I am regularly asked whether an ecological garden is a wild garden.

I would be happy to answer that because it is something that is very close to my heart!

It is a big misunderstanding that ecological gardens are necessarily wild gardens or look unkempt. An ecological garden can just as well be very well cared for!

Or that cliché that an ecological garden must be a wild nature garden where plants and animals have priority over the people who live in them. Your garden still remains that piece of earth that you can create your own paradise to enjoy to the fullest.

It is my personal mission to clear up that misunderstanding, so I am very happy when a new customer asks about it! Because then I can explain how I see that!

It often bothers me enormously that people who do not feel like putting their garden in 'order' simply stick the term 'ecological' to it. Which happens far too often for my liking!

I would like to design ecological gardens that are on a higher level, as a place full of beauty where you can relax. I can enjoy beauty, both from plants, but equally from the beautiful design of architecture. But also in gardens it can just as well become an architectural gem due to the beautiful design and lines, just like some beautiful houses, so that it is called 'art'.

Without ending up in the blazé atmosphere again. A garden is not for exercising (in my opinion). A garden is meant to be enjoyed. But if you like beautiful lines (just like me) then isn't it wonderful to see them in your garden?

That's why I always try to draw strong lines in the design, often based on the golden ratio, which I love.

I'll show you some of my recent designs in the link below to give you an idea, maybe that will give you an idea of what I mean. That's what I try to teach you in the course. It's nice to see how anyone can do this, with a few tips and tricks and bringing out the artist within yourself. I see it happen again and again in workshops and also in the online course . Wonderful to see!

The degree of care and the ecological content of the garden are completely separate.

In fact, you wouldn't immediately be able to tell from an ecological garden that it is ecological, because it can look at least as well-kept as a classic garden, unless you look a little closer and understand the principles that I teach you in the lessons (keeping the soil covered, layering , no chemical pesticides of course, but you don't always see that, interesting plants for bees, variation in species and height, ...). You learn to cooperate with nature in your garden, which makes it much easier and more pleasant.

And of course it is often not feasible or necessary to keep everything super tidy. I certainly find 'weeds' tolerable in certain places. I also think 'wild' is beautiful, but only in certain places and where I really intended it. I often like to take care of it close to home and further away it can be less strict or less intensive (e.g. fewer flower borders). The contrast between a neatly trimmed hedge and a wildly growing shrub can also be very beautiful. Or the contrast between a beautiful short mowed lawn path with some beautifully designed strips of longer grass here and there. That is 'intendedly wild' and I think that is very beautiful.

It is very personal how much time you want to spend on your garden and also depends on the size of your garden, the phase of life you are in (which can therefore change), and so many other things. It is therefore important to adapt the planting to this and the intensity of the 'maintenance' or management of the garden to the time you can and want to spend in your garden. Above all, it should remain enjoyable to stay in your garden. We should certainly avoid becoming 'slaves' to our garden, that cannot be the intention of our garden at all. Then it is better to choose other forms of greenery that are less intensive in terms of maintenance and which therefore make it feasible to keep it beautiful.

Would you like to know more about what your garden could look like?

Do you have another question?

Let me know!

With kind regards

Sophie