Ecological garden
WWhat do you think is important?
Your garden is the best investment
Have you just become the proud owner of your own home? Or are you planning to build one? Buying a house is in itself a major investment, which is why many people wait a while before having their garden designed.
Investing in your garden now is cheaper than waiting 10 years
We will prove that it is ultimately more beneficial not to let the grass grow over it! Why wait decades to earn a living if you can enjoy it for the next ten years? Many forget that their home, and especially the garden, is your very own paradise on earth. It is a place where you can completely relax after a tiring day at work, enjoy a beautiful design and the birds chirping. Where your children can pick an apple and where you can have the nicest barbecues with friends and family in the summer.
Act smart
An investment in a garden design is the wisest decision you can make. The highest cost of a new garden is the construction itself, so why not invite your friends and family for a weekend and roll up your sleeves yourself? After all, there is nothing as satisfying as planting a small fruit tree that will spoil you with delicious fruit until your old age, without you having to do anything except pick it.
Create your garden in stages
Nowadays more and more young people choose to have their garden designed, whether or not during the construction or renovation of their house, and then gradually implement the design over the years. That is an extremely fascinating experience, the garden literally grows bigger every year.
Prestige garden
Do you really want to take your garden to a higher level? Quite right! Because who says chic and nature-friendly can't go together? A well-thought-out garden is an extension of your personality.
A garden design within this category goes a step further in developing the ideal planting plan. The sky's the limit.
A garden full of color spectacle
We carefully look at which color shade and color combinations you want, when you want what will be in bloom and of course all the top-end sustainably responsible accessories you want: from hot tubs to gazebos, romantic hidden terraces to a petanque field, a zen garden. into a swimming pond. Whatever you want, we can deliver the design of your dreams down to the last detail, as long as you don't want a perfectionist golf course garden.
An investment in a garden that serves generations
Every design is stamped 'sustainable and ecological',
which simply means that the aim is to be maintenance-free and that it is designed with respect for nature so that your great-grandchildren will still be able to enjoy it in a hundred years.
Low maintenance garden
Aimed at people who want a beautiful garden without maintenance
What? A low-maintenance garden? That doesn't exist at all, does it? Anyway! During market research for Commensalist, the number one garden wish emerged: a maintenance-free garden. Many people do not want a (large) garden because they would have to work in it too much. That is a very persistent myth.
A garden where enjoyment comes first
It is possible to design a garden that is completely focused on ease of maintenance. In any case, Commensalist distinguishes itself by focusing on 'ecological and sustainable', which means that as little human intervention as possible such as watering, fertilizing and maintenance is required. A well-thought-out plan ensures that you can enjoy your garden, that the garden works for its owner and not the other way around. We already have enough work.
Bye Bye Grass garden
Did you know that instead of mowing the lawn twenty times a year, you can replace parts of your lawn with a flower meadow, or something else? You only have to mow this twice a year, so literally ten times less work. A symphonic color spectacle that is also extremely bee-friendly.
Zen state of mind
The way we design a maintenance-free garden involves a completely different philosophy. A way of thinking that makes us go through life less critically, not wanting to immediately spray a 'spontaneous' flower to death but instead contemplating its beauty.
A gardener or gardener is cheaper than expected
Of course, it may be necessary to make minor interventions here and there, but this is kept to a minimum. If you are not completely convinced, having a gardener come twice a year to bring your garden back into perfect shape is less expensive than you might think.
Dog-friendly garden
A dog is a person's best friend. A dog does everything it can to serve its owner as best as possible, it is an honor to have a proud four-legged friend by your side. Many owners want to do everything they can to ensure that their dog is happy.
You could say that a large garden is number 1 for a dog, but that is not true. A dog is better off in an apartment if its owner takes it for a walk several times every day, plays with it and gives it attention, then it should be left to its own devices in a large, ideal garden.
A good fence is worth its weight in gold
Of course it is better to combine a garden with the necessary attention! One of the most important things in a garden is a good fence! Dogs love nothing more than going out on their own on an adventure, and then sometimes not finding their way back...
Many people think: a dog in the house is bye bye garden, but that does not have to be the case. A well-thought-out design can combine a beautiful design with every comfort for the dog.
What personality does your dog have?
