the question by analysing the design and concept of naturalistic gardens each set in North America, Japan and Australia respectively. Comparing the planting style, material selection and maintenance strategies I will list their similarities and differences. I will argue that their similarity is the result of cross-pollination of ideas irrespective of geographical boundaries. To support my argument I will narrate various political, social and cultural events in the garden history of the northern and southern hemisphere since the 18th century that influenced the naturalistic gardens of today. Finally I will conclude with a summary of my findings highlighting the similarities and importance of naturalistic gardens in the modern world.
Fig 1: Two naturalistic gardens in Australia. Australian garden by Sam Cox, Wattle Glen, Victoria (Cox, n.d.) and Boats End garden by Sarah Budarick, Currency Creek, South Australia (Schreier, 2015)
Naturalistic garden style over the years
The history of naturalism in gardens begins with the English Landscape movement of the 18th century in England.
Fig 2: Aerial view of Capability Brown’s landscape modification at Petworth estate, West Sussex.
English landscape gardens were an antithesis to the then popular French and Italian formal gardens. They idealised nature with green meadows, winding rivers, hills, valleys, and beautifully arranged clumped trees resembling landscape paintings of English countryside (Fig. 2). Influenced by Alexander Pope’s genius loci, William Kent and his successors Lancelot ‘Capability’ Brown and Humphry Repton sculpted marvellous landscape gardens in England. Even though the style attempted to create natural landscapes free from the control over nature, it often required contouring land in massive scales. The political conditions were favourable for wealthy landowners of the period to acquire common land. They built private sanctums with grand vistas which sometimes resulted in moving whole villages. Social and economic issues elevated along with the loss of real ‘wilderness’ (Hobhouse, 2020). The Influence of this style is evident in Europe and the settlements of America and Australia. The early settlers couldn’t embrace the wilderness of these continents. So they tamed and controlled it to remind them of home. Illustrations of early 19th century Australian settlements in Sydney by artist Sigismod Himely and Joseph Lycett show landscape gardens (Fig. 3). The works of William Guilfoyle in the 19th century Victoria are also influenced by the English landscape school, especially his work at The Royal Botanic Gardens in Melbourne. The works of American architects Downing and Olmsted also resemble landscape gardens (Fig. 3). Central Park in New York created in 1858 is an excellent example. The legacy of the landscape movement is in its success to develop garden design as an art and introduce naturalism in gardens (Hobhouse, 2020).
Fig 3: Sigismond Himely’s painting of the garden of Woolloomooloo house with the borrowed landscape of the harbour, 1801-1872 (Baskin and Dixon, 1996) and the long meadow in prospect park (Nycgovparks.org, 2019)
The Wild Garden
Formality made a comeback in gardens of the 19th century when Architect Charles Barry reintroduced Renaissance features to Victorian gardens. Terraces with flower-beds filled with seasonal annuals became a gardening fashion. Availability of exotic plants, cheap coal, extensive glass houses made possible by repealed glass taxes all made extensive bedding a reality (Hobhouse, 2020).
As a reaction to the growing artificiality in gardens and loss of real ‘wilderness’, William Robinson, an Irish gardener published ‘The Wild Garden’ in 1870. He emphasised the importance of gardens that celebrate diversity and autonomy which was the result of less controls. He embraced the dynamic nature of a garden and brutally criticised the control over it in the form of topiary art and bedding. Placing plants where they will thrive without further care was his gardening philosophy. Having a cosmopolitan overview, he encouraged a global mix of locally adapted plants. Although he didn’t design gardens, his own residence at Gravetye Manor served as an experimental ground for his naturalistic ideas (Robinson and Darke, 2009). Robinson’s ideas had a great social impact. Gardening along the laws of nature made it less laboursome and accessible among the middle class (Wasilewski, 2019).
Arts and Crafts Gardens
Industrialisation was booming in England in the 1880s. As a reaction to the reduced quality of mass-produced industry goods, the Arts and Crafts movement evolved. This movement influenced garden designers in both north and south of the hemisphere. Gardens of this style encouraged traditional plants and materials, simple design and a respect for nature. This vision inspired Gertrude Jekyll. She used hardy perennials in her exuberant naturalistic plantings as suggested by Robinson.
