A Wild Garden Space of Your Own – Rewilding Gardens by Design
Photo Credit Harper’s Bazaar from an article on Wild Glamping. Could be your garden…
Imagine a warm evening in a wild place, sitting around a fire with friends, flames reflected in water, bursts of laughter, crickets chirping… it’s late summer… you comfortably walk your well-trod path, knowing and loving the lay of this land intimately… and that’s because you’re walking to your own back door!
Gardens can be anything you like, here I am imagining something more than the usual lawn, patio and borders - I’m imagining a natural-looking place, set up for comfort but looking quite wild and effortlessly beautiful. Perhaps a natural pool to dip your toes in, a rustic jetty for a sundown drink and a fire pit to sit around under the stars.
Not everyone can have a natural swimming pool of course, but this is the kind of garden that helps nature while offering you a welcome break from the world of control, computers and concrete. If you’ve heard of rewilding, this is the kind of wilding that gardens can do. They can make a huge difference to biodiversity, but because of their relatively small scale they need to be designed and managed appropriately rather than just left to go wild. Designing gardens is all about optimising space so it works for you, garden design can simultaneously optimise space for wildlife too -Eco and aesthetic.
There’s a lot of talk about wellness at the moment, “Being in nature” is something we humans have evolved for billions of years to do, only in the last few hundred years have we become so separate – so it’s no wonder people can feel disjointed. The safe space of your own home can be the perfect gateway to a reconnection. Nature heals people deep down, and just being in it is enough, no further action required.
Glamping in the garden? Why not – and the bonus is you get to sleep in your own bed!
I am Sarah Ashworth, I love to design gardens that help people connect with nature, I am a trained garden designer with specialism in wildlife and sustainable design.
