What does it mean for something to have meaning? It’s a surprisingly difficult question to answer. We use the word constantly — a meaningful conversation, a meaningful relationship, a meaningful life — but rarely stop to consider what we actually mean by it. For Viktor Frankl, meaning was fundamentally an existential question. In Man’s SearchContinue reading “Gardens and Meaning”
Tag Archives: Garden Design
The Garden in a Circular Economy
Those who pay attention to these sorts of things will have noticed a not-so-quiet shift taking place in horticulture over recent years. Conversations that once centred almost entirely on aesthetics now include soil health, biodiversity, rewilding, and long-term resilience. “Sustainability” has become part of the design brief. I, however, find myself wondering whether we areContinue reading “The Garden in a Circular Economy”
I liked all the gardens at Chelsea and that’s a problem
My main takeaway from Chelsea this year was that I liked almost all of the gardens and I wish I didn’t. Sure, some I liked more than others, but no single garden genuinely shocked me, confused me, challenged me, or made me recoil slightly and mutter to myself, “what on Earth were they thinking there?”Continue reading “I liked all the gardens at Chelsea and that’s a problem”
Thoughts on Chelsea
I have mixed feelings about the RHS Chelsea Flower Show; and, in truth, about all flower and garden shows. On one hand, their inherent wastefulness and ultra-short-termism sit uneasily with me. Entire landscapes are designed, constructed, planted, photographed, celebrated, dismantled, and dispersed within the space of a few days. Gardens that appear timeless are, inContinue reading “Thoughts on Chelsea”
What Makes a Garden?
Gardens are cultural artifacts shaped by human intention and environmental factors, serving as both practical spaces for daily life and reflections of deeper meaning. They exist in a dynamic equilibrium, embodying the tension between nature and nurture. Ultimately, gardens reveal humanity’s relationship with the world, merging use and interpretation.
Dale Walker 