ENTER
CREATIVE CONSULTANCY X EXPERIENCE DESIGN
EXPLORING HUMAN AND MORE-THAN-HUMAN IMAGINATION AT THE INTERSECTION OF ART AND TECHNOLOGY
By Marian Boswall
HOW TO WORK WITH LAND ENERGY
When you touch one thing with deep awareness, you touch everything.
Thích Nhâ´t Hanh
The subtle energies of the land are not fully understood, and although utilised over millennia by farmers, feng shui experts and Earth energy healers, it’s an area easily dismissed. Over the last century a new generation of scientists has begun to operate across the boundaries of biology, chemistry and quantum physics to pioneer research in an area called quantum biology, investigating how phenomena such as photosynthesis, respiration, bird navigation and even the way we think are all influenced by quantum mechanics. Quantum refers to the dimension that is subatomic, so they are talking about things that work on an energetic level, via frequencies, waves and photons. By keeping an open mind, regenerative growers are now using observed outcomes without waiting to understand all the science. We can all use this new interest in ancient communication to enhance the health of our land and the quality and flavour of our food, by observing the effects in gardens and being informed by the results in plants and soil.
Paramagnetism
The work of pioneers like Dr Phil Callahan has shown that, depending on the configuration of their electrons, materials can be magnetic in different ways and to differing extents. Paramagnetic trace elements can produce a measurable magnetic charge in some very old volcanic rock dusts. This slight charge increases the amounts of nutrients available to plants, which are diamagnetic. Try adding commercially available volcanic rock dust to your vegetable garden soil in some areas; then observe the difference in Brix measurement, pest resistance, appearance and taste – the best assessment of metabolites providing nutrient density. If you are curious about paramagnetism, try the less-often explained tools described below.
Dowsing for water:
Many farmers and water engineers find dowsing rods are still the most efficient way to locate the gentle magnetic fields generated by flowing water beneath the soil. You too could experiment by trying to find water with dowsing rods. It is a good idea to do this at a known water source the first time, so you get used to the feeling of the rods moving. Take two copper dowsing rods and hold them firmly but gently, one in each hand. Focus on water. Walk slowly in a straight line with the rods held at elbow height, your elbows tucked comfortably in to your sides. Note where you are when the rods begin to cross and keep walking until they uncross. Repeat at right angles to pinpoint a specific spot. Advanced dowsers can sense the depth of the water by saying or thinking of depths in increments and seeing when the rods cross. If that piqued your interest, move on to choosing the best place for a compost heap, standing stone or labyrinth.
Dowsing for an energy spot for a compost heap:
Land energy crossing points are good places for siting itemsthat will help to ground, or will benefit from, a flow of energy.This could be a good position for the centre of a labyrinth or a standing stone, for example. A flow of energy is also thought to draw insects and creatures in, so could be suitable for a compost heap in a practical setting. You can use dowsing rods to find these subtle energy points in the same way as water. Cross the area at several points to find a useful intersection, and build your compost heap there. Obvious caveats apply on balancing the optimum energy point with practicalities like ease of access and safety for your compost heap.
Energetic listening:
This is an extension of the above, using our own body as a sort of antenna or intuitive listening instrument for creative co-working
with the land.
• Sit on the ground, on a log, on a rock or with your back to a tree.
• Set your intention to resolve a specific issue or just to be curious about the space.
• Clear your mind through breathing techniques or by connecting to the land in your imagination.
• Try not to think or make up stories in your thoughts.
• If nothing happens that is fine too.
• Close your eyes and listen.
• Start with listening to the sounds. You might count them to stop your mind wandering.
• Extend your listening to feeling your own body from within. Gradually extend to feeling beyond your body. Feel the grass, the plants, the trees, the water, the land and the site.
• Listen to what the place is ‘saying’.
• How does it feel, what does it need?
• Try to be just curious; listen without judging or jumpingnto solutions.
• After a few minutes open your eyes and write or draw.
• Then look around at the site again and see it within the context of what you ‘heard’.
• Judgements, rational mindset, solutions and questions will soon follow.
Combine energetic listening with dowsing to site thingsmlike seats, vegetable gardens, labyrinths and standing stones. First listen to what the land would like, then find the optimum location. If you follow it through, see if you can tell if your experiment worked. With many curious minds we can advance our observations and better growing.
HOW TO WORK WITH NATURAL ENERGY
Everything is energy and that is all there is to it.
Albert Einstein
Once we understand some of the energy that we have available for free, our gardens can benefit from these natural resources and we can garden with the flow, buying fewer inputs and making less effort for the same or better results.
Sun
Too much or too little sun can be make or break in a garden. As part of maximising our plants’ ability to photosynthesise, we can design our gardens to capture as much of the sun’s energy as possible, and also mitigate against excess heat. Extend the use of stored heat at the edges of the day and seasons by growing under glass, or by growing against a south-facing wall to protect from frost and help fruit ripen earlier. Position trees to provide shade for a hot day, and create different ecosystems in a garden. Trees and ponds are also air conditioners. Plant deciduous trees on the sunny side of a building: low winter sun will provide light and warmth through bare branches; when in leaf they will shade buildings from summer sun. A deciduous climber works too, and on cooler aspects will help insulate and protect a building from prevailing weather.
Wind
This is one of the most powerful energies in nature. Because the sun’s energy heats the Earth more at the equator than the poles, and the Earth’s rotation usually makes the ocean’s currents move from west to east, our prevailing wind in the northern hemisphere is the south-westerly. This means the wind and the weather generally come from that direction, explaining why we can track rain coming our way. Hills and forests will intercept rain on the way, so there is often less rain in the east of the UK. North-easterlies, although rarer, bring colder air, so prepare for them by planting sensitive plants in the lee of shelter belts. Hedges also provide shade and shelter. They act as a filter, slowing the wind but not creating the solid barrier of a wall, which produces eddies on the lee side as incoming wind hits it and curves over the top. Trees are an excellent wind filter and have the benefit of sending wind up high over their tops, as well as filtering it. Even a small tree can be a big benefit to a building or garden. Plant copses and trees in parkland down a hill or further away from a larger site, as the effect will be felt for a distance of multiple tree heights. There are advanced wind maps available online, and it’s worth understanding weather patterns to understand the context of your site.
Gravity
Gravity affects wind, steadies the Earth in orbit around the sun, and holds the moon in orbit around the Earth. The moon takes 27.3 days to go around the Earth and rotates at the same time, in such perfect sync with Earth that we never see its ‘dark side’. The moon stabilises the Earth’s tilt, which causes our seasons, and the gravitational pull of the moon and the sun cause our tides. We garden according to the seasons caused by orbiting around the sun, and the moon’s gravitational pull can likewise be used to plan the gardening month. Like indigenous wisdom keepers, biodynamic and permaculture practitioners, we can use the moon cycles to maximise yields. When the moon is waning, drawing the energy down into the Earth, sow seeds and work with root crops. Deal with plants above ground when the light is strongest and energy greatest. Maria Thun’s calendar is still one of the best to follow, and the chart on page 212 is an adaptation of her teachings. The results will be amazing especially when combined with living compost. However, in the spirit of the kindest garden, follow Christopher Lloyd’s maxim: the best time to do something is when you should, and the second best is when you can.
Water
Life, movement and energy are brought to a landscape by water. It connects the sky to the Earth and plays with light and shadow. Plan moving water and still water through your site to regulate heat through evaporation and condensation. It will cool you in summer and hold some groundwater heat in winter. It is vital to all soil interactions and photosynthesis. Masaru Emoto and Viktor Schauberger have done fascinating work on the structure of water and described water’s ability to absorb and reflect the energetic vibrations it encounters. Humans are over 70 per cent water, so we are major repositories of these vibrations. Install a biodynamic flow-form water feature to oxygenate, structure and energise water; on a small scale, a compost tea bubbler or handheld drill energises too. Add humates to mains water to remove chloramine before use on plants and filter before drinking.
Magnetism
The Earth has a magnetic field generated by its core. In the last fifty years scientists have discovered how magnetic fields are used by migrating birds, sea turtles and salmon to find their routes, and by some birds to orient their nests. Energetic fields are also thought to have informed the positioning of the pyramids, stone circles and sacred land sites for millennia, while in 2018 physicists showed that, in the resonant state, the Great Pyramid of Giza, Egypt, can concentrate electromagnetic energy. Since the nineteenth century the influence of this energy has been explored in the West to try to explain how it might influence everything from the human immune system to where insects like to congregate and the best position for a compost heap.
Biodynamic farming acknowledges the dynamic forces in nature not yet fully understood by science. By working creatively with these subtle energies, regenerative farmers and growers can enhance the health of their farms and the quality and flavour of food. In a garden context try using dowsing rods to locate underground water or the best place for a compost heap. Tune in to land energy by sitting quietly and practising energetic listening to locate the best position for a building, a standing stone, a healing tree or a labyrinth.Extra
Extract from Boswall, M. 2025.The Kindest Garden: A Practical Guide to Regenerative Gardening. Frances Lincoln.
