Sustainable Garden Design

Two presentations on sustainable garden design - one frightening, one practical - are available on podcast at the Gardens Illustrated podcast site.

As part of a Masterclass in Sustainable Garden Design sponsored by the Sustainable Design Advice Committee of the UK's Society of Garden Designers, these two talks by Mark Laurence and Nigel Dunnet address sustainable design from two dramatically different perspectives.

Mark Laurence presents a virtual end-time scenario in which the decline of fossil fuels will lead to the necessity of a total change in our way of living if we are to survive. It's a rather depressing talk, but one we all should hear. On the lighter side, Nigel Dunnet talks about water gardening and stormwater management. Nigel's point is that our houses and gardens should be designed to reuse all stormwater that falls on our particular piece of the world, preventing the cost of infrastructure to carry it away (a growing problem with development) and eliminating the pollution, erosion, flooding, and other negative consequences of ignoring the fact that stormwater can't be engineered away. Eventually, the cost is prohibitive. Interestingly, due to strong stormwater management regulations, America is far ahead of Britain in sustainable stormwater management.

Gardens Illustrated - Conceptual Gardens Podcasts and Galleries

At long last Gardens Illustrated has published podcasts of The New Conceptualist Garden Symposium, sponsored by the Society of Garden Designers at the Tate Britain last summer.

Tim Richardson's introduction and each speaker's presentation have been edited as separate podcasts, making it easier to navigate the multiple speakers. While you can conveniently download these from the iTunes site, the Gardens Illustrated website also contains links to image galleries accompanying each presentation. You can link to the Conceptual Garden page, or go directly to the list of separate podcasts, which can be played on your computer while looking at the accompanying photo galleries, or downloaded individually.

Don't miss a talk by Fergus Garrett at the Royal Horticultural Society Wisley Dahlia Trials, also on the webpage.