ECO LANDSCAPING

Creating a garden with green credentials isn't without its challenges, but there are plenty of ways you can reduce its impact on the environment, once you know how

What's clear when it comes to landscaping in an environmental sense, is that there's no one-sizefits-all approach. Landscape designer Kristina Clode, whose multiple garden designs have won awards in sustainability, admits that the sustainable thing to do is nothing. This inevitably presents abit of a conundrum.

There are things that can be done to lessen our impact on the environment as much as possible, however. The most powerful tool and the starting point for anyone on a landscaping project is intent.

"Allow sustainability to be the driver for your decision-making right from the very beginning," says Sam Avard, who is certified Carbon Literate by the Carbon Literacy Project, and works alongside Kristina at Kristina Clode Garden Design on technical design and specification. "Studies have shown that the impact on sustainability in a project peaks at the design phase. The further you move through the process the lesser your chances of your end product being a sustainable one," he explains.

"The first step is understanding what the motivations are for doing things in an environmentally friendly way," adds Sam. "Look at carbon cycles, our water use, how fast soil is degrading - all that depressing stuff that people don't really want to think about when they're having fun. Take the time to learn the importance of these decisions to be green." It's perhaps important to mention that sustainable gardens will have a certain aesthetic about them and Sam tells us that as a rule of thumb, creating pristine low-maintenance landscapes is not going to be very sustainable.