Fig 4: Gertrude Jekyll’s perennial border at Munstead Wood and its plan(Bisgrove, 2007)
Arts and craft gardens in both America and Australia had more regional context. They varied depending on climatic conditions and availability of indigenous materials (Hobhouse, 2020). In the 1920s Australian garden designer Edna Walling combined ideas of both Jekyll and Robinson with her own liking for Australian native plants in her designs for the iconic garden estate Bickleigh Vale (Fig. 6). She used local materials and native plants to complement the natural bush landscape. The garden-led suburb of Castlecrag in Sydney planted with natives only by architect Walter Burley Griffin also strikes a cord with the Arts and crafts movement (Hambrett, 2004). This movement also inspired The prairie movement in garden design in North America. As a pioneer of this movement Jen Jensen encouraged Americans to appreciate the beauty of the regional landscape. His love of rolling prairies and the openness of Midwest landscape is greatly emphasized in his designs (Hobhouse, 2020).
Fig 5: Jen Jensen’s council ring in Columbus park symbolises both democracy and ancient traditions of North America (www.nps.gov, n.d.).
Fig 6: Cottage and garden in Bickleigh Vale by Edna Walling (Young, 2019)
The Native Movement
Robinson’s Wild Garden instilled an interest to conserve and protect nature. In Germany this idea was taken up by architect Willy Lange in the 1900s. His ‘nature garden’ had only German natives. This made way for naturalism being associated with nationalism (Wolschke-Bulmahn, 1992). The native garden movement of Australia started in the 1890s. Many believed natural gardens were maintenance free. Lack of horticultural knowledge on native plants resulted in vigorous growth of some while others died (Baskin and Dixon, 1996).
Sustainable Gardens
After world war II revival of Robinson’s ideas is evident in gardens of both north and south hemispheres. Europe was impoverished and there left no wealth to maintain gardens that battled against nature. Sustainability becomes the agenda of gardens. While others in Britain retreated to cottage gardens, Beth Chatto made a breakthrough creating sustainable gardens in the late 1970s. A dry garden designed to thrive without irrigation and a wet garden on intractable clay (Hobhouse, 2020)(Fig. 7). Australia also witnessed the birth of naturalistic bush gardens. Increased nationalism, conservation movements and works of Ellis Stones in partnership with Edna Walling fueled the upbringing of this style. Bush gardens idealised the aromatic visual beauty of native bush lands (Fig. 24). Gardens of this style perfected by Gordon Ford in Victoria and Betty Maloney in Sydney reflect a great sense of place. A garden in Western Australia by professor George Seddon also adopted a design appropriate for its location. Being a place with scanty rainfall and less fertile soil, drought tolerant Mediterranean and African plants were used (Fig. 7).
Fig 7: Beth Chatto’s gravel garden (www.bethchatto.co.uk, n.d.) and Professor Seddon’s garden in Western Australia (Baskin and Dixon, 1996).
The New Perennial Movement
Naturalism is achieved in many 21st century gardens with sustainable naturalistic plantings that resemble wild meadows. The use of herbaceous perennials and grasses to resonate wilderness was familiar in Europe since the 1930s. German plantsmas Karl Forester was the first to develop this style. He approached grouping of plants ecologically. Various others improvised his style both ecologically and aesthetically. Mien Ruys grouped exotics purely on aesthetic grounds in her show gardens in the Netherlands. Leaders of the Dutch New Wave, artist Ton Ter Linden and Henk Grritsen approach it with a visual imperative as well (Fig. 8). The New American Garden initiated by architects James Van Sweden and Wolfgang Oehme also evoke the spirit of wild open spaces (Fig. 9). In the 1970s they urged American home owners to reclaim their lawns and plant herbaceous perennials and grasses.
Fig 8: Ton Ter Linden’s garden in Holland (Kingsbury, 2011)
The style of loose perennial meadow style planting is perfected by the best-known practitioner of the New Perennial Movement, plantsman Piet Oudolf. He creates timeless gardens that interest people throughout the year.
Fig 9: The Federal Reserve Garden – the New American Garden by Sweden and Oehme in 1977(Hobhouse, 2020)
European style of perennial planting was introduced to Britain by Nurseryman Noel Kingbury who noted limitations of native wildflower meadows in 1994. A number of public parks in Britain feature naturalistic planting including the London Olympic Park (Hobhouse, 2020)(Fig. 10).
Fig 10: Dramatic pictorial meadows in London Olympic Park by Sarah Price and Nigel Dunnet (Dunnett, 2016)
Designed Plant Communities
Plants in a garden are not isolated individuals. They are related communities. The scientific study of how they behave as a community has taken a new dimension in the 21st century. The study of ecology of plants in naturalistic plantings started by Foerster were further extended by Richard Hansen in 1947. Hansen’s study at the University of Weihenstephan was specialised in the ‘sociability’ of plants under various conditions such as adjustments in soil, water and temperature (Fig. 11 and 12). Even though his efforts were to minimise maintenance of his designed plant communities, his successors added an aesthetic dimension to it. The works of Nigel Dunnet and James hitchmoug from Sheffield School are also in the same context. They develop seed mixes for planting meadows of different styles (Hobhouse, 2020).
