F E AT U R E
Trend Forecast
FOR GARDENING IN 2020 Martine de la Harpe – Garden designer at De La Harpe Landscapes For centuries, knowledge, religion, wealth and power have influenced the design and purpose of gardens. From representations of ‘paradise’ in the Mughal Tomb Gardens, to overt demonstrations of ‘knowledge as power’ in the Renaissance Gardens, evidence of our need to capture significant aspects of our civilisation through meaningful gardens can be found all over the globe. While climate change may seem like the most compelling influence over us at present, increased urbanisation, the slowing global economy, political uncertainty and increasing environmental awareness are also having an impact on how we will take gardening into the future. Our separation from the natural environment is driving an increased yearning for the memory of nature. Now more than ever, we are feeling the need to be close to nature, to touch nature and connect with it. In addition, fewer resources – both natural and financial – are fuelling the search for sustainable gardening solutions. But the need for emotional well-being in a world that is increasingly unpredictable and seemingly out of control, is an even more powerful force that is compelling us to continue gardening. As environmental consciousness illuminates the fragility of our global ecosystem and our awareness of how we disrupt it deepens, we are no longer able to ignore the fact that we are responsible for marching more and more species, including our own, to the brink of extinction. The current trends in garden design are responding to these cues. Internationally, garden designers are turning back to nature to find solutions. With nature as our teacher and a deepening understanding of natural protocols the urge to partner with nature rather than asserting our will over it has become paramount.
A designed plant community of grasses and perennials
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Pro Landscaper Africa | January 2020
THE NATURAL ORDER Our success as gardeners facing increasingly hostile growing conditions will depend not only on how we change the way we garden, but more www.prolandscaper.co.za