HOW TO WORK WITH LAND ENERGY
When you touch one thing with deep awareness, you touch everything.
Thích Nhâ´t Hanh
The subtle energies of the land are not fully understood, and although utilised over millennia by farmers, feng shui experts and Earth energy healers, it’s an area easily dismissed. Over the last century a new generation of scientists has begun to operate across the boundaries of biology, chemistry and quantum physics to pioneer research in an area called quantum biology, investigating how phenomena such as photosynthesis, respiration, bird navigation and even the way we think are all influenced by quantum mechanics. Quantum refers to the dimension that is subatomic, so they are talking about things that work on an energetic level, via frequencies, waves and photons. By keeping an open mind, regenerative growers are now using observed outcomes without waiting to understand all the science. We can all use this new interest in ancient communication to enhance the health of our land and the quality and flavour of our food, by observing the effects in gardens and being informed by the results in plants and soil.
Paramagnetism
The work of pioneers like Dr Phil Callahan has shown that, depending on the configuration of their electrons, materials can be magnetic in different ways and to differing extents. Paramagnetic trace elements can produce a measurable magnetic charge in some very old volcanic rock dusts. This slight charge increases the amounts of nutrients available to plants, which are diamagnetic. Try adding commercially available volcanic rock dust to your vegetable garden soil in some areas; then observe the difference in Brix measurement, pest resistance, appearance and taste – the best assessment of metabolites providing nutrient density. If you are curious about paramagnetism, try the less-often explained tools described below.
Dowsing for water:
Many farmers and water engineers find dowsing rods are still the most efficient way to locate the gentle magnetic fields generated by flowing water beneath the soil. You too could experiment by trying to find water with dowsing rods. It is a good idea to do this at a known water source the first time, so you get used to the feeling of the rods moving. Take two copper dowsing rods and hold them firmly but gently, one in each hand. Focus on water. Walk slowly in a straight line with the rods held at elbow height, your elbows tucked comfortably in to your sides. Note where you are when the rods begin to cross and keep walking until they uncross. Repeat at right angles to pinpoint a specific spot. Advanced dowsers can sense the depth of the water by saying or thinking of depths in increments and seeing when the rods cross. If that piqued your interest, move on to choosing the best place for a compost heap, standing stone or labyrinth.
Dowsing for an energy spot for a compost heap:
Land energy crossing points are good places for siting itemsthat will help to ground, or will benefit from, a flow of energy.This could be a good position for the centre of a labyrinth or a standing stone, for example. A flow of energy is also thought to draw insects and creatures in, so could be suitable for a compost heap in a practical setting. You can use dowsing rods to find these subtle energy points in the same way as water. Cross the area at several points to find a useful intersection, and build your compost heap there. Obvious caveats apply on balancing the optimum energy point with practicalities like ease of access and safety for your compost heap.
Energetic listening:
This is an extension of the above, using our own body as a sort of antenna or intuitive listening instrument for creative co-working
with the land.
• Sit on the ground, on a log, on a rock or with your back to a tree.
• Set your intention to resolve a specific issue or just to be curious about the space.
• Clear your mind through breathing techniques or by connecting to the land in your imagination.
• Try not to think or make up stories in your thoughts.
• If nothing happens that is fine too.
• Close your eyes and listen.
• Start with listening to the sounds. You might count them to stop your mind wandering.
• Extend your listening to feeling your own body from within. Gradually extend to feeling beyond your body. Feel the grass, the plants, the trees, the water, the land and the site.
• Listen to what the place is ‘saying’.
• How does it feel, what does it need?
• Try to be just curious; listen without judging or jumpingnto solutions.
• After a few minutes open your eyes and write or draw.
• Then look around at the site again and see it within the context of what you ‘heard’.
• Judgements, rational mindset, solutions and questions will soon follow.
Combine energetic listening with dowsing to site thingsmlike seats, vegetable gardens, labyrinths and standing stones. First listen to what the land would like, then find the optimum location. If you follow it through, see if you can tell if your experiment worked. With many curious minds we can advance our observations and better growing.
HOW TO WORK WITH NATURAL ENERGY
Everything is energy and that is all there is to it.
Albert Einstein
Once we understand some of the energy that we have available for free, our gardens can benefit from these natural resources and we can garden with the flow, buying fewer inputs and making less effort for the same or better results.
Sun
Too much or too little sun can be make or break in a garden. As part of maximising our plants’ ability to photosynthesise, we can design our gardens to capture as much of the sun’s energy as possible, and also mitigate against excess heat. Extend the use of stored heat at the edges of the day and seasons by growing under glass, or by growing against a south-facing wall to protect from frost and help fruit ripen earlier. Position trees to provide shade for a hot day, and create different ecosystems in a garden. Trees and ponds are also air conditioners. Plant deciduous trees on the sunny side of a building: low winter sun will provide light and warmth through bare branches; when in leaf they will shade buildings from summer sun. A deciduous climber works too, and on cooler aspects will help insulate and protect a building from prevailing weather.
Wind
This is one of the most powerful energies in nature. Because the sun’s energy heats the Earth more at the equator than the poles, and the Earth’s rotation usually makes the ocean’s currents move from west to east, our prevailing wind in the northern hemisphere is the south-westerly. This means the wind and the weather generally come from that direction, explaining why we can track rain coming our way. Hills and forests will intercept rain on the way, so there is often less rain in the east of the UK. North-easterlies, although rarer, bring colder air, so prepare for them by planting sensitive plants in the lee of shelter belts. Hedges also provide shade and shelter. They act as a filter, slowing the wind but not creating the solid barrier of a wall, which produces eddies on the lee side as incoming wind hits it and curves over the top. Trees are an excellent wind filter and have the benefit of sending wind up high over their tops, as well as filtering it. Even a small tree can be a big benefit to a building or garden. Plant copses and trees in parkland down a hill or further away from a larger site, as the effect will be felt for a distance of multiple tree heights. There are advanced wind maps available online, and it’s worth understanding weather patterns to understand the context of your site.
Gravity
Gravity affects wind, steadies the Earth in orbit around the sun, and holds the moon in orbit around the Earth. The moon takes 27.3 days to go around the Earth and rotates at the same time, in such perfect sync with Earth that we never see its ‘dark side’. The moon stabilises the Earth’s tilt, which causes our seasons, and the gravitational pull of the moon and the sun cause our tides. We garden according to the seasons caused by orbiting around the sun, and the moon’s gravitational pull can likewise be used to plan the gardening month. Like indigenous wisdom keepers, biodynamic and permaculture practitioners, we can use the moon cycles to maximise yields. When the moon is waning, drawing the energy down into the Earth, sow seeds and work with root crops. Deal with plants above ground when the light is strongest and energy greatest. Maria Thun’s calendar is still one of the best to follow, and the chart on page 212 is an adaptation of her teachings. The results will be amazing especially when combined with living compost. However, in the spirit of the kindest garden, follow Christopher Lloyd’s maxim: the best time to do something is when you should, and the second best is when you can.
Water
Life, movement and energy are brought to a landscape by water. It connects the sky to the Earth and plays with light and shadow. Plan moving water and still water through your site to regulate heat through evaporation and condensation. It will cool you in summer and hold some groundwater heat in winter. It is vital to all soil interactions and photosynthesis. Masaru Emoto and Viktor Schauberger have done fascinating work on the structure of water and described water’s ability to absorb and reflect the energetic vibrations it encounters. Humans are over 70 per cent water, so we are major repositories of these vibrations. Install a biodynamic flow-form water feature to oxygenate, structure and energise water; on a small scale, a compost tea bubbler or handheld drill energises too. Add humates to mains water to remove chloramine before use on plants and filter before drinking.
Magnetism
The Earth has a magnetic field generated by its core. In the last fifty years scientists have discovered how magnetic fields are used by migrating birds, sea turtles and salmon to find their routes, and by some birds to orient their nests. Energetic fields are also thought to have informed the positioning of the pyramids, stone circles and sacred land sites for millennia, while in 2018 physicists showed that, in the resonant state, the Great Pyramid of Giza, Egypt, can concentrate electromagnetic energy. Since the nineteenth century the influence of this energy has been explored in the West to try to explain how it might influence everything from the human immune system to where insects like to congregate and the best position for a compost heap.
Biodynamic farming acknowledges the dynamic forces in nature not yet fully understood by science. By working creatively with these subtle energies, regenerative farmers and growers can enhance the health of their farms and the quality and flavour of food. In a garden context try using dowsing rods to locate underground water or the best place for a compost heap. Tune in to land energy by sitting quietly and practising energetic listening to locate the best position for a building, a standing stone, a healing tree or a labyrinth.Extra
Extract from Boswall, M. 2025.The Kindest Garden: A Practical Guide to Regenerative Gardening. Frances Lincoln.