Fig 11: Root morphology of plants helps identify water competition between them. Deep tap roots do not compete with shallow fibrous roots (Rainer and West, 2016)
Fig 12: Plant selection for various meadows based on their response to soil moisture (Rainer and West, 2016)
Ecological Gardens of today
Today’s garden designers consider the environmental impact of gardens including the source of materials, the ways to procure them, wasteful use of heat and water and problems invasive foreign plants may cause. Gardners are also cautious about the use of chemicals and fertilizers (Hobhouse, 2020). Planting schemes are ecologically and aesthetically informed. Naturalistic plantings are done in several layers starting with groundcovers, companion layer and structural layer (Fig. 14). A mix of natives and exotics are preferred. The result is a landscape that is not totally wild but evokes emotions of it and facilitates ecological services.
Fig 13 : Layers in designed plant community (Spencer, 2017)
Design Analysis
Gardens of the High line – New York, North America
Garden type: A series of naturalistic roof gardens
Years operational: Since 2009
Site prior to landscape construction: Abandoned rail line taken over by wild plants.
Local environment: Urban
Landscape architect: James Corner
Planting design: Piet Udolf
Maintenance: The Friends of High Line
Fig 14: The Northern Spur dominated by native North American plants (Rostaing, 2017).
The High Line in New York was an elevated freight railway that had been abandoned in 1980. Over the years it became an industrial ruin taken over by volunteer plants. When the authorities planned to demolish it in 1999, ecologists and local residents proposed its revival into a city park. The initial idea of retaining the wilderness that existed was not feasible because the old structure needed amendment. So Piet Udolf was commissioned to design a planting scheme that evoked the mood of urban wilderness that existed on the High Line. Now The High Line is a series of 12 roof gardens that allow a nature immersion for the city’s residents and visitors along the 1.54 mile long trail (The High Line, n.d.).
Fig 15: The wilderness in the abandoned High Line (The High Line, n.d.)
The main challenge of the gardens on the High Line is Its soil depth. It is shallow, about 18 inches average. Being an elevated open garden, it experiences extreme hot summers and harsh winters. Adding to which is the retained rail lines that heats up and freezes quickly. So plants are chosen for their tolerance and structural quality. Most plants are North American natives. There are exotics from Eurasia, Korea, Japan and China chosen for their tolerance, non-aggressive and adaptive qualities (Rostaing, 2017).
Fig 16: Birches and ferns in Gansevoort Woodland (Rostaing, 2017)
A dramatic place to start the experience is Gansevoort Woodland. To reach it, one has to take a set of stairs that pass directly under the massive beams of the historic steel structure. The climb gives pedestrians an opportunity to marvel the splendour of industrialisation and also slow down a bit leaving the busy street behind. The woodland thicket features closely spaced grey birches (betula populifolia) chosen for its tolerance to hot dry conditions and resistance to bronze birch borer (Fig. 16). Planting is done in layers resembling a woodland ecosystem. Birches form the canopy, dog woods (cornus florida), redbuds (cercis canadensis) and shadbushes (amelanchier) form the under story. Japanese clethra(clethra barbinervis) and dawn viburnum form the shrub layer. Herbaceous layer is a mix of flowering perennials, grasses and ferns (Piet Oudolf, Darke and Schnure, 2017).
Naturalistic plantings are layered throughout the whole design. The shrub layers for Chelsea thicket are chosen for their fragrance whereas its dense canopy features both evergreens and deciduous. Varying the composition of various layers of the planting scheme in these woodlands create dramatically different experiences. Grasses are key to express urban naturalism. Grassland gardens on the High Line feature North American prairie grasses which was first popularised by the New American Garden.
Fig 17:The combination of Mount everest persian onion and Visions in Pink Chinese astible demonstrate qualities of form and texture compared to colour or flower alone (Piet Oudolf, Darke and Schnure, 2017).
Fig 18: Washington Grassland featuring autumn moor grass the purple blooms of Hummelo hedgenettle. Grace smokebush later introduced is the highlight in the image besides (Piet Oudolf, Darke and Schnure, 2017).
Unlike traditional gardens, cutback happens only in March after winter and is done by hand. The leaves and stalks are turned to compost which is put back to the garden as fertilizer. The garden is also herbicide and pesticide free. Housing almost 400 species of plants, it attracts a plethora of birds, bees, butterflies and insects. It definitely can’t provide a universal habitat due to its limited space and lack of different ecosystems (Piet Oudolf, Darke and Schnure, 2017).
