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Muscari

The True Italian Garden and Ecology

by Jonathan Radford

"The ecological Italian garden" sounds almost like a contradiction in terms, when we think of the formal Italian gardens of the glorious Renaissance period in Italy- with their neatly clipped hedges, elaborate water features and rose gardens etc.

However, in reality, the Italian's link with their land is far more intimate and their love for the finest of food has driven the Italians to search for culinary perfection over the centuries. From shoes to tomatoes and from aromatic herbs to natural medicine everything in Italy is of the highest quality and organic produce is clearly of superior quality to the produce that is currently being mass produced. Italian gardeners and chefs have understood this for centuries and have always strived to create a harmony in their gardens to provide the very best quality produce from livestock to vegetables and from lemons to truffles. They have not only used their land for food production but also to produce fine natural medicines and even to this day Italian wild flowers, used in natural remedies, are still considered to be of superior quality. This intrinsic link has shaped garden in Italy over the centuries and has resulted in the Italian garden style that we know today.

During the 13 years that I have been living and working as a garden designer in Italy I have patented a garden design system, named ecologica that is based upon the antique agricultural practises that have shaped this land yet provides for the needs of the modern home buyer in Italy, like having masses of organic vegetables and fruit. When combined with intelligent planting, wild flower meadows teeming with poppies and natural remedies (herbal teas) can provide a spectacle second to none. Formal, organic vegetable gardens can become the main attraction, when combined with classic roses and other flowering plants. All of the beautiful features within a modern Italian garden can have an intrinsic link with each other. I can achieve all this completely organically, ecologically without using imported wildflower seed and without water! By living a little closer to nature we can return to the origins of the Italian garden as there really is nothing more modern than the past... HAPPY GARDENING!

See some examples of the real italian garden at http://www.lifeinitaly.com/garden/tuscan-gard

About the Author

Greater Bee Fly (Bombylius major) x grape hyacinth (Muscari)