Marian Boswall is a leading landscape architect and horticulturalist, was a lecturer in Historic Garden Conservation at Greenwich University for several years and is a co-founder of the Sustainable Landscape Foundation.
By Marian Boswall
HOW TO WORK WITH LAND ENERGY
When you touch one thing with deep awareness, you touch everything.
Thích Nhâ´t Hanh
The subtle energies of the land are not fully understood, and although utilised over millennia by farmers, feng shui experts and Earth energy healers, it’s an area easily dismissed. Over the last century a new generation of scientists has begun to operate across the boundaries of biology, chemistry and quantum physics to pioneer research in an area called quantum biology, investigating how phenomena such as photosynthesis, respiration, bird navigation and even the way we think are all influenced by quantum mechanics. Quantum refers to the dimension that is subatomic, so they are talking about things that work on an energetic level, via frequencies, waves and photons. By keeping an open mind, regenerative growers are now using observed outcomes without waiting to understand all the science. We can all use this new interest in ancient communication to enhance the health of our land and the quality and flavour of our food, by observing the effects in gardens and being informed by the results in plants and soil.
Paramagnetism
The work of pioneers like Dr Phil Callahan has shown that, depending on the configuration of their electrons, materials can be magnetic in different ways and to differing extents. Paramagnetic trace elements can produce a measurable magnetic charge in some very old volcanic rock dusts. This slight charge increases the amounts of nutrients available to plants, which are diamagnetic. Try adding commercially available volcanic rock dust to your vegetable garden soil in some areas; then observe the difference in Brix measurement, pest resistance, appearance and taste – the best assessment of metabolites providing nutrient density. If you are curious about paramagnetism, try the less-often explained tools described below.
Dowsing for water:
Many farmers and water engineers find dowsing rods are still the most efficient way to locate the gentle magnetic fields generated by flowing water beneath the soil. You too could experiment by trying to find water with dowsing rods. It is a good idea to do this at a known water source the first time, so you get used to the feeling of the rods moving. Take two copper dowsing rods and hold them firmly but gently, one in each hand. Focus on water. Walk slowly in a straight line with the rods held at elbow height, your elbows tucked comfortably in to your sides. Note where you are when the rods begin to cross and keep walking until they uncross. Repeat at right angles to pinpoint a specific spot. Advanced dowsers can sense the depth of the water by saying or thinking of depths in increments and seeing when the rods cross. If that piqued your interest, move on to choosing the best place for a compost heap, standing stone or labyrinth.
Dowsing for an energy spot for a compost heap:
Land energy crossing points are good places for siting itemsthat will help to ground, or will benefit from, a flow of energy.This could be a good position for the centre of a labyrinth or a standing stone, for example. A flow of energy is also thought to draw insects and creatures in, so could be suitable for a compost heap in a practical setting. You can use dowsing rods to find these subtle energy points in the same way as water. Cross the area at several points to find a useful intersection, and build your compost heap there. Obvious caveats apply on balancing the optimum energy point with practicalities like ease of access and safety for your compost heap.
Energetic listening:
This is an extension of the above, using our own body as a sort of antenna or intuitive listening instrument for creative co-working
with the land.
• Sit on the ground, on a log, on a rock or with your back to a tree.
• Set your intention to resolve a specific issue or just to be curious about the space.
• Clear your mind through breathing techniques or by connecting to the land in your imagination.
• Try not to think or make up stories in your thoughts.
• If nothing happens that is fine too.
• Close your eyes and listen.
• Start with listening to the sounds. You might count them to stop your mind wandering.
• Extend your listening to feeling your own body from within. Gradually extend to feeling beyond your body. Feel the grass, the plants, the trees, the water, the land and the site.
• Listen to what the place is ‘saying’.
• How does it feel, what does it need?
• Try to be just curious; listen without judging or jumpingnto solutions.
• After a few minutes open your eyes and write or draw.
• Then look around at the site again and see it within the context of what you ‘heard’.
• Judgements, rational mindset, solutions and questions will soon follow.
Combine energetic listening with dowsing to site thingsmlike seats, vegetable gardens, labyrinths and standing stones. First listen to what the land would like, then find the optimum location. If you follow it through, see if you can tell if your experiment worked. With many curious minds we can advance our observations and better growing.
HOW TO WORK WITH NATURAL ENERGY
Everything is energy and that is all there is to it.
Albert Einstein
Once we understand some of the energy that we have available for free, our gardens can benefit from these natural resources and we can garden with the flow, buying fewer inputs and making less effort for the same or better results.
Sun
Too much or too little sun can be make or break in a garden. As part of maximising our plants’ ability to photosynthesise, we can design our gardens to capture as much of the sun’s energy as possible, and also mitigate against excess heat. Extend the use of stored heat at the edges of the day and seasons by growing under glass, or by growing against a south-facing wall to protect from frost and help fruit ripen earlier. Position trees to provide shade for a hot day, and create different ecosystems in a garden. Trees and ponds are also air conditioners. Plant deciduous trees on the sunny side of a building: low winter sun will provide light and warmth through bare branches; when in leaf they will shade buildings from summer sun. A deciduous climber works too, and on cooler aspects will help insulate and protect a building from prevailing weather.
Wind
This is one of the most powerful energies in nature. Because the sun’s energy heats the Earth more at the equator than the poles, and the Earth’s rotation usually makes the ocean’s currents move from west to east, our prevailing wind in the northern hemisphere is the south-westerly. This means the wind and the weather generally come from that direction, explaining why we can track rain coming our way. Hills and forests will intercept rain on the way, so there is often less rain in the east of the UK. North-easterlies, although rarer, bring colder air, so prepare for them by planting sensitive plants in the lee of shelter belts. Hedges also provide shade and shelter. They act as a filter, slowing the wind but not creating the solid barrier of a wall, which produces eddies on the lee side as incoming wind hits it and curves over the top. Trees are an excellent wind filter and have the benefit of sending wind up high over their tops, as well as filtering it. Even a small tree can be a big benefit to a building or garden. Plant copses and trees in parkland down a hill or further away from a larger site, as the effect will be felt for a distance of multiple tree heights. There are advanced wind maps available online, and it’s worth understanding weather patterns to understand the context of your site.
Gravity
Gravity affects wind, steadies the Earth in orbit around the sun, and holds the moon in orbit around the Earth. The moon takes 27.3 days to go around the Earth and rotates at the same time, in such perfect sync with Earth that we never see its ‘dark side’. The moon stabilises the Earth’s tilt, which causes our seasons, and the gravitational pull of the moon and the sun cause our tides. We garden according to the seasons caused by orbiting around the sun, and the moon’s gravitational pull can likewise be used to plan the gardening month. Like indigenous wisdom keepers, biodynamic and permaculture practitioners, we can use the moon cycles to maximise yields. When the moon is waning, drawing the energy down into the Earth, sow seeds and work with root crops. Deal with plants above ground when the light is strongest and energy greatest. Maria Thun’s calendar is still one of the best to follow, and the chart on page 212 is an adaptation of her teachings. The results will be amazing especially when combined with living compost. However, in the spirit of the kindest garden, follow Christopher Lloyd’s maxim: the best time to do something is when you should, and the second best is when you can.
Water
Life, movement and energy are brought to a landscape by water. It connects the sky to the Earth and plays with light and shadow. Plan moving water and still water through your site to regulate heat through evaporation and condensation. It will cool you in summer and hold some groundwater heat in winter. It is vital to all soil interactions and photosynthesis. Masaru Emoto and Viktor Schauberger have done fascinating work on the structure of water and described water’s ability to absorb and reflect the energetic vibrations it encounters. Humans are over 70 per cent water, so we are major repositories of these vibrations. Install a biodynamic flow-form water feature to oxygenate, structure and energise water; on a small scale, a compost tea bubbler or handheld drill energises too. Add humates to mains water to remove chloramine before use on plants and filter before drinking.
Magnetism
The Earth has a magnetic field generated by its core. In the last fifty years scientists have discovered how magnetic fields are used by migrating birds, sea turtles and salmon to find their routes, and by some birds to orient their nests. Energetic fields are also thought to have informed the positioning of the pyramids, stone circles and sacred land sites for millennia, while in 2018 physicists showed that, in the resonant state, the Great Pyramid of Giza, Egypt, can concentrate electromagnetic energy. Since the nineteenth century the influence of this energy has been explored in the West to try to explain how it might influence everything from the human immune system to where insects like to congregate and the best position for a compost heap.
Biodynamic farming acknowledges the dynamic forces in nature not yet fully understood by science. By working creatively with these subtle energies, regenerative farmers and growers can enhance the health of their farms and the quality and flavour of food. In a garden context try using dowsing rods to locate underground water or the best place for a compost heap. Tune in to land energy by sitting quietly and practising energetic listening to locate the best position for a building, a standing stone, a healing tree or a labyrinth.Extra
Extract from Boswall, M. 2025.The Kindest Garden: A Practical Guide to Regenerative Gardening. Frances Lincoln.
