What looks pretty in the landscape, and what we determine is good or bad changes all the time. As a young girl growing up in middle school and high school in the late 70’s and early 80’s, our landscapes looked green and tidy. Landscapes in most of our neighborhood consisted of the following: a walkway through the middle of the yard connecting the front door to the street, a rounded tree on either side of the walkway, three evergreen shrubs on each side of the doorway, maybe some hosta that would line that walkway, and marigolds in front of the evergreen shrubs.

Beauty was defined by order. Shrubs were sheared -- into balls, squares, or something in between. Lawns were viewed as pretty by the vast color of green. The early blooming purple flowers of the speedwell were frowned upon. Dead nettle ruined the nice spikey texture of a monochromatic turf. And yellow dandelions? Yikes! And let’s just hope the course texture of chicory and plantain in the summer didn’t make their appearance.

The 90’s brought a bit more freedom. I was fresh out of college and had learned all about manipulating the land, plants and design, and learned how plants interact with one another. Going to school near the city of Philadelphia also opened many types of design options. Curving beds, meandering walkways all brought about a "new" landscape for me. It allowed for more creativity as well as really learning about plants and how they work in the landscape. However "natural" our designs may have been, unusual plants – plants that were poodled, swirled, and balled - created focal points in the landscape. Introductions of new cultivars were, and still are, always exciting as was visiting plant collections at arboretums.

The word "garden" developed a different meaning than just a place where vegetables grew. It started to become a place that grew flowers, shrubs, and perennials. It also became a word that indicated themes, like "children’s garden", "cutting garden", and "conifer garden".

Although the freedom of the design was more liberating in the 90’s, the maintenance of the landscape was not. We were still putting a lot of pride in our lawns – the greener the better. We were still pruning and shearing with the intent of controlling the size of plants, and we were very concerned about keeping bugs off our plants to keep them "healthy". We loved the color of mulch. A mulched bed was a pretty bed.

The early 2000’s brought a new wave of thought…the natural landscape. We began to learn more about how insects and plants interact - how one supports the other. We began to recognize the starkness of our landscapes and that pruning and spraying of pesticides were not the answer to a lovely garden. We learned and experienced more about the repercussions of our actions. We recognized the importance of bees, beetles, and flies to our food source and our livelihood.

As the 2010’s took over, researchers really began to make strides in proving the interactions between plant life and wildlife, and were able to show, through research, the importance of using less pesticides, accepting insects as a part of the food chain, and the value of insects to humans in sustaining ourselves.

We began hearing terms like "Conventional Landscapes", and "Ecological Landscapes". The conventional landscape is what was done when I was a kid. We had an expansion of lawns. Most plants we used were introduced, not native. The ecological landscape, in comparison, is reduced lawn. Lawn is used for pathways and play areas. Plantings are groups of plants, not single specimens. We encourage layering: tree, shrub and herbaceous layers, developing plant communities, not just focal points within the lawn. These plant communities create a biodiversity that doesn’t happen in the conventional landscape. The interaction of insects, fungi, mammals, birds, and other micro-organisms all work together for a healthy environment.

What are some of those practices, exactly?

1. We can conserve water by planting trees and shrubs instead of turf. Trees and shrubs have proven to control water run-off therefore reducing erosion. They filter water as it absorbs into to soil. Less erosion, better filtering system = cleaner water. Turf, in contrast, provides less root system for filtration and slicker surface for faster running water, therefore creating more erosion and pollution.

2. We can reduce fertilizer use and pesticides (work with the natural relationships of plants and insects, birds, and micro-organisms). Understand and recognize beneficial insects and have a tolerance for a few weeds and insect damage.

3. We can reduce air pollution. If we have less turf to mow, we will use less fuel, therefore less air pollution as a result of equipment uses.

As a trained designer, I always am thinking of how things - plants, structures, outdoor living spaces - work together. Ecological landscaping allows us to live within our environment. It allows for beauty to be seen quite differently than it did in the 80’s and 90’s. It lets us look at not just the plant, but the things fluttering around it. We can enjoy the activity insects add to the landscape. We can experience a plant community instead of viewing just a plant.

Dandelions take on a whole new meaning when we consider that they are the pretty yellow flowers that grow in the grass and provide pollen for our bees. It allows us to accept the tiny purple flowers of the speedwell that are one of the first bloomers of the season. We can look closely at those tiny flowers and enjoy the beauty each one brings to our grass and bed’s edge.

Now in the 2020’s we are really looking at the big picture. How are my choices in my own garden affecting the overall environment? For every weed we pull and every squirt we spray, there is an impact. Every choice made in plant selection, there is an impact. Beauty is different for everyone. I’d like to think that we as a culture are becoming more tolerant of critters and recognizing the beauty in the natural surroundings. The more we learn about it, the better prepared we can be to do our part in keeping a healthy landscape for everyone and everything.

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