In praise of older gardens

We are often asked to advise on gardens that are tired and in need of renovation.

This is a great task, but we counsel against a wholesale slash and burn approach. Many designers design from a ‘clean slate’, giving them total freedom and licence over the space.

But we prefer to honour and respect old and established aspects of a garden. A tree that may need a formative prune but provides much needed shade, or height. A plant which takes years to get going, found in a quiet corner.

Sometimes plants are weedy, half dead or not suitable for the aspect – and then they certainly should go. Sometimes trees are planted way to close to the house! But judicious editing can give you the best of old and new. Help a garden feel settled and create a sense of place.

We work with arborists to advise on the health of mature trees. We know how a bit of TLC can revive some plants – reducing competition, pruning to improve light and plant health, and a good dose of food, water and mulch!

Some gardens contain absolute treasures. A Gardenia thundbergii (tree gardenia), that would be sacrilegious to pull out. These small trees have lovely glossy green foliage, are slow growing, extremely tough and have stellar white flowers which perfume the street with a heady scent in late summer. Other plants which we find in older gardens are port-wine magnolias, camellias and citrus.

It’s hard to see the bobcats go in and raze an old established garden, perhaps as part of a home renovation. Those plants provide habitat for animals, cool our suburbs and took decades to grow.

They were planted by people who would never see them at maturity, and can’t be bought.

We call for balance in garden design, to create garden spaces that work, for all the things we need ‘outside’ but with a cautious approach.