The importance for energy conserving design became apparent in the early 1970's when the oil crisis alerted the world to its dependence on diminishing fossil fuel reserves. The typical architectural and engineering solution to the "energy crisis" was to make buildings more efficient for mechanized heating and cooling. I have been exploring the potential of the classical and historical garden as a framework for passive energy systems and ecological networks. These experimental gardens reinterpret ancient garden design techniques and apply them to new forms for energy conservation. Now more than ever we need to create landscapes in which plant forms and garden structures are manipulated into new systems that conserve energy. These innovative passive design solutions could help reduce our growing energy demands not only in the landscapes of America, but, most of importantly, throughout the world.