Relax and let biodiversity flourish, says Leeds Beckett team

The path of Least Resistance garden at Chatsworth

Three landscape architecture students form Leeds Beckett University showed their garden at the recent RHS Chatsworth Flower Show, promoting the need for urban wildernesses.

The students – Frankie Tomany and Zuzanna Golczyk, second year BA (Hons) landscape architecture and design, and Tom Rawlings, MA landscape architecture – presented a garden titled The Path of Least Resistance. The design was based around the importance of wild, natural spaces in urban environments, particularly their contribution to biodiversity.

Explaining the concept, Zuzanna said: ‘The Path of Least Resistance works with these plants, recreating a naturalistic urban garden, drawing attention to the beauty of these often overlooked species, highlighting and sharing knowledge on many of the benefits they offer to wildlife and the future gardener.

‘We want to challenge people’s perceptions of “weeds” and inspire them to work with nature to create affordable and sustainable gardens that are easy to maintain. Rather than spending hours pruning and weeding to create what we typically think of as a perfect garden, why not follow the path of least resistance?’

The student garden was part of Chatsworth’s new Free Form show category, which encourages bolder, more experimental gardens with fewer restrictions.

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