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10. There's more to it than just the building

Updated: Aug 23, 2023

Sustainable living isn’t just about the building.


When I moved in, my garden was pretty typical of 1970s suburbia: close mown grass in the front, a random collection of shrubs, and four large leylandii trees. Quite frankly, it was ugly.

Leylandii planted right next to the house (and right over the foul drain!). One of the first jobs was to remove them.

I knew that the planning application would need to show how the project would improve the biodiversity of the area. The default response in Kendal seems to be to stick a couple of bird boxes on a building, and – that’s it – job done, biodiversity net gain achieved. But I don’t want to just tick (bird) boxes – I want to create a garden that provides a truly meaningful long-term sustainable environment.


Where to start? I know next to nothing about gardening. My house in London had a small courtyard, just big enough for four people and four gin and tonics. My new home has around 400 square metres in total. It’s huge!


Long story cut short: I bid for and won a ‘pruning masterclass’ in a charity auction (thank you Eden Rivers Trust). I hoped that Chris Braithwaite, a National Trust gardener, would start to transform me from clueless to having some idea of what to do. Chris was brilliant. He not only taught me the basic principles of pruning, he helped identify all of the plants in the garden. He gave me guidance on what to encourage and what to replace (he was especially dismissive of the various different types of laurel: ‘supermarket car park planting’).

The grass is starting to naturally diversify

The strategy so far has been to encourage the existing native species (holly and elderflower have been given breathing space), remove the ugly leylandii, start introducing new native species (a lovely native Rowan Tree is doing well on the prominent corner) and encourage the grass to naturally diversify by leaving it unmown in the summer.




This strategy will intensify after the EcoBungalow building works are complete (now hopefully in early spring 2024). I submitted a Landscaping Plan to the planners in response to queries on the scheme. The planning consent has a condition attached to make sure I implement the Plan. That’s not a problem – it’s what I want to do anyway! The main features are focused in the front garden and are:

  • giving the grassed area a helping hand to transform itself into a meadow following wildflower charity Plantlife’s guidelines, which includes sowing a native grass and seed mix containing plenty of Yellow Rattle – the key to a good meadow;

  • integrating the existing low hedges into a native hedgerow boundary, including species such as hawthorn and hazel; and

  • planting fruit trees, including a native crab apple.

Useful links:


How to create a meadow


Excellent pruning tools recommended by Chris Braithwaite


Very helpful tree surgeon in Kendal


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