2007 Eco Prize for Creativity
Background
The Garden for Global Warming was my response to the Avant Gardens brief to design a small (4x4m) garden on the theme of 'Sanctuary' which was 'forward-looking, stylish and provoked a response in viewers'. After the hot summer of 2006 and with climate change continuing to hit the headlines, I thought that sanctuary from more extreme and unpredictable weather would become increasingly important, for both humans and wildlife.
I wanted to create an attractive, practical space that demonstrated simple ways in which individuals can reduce their impact on global warming using the garden, which I felt was an under-represented resource.
Layout
1 Curved border featuring wildlife friendly, drought tolerant planting
2 Raised organic veg bed, based on the square foot principle
3 Curved seat & table, built with plastic made from recycled vending cups
4 Fitted cupboard concealing slimline water butt, wormery & compact potting shed, built using same recycled plastic (unfortunately this was not completed)
5 Retractable washing line
6 Hammock
7 Sailcloth awning
8 Mirror door
9 Nesting box
The Garden for Global Warming
The global scientific community appears to have reached a general consensus that the earth is warming up, and that humans are at least partly responsible.
This garden is designed as a sanctuary from the climate: using drought resistant planting, with a shaded seating area, a hammock to sleep outside when things get too hot indoors and plants to potter with at cooler times.
There is plenty of information available on how to reduce your impact on global warming within the home, via simple measures such as using low energy lightbulbs, not leaving appliances on standby and boiling only the amount of water you actually need in the kettle.
But gardens can also be extremely useful in helping to reduce our carbon footprint, as this Garden for Global Warming aims to demonstrate. The washing line reduces climate change impact by replacing the tumble dryer, which can produce over 3kg of CO2 emissions per drying cycle.
The curved border in this garden features drought tolerant, wildlife friendly planting, with a weed suppressing membrane and pebble mulch to retain moisture & prevent water-sapping weed growth.
Global warming is already causing problems for wildlife as the plants, flowers and insects that many animals and birds feed on and nest in are shifting their habitat and changing breeding patterns. As the total area of UK gardens is greater than that of all the national nature reserves, there is enormous scope for gardeners to help create sanctuary for wildlife.
Garden water consumption is estimated to be less than 3% of the total, however at peak times it can be as much as 70% - at a time when water companies are least able to meet demand, which can lead to depletion of groundwater & streams, which can cause serious environmental harm.
Whilst Scotland is rarely short of rain, purifying water & pumping it to your house increases electricity consumption & therefore potential impact on global warming. Using a water butt has the added advantage that rainwater does not contain any chlorine, fluoride or other chemicals that may be present in tap water. Watering plants in the evening also reduces evaporation and therefore overall requirements. This garden features a slimline water butt which was to be housed in a fitted cupboard, along with the wormery and compact potting shed.
Growing your own fruit & veg ensures zero food miles or packaging, encourages cooking using fresh ingredients, rather than ready meals, and ensures no loss of nutrients or flavour during transportation.
Growing organic food avoids the impacts of production & distribution of chemicals & pesticides. The raised veg bed is based on the square foot principle, which aims to maximise productivity within a compact space whilst minimising maintenance.
Kitchen waste makes up around 21% of household waste & its decomposition creates methane, 21 times more damaging than CO2. In addition landfill sites are filling up, and household waste pollutes groundwater & contaminates other waste streams, making them difficult to recycle.
A wormery helps reduce the costs and impacts of waste disposal whilst producing liquid fertiliser & compost.
The recycled plastic used to make the seat and other parts of the garden is made from recycled vending cups. Recycling plastic can significantly reduce the consumption of resources (mainly fossil fuels) and emissions to the environment.
In addition, plastic may take hundreds of years to degrade and the space it takes up in landfill sites is a real concern. Plastic waste, such as plastic bags, often becomes litter. For example, nearly 57% of litter found on beaches in 2003 was plastic.
What is omitted from the garden is just as important as what is included - certainly no patio heater (according to Friends of the Earth, using one for an hour uses the equivalent energy as making 400 cups of tea) or hot tub (unnecessary water consumption & energy use), but also no lawn (watering), electronic gadgets (energy consumption) or constant solar lighting (detrimental to wildlife such as bats and moths).
The design itself aims to be sustainable via being practical and attractive: a wacky design statement may be eye-catching, but will soon become jaded and its impracticality annoying, and will therefore be replaced much sooner.
Just as haute couture now looks to the high street for influences, garden design will increasingly reflect the public's concerns regarding environmental impact and food production issues.
To tackle global warming we will all have to reduce our carbon footprint and our gardens have a crucial role to play. It is time to dig, not for victory, but for the future of the planet - gardens that enable us to do so are the truly forward-looking ones.
