The future of gardens in an age of climate change

Future gardens will be an integral part of a living biosystem that is part house, part garden, an energy conserving and production environment, a resource for water retention and cleansing, food production area, biomass and environmental haven as well as a sanctuary for the soul and from the world at large.

Why do I say this? We cannot consider the future of gardens without accounting for global warming and impending energy decline. Climate change is happening at a far quicker pace than anyone has predicted and it's going to hit us increasingly hard. Scientists say we have maybe 10 years left, possibly until 2025 before build up of carbon emissions reaches the point of no return. Meanwhile global oil reserves are at peak and energy will be in increasingly short supply. Whatever the outcome, big changes are on the way.

So when we look to the future of our gardens, it's not a matter of what style or vogue will be popular, for such things come and go, and in this context, are not particularly relevant. You might imagine it is a case of asking what will our climate be like and how will gardens adapt. Yet to talk of adapting gardens to suit the changing conditions, is actually to miss the point, for our gardens must become part of the solution to global warming and perhaps, even a core part of our survival.

That might sound ridiculous in the face of such monumental problems but I don't think so. If we all decided to make sure that in our personal lives, we were “carbon neutral” (or as close as possible) then energy demands and pollution from domestic use would drop enormously. By such actions, we could influence government and all else would, to some degree, follow. At a rough estimate, gardens in England and Wales occupy at least 80,000 hectares, mostly in urban and suburban areas. This makes them a precious resource and opportunity.

The first thing we have to do is start looking at our environment as a living bio-system; in this case, the house and garden, with its connections to the wider world (air, earth, wind, rain, food, materials, waste, energy, communications). Think of it as one cell in a big organism. Almost all the elements this cell needs to survive are coming from outside, beyond its sphere of influence. Yet the way that cell is constructed, used and connected to its immediate surrounds (garden) could, if designed correctly significantly reduce its dependency on outside (manmade) systems. To decrease those we must increase our connectivity with the external natural systems, namely the sun, wind (energy) and rain.To put it more directly, with have to reduce to an absolute minimum the inputs and outputs of our homes.

Those items which we cannot produce internally, need to be sourced from outside, as close to us as possible. Therefore neighborhood and regional systems need strengthening to minimise production/transport costs. This is particularly true and desirable for food products, but also building materials etc. For that reason, even if we manage to live off-grid, we cannot do it all alone and live in splendid isolation. Many bio-systems will only work efficiently when connected together to give sufficient inputs to allow them to function properly (for example, reedbed sewerage systems).

The main areas which the outside garden spaces could deal with are:

You may think this all sounds very philanthropic, but where is the incentive to expend all this time and money “greening up” our homes and gardens? Much of the incentive will be economic; for example metered water users already consume about 15% less water than unmetered and government will gradually introduce a number of Carrot and Stick measures. But as cost of pollution will have to be met by industry and so, by consumers, simple economics means that inevitably everything will get very expensive. For many people, I suspect that having a lifestyle that gives independence and doesn't add to pollution will become increasingly desirable. Less dependency on outside systems will give increased sense of security in an uncertain world.

In all of this, beauty and relaxation will be paramount, so gardens will still fulfill this most traditional and personal of roles, giving us joy, relaxation and sanctuary. For example, looking at a beautiful water system of rills and planted gravel filterbeds is made all the more exciting by it having a useful function and saving resources.

For these principles to be taken up by the masses and be made successful, we must resolve two conflicting issues: the subject needs to be driven by a sense of fun, adventure and positive aspiration to really make a difference; and we must avoid the “dumbing-down” or over-simplification of a complex topic, something that will inevitably occur once it becomes popularised and starts appearing alongside TV makeovers and reality shows.

An example might be solar panels: it would be wonderful to run your garden pond pump, shed, or garden office from solar panels - no cables to the house to bury, a good eco-friendly solution. But you have to balance that ideal with the cost of initial installation (many times greater than laying electric cables from the house), the limitations of supply and the increased maintenance that may be involved. Having got your solar supply, you might be frustrated to find that you can't plug your electric mower into it as you didn't specify a high enough generative capability. This is typical of a fragmented approach to sustainability - it's no use just thinking of the power to your pond and ignoring that used within the house, or your car.

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So where are we? Standing on the threshold of an exciting new future, I would say. The brightness, however, is troubled by the looming stormclouds on the horizon and the knowledge that the cost of failure is very high - and will be witnessed by ourselves but paid for by our children.

I do firmly believe that we can all make effective choices in what we do and in what we demand of the world, of business and our political representatives. We have have to make rational choices and sometimes, put aside our own indulgence. Gas or electric patio heaters may be a nice luxury but the environmental damage is not justifiable. Maybe a log burning fire basket is, provided we do other things to counter the carbon emissions, such as growing more bio-mass. Extra woolly jumpers may simply be the best bet! Most issues simply come down to us making informed decisions and balancing personal ease with environmental sanity.