Naturalistic Perennial Movement - A few brief thoughts

 



The naturalistic perennial movement is a relatively new design movement that is based upon ecological planting communities in their natural habitat. Ecological groups are selected on preference, environmental conditions and also seasonality. Having read up on this topic in a little bit of detail, the following are the main points that I have taken from it:

- Seasonality - Seasonality is a really important design factor, the planting is designed to look as good in winter as it does in summer. Structural and architectural form is important for the winter period, dead and decaying plants are often left throughout the course of the year as they give a different kind of quality to the space.

- Active borders - Linked to the seasonality point above is the idea that there should always be something of interest within the space. A good selection of plants makes sure of this and by leaving stems, leaves and plants with good form in (Longer than in a traditional garden) winter interest is created also.

- Plant and Ecological Community Knowledge - It is vital that the designer has extensive knowledge of the plants that they are using. Studies of the plant communities that the new designs are based upon are really important because it conveys information with regards to growing conditions, growth rates etc. Learning this enables the designer to think in 4D, to think how the design will look in a week, a month and also a year.



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