What is plant community design and does it work?
Introduction to the concept of wilder planting design
Our garden is a loose plant community that changes every year. As the gardener I of course steer it in one direction by adding or dividing plants, but the plants are my gardening partners. Foxgloves, teasel, tufted hair grass, oxeye daisies and many other plants self sow where they want and I often leave them to surprise me. I didn’t plant any of them in the above photo.
I have always seen plants as the living entities they are rather than objects for humans to control. I want plants to be free to grow and express themselves as they would naturally. Which is why I have always grown with a plant community approach. Let your plants romp free!
What is a plant community?
The term ‘plant community’ originates from talking about wild plants, how they grow alongside one another. It is an ecological concept. In the wild, although plant communities can form very quickly, the stable ones are often hundreds if not thousands of years ol…