But now we come to a very subtle interaction. The trees wdll not get tended unless the places where they grow are liked and used by people. If they are randomly planted in some garden or in the shrubbery of some park, they are not near enough to
people to make people aware of them; and this in turn makes it unlikely that they will get the care they need.
So, finally, we see the nature of the complex interactive symbiosis between trees and people.
1. First, people need trees—for the reasons given.
2. But when people plant trees, the trees need care (unlike the forest trees).
3. The trees won’t get the care they need unless they are in places people like.
4. And this in turn requires that the trees form social spaces.
5. Once the trees form social spaces, they are able to grow naturally.
So we see, by a curious twist of circumstances, trees in cities can only grow well, and in a fashion true to their own nature, when they cooperate with people and help to form spaces which the people need.
Therefore:
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| umbrella grove avenue |
If you are planting trees, plant them according to their nature, to form enclosures, avenues, squares, groves, and single spreading trees toward the middle of open spaces. And shape the nearby buildings in response to trees, so that the trees themselves, and the trees and buildings together, form places which people can use.
Make the trees form “rooms” and spaces, avenues, and squares, and groves, by placing trellises between the trees, and walks, and seats under the trees themselves—outdoor room (163), trel-LISED WALK ( I 74) , GARDEN SEAT ( I 76) , SEAT SPOTS (241). One of the nicest ways to make a place beside a tree is to build a low wall, which protects the roots and makes a seat—sitting wall (243). . . .
| 172 GARDEN GROWING WILD** |
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| 80I |
. . . with terracing in place and trees taken care of—terraced SLOPE (169), FRUIT TREES (170), TREE PLACES (171) , We come to the garden itself—-to the ground and plants. In short, we must decide what kind of garden to have, what kind of plants to grow, what style of gardening is compatible with both artifice and nature.
❖ ❖ *5*
A garden which grows true to its own laws is not a wilderness, yet not entirely artificial either.
Many gardens are formal and artificial. The flower beds are trimmed like table cloths or painted designs. The lawns are clipped like perfect plastic fur. The paths are clean, like new polished asphalt. The furniture is new and clean, fresh from the department store.
These gardens have none of the quality which brings a garden to life—the quality of a wilderness, tamed, still wild, but cultivated enough to be in harmony with the buildings which surround it and the people who move in it. This balance of wilderness and cultivation reached a high point in the oldest English gardens.
In these gardens things are arranged so that the natural processes which come into being will maintain the condition of the garden and not degrade it. For example, mosses and grasses will grow between paving stones. In a sensible and natural garden, the garden is arranged so that this process enhances the garden and does not threaten it. In an unnatural garden these kinds of small events have constantly to be “looked after”—the gardener must constantly try to control and eradicate the processes of seeding, weeds, the spread of roots, the growth of grass.
In the garden growing wild the plants are chosen, and the boundaries placed, in such a way that the growth of things regulates itself. It does not need to be regulated by control. But it does not grow fiercely and undermine the ways in which it is planted. Natural wild plants, for example, are planted among
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172 GARDEN GROWING WILD
flowers and grass, so that there is no room for so-called weeds to fill the empty spaces and then need weeding. Natural stone edges form the boundaries of grass so that there is no need to chop the turf and clip the edge every few weeks. Rocks and stones are placed where there are changes of level. And there are small rock plants placed between the stones, so that once again there is no room for weeds to grow.
A garden growing wild is healthier, more capable of stable growth, than the more clipped and artificial garden. The garden can be left alone, it will not go to ruin in one or two seasons.
And for the people too, the garden growing wild creates a more profound experience. The gardener is in the position of a good doctor, watching nature take its course, occasionally taking action, pruning, pulling out some species, only to give the garden more room to grow and become itself. By contrast, the gardens that have to be tended obsessively, enslave a person to them; you cannot learn from them in quite the same way.
Therefore:
Grow grasses, mosses, bushes, flowers, and trees in a way which comes close to the way that they occur in nature: intermingled, without barriers between them, without bare earth, without formal flower beds, and with all the boundaries and edges made in rough stone and brick and wood which become a part of the natural growth.
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| roughnatural edges |
Include no formal elements, except where something is specifically called for by function—like a greenhouse—greenhouse (175), a quiet seat—garden seat (176), some water— still water (71), or flowers placed just where people can touch them and smell them—raised flowers (245). . . .
| 173 garden wall* |
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805
through city policiesy encourage the piecemeal formation of those major structures which define the city:
8. MOSAIC OF SUBCULTURES
9. SCATTERED WORK
10. MAGIC OF THE CITY
11. LOCAL TRANSPORT AREAS
. . . in private houses, both the half-hidden garden (ill) and the private terrace on the street (140) require walls. More generally, not only private gardens, but public gardens too, and even small parks and greens—quiet backs (59), accessible creen (60), need some kind oh enclosure round them, to make them as beautiful and quiet as possible.
Gardens and small public parks don’t give enough relief from noise unless they are well protected.
People need contact with trees and plants and water. In some way, which is hard to express, people are able to be more whole in the presence of nature, are able to go deeper into themselves, and are somehow able to draw sustaining energy from the life of plants and trees and water.
In a city, gardens and small parks try to solve this problem; but they are usually so close to traffic, noise, and buildings that the impact of nature is entirely lost. To be truly useful, in the deepest psychological sense, they must allow the people in them to be in touch with nature—and must be shielded from the sight and sound of passing traffic, city noises, and buildings. This requires walls, substantial high walls, and dense planting all around the garden.