Richard Hansen and modern planting design

Richard Hansen's planting design, following garden habitats, is said to be an approach equally uniting ecology and design (Fig. 1). Common opinion understands ecological planting design as utilizing only native plants—an approach often seen as having been rooted in National Socialist ideology. This, however, is a misconception, which will be demonstrated by discussing Alwin Seifert's ideas of bodenständig (down-to-earth) planting design. Consequently, through his concept of garden habitats, Hansen implements the requirements of Bodenständigkeit (‘down-to-earthedness’). In addition to functionality, this includes in particular the integration of foreign species of plants within horticulture through the use of plant sociology. This provided Hansen with scientific backing for his planting design in the garden. His concept differs significantly from approaches of other important personalities in German planting design, such as Willy Lange, Alwin Seifert, or the subsequent Nature Garden movement of Le Roy or Urs Schwarz. To understand the originality of Hansen's theory it is necessary to discuss his use of the term Bodenständigkeit—a term relevant for the time in which he operated. Garden habitats can be discussed in the context of landscape character (as in the works of Willy Lange), or under the relevance of site conditions in the contemporary meaning of the term (soil, water, climate) as used by Hansen (Fig. 2). Although Hansen declares native plants as bodenständig, just as his teacher Tüxen did, he proclaimed that foreign plants should be introduced in the garden to create artificial plant(ed) communities, derived from the examples of natural plant associations and thereby decreasing maintenance work. Hansen conducted extensive long-term plant trials to be able to differentiate garden habitats for numerous perennial plants. Hansen's main work, Die Stauden und ihre Lebensbereiche (Perennials and Their Garden Habitats), originates from 1981; it is still in print today and was translated into English in 1993.