Native versus exotic—a key debate

Key to an understanding of the range of planting styles that can be described as ecological is the variety of attitudes to the use of native plants. The intensity of …

Biotope planting—adding exotics to native vegetation

The idea of adding spice to pre-existing native vegetation is an old one, and was the core idea of William Robinson’s (1870) The Wild Garden’ (Robinson 1870). Whilst some in …

Spontaneous vegetation and its creative management

A common feature of urban and post-industrial environments is the rich but often rather chaotic looking vegetation that arises after the demolition of existing structures. Public perception is likely to …

The parks at Amstelveen

The Amsterdam suburb of Amstelveen was built during the 1930s along with a number of public parks, most centred around a number of waterways that wind their way through the …

New native plant communities

Altering the species composition of a plant community to make it more visually appealing is one way to make native plants more exciting to a public whose appreciation of ecology …

Woodland: creative management

Tree-planting schemes are the most widely carried out form of habitat restoration. Native species are generally preferred, with the use of stock raised from local-provenance a relatively recent concern (Flora …

Developing an ‘ecological aesthetic’: altering native species mixes for visual appeal

Many of the US practitioners in the field are eloquent in their articulation of the need to sell ecological planting to the public by making it as attractive as possible, …

Selective use of visually attractive plant communities

Given that the natural environment of urban areas is often so altered and degraded, there is arguably little rationale behind being too fixed in our notions of what vegetation community …

Habitat restoration and beyond: designing a visual aesthetic into. native plant communities

The creation of natural habitats, using native species, in urban areas is itself a statement about art, design and philosophy, and is characteristic only of those cultures that have become …

Developing a model to describe current practice

These clusters of philosophy and practice can be represented on a gradient to describe the relationship between art and nature in garden and landscape design. The ‘nature’ end might be …

Contemporary overview of naturalistic. planting design

Noel Kingsbury Introduction This chapter provides an overview of contemporary approaches to the use of plants in designed landscapes that are described as being ‘ecological’, ‘natural’ or ‘naturalistic’, or are …

Conclusions

It is clear from the examples given in this chapter that the practice of phytogeographic or plant geographical, physiognomic and ecological planting gradually merged and partially overlapped as ecological science …

Sweden

In the eighteenth century, Carl von Linne (Linnaeus) had given natural history research a fresh impetus and had provided a new perspective on nature, with Uppsala University as the centre. …

Great Britain

Pre-Second World War British landscape design was dominated by the writings of Gertrude Jekyll and William Robinson, with a horticultural and artistic emphasis, rather than an ecological one. Yet much …

USA

Although the great nineteenth-century American landscape gardener Andrew Jackson Downing was aware of Alexander von Humboldt, he does not appear to have applied his theories in his design proposals, nor …

The Netherlands11

Naturalistic planting design in the Netherlands derived from a different need. By the end of the nineteenth century prevalent landscape design was still firmly rooted in the landscape style, which …

Ecological gardening

William Robinson is often considered as an early applier of ecological ideas, especially in connection with his publication The Wild Garden (1870). This, however, deals with the naturalisation of hardy …

Origin of ecological science

The word ‘Oekologie’ was coined by Ernst Haeckel (1834-1919) in his Generelle Morphologie (1866). A scientist and later politician, he rejected religion with its traditional mind-body split and replaced this …

The two strands: plant geography and physiognomy

On his return from South America, Alexander von Humboldt (1769-1859) wrote his Essai sur la geographic des plantes (1805)/Ideen zu einer Geographie der Pflanzen (1807). Within this he observed that …

The changing nature of ecology: a history. of ecological planting (1800-1980)

Jan Woudstra Man’s philosophical view of nature has altered across different historical periods and political movements, and this has been reflected in the way that plants are used. Ecological ideas …

Summary and conclusions

In putting forward these arguments we are not suggesting that all urban green spaces should be treated in the same way and incorporate the same approaches to landscape planting. Instead, …

Process

The final, least obvious but perhaps most immutable criterion for what constitutes ‘ecological’ is that the vegetation is subject to, and able to respond to, ecological processes and, in particular, …

Local character

Increasingly interwoven with the sustainability project is the idea that notions of place and local character should, where possible, inform the design of planting. This can also operate at a …

Management, sustainability and resource inputs

Another measure of ‘ecological’ might involve the degree to which ‘non-natural’ approaches are used to manage vegetation. Hence, the Organic Movement see cultivated vegetation which is hand weeded or mulched …

What is an ecologically-informed approach to urban planting?

The concept of ecologically-based plantings is unfortunately a very slippery one, and one that is open to wide interpretation. The urban environment, characterised by altered climate and water relations, damaged …

Public plantings—the social dimension

The nature conservation movement has seized upon the inability to adequately fund the maintenance of traditional horticulturally based plantings as an opportunity to increase the use of native ‘habitat’ plantings …

Introduction to naturalistic planting in. urban landscapes

James Hitchmough and Nigel Dunnett Although this book is potentially relevant to many urban contexts, it is most strongly aimed at the ‘public’ and ‘semi-public’ landscape. Some of these landscapes …