Wildlife garden

The " Natural garden ", " Ökogarten " or " natural garden " has an integrative approach between man and nature. In natural garden native wild animals and wild plants ( flora and fauna) are particularly encouraged. The design is based on the models of nature. The image of the natural garden mostly resembles a naturally grown space, but they are man-made planned, designed and maintained rooms. In younger designs and formal elements are increasingly available. When planting, native species are preferred, which are durable and require little maintenance. ( Sustainable planting and seeding )

These garden spaces are created to contribute to the conservation and recovery of the people in urban areas. There are also pedagogically motivated nature gardens in order to teach the people the nature. In natural garden sustainable construction and management is sought. The criteria of the natural garden are less formal, but an expression of a horticultural engagement with nature.

2.1 from 1770
2.2 from 1800
2.3 The turn of the 20th century
2.4 1900

3.1 The natural garden in the Netherlands
3.2 The natural garden in Germany
3.3 The natural garden in Switzerland
3.4 The natural garden in Austria

4.1 clubs, interest groups
4.2 courses

Current Applications

Types of open spaces of the natural garden

Municipal garden in urban and periurban areas
Private and Community Gardens
Institutional, educational embossed rooms of schools and social services
Travels
Company premises
Public spaces, urban parks
Roads and motorways

Use of plants

Plant communities of nature find an adaptation in the natural garden. These include, for example:

Perennials use: ruderal vegetation, extensive grassland, dry locations and alternating wet locations, Heckensaum and shadow Flora
Woody plants: Solitary and wild hedges

Construction techniques

The aim is a sustainable design that protects the soil and water resources. This is achieved by closed circuits of the possible vegetable and mineral material through recycling and the use of natural and locally produced building materials and plants.

Natural stone walls and stairs in dry construction (without binder)
Natursteinbeläge
Wooden structures
Gravel surfaces
Natural ponds
Retention zones for drainage (roof water, paths, squares )

History for natural garden

From 1770

The natural garden can hardly fix as its own epoch. The term natural garden we find already in the 18th century in connection with the discussion around the landscaped gardens. In Germany was discussed in the late 18th century on its own, the English garden style derived " nature garden ". The " German natural garden " should differ by more " objectivity ", " natural science " and less " idealization of nature" from the English Garden. This one aspect has been introduced into the natural garden, which has remained an issue even today. The " German natural garden " but remained more a theoretical construct which, although influenced the art of gardening, but did not produce own garden style.

From 1800

The landscaped garden in the 19th century has influenced all subsequent garden currents, therefore, only a small aspect to be mentioned: The späthistoristische landscape garden of the end of the century had represented the rising bourgeoisie. The garden has had increasingly taken to a field of the education citizen who arboretums, Alpine and more scientifically motivated topics in the garden. The engagement with nature has been preserved as an aspect in the natural garden movement.

The turn of the 20th century

The turn of the century occupies a key position, since the impetus for different stimuli were presented.

Plants with locals in the reform Garden: The use of native species was in the turn of the century "en vogue", after a long decade of collecting exclusive as possible exotics. The definition of native species, however, was broad and the distinction between wild species and horticultural varieties bred was not made. It has even been combined with targeted bred varieties. This natural garden has the natural image while the oriented ecological " function", little was an issue.

The birth of the Natural and Cultural Heritage Protection Associations: Of course, quality and aesthetic landscape areas have been declared by the protagonists of the emerging ' nature and heritage protection movement "as" nature reserves " or sometimes called " natural gardens ". The latter were intended in the sense of national education.

Biological and Biodynamic Farming :: Another issue discussed was the idea of agriculture, brought forth the first pioneers of organic farming. The topic of natural and organic management has emerged.

1900

Only in the 20th century, the natural garden was established as its own style. However, he remains a flow within the " garden in the 20th century " which is characterized by modernity. Accordingly, the development of the natural garden run parallel in time with those of the reform garden, the garden architecture, the Landschaftliche residential garden and the garden creations of postmodernism. On the one hand, the mentioned styles have clearly dissociated and especially intellectually from one another, and yet we find in the various garden styles over and over again the same or similar issues. Together, all that the mentioned garden shapes can be interpreted as a reflection of a society deals with the understanding of nature and money. In the course of advanced industrialization, globalization and secularization is an individualized understanding of nature has developed. The "Garden of modernity" is likely to emerge thereby that he makes a divergence in views relationship between man and nature. The natural garden is strongly emerged from private, educational or conservation initiatives. While the other styles of their protagonists etc from the ranks of the garden designer, city gardener, so come from key positions in the green industry. Therefore the natural garden has established itself as a " lay movement ". A definition that was maintained on both sides in order to delineate each other but at present is likely to be more of a hindrance. Horticulturists have from the 1980s taken up and developed the topic. Due to the widening of social support Umwelthemen the natural garden design once again came increasingly into the focus of the public.