HOW TO WORK WITH LAND ENERGY
When you touch one thing with deep awareness, you touch everything.
Thích Nhâ´t Hanh
The subtle energies of the land are not fully understood, and although utilised over millennia by farmers, feng shui experts and Earth energy healers, it’s an area easily dismissed. Over the last century a new generation of scientists has begun to operate across the boundaries of biology, chemistry and quantum physics to pioneer research in an area called quantum biology, investigating how phenomena such as photosynthesis, respiration, bird navigation and even the way we think are all influenced by quantum mechanics. Quantum refers to the dimension that is subatomic, so they are talking about things that work on an energetic level, via frequencies, waves and photons. By keeping an open mind, regenerative growers are now using observed outcomes without waiting to understand all the science. We can all use this new interest in ancient communication to enhance the health of our land and the quality and flavour of our food, by observing the effects in gardens and being informed by the results in plants and soil.
Paramagnetism
The work of pioneers like Dr Phil Callahan has shown that, depending on the configuration of their electrons, materials can be magnetic in different ways and to differing extents. Paramagnetic trace elements can produce a measurable magnetic charge in some very old volcanic rock dusts. This slight charge increases the amounts of nutrients available to plants, which are diamagnetic. Try adding commercially available volcanic rock dust to your vegetable garden soil in some areas; then observe the difference in Brix measurement, pest resistance, appearance and taste – the best assessment of metabolites providing nutrient density. If you are curious about paramagnetism, try the less-often explained tools described below.
Dowsing for water:
Many farmers and water engineers find dowsing rods are still the most efficient way to locate the gentle magnetic fields generated by flowing water beneath the soil. You too could experiment by trying to find water with dowsing rods. It is a good idea to do this at a known water source the first time, so you get used to the feeling of the rods moving. Take two copper dowsing rods and hold them firmly but gently, one in each hand. Focus on water. Walk slowly in a straight line with the rods held at elbow height, your elbows tucked comfortably in to your sides. Note where you are when the rods begin to cross and keep walking until they uncross. Repeat at right angles to pinpoint a specific spot. Advanced dowsers can sense the depth of the water by saying or thinking of depths in increments and seeing when the rods cross. If that piqued your interest, move on to choosing the best place for a compost heap, standing stone or labyrinth.
Dowsing for an energy spot for a compost heap:
Land energy crossing points are good places for siting itemsthat will help to ground, or will benefit from, a flow of energy.This could be a good position for the centre of a labyrinth or a standing stone, for example. A flow of energy is also thought to draw insects and creatures in, so could be suitable for a compost heap in a practical setting. You can use dowsing rods to find these subtle energy points in the same way as water. Cross the area at several points to find a useful intersection, and build your compost heap there. Obvious caveats apply on balancing the optimum energy point with practicalities like ease of access and safety for your compost heap.
Energetic listening:
This is an extension of the above, using our own body as a sort of antenna or intuitive listening instrument for creative co-working
with the land.
• Sit on the ground, on a log, on a rock or with your back to a tree.
• Set your intention to resolve a specific issue or just to be curious about the space.
• Clear your mind through breathing techniques or by connecting to the land in your imagination.
• Try not to think or make up stories in your thoughts.
• If nothing happens that is fine too.
• Close your eyes and listen.
• Start with listening to the sounds. You might count them to stop your mind wandering.
• Extend your listening to feeling your own body from within. Gradually extend to feeling beyond your body. Feel the grass, the plants, the trees, the water, the land and the site.
• Listen to what the place is ‘saying’.
• How does it feel, what does it need?
• Try to be just curious; listen without judging or jumpingnto solutions.
• After a few minutes open your eyes and write or draw.
• Then look around at the site again and see it within the context of what you ‘heard’.
• Judgements, rational mindset, solutions and questions will soon follow.
Combine energetic listening with dowsing to site thingsmlike seats, vegetable gardens, labyrinths and standing stones. First listen to what the land would like, then find the optimum location. If you follow it through, see if you can tell if your experiment worked. With many curious minds we can advance our observations and better growing.
HOW TO WORK WITH NATURAL ENERGY
Everything is energy and that is all there is to it.
Albert Einstein
Once we understand some of the energy that we have available for free, our gardens can benefit from these natural resources and we can garden with the flow, buying fewer inputs and making less effort for the same or better results.
Sun
Too much or too little sun can be make or break in a garden. As part of maximising our plants’ ability to photosynthesise, we can design our gardens to capture as much of the sun’s energy as possible, and also mitigate against excess heat. Extend the use of stored heat at the edges of the day and seasons by growing under glass, or by growing against a south-facing wall to protect from frost and help fruit ripen earlier. Position trees to provide shade for a hot day, and create different ecosystems in a garden. Trees and ponds are also air conditioners. Plant deciduous trees on the sunny side of a building: low winter sun will provide light and warmth through bare branches; when in leaf they will shade buildings from summer sun. A deciduous climber works too, and on cooler aspects will help insulate and protect a building from prevailing weather.
Wind
This is one of the most powerful energies in nature. Because the sun’s energy heats the Earth more at the equator than the poles, and the Earth’s rotation usually makes the ocean’s currents move from west to east, our prevailing wind in the northern hemisphere is the south-westerly. This means the wind and the weather generally come from that direction, explaining why we can track rain coming our way. Hills and forests will intercept rain on the way, so there is often less rain in the east of the UK. North-easterlies, although rarer, bring colder air, so prepare for them by planting sensitive plants in the lee of shelter belts. Hedges also provide shade and shelter. They act as a filter, slowing the wind but not creating the solid barrier of a wall, which produces eddies on the lee side as incoming wind hits it and curves over the top. Trees are an excellent wind filter and have the benefit of sending wind up high over their tops, as well as filtering it. Even a small tree can be a big benefit to a building or garden. Plant copses and trees in parkland down a hill or further away from a larger site, as the effect will be felt for a distance of multiple tree heights. There are advanced wind maps available online, and it’s worth understanding weather patterns to understand the context of your site.
Gravity
Gravity affects wind, steadies the Earth in orbit around the sun, and holds the moon in orbit around the Earth. The moon takes 27.3 days to go around the Earth and rotates at the same time, in such perfect sync with Earth that we never see its ‘dark side’. The moon stabilises the Earth’s tilt, which causes our seasons, and the gravitational pull of the moon and the sun cause our tides. We garden according to the seasons caused by orbiting around the sun, and the moon’s gravitational pull can likewise be used to plan the gardening month. Like indigenous wisdom keepers, biodynamic and permaculture practitioners, we can use the moon cycles to maximise yields. When the moon is waning, drawing the energy down into the Earth, sow seeds and work with root crops. Deal with plants above ground when the light is strongest and energy greatest. Maria Thun’s calendar is still one of the best to follow, and the chart on page 212 is an adaptation of her teachings. The results will be amazing especially when combined with living compost. However, in the spirit of the kindest garden, follow Christopher Lloyd’s maxim: the best time to do something is when you should, and the second best is when you can.
Water
Life, movement and energy are brought to a landscape by water. It connects the sky to the Earth and plays with light and shadow. Plan moving water and still water through your site to regulate heat through evaporation and condensation. It will cool you in summer and hold some groundwater heat in winter. It is vital to all soil interactions and photosynthesis. Masaru Emoto and Viktor Schauberger have done fascinating work on the structure of water and described water’s ability to absorb and reflect the energetic vibrations it encounters. Humans are over 70 per cent water, so we are major repositories of these vibrations. Install a biodynamic flow-form water feature to oxygenate, structure and energise water; on a small scale, a compost tea bubbler or handheld drill energises too. Add humates to mains water to remove chloramine before use on plants and filter before drinking.
Magnetism
The Earth has a magnetic field generated by its core. In the last fifty years scientists have discovered how magnetic fields are used by migrating birds, sea turtles and salmon to find their routes, and by some birds to orient their nests. Energetic fields are also thought to have informed the positioning of the pyramids, stone circles and sacred land sites for millennia, while in 2018 physicists showed that, in the resonant state, the Great Pyramid of Giza, Egypt, can concentrate electromagnetic energy. Since the nineteenth century the influence of this energy has been explored in the West to try to explain how it might influence everything from the human immune system to where insects like to congregate and the best position for a compost heap.
Biodynamic farming acknowledges the dynamic forces in nature not yet fully understood by science. By working creatively with these subtle energies, regenerative farmers and growers can enhance the health of their farms and the quality and flavour of food. In a garden context try using dowsing rods to locate underground water or the best place for a compost heap. Tune in to land energy by sitting quietly and practising energetic listening to locate the best position for a building, a standing stone, a healing tree or a labyrinth.Extra
Extract from Boswall, M. 2025.The Kindest Garden: A Practical Guide to Regenerative Gardening. Frances Lincoln.
