Handout: Futurescaping

FUTURESCAPING: Ancient Wisdom Meets Tomorrow’s Gardens With Erica Browne Grivas

 Futurescaping is an approach to gardening and landscape design that brings long-established land knowledge together with modern ecological science and technology. Many strategies now described as innovative are rooted in traditional practices shaped by observation of water, soil, and seasons. New tools allow these ideas to be understood and applied with greater clarity. Rather than choosing between tradition and innovation, Futurescaping works with both.Shared 

Patterns Across Time

Across ancient and modern examples, several recurring patterns appear:

• Attention      to soil as a living system
• Slowing      and storing water rather than moving it away
• Planting      in communities rather than as isolated specimens
• Designing      for insects, birds, and microorganisms
• Allowing      disturbance and succession to shape landscapes
• Using      observation and measurement together
• Working      at multiple scales, from gardens to regions

Selected Examples · Siskiyou Seeds (Oregon) – rain-irrigated seed production

• Burke Museum Prairie      Restoration (Seattle) – native plants, succession, and fire ecology
• SUOT Farm (Washington)      – hugel-powered flower farming 
• Waterfront      Park (Seattle) – native and ornamental plantings, rainwater management
• Aurora      Bridge (Seattle) – rainwater filtration protecting salmon 
• Loess      Plateau Restoration (China) – watershed restoration using terracing   and revegetation

Modern Tools Supporting These Systems

• Soil  moisture and nutrient sensors
• Satellite and drone mapping
• Plant breeding for climate and disease tolerance, including native plants and      nativars
• Phytoremediation  using plants and mycoremediation using fungi to remove toxins
• Citizen   science projects

These tools help reveal processes that were previously difficult to observe and quantify and can inform our choices.Futurescaping treats the garden as a conversation across time. Going forward, It invites us to draw from experience while making use of new knowledge and technology, shaping landscapes that can adapt and endure. Erica Browne Grivas is an award-winning journalist and landscape design–trained educator. Her work appears in publications including the Seattle Times, Better Homes and Gardens, Horticulture and American Gardener. She trained as a Tilth Alliance Master Composter/Sustainability Steward in 2024.📷

Follow at www.ericagrivas.com @ebgrivas on Instagram, and on Substack at The Gardener's Path. You’ll find eye candy, inspiration and cutting-edge techniques for a garden you’ll love. https://ericabrownegrivas.substack.com/ Reach out at ebgrivas@writer.gmail.com

Photo credits

Terracing Philippineshttps://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Barlig_Rice_Terraces.jpg

Java Polyculturehttps://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Mina_padi_java_Pj_IMG-20150313-WA0004.jpg

Soil meterehttps://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Real_Time_Data_on_Soil_Moisture_(08010648)_(32201479997).jpgFarm tractorhttps://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Farm_fertilizer.jpg

Kerosene sprayer https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Farm_and_garden_supplies_(16374220928).jpg

Pollinator pathway https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:The_Pollinator_Pathway_project-getting_ready_for_next_phase_(8210156875).jpg

NYBG Corpse flowerhttps://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f3/Corpse_flower_%2871306%29a.jpg

NYBG Conservatoryhttps://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:New_York_Botanical_Garden_October_2016_004 Dronehttps://www.ars.usda.gov/ARSUserFiles/oc/images/photos/300dpi/kesa/d3873-1.jpg

USDA sensorshttps://www.ars.usda.gov/ARSUserFiles/oc/graphics/photos/300dpi/kesa/d781-1.jpg