Mary Reynolds Designs

Garden design is a fickle sport. Trends are set by the latest styles in fashion, music and art. However, gardens (if you are lucky enough to have one) are the only piece of land we are personally responsible for in this world. It is the only chance, most of us have to make a connection with nature in todays busy world.

Irish culture has until recently been completely intertwined with the cycles of nature and the recent disconnection of this bond has left a huge gap in our lives that we constantly strive to fill with shopping and other strange sports such as going to the gym. I think it is time we explored our drive for an outdoor room in the garden and turn that concept upside down!

The garden should be a space where nature is alive and well.  Gardeners seem to be at the forefront of the battle to protect our environment with recycling and composting, but we can’t seem to let go of the ‘Weed and Feed’ and the copious chemicals required for having the ‘perfect’ garden. Its time to let go of this strive for perfection. A new way forward has to be mapped out.

Growing your own food is a great way to connect with nature on a practical level and its also a great way to spend time with your kids and get them away from the Play station. Even if you have red fingers rather than green, its not impossible to grow a window box full of lettuce and if you try it, you might even impress yourself!

By treating your little piece of land with respect and by having a conversation with it rather than controlling it to within an inch of its life, you will receive huge payback from it in ways that can only really be experienced and not explained in a few words here. We all have memories of places from when we were kids that were places in nature that oozed atmosphere. These were places that allowed the spirit of nature to flow. It is rare that you will come across these atmospheres in a modern garden and we are really missing out on a whole level of existence here. The land is a living organism, and we depend on it to survive in this mad world, so it makes sense to recognise that rather than plough on with the path we are on in gardening.

The national heritage council recently put out a plea to people to start allowing native plants and wildlife friendly plants into our gardens as we are in danger of losing some of the creatures we take for granted like the bumblebee. We should be growing native plants in order to remove the need for pesticides and other nasty stuff. The thing to remember is that your garden can still be beautiful and useful with native plants and as long as you have a strong design in place, it will not look like a ‘bunch of weeds!'. Its time for change and gardeners have to be at the forefront of that change as the gardening industry feels it has too much to lose if it recognises the change that is required. The funny thing is, like the broader picture in the energy industry, there are so many opportunities there if they just allowed themselves to embrace the change and move the whole thing forward.