Tom Massey is a well-known figure in ecologically-led landscape design, and his career has grown significantly in the nine years since he graduated from the London College of landscape Design in 2015. He is now working on his fourth Chelsea Flower Show garden; this year, his WaterAid garden, created in partnership with Je Ahn of Studio Weave, earned a gold prize; in 2021, his Yeo Valley garden took home a silver medal, and in 2023, the garden created for the Royal Entomological Society took home a silver-gilt medal. Though the themes of each of these gardens have varied slightly—from enhancing biodiversity by drawing insects to conserving water—sustainable design is a unifying theme. Tom has a special interest in resilient gardening, and he released his first book, RHS Resilient Garden: Sustainable Gardening for a Changing Climate, in 2023. In recognition of all these accomplishments, Project Giving Back-sponsored House & Garden this year presented him with the Award for Responsible Garden Design.
We asked Tom to break down the essential ideas and provide guidance on how we can make our own gardens more resilient to climate change, even though resilient planting may be a common sight at Chelsea and in the upper echelons of garden design for those of us who find it more challenging to implement.
Given the present climate problem, resilience is becoming more and more crucial, according to Tom. “This February was the wettest on record, and London has been experiencing unheard-of summer temperatures of forty degrees. Extreme weather conditions like this provide significant challenges for landscape architects and gardeners. Therefore, creating plans that are resistant to their impacts is the only way to create landscapes that are long-lasting and sustainable. Resilience is really about adapting to the circumstances, and as Tom notes, the finest gardens have always done this. “If you take a look at someone like Beth Chatto, who gardened in the arid region of Essex, her whole philosophy was ‘right plant, right place.'” And it’s simply getting more and more crucial to consider that. The wrong plant may be able to live if it is planted in the incorrect location, but it may need a lot of food, water, fertilizer, and other attention to flourish. It would be impossible to grow a Mediterranean olive tree in a wet, shaded British woods. On the other hand, you won’t need to do anything at all if you place the proper plant in the right circumstances since it will flourish.”
Tom uses the example of lawns, which are popular in British gardens but are hard to keep up with the country’s increasingly arid summers. “Try to keep your lawn lush, weed-free, and flourishing throughout a scorching, dry summer by giving it regular fertilizer and irrigation—basically, you’re creating an unsustainable artificial ecosystem. Additionally, lawns are composed of one or two species, which is not particularly robust. The greater the number of species present, the more robust the ecosystem is to a major shock, such as a heatwave. Why is having immaculate, verdant, weed-free lawns necessary? Can we be more tolerant of a species-rich lawn that may include plants that bloom in the summer and remain green, like achillea and clover?
Britain may be a particularly challenging area to create a garden, especially in these harsh weather conditions. We often see very rainy winters followed by protracted droughts in the summer. Creating a landscape that can withstand both of those extremes is a task. You may try to find plants that can withstand drought, but they won’t withstand being soggy in the winter.” One excellent way to tackle this issue is to look about you. If you live in a rural area, see what is flourishing there; if you live in an urban setting, observe what is flourishing in your neighbors’ gardens.
Furthermore, you should take into account the ecosystem as a whole when deciding what to include in your garden in addition to the plants’ overall health. Plants provide a plethora of health advantages. In addition to providing shade by cooling the air, trees are excellent in capturing particulate matter in the air. Thus, you may use plants that do more for you than just look good if you live near a busy road. Using a varied mix of native and non-native plants to attract pollinators, Tom’s garden for the Royal Entomological Society at Chelsea in 2023 also demonstrated the importance of gardens for boosting biodiversity. It also demonstrated how creatively gardeners can incorporate insect habitats, with gabion retaining walls filled with waste materials like leaf mulch, dead wood, and broken terracotta pots.
So where do you start when attempting to build a new garden or add resilience to an old one? Understanding the site is the first thing to accomplish. Take some time to examine the earth; what kind of soil do you have? Is it clay, does it drain freely, and is it prone to waterlogging? Is the location exposed to a lot of wind and sun, or is it sheltered and protected? Which aspect is it—shady and north-facing, or south-facing and sunny? Next, take a look at what is currently there. Are there any growing plants, trees, or shrubs? An excellent place to start is with plants that are already established and flourishing in the garden.
Garden design ideas to maximize your outside area
Following Tom’s garden at the Chelsea Flower Show, rainwater collection seems to be becoming more and more crucial. He says, “We shouldn’t just be flushing away this precious resource.” With its center pavilion, the WaterAid garden directs water into subterranean tanks and a series of swales, depressions, and channels that collect and retain water in the landscape instead of washing it into sewers. “We do suffer from the overuse of hard surfaces and the overburdening of main sewer systems during periods of heavy rainfall, so it’s really important to consider ways to retain water in the garden while maintaining its beauty and benefiting wildlife.”
Additionally, Tom stresses the need for patience after the garden has established. “Never lose your cool. Just give things a chance if you see that they are suffering after a heatwave. Give everything some time to heal and recover. By their inherent nature, plants are very hardy. It’s not always the case that the idealized picture you see on social media, in publications, or at flower exhibits is representative of reality. Gardens are living organisms that will unavoidably undergo seasonal changes. Read more
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