When we design a dog-friendly garden, it is important for us as a designer to imagine what type of dog you have and what personality. For example, a Chihuahua will have different manners than a Labrador. One of the most important things: the happier the dog is with the design, the better that he will respect the beautiful flower beds, for example.
Dogs should be able to walk!
It is important to center the design around a walking area, dogs need exercise. Rather than correcting dogs in their walking paths, it is better to maintain existing created paths. Walkways are best made comfortable with mulch or chopped wood.
Protect your plants
It is a good idea to create large borders around sensitive plants and place plants close together, so that your dog is not attracted to your favorite flowers! It can be good to hide a small section of walkway, which does not have to be more than one meter wide, as dogs like to have their own secret spot.
Non-toxic species
Some plants are poisonous to dogs, for example Amaryllis, Caladium, Azalea, etc. This is taken into account in the design, although most dogs have good instincts and you usually don't have to worry.
Sun & Shadow
Furthermore, dogs like to lie in the sun, so we provide a little extra space in your sunbathing area. Shade is also welcome on hot days. In short, we take into account all possible wishes and needs for your dog, without forgetting his owner! The intention is for the garden to be optimal for everyone! Even the cat
A food forest in your garden
A food forest is the ultimate! This is where edible paradise and enormous natural value come together! A nature reserve with little maintenance that you can enjoy.
Once the food forest has been planted, you rarely or never need to water or fertilize it.
The food forest gives you endless food, it is a cornucopia.
What is a food forest
An ordinary forest is a collection of large trees, small trees, shrubs, mushrooms, climbing plants and much more. You never have to water a forest, you don't have to fertilize it and you certainly never have to spray it with pesticides. A food forest will copy the principles of a forest, but will work almost exclusively with edible species.
A food forest for every situation
You can perfectly integrate a food forest or food forest edge into any garden. Do you have a larger piece of land? Then read more information here.
Click here for more information about large-scale food forests.
Child-friendly garden
Bringing a child into the world changes your life, it is a miracle, something indescribable.
Bringing a child into the world also presents many challenges in practical life. The most beautiful moments of my childhood were in the garden. It is therefore extremely important to create a garden that becomes the personal play paradise of your guests, a garden where memories are made.
Kids only, but parents too!
Should this be done with a swimming pond, tennis court, playground, trampoline, etc.? That is all possible of course, but it is not necessary at all. It has been proven time and time again that children are at their happiest when they can be creative themselves. They love nothing more than building camps, getting dirty, playing hide and seek, just romping around so they fall asleep like logs at night.
A child-friendly garden is a garden design in which a large part is focused on your child, which of course does not mean that the parents are forgotten, not at all. It is a garden where there is harmony between a beautiful design and a piece of wilderness where there is a small sign: forbidden for adults!
Permaculture garden
Permaculture is a portmanteau of permanent agriculture, a term coined by Australian biologist Bill Mollisson, together with his student David Holmgren.
It is a science for designing a living environment that is environmentally sustainable and economically stable. Permaculture is a response to industrialized agriculture and slick, pesticide-sprayed lawns.
A perpetual motion machine, a cornucopia
One of the main goals of permaculture is to design and install a plant and tree community where after a few years you have installed an ecosystem that runs completely on its own. The utopian dream is that all you have to do is pick food and enjoy this natural splendor. Knowing that everything you do is with full respect for nature.
How small and ignorant man is, compared to nature
If you look at a forest, for example one of the famous sequoia forests in California, you will see trees that are 95 meters high, some have a circumference of 34 meters and there are specimens that are estimated to be older than 3200 years. Compare that to the 'modern' man who spends a fortune on working hours, fertilizers, water and pesticides to maintain his artificial lawn, his orchard, his boxwoods or his corn fields, in an unnatural state of being. Have we as humans gone completely crazy?
Man superfluous?
People sometimes have difficulty accepting that they are redundant in some areas, and in this example, less well thought out than nature. You can of course opt for the laissez-faire method, which guarantees that you will have a natural, sustainable wilderness in your garden in about 10 years. But the best thing about being human is that she is able to find a balance between human needs and respect for nature, and voilà, here is Permaculture!
This is Permaculture!
Some elements that sometimes appear in permaculture design are the Herb Spiral, Keyhole Beds, Raised Beds, Hugelkultur, integrating wavy, natural lines and patterns, using mulch, flower meadows,... Many people who have been bitten by the Permaculture bug continue to delve deeper, take courses, read countless books on the subject and even become a bit addicted to it, it can become a true lifestyle. Children also love different Permaculture projects that you can do together with them.
