by Tim Howell

When you find yourself catching the train to London at six o’clock on a Saturday morning you know you must be on your way to something special...and I was!

I was invited by Gillian Goodson to attend a Masterclass by Thomas Rainer on the subject of: “Planting in a Post-Wild World”. Gillian and I met via the world of Twitter and have followed each other’s horticultural tweets for several years. I was already familiar with Thomas’s thoughts from the excellent “Roots and All” gardening podcast by Sarah Wilson. This podcast was sponsored by the London College of Garden Design (LCGD) who, along with London Stone, assisted in promoting the Masterclass. Gillian invited both LCGD and London Stone to take part in the day recognising that both LCGD and London Stone have given so much to the industry. It is part of her way in giving back.

Tuke Hall at Regent’s University was packed with over 300 of the great and the good of the horticultural world. Andrew Fisher-Tomlin of LCGD was on hand to introduce the various sessions and act as master of ceremonies for the day on Gillian’s behalf while Gillian and her Team ensured the smooth running of the day.

There was a great presentation by Ryan Burge of London Stone about the ways in which they can help those in the industry. This highlighted the products and services they provide through to their “Find a Landscape Specialist” initiative to connect home-owners with garden designers, landscape contractors and garden maintenance specialists in their local area.

Thomas Rainer is a registered landscape architect, teacher, and author and is a leading voice in ecological landscape design. He certainly knew how to keep us all informed and entertained throughout the day, even acknowledging that tricky after-lunch period with some great humour.

Immediately after lunch there was a presentation by David Wyndham Lewis about Perennial, the UK charity dedicated to helping people in horticulture. David explained how the charity provides free and confidential advice, support and financial assistance to people of all ages working in, or retired from horticulture. Gillian is a great supporter of Perennial and the work they do.

Andrew Fisher-Tomlin in his introduction had cautioned us to hold any questions for the dedicated Q&A at the end of the day and I did find that just as I was itching to raise my hand and ask: “What do you mean by..?” Thomas answered it in his next breath. What was so pleasing was that Thomas broke down what is a wide ranging and complex subject into some relatively simple messages. We were introduced to the concepts of: three wild landscape archetypes; taking inspiration from the natural landscape, designing based on the amount of maintenance available; and designing in black and white.

The three wild landscape archetypes are: Forest; Woodland; and Grassland. Thomas explained how important it is to understand what type of area we are trying to create or restore and take inspiration from nature about the most suitable plant combinations. Recreating these combinations using appropriate cultivated plants (if cultivated plants are what the client wants).

Thomas emphasised the need to identify the maintenance regime the client has budgeted for. There is nothing wrong with a high maintenance domestic garden where the client is willing to pay for this level of ongoing maintenance. For an urban landscape there is likely to be some ongoing maintenance allocated and private companies may have a larger maintenance budget than city councils. In a large parkland there may only be the budget available for an annual mowing of the area and maybe spot treatment of any invasive plants.

My arm was itching to be raised for a question when Thomas first mentioned designing in black and white. “But, Mr Rainer I like some colour in my garden” I was dying to say! Again Thomas quickly came up with the explanation. The idea is to initially fill all the available space with lush dense planting (ignore the colour of those plants for now) this is the “black” area of your design. Then add “white” areas that define paths, terraces or lawns. This way you fill the area with plants, as does the natural world. If you start with one or two plants dotted about then you leave bare soil which encourages weeds and other invasive plants which may eventually dominate.

There may be a perception that we should leave nature alone to do its own thing, but the really powerful message I got from this masterclass was that it is too late for this. Humans have already interfered too much in the landscape through clearing natural areas of forest, woodland or grassland. We have introduced non-native invasive plants that have subsequently escaped from domestic gardens. We have built road networks through the natural landscape that allow plant material or seeds from these invasive plants to transfer rapidly from one location to another.

It is our prior interference in the natural world that has destroyed the “ecological memory” that has built up over millions of years within an area. Unfortunately, we have to carry on interfering (in a carefully planned way) to help restore what we have damaged. If we leave areas to their own devices then any attempt to restore the landscape will fail. Note that our intervention against invasive species may need to be brutal to prevent them from dominating the natural landscape.

Regent’s University was a great location for this masterclass with beautiful gardens and good catering facilities. There were excellent opportunities for networking (otherwise known as just meeting up for a good chat). I met many people for the first time (previously only ever interacting with them via social media) and caught up with others I’ve met over the years. The feedback seen on social media about the masterclass has been so very positive.

The day was extremely well organised by Gillian and everything ran smoothly, especially with Andrew Fisher-Tomlin keeping us all in check - even those who made an impromptu appearance on the stage (you know who you are)!

I thoroughly enjoyed the day and learned so much. My head was still buzzing with information on the train journey back home. It was a long day, but well worth it.