Marian Boswall is a leading landscape architect and horticulturalist, was a lecturer in Historic Garden Conservation at Greenwich University for several years and is a co-founder of the Sustainable Landscape Foundation.
By Marian Boswall
HOW TO WORK WITH LAND ENERGY
When you touch one thing with deep awareness, you touch everything.
Thích Nhâ´t Hanh
The subtle energies of the land are not fully understood, and although utilised over millennia by farmers, feng shui experts and Earth energy healers, it’s an area easily dismissed. Over the last century a new generation of scientists has begun to operate across the boundaries of biology, chemistry and quantum physics to pioneer research in an area called quantum biology, investigating how phenomena such as photosynthesis, respiration, bird navigation and even the way we think are all influenced by quantum mechanics. Quantum refers to the dimension that is subatomic, so they are talking about things that work on an energetic level, via frequencies, waves and photons. By keeping an open mind, regenerative growers are now using observed outcomes without waiting to understand all the science. We can all use this new interest in ancient communication to enhance the health of our land and the quality and flavour of our food, by observing the effects in gardens and being informed by the results in plants and soil.
Paramagnetism
The work of pioneers like Dr Phil Callahan has shown that, depending on the configuration of their electrons, materials can be magnetic in different ways and to differing extents. Paramagnetic trace elements can produce a measurable magnetic charge in some very old volcanic rock dusts. This slight charge increases the amounts of nutrients available to plants, which are diamagnetic. Try adding commercially available volcanic rock dust to your vegetable garden soil in some areas; then observe the difference in Brix measurement, pest resistance, appearance and taste – the best assessment of metabolites providing nutrient density. If you are curious about paramagnetism, try the less-often explained tools described below.
Dowsing for water:
Many farmers and water engineers find dowsing rods are still the most efficient way to locate the gentle magnetic fields generated by flowing water beneath the soil. You too could experiment by trying to find water with dowsing rods. It is a good idea to do this at a known water source the first time, so you get used to the feeling of the rods moving. Take two copper dowsing rods and hold them firmly but gently, one in each hand. Focus on water. Walk slowly in a straight line with the rods held at elbow height, your elbows tucked comfortably in to your sides. Note where you are when the rods begin to cross and keep walking until they uncross. Repeat at right angles to pinpoint a specific spot. Advanced dowsers can sense the depth of the water by saying or thinking of depths in increments and seeing when the rods cross. If that piqued your interest, move on to choosing the best place for a compost heap, standing stone or labyrinth.
Dowsing for an energy spot for a compost heap:
Land energy crossing points are good places for siting itemsthat will help to ground, or will benefit from, a flow of energy.This could be a good position for the centre of a labyrinth or a standing stone, for example. A flow of energy is also thought to draw insects and creatures in, so could be suitable for a compost heap in a practical setting. You can use dowsing rods to find these subtle energy points in the same way as water. Cross the area at several points to find a useful intersection, and build your compost heap there. Obvious caveats apply on balancing the optimum energy point with practicalities like ease of access and safety for your compost heap.
Energetic listening:
This is an extension of the above, using our own body as a sort of antenna or intuitive listening instrument for creative co-working
with the land.
• Sit on the ground, on a log, on a rock or with your back to a tree.
• Set your intention to resolve a specific issue or just to be curious about the space.
• Clear your mind through breathing techniques or by connecting to the land in your imagination.
• Try not to think or make up stories in your thoughts.
• If nothing happens that is fine too.
• Close your eyes and listen.
• Start with listening to the sounds. You might count them to stop your mind wandering.
• Extend your listening to feeling your own body from within. Gradually extend to feeling beyond your body. Feel the grass, the plants, the trees, the water, the land and the site.
• Listen to what the place is ‘saying’.
• How does it feel, what does it need?
• Try to be just curious; listen without judging or jumpingnto solutions.
• After a few minutes open your eyes and write or draw.
• Then look around at the site again and see it within the context of what you ‘heard’.
• Judgements, rational mindset, solutions and questions will soon follow.
Combine energetic listening with dowsing to site thingsmlike seats, vegetable gardens, labyrinths and standing stones. First listen to what the land would like, then find the optimum location. If you follow it through, see if you can tell if your experiment worked. With many curious minds we can advance our observations and better growing.
HOW TO WORK WITH NATURAL ENERGY
Everything is energy and that is all there is to it.
Albert Einstein
Once we understand some of the energy that we have available for free, our gardens can benefit from these natural resources and we can garden with the flow, buying fewer inputs and making less effort for the same or better results.
Sun
Too much or too little sun can be make or break in a garden. As part of maximising our plants’ ability to photosynthesise, we can design our gardens to capture as much of the sun’s energy as possible, and also mitigate against excess heat. Extend the use of stored heat at the edges of the day and seasons by growing under glass, or by growing against a south-facing wall to protect from frost and help fruit ripen earlier. Position trees to provide shade for a hot day, and create different ecosystems in a garden. Trees and ponds are also air conditioners. Plant deciduous trees on the sunny side of a building: low winter sun will provide light and warmth through bare branches; when in leaf they will shade buildings from summer sun. A deciduous climber works too, and on cooler aspects will help insulate and protect a building from prevailing weather.
Wind
This is one of the most powerful energies in nature. Because the sun’s energy heats the Earth more at the equator than the poles, and the Earth’s rotation usually makes the ocean’s currents move from west to east, our prevailing wind in the northern hemisphere is the south-westerly. This means the wind and the weather generally come from that direction, explaining why we can track rain coming our way. Hills and forests will intercept rain on the way, so there is often less rain in the east of the UK. North-easterlies, although rarer, bring colder air, so prepare for them by planting sensitive plants in the lee of shelter belts. Hedges also provide shade and shelter. They act as a filter, slowing the wind but not creating the solid barrier of a wall, which produces eddies on the lee side as incoming wind hits it and curves over the top. Trees are an excellent wind filter and have the benefit of sending wind up high over their tops, as well as filtering it. Even a small tree can be a big benefit to a building or garden. Plant copses and trees in parkland down a hill or further away from a larger site, as the effect will be felt for a distance of multiple tree heights. There are advanced wind maps available online, and it’s worth understanding weather patterns to understand the context of your site.
Gravity
Gravity affects wind, steadies the Earth in orbit around the sun, and holds the moon in orbit around the Earth. The moon takes 27.3 days to go around the Earth and rotates at the same time, in such perfect sync with Earth that we never see its ‘dark side’. The moon stabilises the Earth’s tilt, which causes our seasons, and the gravitational pull of the moon and the sun cause our tides. We garden according to the seasons caused by orbiting around the sun, and the moon’s gravitational pull can likewise be used to plan the gardening month. Like indigenous wisdom keepers, biodynamic and permaculture practitioners, we can use the moon cycles to maximise yields. When the moon is waning, drawing the energy down into the Earth, sow seeds and work with root crops. Deal with plants above ground when the light is strongest and energy greatest. Maria Thun’s calendar is still one of the best to follow, and the chart on page 212 is an adaptation of her teachings. The results will be amazing especially when combined with living compost. However, in the spirit of the kindest garden, follow Christopher Lloyd’s maxim: the best time to do something is when you should, and the second best is when you can.
Water
Life, movement and energy are brought to a landscape by water. It connects the sky to the Earth and plays with light and shadow. Plan moving water and still water through your site to regulate heat through evaporation and condensation. It will cool you in summer and hold some groundwater heat in winter. It is vital to all soil interactions and photosynthesis. Masaru Emoto and Viktor Schauberger have done fascinating work on the structure of water and described water’s ability to absorb and reflect the energetic vibrations it encounters. Humans are over 70 per cent water, so we are major repositories of these vibrations. Install a biodynamic flow-form water feature to oxygenate, structure and energise water; on a small scale, a compost tea bubbler or handheld drill energises too. Add humates to mains water to remove chloramine before use on plants and filter before drinking.
Magnetism
The Earth has a magnetic field generated by its core. In the last fifty years scientists have discovered how magnetic fields are used by migrating birds, sea turtles and salmon to find their routes, and by some birds to orient their nests. Energetic fields are also thought to have informed the positioning of the pyramids, stone circles and sacred land sites for millennia, while in 2018 physicists showed that, in the resonant state, the Great Pyramid of Giza, Egypt, can concentrate electromagnetic energy. Since the nineteenth century the influence of this energy has been explored in the West to try to explain how it might influence everything from the human immune system to where insects like to congregate and the best position for a compost heap.
Biodynamic farming acknowledges the dynamic forces in nature not yet fully understood by science. By working creatively with these subtle energies, regenerative farmers and growers can enhance the health of their farms and the quality and flavour of food. In a garden context try using dowsing rods to locate underground water or the best place for a compost heap. Tune in to land energy by sitting quietly and practising energetic listening to locate the best position for a building, a standing stone, a healing tree or a labyrinth.Extra
Extract from Boswall, M. 2025.The Kindest Garden: A Practical Guide to Regenerative Gardening. Frances Lincoln.
