Gardens
A New Order from Germany
Ursula Buchan
Aa nation, we have a proud tradition of horticultural imperialism. Examples of English garden style have been found from Simla to Kandy, from St. Petersburg to Berlin, from Uppsala to Williamsburg (and this despite seemingly unbridgeable differ- ences in outlook and climate), providing us with flattering imitations which we accept as only our genius' due. The colonisation has not been all one way, of course; there are a few Japanese gardens and French parterres in this country, but plants rather than ideas have most successfully invaded this country.
I wonder, therefore, how we will take to the German `olcologishche' approach to growing herbaceous perennials, which is now, and finally, catching fire with land- scape designers in this country. Although well established in the rest of Europe and the States, 'naturalistic' planting has taken a long time to catch hold here, which just goes to prove our stout resistance to for- eign ideas. More than half a century ago, the German nurseryman and plant breeder, Karl Foerster, was growing herbaceous perennials in plantings based on the exam- ple of wild plant communities.
These days, the best known prophet is Richard Hansen, whose Die Stauden und ihre Lebensbereiches in Geirten und Griinan- lagen (1981) has recently been released, by the Cambridge University Press, as Peren- nials and their garden habitats. This is the fruit of a lifetime's work and study, first under Karl Foerster and then, after the war, as head of the trials ground at Wei- henstephan (from whence has come Sedum Weihenstephaner Gold', incidentally) in southern Germany.
With typische TUchtiglceit, he, and a group of like-minded ecologists, have studied the subject thoroughly and rejected the idea, so dear to our hearts, of aesthetic planting design. Although they concede that individ- ual plant combinations based on colour and habit, harmonies and contrasts, are often very beautiful they point out that these usually require continuous mainte- nance to reconcile the plants' differing natures and requirements.
The bulk of Hansen's book consists of a series of lists of plants, categorised by their natural Lebensbereiche: woodland; wood- land edge; open ground; rock garden; bor- der; water's edge and marsh, and water. These are then sub-divided into ever more precise situations, such as 'small dainty species for slightly boggy sites (or wet spring soils)'. Once you get the hang of the categorisation the, initially, quite unread- able lists become comprehensible, even exhilarating.
Because the emphasis is on choosing plants for the conditions which already obtain, rather than on the more conven- tional criteria of height, spread and colour, these perennials should hold their own against competing weeds and other plants. It is necessary, of course, to accept the old lie that 'there is no such thing as a colour clash in nature'. The Germans circumvent this difficulty by planting certain key unify- ing plants over and over again, planting in generous drifts which overlap, and using plenty of ornamental grasses as buffers. In the best German plantings, there is a 'visu- al climax' every three to four weeks.
The Germans (for there is now a whole group of Folgender) have brought their own philosophische Haltung to bear: 'If a plant in a garden has the same right as we, it expects that we provide its natural condi- tions, not only regarding its physical requirements but also regarding its soul.'
It would be overstating the point to say that British gardeners do not take olcologie into account when planting. We plant sun- lovers in sun, shade-lovers in shade, cal- cifuges in acid soil. But these are very blunt distinctions, and we rarely know the precise conditions in which a plant grows in the wild. Moreover, instead of choosing plants suited to our soil, we 'improve' the soil in order to suit the plants that we want. For Hansen, however, suitability and sustain- ability are the key words. Many gardens planted using his principles have barely been altered in 25 years, having achieved something like a 'natural balance'.
There have been ample opportunities for German horticulturalists to develop these ideas since the war, because of the lively Garden Festival movement, which began as a way of promoting the reconstruction of bombed cities. Our garden festivals have been pale shadows of the deutsche Idee. Whereas ours, in a memorable phrase, are rolled up and taken away at the end of the year, in Germany the Landschaft remains as a public open space.
The reason why Hansen et al. are so Mes- sianic about naturalistic planting design is partly because they believe that, for parks in particular, this is a genuinely labour-saving solution. Perennials are not divided, staked or deadheaded; only invasive weeds are dealt with, swiftly. On the face of it, this idea has a lot to offer British gardeners, public and private, who wish both to cut down on work and achieve a more 'natural' and, in theory at least, satisfying look. However, it requires that local authorities reject displays of crowd-pleasing, and very expensive, 'bed- ding', and educate the public to accept meadow plantings which become shaggy and only subtly colourful as the season advances. Private gardeners would also need to change their attitudes towards border gardening. Dennoch, diese Idee hat MOglichkeiten. But I bet it loses something in translation.
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