The Gardens of Eden: Adapted to Our Life and Our Time

By George Graine, Fairfax Master Gardener
“Gardening has compensations out of all proportion to its goals. It is creation in the pure sense.”
–Phyllis McGinley in “The Province of the Heart” (1959)

“The Gardens of Eden: New Residential Garden Concepts & Architecture for a Greener Planet,” co-edited by Abbye Churchill and published by gestalten (2020), is like teaching what you can do for nature while revealing what a green space can do for you. The editorial approach to this book is three-fold: To highlight gardening in the urban area, create new approaches to residential design (e.g., limit the lawn) and place emphasis on a sustainable eco-system that considers native plantings. In its own way, this book tends to bring the ideas of many other horticultural texts under a single cover. If this tantalizes your interest, then by all means seek out other books that emphasize a particular feature, for example, Tovah Martin’s book “The Garden in Every Sense and Season” or Brie Arthur’s book “The Foodscape Revolution.”

“The Gardens of Eden” is a large (8.5 X 10.5) hard cover book crammed with many full page impressive matte photos that enhance the written words. This large size format may lead you to think that this is just another big and beautiful coffee table book — not so! “Eden” lives up to its name because the word Eden means paradise and paradise means a place or state of bliss. Is this what you would like to have as your own garden? When reading “Eden” you will find imaginative features for residential gardens from around the world, and some can be adapted to your own garden. Of course, it is necessary to consider the challenges of limited space, budget and time. Also, take stock of your own increasing appetite for winding down and also experimenting with the art of gardening. Aside from experiments in ecology or food sources, also think of a nice place to sit.

Over hundreds of years, gardens have changed, often out of necessity: Because of war — the victory garden; more space — in the suburbs, less productive or functional gardens only to be replaced by the lawn and flower beds; as well as the bones of the garden — shrubs and trees. Think about this for a moment because the history of gardens, to a large extent, parallels the history of art. We have seen in our lifetime many changes including political, cultural and innovative cyber whatever. It is difficult to keep up with the changes, but change is sure to happen. Nowadays, what this means for gardeners is your plant options can be overwhelming and your choices may be difficult to sort out.

Scattered throughout “Eden” are six sections called Features all of which are diverse and enlightening. In addition to these sections are many pages that will add to your horticultural knowledge as well as an understanding of architectural solutions (think landscape design). The featured sections are highlighted below and could also be considered by the oft-used phrase — life style.

Take it Outside for Home Entertainment
This considers from outdoor kitchens to seating areas designed for year-round pleasure. The point is how to get started designing your own outdoor living and dining room fit for a party. And you might ask — where and how do the plants fit the space?

Gardening for the Senses
The idea is to expand your experience and awaken your sight, smell, sound, touch and taste in the garden. This feature includes snippets of the color garden, night blooming garden, fragrant herb garden, xeric (low water) garden, “soft” garden and several other garden examples. This feature is sure to heighten the awareness of your senses.

Sustainability in Your Garden
Here you will learn about some sustainability principles, including how and why they can be adapted to your own garden. For example, understand how to use water (often misunderstood) and why to incorporate native plants with the idea of improving your garden ecosystem. This feature is followed by several easy-to-understand examples.

Back to the Land: A Guide to Homesteading
This feature is not about some place in Nowheresville. In just a few pages it keys in on growing food as a cost-saving practice. Also, consider your own goal with the thought of maximizing your harvest. By the way, keep in mind sharing your bounty with others.

Planning a Family-Friendly Garden
This is a helpful guide to engage children of all ages in the design and planting of the garden. Done correctly, this can be a fun experience and at the same time teaches how to take care of a garden during its many stages of growth. Several gardens that follow have unique architectural characteristics, including bamboo. Yes, with the correct species you will not be overrun.

Planting Seeds, Growing a Community
Here the emphasis and recognition is that we are living in an increasingly urbanized world. The key is sharing where you can and start a community garden of your own. While this is not a new concept, it is still important for our own daily lives and likewise to help us thrive as a community. This is an opportunity to teach others how to become educated consumers. As the book notes: “To eat is to connect ecologies, economies, and communities.”

In summary, Seijun Nishihata, a Plant Hunter from Japan writes, “I believe the more people start loving plants, the better chance we have of doing something about what we are facing. If a project makes people question and wonder about plants, that is when I feel the project is successful.” The leading Italian newspaper Corriere Della Sera explains that “The Gardens of Eden” is a book very relevant to our life and our time. So true!