HOW TO WORK WITH LAND ENERGY
When you touch one thing with deep awareness, you touch everything.
Thích Nhâ´t Hanh
The subtle energies of the land are not fully understood, and although utilised over millennia by farmers, feng shui experts and Earth energy healers, it’s an area easily dismissed. Over the last century a new generation of scientists has begun to operate across the boundaries of biology, chemistry and quantum physics to pioneer research in an area called quantum biology, investigating how phenomena such as photosynthesis, respiration, bird navigation and even the way we think are all influenced by quantum mechanics. Quantum refers to the dimension that is subatomic, so they are talking about things that work on an energetic level, via frequencies, waves and photons. By keeping an open mind, regenerative growers are now using observed outcomes without waiting to understand all the science. We can all use this new interest in ancient communication to enhance the health of our land and the quality and flavour of our food, by observing the effects in gardens and being informed by the results in plants and soil.
Paramagnetism
The work of pioneers like Dr Phil Callahan has shown that, depending on the configuration of their electrons, materials can be magnetic in different ways and to differing extents. Paramagnetic trace elements can produce a measurable magnetic charge in some very old volcanic rock dusts. This slight charge increases the amounts of nutrients available to plants, which are diamagnetic. Try adding commercially available volcanic rock dust to your vegetable garden soil in some areas; then observe the difference in Brix measurement, pest resistance, appearance and taste – the best assessment of metabolites providing nutrient density. If you are curious about paramagnetism, try the less-often explained tools described below.
Dowsing for water:
Many farmers and water engineers find dowsing rods are still the most efficient way to locate the gentle magnetic fields generated by flowing water beneath the soil. You too could experiment by trying to find water with dowsing rods. It is a good idea to do this at a known water source the first time, so you get used to the feeling of the rods moving. Take two copper dowsing rods and hold them firmly but gently, one in each hand. Focus on water. Walk slowly in a straight line with the rods held at elbow height, your elbows tucked comfortably in to your sides. Note where you are when the rods begin to cross and keep walking until they uncross. Repeat at right angles to pinpoint a specific spot. Advanced dowsers can sense the depth of the water by saying or thinking of depths in increments and seeing when the rods cross. If that piqued your interest, move on to choosing the best place for a compost heap, standing stone or labyrinth.
Dowsing for an energy spot for a compost heap:
Land energy crossing points are good places for siting itemsthat will help to ground, or will benefit from, a flow of energy.This could be a good position for the centre of a labyrinth or a standing stone, for example. A flow of energy is also thought to draw insects and creatures in, so could be suitable for a compost heap in a practical setting. You can use dowsing rods to find these subtle energy points in the same way as water. Cross the area at several points to find a useful intersection, and build your compost heap there. Obvious caveats apply on balancing the optimum energy point with practicalities like ease of access and safety for your compost heap.
Energetic listening:
This is an extension of the above, using our own body as a sort of antenna or intuitive listening instrument for creative co-working
with the land.
• Sit on the ground, on a log, on a rock or with your back to a tree.
• Set your intention to resolve a specific issue or just to be curious about the space.
• Clear your mind through breathing techniques or by connecting to the land in your imagination.
• Try not to think or make up stories in your thoughts.
• If nothing happens that is fine too.
• Close your eyes and listen.
• Start with listening to the sounds. You might count them to stop your mind wandering.
• Extend your listening to feeling your own body from within. Gradually extend to feeling beyond your body. Feel the grass, the plants, the trees, the water, the land and the site.
• Listen to what the place is ‘saying’.
• How does it feel, what does it need?
• Try to be just curious; listen without judging or jumpingnto solutions.
• After a few minutes open your eyes and write or draw.
• Then look around at the site again and see it within the context of what you ‘heard’.
• Judgements, rational mindset, solutions and questions will soon follow.
Combine energetic listening with dowsing to site thingsmlike seats, vegetable gardens, labyrinths and standing stones. First listen to what the land would like, then find the optimum location. If you follow it through, see if you can tell if your experiment worked. With many curious minds we can advance our observations and better growing.
HOW TO WORK WITH NATURAL ENERGY
Everything is energy and that is all there is to it.
Albert Einstein
Once we understand some of the energy that we have available for free, our gardens can benefit from these natural resources and we can garden with the flow, buying fewer inputs and making less effort for the same or better results.
Sun
Too much or too little sun can be make or break in a garden. As part of maximising our plants’ ability to photosynthesise, we can design our gardens to capture as much of the sun’s energy as possible, and also mitigate against excess heat. Extend the use of stored heat at the edges of the day and seasons by growing under glass, or by growing against a south-facing wall to protect from frost and help fruit ripen earlier. Position trees to provide shade for a hot day, and create different ecosystems in a garden. Trees and ponds are also air conditioners. Plant deciduous trees on the sunny side of a building: low winter sun will provide light and warmth through bare branches; when in leaf they will shade buildings from summer sun. A deciduous climber works too, and on cooler aspects will help insulate and protect a building from prevailing weather.
Wind
This is one of the most powerful energies in nature. Because the sun’s energy heats the Earth more at the equator than the poles, and the Earth’s rotation usually makes the ocean’s currents move from west to east, our prevailing wind in the northern hemisphere is the south-westerly. This means the wind and the weather generally come from that direction, explaining why we can track rain coming our way. Hills and forests will intercept rain on the way, so there is often less rain in the east of the UK. North-easterlies, although rarer, bring colder air, so prepare for them by planting sensitive plants in the lee of shelter belts. Hedges also provide shade and shelter. They act as a filter, slowing the wind but not creating the solid barrier of a wall, which produces eddies on the lee side as incoming wind hits it and curves over the top. Trees are an excellent wind filter and have the benefit of sending wind up high over their tops, as well as filtering it. Even a small tree can be a big benefit to a building or garden. Plant copses and trees in parkland down a hill or further away from a larger site, as the effect will be felt for a distance of multiple tree heights. There are advanced wind maps available online, and it’s worth understanding weather patterns to understand the context of your site.
Gravity
Gravity affects wind, steadies the Earth in orbit around the sun, and holds the moon in orbit around the Earth. The moon takes 27.3 days to go around the Earth and rotates at the same time, in such perfect sync with Earth that we never see its ‘dark side’. The moon stabilises the Earth’s tilt, which causes our seasons, and the gravitational pull of the moon and the sun cause our tides. We garden according to the seasons caused by orbiting around the sun, and the moon’s gravitational pull can likewise be used to plan the gardening month. Like indigenous wisdom keepers, biodynamic and permaculture practitioners, we can use the moon cycles to maximise yields. When the moon is waning, drawing the energy down into the Earth, sow seeds and work with root crops. Deal with plants above ground when the light is strongest and energy greatest. Maria Thun’s calendar is still one of the best to follow, and the chart on page 212 is an adaptation of her teachings. The results will be amazing especially when combined with living compost. However, in the spirit of the kindest garden, follow Christopher Lloyd’s maxim: the best time to do something is when you should, and the second best is when you can.
Water
Life, movement and energy are brought to a landscape by water. It connects the sky to the Earth and plays with light and shadow. Plan moving water and still water through your site to regulate heat through evaporation and condensation. It will cool you in summer and hold some groundwater heat in winter. It is vital to all soil interactions and photosynthesis. Masaru Emoto and Viktor Schauberger have done fascinating work on the structure of water and described water’s ability to absorb and reflect the energetic vibrations it encounters. Humans are over 70 per cent water, so we are major repositories of these vibrations. Install a biodynamic flow-form water feature to oxygenate, structure and energise water; on a small scale, a compost tea bubbler or handheld drill energises too. Add humates to mains water to remove chloramine before use on plants and filter before drinking.
Magnetism
The Earth has a magnetic field generated by its core. In the last fifty years scientists have discovered how magnetic fields are used by migrating birds, sea turtles and salmon to find their routes, and by some birds to orient their nests. Energetic fields are also thought to have informed the positioning of the pyramids, stone circles and sacred land sites for millennia, while in 2018 physicists showed that, in the resonant state, the Great Pyramid of Giza, Egypt, can concentrate electromagnetic energy. Since the nineteenth century the influence of this energy has been explored in the West to try to explain how it might influence everything from the human immune system to where insects like to congregate and the best position for a compost heap.
Biodynamic farming acknowledges the dynamic forces in nature not yet fully understood by science. By working creatively with these subtle energies, regenerative farmers and growers can enhance the health of their farms and the quality and flavour of food. In a garden context try using dowsing rods to locate underground water or the best place for a compost heap. Tune in to land energy by sitting quietly and practising energetic listening to locate the best position for a building, a standing stone, a healing tree or a labyrinth.Extra
Extract from Boswall, M. 2025.The Kindest Garden: A Practical Guide to Regenerative Gardening. Frances Lincoln.
Marian Boswall is a leading landscape architect and horticulturalist, was a lecturer in Historic Garden Conservation at Greenwich University for several years and is a co-founder of the Sustainable Landscape Foundation.
