When you think about incorporating ecological principles in landscape design, your first thought is most likely to include native plants. “Native plants” seems to be a buzz word in the industry currently. We acknowledge them as being the type of plant we should use to follow the sustainability trend. However, do we truly know why? 

Rejuvenation or hard pruning is a process where you remove at least half of a plant’s growth or more. Sometimes even 100%! But why rejuvenate?

Over time, shrubs can get overgrown (leggy) and often start accumulating a lot of dead growth. Since shrubs are usually multi-stemmed, it can be difficult, if not impossible, to maneuver your tools inwards and remove the dead canes. Rejuvenation solves this problem by removing the whole lot.

In the context of landscape design, ecosystems refer to interconnected communities of living organisms and their physical environment. These environments are usually within a defined geographic area. These ecosystems encompass a wide range of elements, including plants, animals, soil, water, and climate. These elements have the tendency to interact with one another in complex ways.

For permaculture enthusiasts, the word Permaculture carries so much significance that sometimes it seems to be lost on people with less time and bandwidth to understand what some may term as a lofty aspiration. We have all heard before that to make a difference in the world, we must first change ourselves. As many practical takeaways as there are in permaculture, that may be the key one. We all start with our own individual unit. To have a beautiful, productive, self-sustaining, and eco-friendly homestead (don’t be shy of the term), we must check in with our life – is integrity lacking in our self-care, relationships, finances, our aspirations for meeting a higher need? When we check this… then the home and garden making tends to become an effortless thing, that brings abundance and balance in all aspects of life.