Preservation

It's one thing to create an estate or garden landscape but a totally different knowledge is needed to maintain it. By careful consideration of the local ecology, what flourishes and what does not, we can plant in a sustainable manner. But we are tweaking nature and if abandoned, our gardens will inevitably return to their former state. However carefully we choose our plants, they all come with a demand on upkeep. A clue is in the word sustain, a substantive of preserve. Whilst nature will probably provide sufficient support for them to survive, all imported plants need succour if they are to flourish. So in our campaign to sustain we will never entirely escape the need for good husbandry.

By choosing planting that will largely survive by self-nourishment from its leaves and roots, additional support will be minimal and may be provided by natural rather than chemical fertilisers. Of course we can't rely on constant climatic conditions, particularly nowadays, so from time to time our gardens will need supplementary nutrition. Preservation is about reinforcing nature, not fighting it. Native species and imports carefully chosen for their sympathy with the local ecology can have their natural resistance to disease supplemented by natural means without having to resort to chemicals.