Fig 19: Seed heads as sculptural elements in the garden. This honeybee and sparrow are two of the many birds and bees that visit the garden (Piet Oudolf, Darke and Schnure, 2017)
Tokachi Millennium Forest – Hokkaido, Japan
Garden Type: A series of naturalistic gardens
Years Operational: Since 2008
Site prior to landscape construction: Forest cleared for cultivation
Local environment: Rural
Landscape architect: Fumiaki Takano
Planting Design: Dan Pearson
Fig 20: The Meadow garden overlooking Hidaka mountain ranges (Pearson, 2018)
Tokachi Millennium Forest is an ambitious nature conservation project with a sustainability vision of 1000 years in Hokkaido, the northernmost island of Japan. In 1992, Mitsushige Hayashi, the visionary behind the project decided to offset the carbon footprint of his newspaper business by re-establishing 400 hectares of forest. In the foothills of Hokkaido’s Hidaka mountain range, English landscape designer Dan Pearson along with Japanese landscape architect Fumiaki Takano created a series of gardens inspired by the surrounding landscape. The project allows Japanese people to experience nature and be a part of it (Hobhouse, 2020).
In Japan nature exists as farmlands and forests where mostly entry is forbidden. Japanese landscape gardens are also two degrees separated from nature. So the interaction of a highly urbanised population with wild nature is limited. Energy revolution in the 1960s is also a factor for declining nature interactions. Efforts to revive the degraded system of ‘satoyama’ ( an ancient Japanese wisdom of how man and nature can co-exist and mutually benefit) gained momentum during the 1980s and 1990s. Tokachi Millennium forest is a part of this movement (Shintani, 2018).
A visitor to the Millennium forest first moves through the forest garden (Fig. 21). It’s a real forest manipulated to expose its true beauty. The Americans when invaded the island cleared its native vegetation. The secondary forest regenerated but with an invasive bamboo called ‘sasa’. ‘Sasa’ inhibited the growth of other species on the forest bed. Years of continued cut back of ‘sasa’ exposed the seed bank that lay dormant for years. The forest bed regenerated which became the forest garden. It evolves throughout the season. Trilliums, wild anemones, scented leaved primulaceae, cardiocrinum and arisaemas create a magical woodland (Donald, 2015).
Fig 21: The Forest garden that inspired the meadow garden(Pearson, 2018)
The forest floor became the inspiration for the meadow garden (Fig. 20). It is a perennial garden with around 35,000 perennials . It changes over the seasons both in colour and mood. The aesthetics of a woodland recreated with indegenous and ornamental plants allow the Japanese to look at their own plants in a different context. Walkways through the plantings represent the narrow streams of water that runs through the woodland. Plants are mixed in freestyle. Each mix has 5 or 6 types of plants. They are grouped in a ratio based on assumptions on their associations (Fig. 22 and 23). The most vigorous ones are in higher ratios than the least vigorous ones. Seasons of interest and size of plants are also taken into account. Short, tall and mid sized plants are arranged in meaningful layered compositions. Golden rayed lilies of Japan, American persicaria and filipendula are some plants that thrive in the perennial garden. Changes of colours happen as you move through the space (Fig 24). Palette of plants changes over the season so no two weeks are the same. The ecology ballooned as a result of this mix. Butterflies, cicadas and various other insects are frequent visitors (Donald, 2015).
Fig 22: Planting design for the meadow garden. The winding path is shaded dark in the image. Plant names, quantity and spacing is specified (Donald, 2015).
Fig 23 : Meadow garden soon after planting and after 3 months of planting (Donald, 2015) and (Singhal, 2012)
Fig 24: Colourful matrix planting of perennials in the meadow garden (Pearson, 2018)
Fulling, Eltham – Victoria, Australia
Garden Type: Australian Natural Garden
Design Completed: 1999
Site prior to landscape construction: Quince orchard cleared for subdivision
Local environment: Semi-rural and heavily treed
Landscape Design: Gordon Ford
Fulling is Gordon Ford’s own garden in Eltham set on 0.6 hectare land bought in 1945. It encompasses the adobe house and outbuildings all built with local materials. After site excavation a mud brick house was built with bricks handmade using the fill from excavation.
The garden is naturalistic with an Australian bush feel. The use of rock outcrops and water features complete its naturalistic tone. Layered planting adorn the boundaries. The tallest layer is eucalyptus. Melaleucas and hakeas form the middle and grevilleas, correas the lowest. Plants are chosen for their drought tolerance. Exotics grow close to the house. Choice of abelias, cotoneaster salicifolia and spiraeas was Edna Walling’s influence. English violets and erigeron mucronatus were among the ones that gave ground cover. Later as interest in native plants developed few natives were also incorporated near the house. Basalt boulders appear throughout the landscape as sculptural elements adding a textural harmony with natural surroundings. Water features resemble creeks with cascades (Fig 12).