By Marian Boswall
HOW TO WORK WITH LAND ENERGY
When you touch one thing with deep awareness, you touch everything.
Thích Nhâ´t Hanh
The subtle energies of the land are not fully understood, and although utilised over millennia by farmers, feng shui experts and Earth energy healers, it’s an area easily dismissed. Over the last century a new generation of scientists has begun to operate across the boundaries of biology, chemistry and quantum physics to pioneer research in an area called quantum biology, investigating how phenomena such as photosynthesis, respiration, bird navigation and even the way we think are all influenced by quantum mechanics. Quantum refers to the dimension that is subatomic, so they are talking about things that work on an energetic level, via frequencies, waves and photons. By keeping an open mind, regenerative growers are now using observed outcomes without waiting to understand all the science. We can all use this new interest in ancient communication to enhance the health of our land and the quality and flavour of our food, by observing the effects in gardens and being informed by the results in plants and soil.
Paramagnetism
The work of pioneers like Dr Phil Callahan has shown that, depending on the configuration of their electrons, materials can be magnetic in different ways and to differing extents. Paramagnetic trace elements can produce a measurable magnetic charge in some very old volcanic rock dusts. This slight charge increases the amounts of nutrients available to plants, which are diamagnetic. Try adding commercially available volcanic rock dust to your vegetable garden soil in some areas; then observe the difference in Brix measurement, pest resistance, appearance and taste – the best assessment of metabolites providing nutrient density. If you are curious about paramagnetism, try the less-often explained tools described below.
Dowsing for water:
Many farmers and water engineers find dowsing rods are still the most efficient way to locate the gentle magnetic fields generated by flowing water beneath the soil. You too could experiment by trying to find water with dowsing rods. It is a good idea to do this at a known water source the first time, so you get used to the feeling of the rods moving. Take two copper dowsing rods and hold them firmly but gently, one in each hand. Focus on water. Walk slowly in a straight line with the rods held at elbow height, your elbows tucked comfortably in to your sides. Note where you are when the rods begin to cross and keep walking until they uncross. Repeat at right angles to pinpoint a specific spot. Advanced dowsers can sense the depth of the water by saying or thinking of depths in increments and seeing when the rods cross. If that piqued your interest, move on to choosing the best place for a compost heap, standing stone or labyrinth.
Dowsing for an energy spot for a compost heap:
Land energy crossing points are good places for siting itemsthat will help to ground, or will benefit from, a flow of energy.This could be a good position for the centre of a labyrinth or a standing stone, for example. A flow of energy is also thought to draw insects and creatures in, so could be suitable for a compost heap in a practical setting. You can use dowsing rods to find these subtle energy points in the same way as water. Cross the area at several points to find a useful intersection, and build your compost heap there. Obvious caveats apply on balancing the optimum energy point with practicalities like ease of access and safety for your compost heap.
Energetic listening:
This is an extension of the above, using our own body as a sort of antenna or intuitive listening instrument for creative co-working
with the land.
• Sit on the ground, on a log, on a rock or with your back to a tree.
• Set your intention to resolve a specific issue or just to be curious about the space.
• Clear your mind through breathing techniques or by connecting to the land in your imagination.
• Try not to think or make up stories in your thoughts.
• If nothing happens that is fine too.
• Close your eyes and listen.
• Start with listening to the sounds. You might count them to stop your mind wandering.
• Extend your listening to feeling your own body from within. Gradually extend to feeling beyond your body. Feel the grass, the plants, the trees, the water, the land and the site.
• Listen to what the place is ‘saying’.
• How does it feel, what does it need?
• Try to be just curious; listen without judging or jumpingnto solutions.
• After a few minutes open your eyes and write or draw.
• Then look around at the site again and see it within the context of what you ‘heard’.
• Judgements, rational mindset, solutions and questions will soon follow.
Combine energetic listening with dowsing to site thingsmlike seats, vegetable gardens, labyrinths and standing stones. First listen to what the land would like, then find the optimum location. If you follow it through, see if you can tell if your experiment worked. With many curious minds we can advance our observations and better growing.
HOW TO WORK WITH NATURAL ENERGY
Everything is energy and that is all there is to it.
Albert Einstein
Once we understand some of the energy that we have available for free, our gardens can benefit from these natural resources and we can garden with the flow, buying fewer inputs and making less effort for the same or better results.
Sun
Too much or too little sun can be make or break in a garden. As part of maximising our plants’ ability to photosynthesise, we can design our gardens to capture as much of the sun’s energy as possible, and also mitigate against excess heat. Extend the use of stored heat at the edges of the day and seasons by growing under glass, or by growing against a south-facing wall to protect from frost and help fruit ripen earlier. Position trees to provide shade for a hot day, and create different ecosystems in a garden. Trees and ponds are also air conditioners. Plant deciduous trees on the sunny side of a building: low winter sun will provide light and warmth through bare branches; when in leaf they will shade buildings from summer sun. A deciduous climber works too, and on cooler aspects will help insulate and protect a building from prevailing weather.
Wind
This is one of the most powerful energies in nature. Because the sun’s energy heats the Earth more at the equator than the poles, and the Earth’s rotation usually makes the ocean’s currents move from west to east, our prevailing wind in the northern hemisphere is the south-westerly. This means the wind and the weather generally come from that direction, explaining why we can track rain coming our way. Hills and forests will intercept rain on the way, so there is often less rain in the east of the UK. North-easterlies, although rarer, bring colder air, so prepare for them by planting sensitive plants in the lee of shelter belts. Hedges also provide shade and shelter. They act as a filter, slowing the wind but not creating the solid barrier of a wall, which produces eddies on the lee side as incoming wind hits it and curves over the top. Trees are an excellent wind filter and have the benefit of sending wind up high over their tops, as well as filtering it. Even a small tree can be a big benefit to a building or garden. Plant copses and trees in parkland down a hill or further away from a larger site, as the effect will be felt for a distance of multiple tree heights. There are advanced wind maps available online, and it’s worth understanding weather patterns to understand the context of your site.
Gravity
Gravity affects wind, steadies the Earth in orbit around the sun, and holds the moon in orbit around the Earth. The moon takes 27.3 days to go around the Earth and rotates at the same time, in such perfect sync with Earth that we never see its ‘dark side’. The moon stabilises the Earth’s tilt, which causes our seasons, and the gravitational pull of the moon and the sun cause our tides. We garden according to the seasons caused by orbiting around the sun, and the moon’s gravitational pull can likewise be used to plan the gardening month. Like indigenous wisdom keepers, biodynamic and permaculture practitioners, we can use the moon cycles to maximise yields. When the moon is waning, drawing the energy down into the Earth, sow seeds and work with root crops. Deal with plants above ground when the light is strongest and energy greatest. Maria Thun’s calendar is still one of the best to follow, and the chart on page 212 is an adaptation of her teachings. The results will be amazing especially when combined with living compost. However, in the spirit of the kindest garden, follow Christopher Lloyd’s maxim: the best time to do something is when you should, and the second best is when you can.
Water
Life, movement and energy are brought to a landscape by water. It connects the sky to the Earth and plays with light and shadow. Plan moving water and still water through your site to regulate heat through evaporation and condensation. It will cool you in summer and hold some groundwater heat in winter. It is vital to all soil interactions and photosynthesis. Masaru Emoto and Viktor Schauberger have done fascinating work on the structure of water and described water’s ability to absorb and reflect the energetic vibrations it encounters. Humans are over 70 per cent water, so we are major repositories of these vibrations. Install a biodynamic flow-form water feature to oxygenate, structure and energise water; on a small scale, a compost tea bubbler or handheld drill energises too. Add humates to mains water to remove chloramine before use on plants and filter before drinking.
Magnetism
The Earth has a magnetic field generated by its core. In the last fifty years scientists have discovered how magnetic fields are used by migrating birds, sea turtles and salmon to find their routes, and by some birds to orient their nests. Energetic fields are also thought to have informed the positioning of the pyramids, stone circles and sacred land sites for millennia, while in 2018 physicists showed that, in the resonant state, the Great Pyramid of Giza, Egypt, can concentrate electromagnetic energy. Since the nineteenth century the influence of this energy has been explored in the West to try to explain how it might influence everything from the human immune system to where insects like to congregate and the best position for a compost heap.
Biodynamic farming acknowledges the dynamic forces in nature not yet fully understood by science. By working creatively with these subtle energies, regenerative farmers and growers can enhance the health of their farms and the quality and flavour of food. In a garden context try using dowsing rods to locate underground water or the best place for a compost heap. Tune in to land energy by sitting quietly and practising energetic listening to locate the best position for a building, a standing stone, a healing tree or a labyrinth.Extra
Extract from Boswall, M. 2025.The Kindest Garden: A Practical Guide to Regenerative Gardening. Frances Lincoln.