Nevertheless, it can also be nice to have a Permaculture Design in your garden that you just have to enjoy, without having to think too much about it.
Much inspiration for the design is drawn from Masanobu Fukuoka, Sepp Holzer, Geoff Lawton, Toby Hemenway and many others.
An ecological swimming pond for your garden
Being able to swim in your own garden is surely the pinnacle of luxury, bliss and pleasure?
At first you think of a swimming pool, but is a swimming pool actually the best choice?
Angry pool owner destroys swimming pool
The swimming pond was actually created after a swimming pool owner was tired of having to clean the water every day, having to replace the filters, having to add chlorine again, having to invest in a swimming pool robot, and so on. He simply demolished the top part of the pool and turned it into a swimming pond.
What is a swimming pond?
A swimming pond has all the advantages of a swimming pool without the disadvantages, because if you think about it, there are many. A swimming pool is actually an unnatural system that must be maintained by chlorination, filtration and hard labor. It is unpleasant to swim in because the chlorine ages your skin and irritates your eyes. In a swimming pool you have to find the right balance of chemicals so that bacteria cannot settle in it and every so often you have to change the water. Drinking pool water can be deadly for your pets and thirsty birds, and it does not promote the health of your child or yourself. After all, chlorine is a carcinogen.
A swimming pond filters itself
A swimming pond relies entirely on nature to filter the water. You create an ecosystem that runs completely on its own. A swimming pond has two parts, one part is like a normal swimming pool, the second part is the filter zone and consists of lava rock that purifies the water well through its many holes, as well as pond plants that keep the water in a clean condition.
Swimming ponds are as clear as a swimming pool
In contrast to classic ponds, 'swimming ponds' have very clear water and you can even see the bottom. Some swimming pond experts claim that the water is even drinkable, although we don't recommend that. A nice finishing touch is installing underwater lights, there is nothing as romantic as sitting with your loved one at night next to your illuminated swimming pond, or taking a dip in it at night.
A private wellness in your garden
You can use a swimming pond all year round, we even have the tradition of taking a New Year's dive, and the toughest among us try to outdo each other to swim as many laps as possible in the freezing cold water. Although we should mention that there is a nice warm hot tub next to it in which we warm up beforehand and especially afterwards. If you really want to turn your garden or house into a wellness area, the holy trinity is: 1) a hot tub, which is a kind of jacuzzi but made of wood, without the bubbles. 2) a sauna and 3) a swimming pond.
Wildlife in your swimming pond
If you opt for a swimming pond, you get a free nature show. Beautiful dragonflies and butterflies flutter by, birds bathe, frogs sometimes sit in the non-swimming area, you bring nature into your home! You can also opt to keep beautiful fish, but that is not a must at all.
A garden full of edible goodies
Why have a garden that is not edible? What could be more wonderful than getting up in the morning, taking a dew trip and picking some berries and fruit for breakfast. That experience for yourself and certainly for your children is invaluable.
All (or part) edible
It is a delicious nutritional surplus and in any case you know that it is the freshest and healthiest product you can eat. Did you know that it is possible to make everything, absolutely everything, in your garden edible? From leaves to trees to grasses to berries to fruits, the possibilities are endless. To have an idea of the immense amount of plants that are edible, be sure to visit www.PFAF.org, Plants For The Future.
Annuals vs perennials
You can choose to have an edible garden that requires no maintenance at all or one that requires you to roll up your sleeves a bit more. For garden aficionados doesn't care about spending hours with your hands in the dirt. But, if you know in advance that you only want to enjoy your garden, it is very important to adapt the design accordingly
If you think of vegetables such as tomatoes, pumpkins, leeks, carrots,... then we talk about annuals. These plants only live one year and must be replanted every year. So if you want to focus mainly on relaxing, it is best to choose perennials or perennials, for example: asparagus, strawberries, fruit trees, berries, etc.
Self-renewing
If you are a bit adventurous, you can opt for a wild food patch where annuals are sown or planted once.
The only condition is that you are not allowed to harvest everything. This leaves seeds or tubers behind and creates natural selection. It is possible that vegetables will spontaneously spring up every year, more and more adapted to your garden.
