111 Garden design Sustain your Gardens A


longside bees, sustainability is the current buzz- word in gardening – witness many of the show gardens at Chelsea this year. But what does it


actually mean and how do you design a sustainable garden? There are three main areas: Water – how we use it, where we use it and how we manage and conserve it? Planting – what should we do to ensure that our gardens don’t simply have year round visual interest, but also create a bio diverse environment? Hard landscaping – not just how we lay out and structure our gar- dens, but how do we ensure the materials we use create as little harm as possible? Let’s start with water. As our cli-


mate changes we usually seem to have too much or too little. And with universal water metering, it is a resource whose poor manage- ment costs us money. Plan for both floods and


drought – in your plant selection


Conserve and manage water


Be aware of cheap hard landscaping materials.


and also in where you site them. Using the right plant in the right place is vital. Think about harvesting rainfall – have as many water butts as you can accommodate. Consider having a rain garden or drought tolerant gar- den that can more or less look after itself. The use of plastics is now firmly in the spotlight. Keep using what you already have. Try to min- imise the amount you buy. If there are alternatives, please use them. Make lots of compost which makes


efficient use of decaying plants, grass cuttings and kitchen waste. Compost doesn’t only put essential nutrients back into the ground, it improves the soil structure to enable it to cope with


extremes of climate. Planting for bio diversity isn’t just good for


your conscience, it creates habitats for insects, birds and mammals which - if you’re really lucky - can be a magnet for the increasingly rare hedgehog who will devour slugs and snails while you sleep. Be aware of cheap hard landscaping


materials. Think about how things have been produced but also what the ongoing main- tenance might involve and how long you expect them to last before they need replac- ing. Also consider what happens at the end of


their useful life. For instance, treated softwood is initially cheap to buy but will need to be re-treated periodically, has a limited lifespan and then, probably, cannot be burned or composted because of the chemicals in it. Sustainability is all about planning for tomorrow. An ethos that should be familiar to all gardeners.•


Arid planting


colette@charsleydesign.com www.charsleydesign.com t: 01548 581753 m: 07774 827799 Follow me on Twitter @ColetteCharsley


Professional Landscape & Garden Design


Creative and beautiful designs for village, town and country gardens


Colette Charsley PG Dip OCGD t: 01548 581753 m: 07774 827799


colette@charsleydesign.com www.charsleydesign.com


by Colette Charsley


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