HOW TO WORK WITH LAND ENERGY
When you touch one thing with deep awareness, you touch everything.
Thích Nhâ´t Hanh
The subtle energies of the land are not fully understood, and although utilised over millennia by farmers, feng shui experts and Earth energy healers, it’s an area easily dismissed. Over the last century a new generation of scientists has begun to operate across the boundaries of biology, chemistry and quantum physics to pioneer research in an area called quantum biology, investigating how phenomena such as photosynthesis, respiration, bird navigation and even the way we think are all influenced by quantum mechanics. Quantum refers to the dimension that is subatomic, so they are talking about things that work on an energetic level, via frequencies, waves and photons. By keeping an open mind, regenerative growers are now using observed outcomes without waiting to understand all the science. We can all use this new interest in ancient communication to enhance the health of our land and the quality and flavour of our food, by observing the effects in gardens and being informed by the results in plants and soil.
Paramagnetism
The work of pioneers like Dr Phil Callahan has shown that, depending on the configuration of their electrons, materials can be magnetic in different ways and to differing extents. Paramagnetic trace elements can produce a measurable magnetic charge in some very old volcanic rock dusts. This slight charge increases the amounts of nutrients available to plants, which are diamagnetic. Try adding commercially available volcanic rock dust to your vegetable garden soil in some areas; then observe the difference in Brix measurement, pest resistance, appearance and taste – the best assessment of metabolites providing nutrient density. If you are curious about paramagnetism, try the less-often explained tools described below.
Dowsing for water:
Many farmers and water engineers find dowsing rods are still the most efficient way to locate the gentle magnetic fields generated by flowing water beneath the soil. You too could experiment by trying to find water with dowsing rods. It is a good idea to do this at a known water source the first time, so you get used to the feeling of the rods moving. Take two copper dowsing rods and hold them firmly but gently, one in each hand. Focus on water. Walk slowly in a straight line with the rods held at elbow height, your elbows tucked comfortably in to your sides. Note where you are when the rods begin to cross and keep walking until they uncross. Repeat at right angles to pinpoint a specific spot. Advanced dowsers can sense the depth of the water by saying or thinking of depths in increments and seeing when the rods cross. If that piqued your interest, move on to choosing the best place for a compost heap, standing stone or labyrinth.
Dowsing for an energy spot for a compost heap:
Land energy crossing points are good places for siting itemsthat will help to ground, or will benefit from, a flow of energy.This could be a good position for the centre of a labyrinth or a standing stone, for example. A flow of energy is also thought to draw insects and creatures in, so could be suitable for a compost heap in a practical setting. You can use dowsing rods to find these subtle energy points in the same way as water. Cross the area at several points to find a useful intersection, and build your compost heap there. Obvious caveats apply on balancing the optimum energy point with practicalities like ease of access and safety for your compost heap.
Energetic listening:
This is an extension of the above, using our own body as a sort of antenna or intuitive listening instrument for creative co-working
with the land.
• Sit on the ground, on a log, on a rock or with your back to a tree.
• Set your intention to resolve a specific issue or just to be curious about the space.
• Clear your mind through breathing techniques or by connecting to the land in your imagination.
• Try not to think or make up stories in your thoughts.
• If nothing happens that is fine too.
• Close your eyes and listen.
• Start with listening to the sounds. You might count them to stop your mind wandering.
• Extend your listening to feeling your own body from within. Gradually extend to feeling beyond your body. Feel the grass, the plants, the trees, the water, the land and the site.
• Listen to what the place is ‘saying’.
• How does it feel, what does it need?
• Try to be just curious; listen without judging or jumpingnto solutions.
• After a few minutes open your eyes and write or draw.
• Then look around at the site again and see it within the context of what you ‘heard’.
• Judgements, rational mindset, solutions and questions will soon follow.
Combine energetic listening with dowsing to site thingsmlike seats, vegetable gardens, labyrinths and standing stones. First listen to what the land would like, then find the optimum location. If you follow it through, see if you can tell if your experiment worked. With many curious minds we can advance our observations and better growing.
HOW TO WORK WITH NATURAL ENERGY
Everything is energy and that is all there is to it.
Albert Einstein
Once we understand some of the energy that we have available for free, our gardens can benefit from these natural resources and we can garden with the flow, buying fewer inputs and making less effort for the same or better results.
Sun
Too much or too little sun can be make or break in a garden. As part of maximising our plants’ ability to photosynthesise, we can design our gardens to capture as much of the sun’s energy as possible, and also mitigate against excess heat. Extend the use of stored heat at the edges of the day and seasons by growing under glass, or by growing against a south-facing wall to protect from frost and help fruit ripen earlier. Position trees to provide shade for a hot day, and create different ecosystems in a garden. Trees and ponds are also air conditioners. Plant deciduous trees on the sunny side of a building: low winter sun will provide light and warmth through bare branches; when in leaf they will shade buildings from summer sun. A deciduous climber works too, and on cooler aspects will help insulate and protect a building from prevailing weather.
Wind
This is one of the most powerful energies in nature. Because the sun’s energy heats the Earth more at the equator than the poles, and the Earth’s rotation usually makes the ocean’s currents move from west to east, our prevailing wind in the northern hemisphere is the south-westerly. This means the wind and the weather generally come from that direction, explaining why we can track rain coming our way. Hills and forests will intercept rain on the way, so there is often less rain in the east of the UK. North-easterlies, although rarer, bring colder air, so prepare for them by planting sensitive plants in the lee of shelter belts. Hedges also provide shade and shelter. They act as a filter, slowing the wind but not creating the solid barrier of a wall, which produces eddies on the lee side as incoming wind hits it and curves over the top. Trees are an excellent wind filter and have the benefit of sending wind up high over their tops, as well as filtering it. Even a small tree can be a big benefit to a building or garden. Plant copses and trees in parkland down a hill or further away from a larger site, as the effect will be felt for a distance of multiple tree heights. There are advanced wind maps available online, and it’s worth understanding weather patterns to understand the context of your site.
Gravity
Gravity affects wind, steadies the Earth in orbit around the sun, and holds the moon in orbit around the Earth. The moon takes 27.3 days to go around the Earth and rotates at the same time, in such perfect sync with Earth that we never see its ‘dark side’. The moon stabilises the Earth’s tilt, which causes our seasons, and the gravitational pull of the moon and the sun cause our tides. We garden according to the seasons caused by orbiting around the sun, and the moon’s gravitational pull can likewise be used to plan the gardening month. Like indigenous wisdom keepers, biodynamic and permaculture practitioners, we can use the moon cycles to maximise yields. When the moon is waning, drawing the energy down into the Earth, sow seeds and work with root crops. Deal with plants above ground when the light is strongest and energy greatest. Maria Thun’s calendar is still one of the best to follow, and the chart on page 212 is an adaptation of her teachings. The results will be amazing especially when combined with living compost. However, in the spirit of the kindest garden, follow Christopher Lloyd’s maxim: the best time to do something is when you should, and the second best is when you can.
Water
Life, movement and energy are brought to a landscape by water. It connects the sky to the Earth and plays with light and shadow. Plan moving water and still water through your site to regulate heat through evaporation and condensation. It will cool you in summer and hold some groundwater heat in winter. It is vital to all soil interactions and photosynthesis. Masaru Emoto and Viktor Schauberger have done fascinating work on the structure of water and described water’s ability to absorb and reflect the energetic vibrations it encounters. Humans are over 70 per cent water, so we are major repositories of these vibrations. Install a biodynamic flow-form water feature to oxygenate, structure and energise water; on a small scale, a compost tea bubbler or handheld drill energises too. Add humates to mains water to remove chloramine before use on plants and filter before drinking.
Magnetism
The Earth has a magnetic field generated by its core. In the last fifty years scientists have discovered how magnetic fields are used by migrating birds, sea turtles and salmon to find their routes, and by some birds to orient their nests. Energetic fields are also thought to have informed the positioning of the pyramids, stone circles and sacred land sites for millennia, while in 2018 physicists showed that, in the resonant state, the Great Pyramid of Giza, Egypt, can concentrate electromagnetic energy. Since the nineteenth century the influence of this energy has been explored in the West to try to explain how it might influence everything from the human immune system to where insects like to congregate and the best position for a compost heap.
Biodynamic farming acknowledges the dynamic forces in nature not yet fully understood by science. By working creatively with these subtle energies, regenerative farmers and growers can enhance the health of their farms and the quality and flavour of food. In a garden context try using dowsing rods to locate underground water or the best place for a compost heap. Tune in to land energy by sitting quietly and practising energetic listening to locate the best position for a building, a standing stone, a healing tree or a labyrinth.Extra
Extract from Boswall, M. 2025.The Kindest Garden: A Practical Guide to Regenerative Gardening. Frances Lincoln.
Marian Boswall is a leading landscape architect and horticulturalist, was a lecturer in Historic Garden Conservation at Greenwich University for several years and is a co-founder of the Sustainable Landscape Foundation.