Fig 26: Eucalyptus maculata along a winding path at Fulling and central pool (Ford and Ford, 1999)
Gordon’s love of natives was not tied to nationalism. According to him why people choose to have native gardens is out of their love for wildlife and not patriotism. His book ‘The natural australian garden’ is full of anecdotes of delightful wildlife encounters in his garden. Kookaburra trying to fish gold fishes in his pool, wattle birds making use of tall trees as vantage points, listening to the primitive calls of pied currawongs and many more (Ford and Ford, 1999).
Similarities and Differences
The central theme of all gardens discussed above is plants. The High Line features around 400 species of plants, the meadow garden in the Millennium Forest displays 35,000 perennials and Gordon planted around 500 new trees in Fulling. The planting style is also identical. They all layer plants as one could observe in a natural habitat. Plant selection strategies are similar. They all follow the Robinsonian principle of “right plant for the right place ”. These gardens also undergo editing. Plants that do not thrive are removed and new ones find their place. Fulling had a few grevilleas replaced due to the excessive shade of the eucalyptus canopy with various correas. The Millennium Forest introduces new varieties each year in its meadow garden. Washington grasslands garden of the High Line was initially planted with autumn and purple moor grass, little bluestem and prairie June grass. The latter two proved ill-adapted to increased shade of buildings and now the signature of the garden is grace smokebush (Fig. 18). A sufficient amount of plant knowledge is necessary to maintain these gardens.
Knowingly or unknowingly the motivation behind all these gardens is conservation. Gardens of the High Line captures the soul of urban wilderness which once existed. The Millennium Forest is re-establishing a lost forest. Fulling is restoring the once existed native bush on a fruit orchard. Irrespective of their location, all three gardens mix indigenous and ornamental plants. They all encourage biodiversity and extend ecological services.
The plant species in the gardens discussed widely differ. The wildlife they support are also regional. How each designer achieves the ‘spirit of place’ is also different. The juxtaposition of wilderness in the middle of concrete buildings is perfectly captured in Piet Udolf’s planting design. He created a totally new experience capturing the original tension of the place. He chose plants for their line, form and texture for year long interest. He left seed heads and dead stalks through winter as sculptural elements. The perennial meadow in the Millennium Forest creates a matrix of colours that change in seasons. Dan Pearson selected plants for its line, form and seasonal interest especially colour. The garden captures the spirit of the woodland forest by emulating the waves of plants that grow together on its floor. Gordon ford chose exotics to soften areas around the house and natives in borders to give a bushland vibe. Mass plantings and boulder outcrops with the voids of pools and paths bring balance and contrast in his garden (Fig. 26).
Conclusion
Many shades of naturalistic gardens exist but their similarity is the result of cross pollinated ideas. Concepts of sustainability and use of herbaceous perennials originated in England. Ecological considerations and perennial meadows in Europe. Mixing of natives and exotics was common since the earliest gardens of Australia. The naturalistic gardens discussed exhibit a mix of all these ideas. It is also interesting to note that they are the preferred style for restoration projects. We live in a world that is losing its rich biodiversity at a dramatic pace. Invasive plants and climate change threaten our ecosystems. The pockets of wilderness that remain are fragments of old glory that reminds us of the splendor of what once existed. The cry for natives-only gardens is useless since native plants can not thrive in a changing climate. According to horticulturist Claudia West and architect Thomas Rainer a new way of thinking is emerging. It encourages us not only to seek nature in mountains but also in our own neighbourhood’s weed colonies. Because the world now has a third landscape which is the human disturbed land through which natural processes occur such as industrial ruins and abandoned lands. Study plant associations not just in historic ecosystems but also cosmopolitan ecosystems (Rainer and West, 2016).
Urban greening projects also largely embrace naturalistic plantings. For an average urban dweller perhaps his only interaction with nature is experiencing seasons. So a naturalistic garden can be a place that awakens our memory of wild places we have been before. They can engage and evoke emotions and feelings. Once implemented correctly they improve water quality and compensate habitat loss. Be it private or public they clean and purify air. The focus to minimise the usage of resources and leave least environmental footprint makes them the ideal gardens for today.
No naturalistic garden is the same visually but the underlying principles and design considerations are the same. Hence they are all naturalistic gardens.
“Naturalistic style is borderless. It doesn’t belong to one country or culture. Regardless of where we are, we create our own naturalistic gardens” – Midori Shintani (Shintani, 2018).
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