Nurturing nature

Our perception of what makes a garden beautiful, or valuable, varies greatly across cultures. The ostentatious lawns of the Garden of Versailles and the Victorian greenhouses at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew in London “say so much about outward ambition”, says Walker. Her preference, however, is for gardens that offer “an aid to contemplation”, a design philosophy more common to Asian gardens, such as the imperial landscaping found in Kyoto.

“For me, a garden isn’t so much to be looked at and admired but a place to question and reconsider our place in the world around us,” she says.

“It is surely a very positive thing for us all to sit quietly and enjoy watching the connections between other things, beyond our own individual lives.”

Gardening ideals increasingly transcend borders. Shinrin-yoku – the ancient art of forest bathing – has spread from its origins in Japan across the world. And new concepts, such as rewilding, where a natural space is allowed to grow with minimal intervention to encourage biodiversity and pollination, recognise gardens as living breathing organisms.

Walker emphasises that nature is a network and gardens should be created with that in mind. “We have traditionally thought of plants as competing with one other, but we now see how collaborative they are – functioning as a community, feeding and supporting one another, growing together and not against one another.”

Strolling with my friend through that overgrown urban cemetery in London, gravel crunching underfoot, I certainly breathed easier knowing we were seeking the same sense of solace – distanced yet harmonious.