Shifting Baselines Through Thoughtful Planting Design
It’s easy to feel overwhelmed by the state of our world at the minute, but there are things that we can do. For me, that includes remaining curious about the world around me. It’s something that serves me well in my career in Planting Design. There are constantly new ideas and concepts emerging that cause a shift in my thinking. New perspectives and view points that add context and connection when you’re attempting to build a holistic landscape. It’s a complex task that requires a lot of flexibility and more than a touch of humility.
One such concept, is the Shifting Baselines Syndrome. It’s a term that was first coined back in 1995 by marine biologist, Daniel Pauly. The thought is, that due to relatively short lifespans and questionable memories, our human perceptions of what pristine nature looks like is completely skewed. In other words, that pastoral landscape that we think of as an ideal, would appear horribly disturbed to our ancestors. And in turn what we see as disturbed, will seem natural to our children and grandchildren.
One part that struck me as particularly interesting is that sometimes the information can even be lost in a single lifetime. That in fact, we don’t always accurately recall as adults what we experienced as children. Much like revisiting a childhood home, and being surprised by the differences between what actually exists and what lives in your memory, this effect also occurs with landscapes.
It’s a brilliant reminder that what we hold in our minds, as the way things ‘should be’, should always be questioned.
When the idea of Shifting Baselines first started to sink into my consciousness, a few thoughts jumped to the forefront.
As you can image, this could be a very important bit of information if you’re in the business of land restoration. If you were seeking to rewild a property, what are you returning it too? Do you pick a specific point in time, say a baseline as a reference point, and find a way to build a version of that particular ecosystem? Then, is it feasible? And, perhaps more importantly could human intervention replace the functions of any missing parts? For instance, pruning perennials back as a deer might.
It also occurred to me that Shifting Baselines could possibly be used as a tool. Perhaps as a way to tap into our own desire for nostalgia in our gardens. There is after all, a visual element to planting design that’s quite important. If our designs aren’t appealing they won’t be allowed to exist. No matter how ecologically functional they are, people want beauty as well, or they aren’t interested. So, can we add elements of generational baselines to our novel landscapes? Would a nod to this be enough to make users feel comfortable and at home in the space? Would they be more accepting of a less tidy look if they had a visual structure that they can better recognize to focus on?
Then there’s our maintenance practices. Over the past few years we’ve started to routinely question everything. Now, that may sound overwhelming, but it’s just a few simple questions as you work through your gardening tasks. What am I doing? Why am I doing it? and, is there a better way? Mostly it’s about observation and keeping track of how things are going in a green space. And from now on, we’ll probably add, is this about sticking to a baseline? And, can we shift it in a more eco-friendly one?
It’s quite a bit to think about, but I feel like it’s worth the effort. So, we will add the Shifting Baselines Syndrome to our list of considerations as we move forward. And put a little more effort into recognizing our own human biases as we look at, and work to design new and more dynamic gardens and landscapes in the future.
Please add your thoughts to the comments here or find us on Instagram or the Viren’s site, we’re always looking to make new connections and have a good chat.
Sara-Jane at Virens Studio
Based in Vancouver, Canada, Virens is a studio that specializes in ecological planting design. We also offer consultation and garden writing services both in person and remotely.
Point taken, about staying vigilant and questioning assumptions and conclusions (and especially AI renderings of such.) Pretty interesting that the AI image of 'pristine landscape' includes a large area of mown lawn, and a highly artificial trail streaking through the sky.