Characterization of the natural garden in the 20th century

The garden historian Anja Löbbecke divides the natural garden movement in three main streams: " Biological and ecological garden art " ( early 20th century ), " Private Conservation " ( 1970 ) and " function for the people " (from the 1980s ). Mostly worn by interested laymen and dedicated environmental activists, the natural garden movement is marked today by an ambivalent relationship to the historic garden design and professional landscape architecture. Especially the actors of the 1970s criticized the established landscape architecture of its time, turned against environmental destruction and against " estranged garden culture " and would not be understood horticulturally her concerns. Typical publications then put the focus on consistent nature and environmental protection, and defined the garden primarily as a habitat for flora and fauna. In the 1980s, we sat back stronger with the established garden culture apart and anchored within the "natural " a social component. As a standard work of that phase " The other natural garden " of the Swiss geographer and landscape architect Andreas Winkler applies the book published in 1986. Formerly worked as a laboratory assistant in the agrochemical research, Winkler engaged in the eighties in nature conservation and environmental protection, and turned with his natural garden idea " against the Compulsive, against the controlling life with weed killers and insecticides " as well as against garden architects and their " devoid of meaning, architectural- arty skills banter ". He wanted to see in his " other natural garden " something revolutionary and lead the people to a dawn of a better future and referred it explicitly to the planning critical writings of the Kassel School of landscape and open space planning of the early eighties.

The natural garden is a regional phenomenon, which is influenced differently by a few actors. The biologist, journalist and natural landscape planners, Reinhard Witt writes: " There are and have always been a few people that this story [ Note: the Association eV nature garden ] have carried ahead. [ ... ] Change These people, as if the vital interests and energy of a man did not hold long enough for all the right and wrong ways of the natural garden. "Despite the regional character and the small number of persons of the natural garden eV this club is for natural garden and landscape design nationwide well-connected.

The natural garden in the Netherlands

He is regarded as an archetype, since its development history can be almost completely traced back to the late 19th century. In the Netherlands, the conflicts and rifts around the natural garden have not been conducted pronounced. It seems that by the general relationship is much more relaxed than in the German language area. The projects are often embedded in an educational context and typically have the character of a miniature landscape.

The natural garden in Germany

Germany has a "silent " pioneering role as the impetus often come from here. The natural garden movement but was severely weakened by nationalist tendencies in the 1930s. From the 1970s, the landscape and open space planning on the subject of spontaneous vegetation has been intensively studied in the settlement area at the Kassel School, which in turn would offer a theoretical basis for the natural garden. The practical application, however, was driven in the Netherlands and in Switzerland.

The natural garden in Switzerland

The ( German -speaking ) Switzerland is considered a pioneer country, because here comes a lot of practical experience. It has been implemented in the public space projects (Green 80 Basel, Irchelpark Zurich ), who have made widely known the natural garden. The offer of Naturnahen growers and producers wild plants is relatively well covered in Switzerland and regulated their ways of working with policies.

The natural garden in Austria

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Institutions

Associations, interest groups

In the course of professionalization, various interest groups have been formed to deal with the natural garden theme.

Germany, see: natural garden e.V.
Switzerland: In Switzerland, formed in 1987 as a merger of near-natural horticulture, the "Association Nature Garden VNG ", formerly " club for natural gardening and landscaping VNG ". The association consisted of 20 to 30 specialist companies who work according to their own guidelines as well as individual membership. As of 1995, the association's own magazine " Nature Windwärts " appeared. Since 2008 there has been a merger of VNG with Bioterra and the Association of Biogärtner. Since then, the interest groups are represented together. There are about a hundred specialist companies ( horticultural, planning offices and horticulture ), and approximately 13,000 individual members to Bioterra. Bioterra offers a magazine, offers various courses, direct sales, meetings etc. for its members. The Foundation promotes the economic nature and natural design of company complexes
Austria: Austria has the natural garden network of specialist companies and the merger " REWISA " for wild plants and seeds.
Netherlands: The Foundation oasis was created in the early 1990s to a documentation of natural garden objects in Holland. The Foundation organizes field trips, publishes the magazine " oasis " out and published previously two garden guide. The center oasis in the " oasis garden Beungingen " is the roof of various areas: Wilde Welde for gardeners, seed producers and planners. Next there is a trade group for the natural garden maintenance and finally " Spingzaad ", the Association for Children and nature. The nature educational branch has become the focus.

Courses

There are various natural garden courses. One can find day courses on any subject, of pragmatic building instructions, plants teaching courses, Permakulturkursen to experience courses with esoteric staining. They are directed according to all potential audiences. For the garden professional there are more years of further training. Due to the increasing demand and requirement of sustainable horticulture, the interest in such courses has increased.

Criticism of the natural garden

Knowledgeable critics, as the Zurich landscape architect, Professor Dr. Dieter Kienast have shaped the debate about the nature garden since the eighties partially sustainable. Kienast condemned the artificial plant naturally appearing habitats in urban areas which are unsuitable as threadbare " eco-design ", which just obscures the true qualities of the environment. Due to the conservative values , some anti-modernist and anti-artistic attitude of the natural garden movement, he was also of the opinion " that are joined by a considerable step restorative body of thought to the progressiveness of nature nursery. [ ... ] Here, the forward-looking attitude is in social questions a through ignorance and uncritical reception marked, conservative stance on cultural issues against. " This view is still represented by parts of the professional world.

A second point of criticism concerns the one-sided preference for local and strict rejection of foreign plants in the natural garden. Many of today's estimated crops such as the potato, but not originally come from Central Europe, and the spread of certain plant species changes in global terms as a result of changing climatic conditions continually. Plants were introduced to early Celtic times in Central Europe, which are now considered endemic. The problem of lack of clear definition of " indigenous " was encountered in biology by. , The year of the discovery of America, 1492 stipulated a watershed All imported after 1500 species are considered " non-indigenous " neobiotische plants. This normative setting is questioned repeatedly in the art.

A further criticism of the natural garden limiting the design options is given. This criticism is sometimes expressed by gardeners who distanced themselves after years of commitment from the natural garden.

Wildlife English landscape garden Timeline of history of environmentalism Biotope

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