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It was the "little eight" that made Rainer Elstermann really famous.
The 55-year-old was still a hobby gardener when he laid out the garden around his holiday home in the Uckermark.
The property was small.
Tapered to a point.
"And not easy to plant," remembers Elstermann.
Then he came up with the idea of creating a small winding path that is reminiscent of an eight.
He planted resilient plants in the dry earth that is so typical of this sparsely populated area between Brandenburg's grain fields.
Catnip, plains sage and Atlas fescue get along well here.
Otherwise Elstermann let what settles by itself and made sure that the plants did not overgrow.
That was seven years ago.
The "little eight" is now widely known and is considered a prime example of a natural garden.
It has been featured in magazines many times.
Hobby gardeners asked Elstermann for advice so often that the trained photographer even changed his profession.
Today he advises professional gardeners in the region on how they can create a sustainable garden.
“Customers often want the garden to be laid out with as little maintenance as possible,” says Elstermann.
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This means that two garden worlds come together that go surprisingly well with one another: on the one hand, planting that is as natural as possible.
Species-rich, animal-friendly and sustainable.
And on the other hand, a care style that doesn't make too much work.
In which one does not have to prune the lawn edges accurately and bring the perennials into shape every weekend.
However, there are a few things that gardeners have to consider here as well.
In any case, just letting it grow and proliferate is not the solution.
The entry into the natural garden must first be well planned.
The definition of sustainability
The most important thing is that the plants match their location.
Elstermann initially established species that have no problems with dry phases.
Plants with thick leaves, which indicate a good cushion of water, are suitable as ground cover.
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The Caucasian sedum or sedum plant, for example, with its tiny red flowers is one of them - and can be a real magnet for butterflies in summer.
Steppe sage also attracts insects, grows for months and actually only needs pruning once a year.
The same applies to Buddleia.
And even between dry stones, a houseleek can still grow that can be left almost entirely to itself.
Sustainability in the garden - what does that actually mean?
In principle, a garden is sustainable if it can develop enough of its own regenerative and self-preservation powers with the available resources, and with the highest possible biodiversity.
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But how do you deal with weeds in a sustainable garden?
A question that Elstermann has heard many times, but to which there is no general answer.
Weeds are a problem when they overgrow other plants, he says.
However, pesticides are taboo in sustainable gardens.
“You can just leave some weeds standing,” says Elstermann.
One example is Ajuga Reptans, the creeping gunsel, with tiny purple flowers, which many consider a weed.
Elstermann, on the other hand, thinks it is a wonderful ground cover.
In general, in a sustainable garden you don't work against, but with nature, emphasizes the gardening expert.
This also includes paying attention to which plants get along well.
Word has got around that nettle, ground elder or dandelion can complement the salad as tasty herbs.
So why not just let it stand?
In principle, the tidier and tidier it is, the less sustainable a garden is, says Elstermann.
And the less you throw away, the better.
When creating beds, for example, you often come across stones.
You can use them to build small walls or piles of stones instead of ordering expensive decorative stones and throwing your own stones into the hazardous waste.
Sawed branches from trees can be stacked in a corner.
The feathered guests are happy about that: Often such supposed dirty corners are chosen as nesting places by birds and insects.
In late summer and autumn in particular, shrub pruning is required that can be used to create habitats.
Food for caterpillars is common buckthorn, which also feeds sand bees.
Birds like its black berries, which are poisonous to humans.
In a perfectly manicured garden with a short-clipped lawn, however, there is hardly any space for animals and small organisms.
Claudia Puchta has been observing for a long time that accurate green spaces are no longer in demand.
“My customers want to create a living space for people, animals and plants in their garden,” says the landscape architect from Naturgartenland in Tuntenhausen in Bavaria.
As far as the lawn is concerned, one should therefore “leave flowering islands in order to create living areas for insects”.
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If the meadow is too high at some point, you can trim it with a scythe or with the brush cutter.
In a sustainable garden there is no scarifying anyway, since mosses and herbs are important for the garden ecosystem.
So you also save a lot of work here.
Organic seeds
Puchta warns that the near-natural garden will not appear immediately and by itself: You definitely need a concept.
“If you want to make your garden sustainable, you should be curious and not too impatient!
The garden has to be able to develop and it changes again and again over time, ”she says.
In addition, you have to look carefully at which plants feel comfortable where in the long term.
"If the garden has a corner with a lot of shade, I look for plants that thrive in the shade, such as the honeysuckle, or that smell in the evening, such as the night violet," says Puchta.
She, too, has a tip on the subject of weeds: "With newly created areas, I make sure that the substrates used are free of seeds or roots of plants, which the young wildflowers can quickly suppress."
However, if you can't or don't want to buy sacks of expensive potting soil, you have to stay cool: “In a natural garden, there can also be corners in which classic weeds grow alongside wildflowers.
Some customers even want these plants in their garden, ”explains the landscape architect.
The demand for sustainable gardens has also grown in the Rhineland, reports Joel Kohlbrock from the Esken & Hindrichs nursery in Leichlingen near Leverkusen.
For new gardens, Kohlbrock often recommends so-called climatic trees, these are drought and heat-tolerant varieties: Norway maple and field maple, winter linden, silver birch.
But cherry trees can also cope well with periods of heat.
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If you want to re-equip your garden with plants, you should also use seeds and plants from organic farming.
Hof Jeebel in Salzwedel, for example, sells them and sends them across Germany.
“Organic seeds differ considerably from conventional seeds,” explains employee Martina Peters.
Back to the country - because there is no other way
Hardly anyone can afford to move to the big cities.
Families in particular often inevitably have to choose a property in the bacon belts of the metropolises.
The corona crisis could also intensify the trend.
Source: WORLD
Organic seeds are not tanned in order to preserve them, and they are also solid.
This means that plants grow from it that have the same properties as their parent plants and that can reproduce naturally.
Another less stress factor.
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Incidentally, even winter can bring flowers into the garden, with a plant that can withstand a lot: winter jasmine blooms with its star flowers from December to March.
This article was first published in October 2020.