WALLED PRODUCTIVE GARDEN .(84).

 

                                       WALLED PRODUCTIVE GARDEN 



                                              Fig 1: showing a walled productive garden.



A walled productive garden is a classic yet adaptable landscape feature, and when combined with biophilic design principles, it can become a highly immersive, sustainable, and health-promoting space. Let’s break it down and explore how materiality and planting can be thoughtfully selected through the lens of landscape architecture and biophilia.

 What is a Walled Productive Garden?

A walled productive garden is a garden space enclosed by walls—traditionally stone or brick—designed primarily for growing food, herbs, and useful plants. Historically, these gardens were part of large estates or monastic communities, providing a protected micro-climate that extended the growing season and shielded crops from wind and frost.

Modern versions can range from formal kitchen gardens to community growing spaces or intimate urban retreats, often integrated into sustainable landscape design.

 Biophilic Design: A Brief Context

Biophilic design aims to reconnect people with nature through natural forms, materials, and processes. In a landscape context, this means:

  • Encouraging interaction with living systems

  • Supporting ecological health

  • Enhancing human well-being through sensory richness and natural rhythms

 Materiality in a Biophilic-Themed Walled Productive Garden

Material choices should echo natural aesthetics, promote sustainability, and reinforce a sensory connection with the environment. Here's how you can approach it:

1. Walls & Enclosure

  • Use locally sourced stone, reclaimed brick, or natural rammed earth for warmth, texture, and thermal mass.

  • Integrate green walls, espaliered fruit trees, or climbing vines into the structure to soften edges and enhance biodiversity.

  • Consider permeable or living fences where full walls aren’t necessary.

2. Pathways and Ground Surface

  • Materials like gravel, clay brick, reclaimed timber, or compacted earth promote permeability and textural variety.

  • Avoid synthetic surfaces; use materials that age naturally and wear well, adding time-based beauty.

3. Structures & Features

  • Include timber pergolas, arched trellises, or glasshouses that support climbing edibles (like grapes or beans).

  • Use natural materials for garden furniture—weathered wood, stone benches, or even woven willow seats.

 Planting Design in a Biophilic Productive Garden

In a biophilic context, planting should appeal to multiple senses, support local ecosystems, and foster interaction and care. Here’s how to structure it:

1. Productive & Edible Plants

  • Herbs (rosemary, thyme, lavender, basil): aromatic, touchable, sensory-rich

  • Fruit trees (espaliered apples, pears, figs): offer shade, food, seasonal beauty

  • Vegetables (beans, kale, tomatoes, carrots): choose colourful, heirloom, or culturally relevant varieties

  • Berry bushes and climbers: raspberries, strawberries, grapes, passion-fruit

2. Native and Pollinator-Friendly Plants

  • Blend edibles with native wildflowers and flowering herbs to support bees, butterflies, and other pollinators.

  • Include flowering borders that change with the seasons—daisies, yarrow, calendula, echinacea.

3. Layered, Mixed Planting

  • Mix low-growing herbs with taller crops and climbers to create a lush, immersive environment.

  • Incorporate canopy layers, including small trees or shrubs, for habitat and visual enclosure.

4. Sensory & Emotional Engagement

  • Plant for fragrance (jasmine, mint, lemon balm)

  • Include textural contrast (soft grasses, fuzzy leaves, rough bark)

  • Design for harvest rituals, such as a central herb circle or fruit walk

  • Add water features or small wildlife habitats for auditory and ecological richness

 Design Principles for Biophilic Integration

  • Create views and refuges: cosy seating nooks, framed views of planting or sky

  • Encourage interaction: raised beds for hands-on care, pathways that invite wandering

  • Celebrate natural cycles: seasonal plantings, composting areas, rainwater harvesting

  • Balance order and wildness: formal structure with naturalistic planting layers

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

LAND USE CONSULTANTS: L.U.C : ( THE EDEN PROJECT ) (08).

Image
  THE EDEN PROJECT Image: The Eden Project, Cornwall United kingdom. The Eden Project in Cornwall, UK, stands as a remarkable example of Land use Consultant's (LUC), expertise in sustainable land use and ecological design. LUC's involvement in the projects landscape design and planning has been instrumental in creating a unique and immersive environment that showcases the beauty of nature while promoting environmental education and awareness.  The project's emphasis on sustainability, biodiversity and ecological restoration aligns closely with LUC's capability to merge ecological principles with public engagement, making the Eden project a shinning example of the firm's dedication to sustainable land use and environmental stewardship. Critically, while the Eden project can/has been widely acclaimed for its accomplishments, there are however some concerns about the projects energy consumption and its long-term ecological impact. Addressing these concerns and ensuring...
Read more

CONCRETE .(73).

Image
                                                                  CONCRETE                                     Image 1: Concrete furniture Concrete is a composite material made up of several key ingredients: Cement : A binder that holds everything together. Portland cement is the most common type used in concrete production. Aggregates : These are the solid materials that make up most of the concrete's volume. Aggregates include: Fine aggregates (such as sand) Coarse aggregates (such as gravel or crushed stone) Water : Reacts with the cement to form a chemical bond, creating the hardened material known as concrete. Admixtures (optional): Chemical agents added to alter the properties of the concrete, such as accelerating or slowing th...
Read more

Sketch-Book Extract 01.

Image
COLOUR , plays an important role in the appreciation of our immediate and general environment and without it we would be lost, find our-selves devoid of the stimulation to our visual senses. So how does a human eye perceive colour?  First, a brief overview of how the human eyes work.   In order for us to see, light rays must be bent, or "refracted," so that they can reach the retina . Once the light reaches the retina, it's picked up by millions of "photoreceptors," or light-sensitive cells, called cones and rods. These cones and rods convert the light waves into information your brain can process, like colour , shape, and motion.(Levine,2017, Para.2). Basically, rods interpret light, and cones interpret colours . Animals that are truly colour-blind  completely lack cones, and animals that can only see during the day completely lack rods—but   these extremes are uncommon , and most animals have a combination of cones and rods. (Levine,2017, Para.3). A schematic ...
Read more