I wonder; natural or unnatural?

I am taking the liberty of steeling part of  the title from Adrian Forty?s article on concrete for this blog post.  Forty discusses a large range of aspects concering concret in his article. Among these are if it is natural or unnatural, how it has been but to use and if it is as sustainable and recylable as the manufacturers claim it to be.

The article  got me thinking. It made me look around and reflect over what is surrounding me. Not on concrete constructions, but on what I perceive as natur and natural in my soroundings, and if it is natural or not.

I am lucy to live very close to the city, but still in a green and natural neighborhood. Or at least I have considered it natural up to now.

Our garden. The  small river running just outside it were seatrout and salmon breed in the fall. The pond and waterfall just up the river and the strip of forrest hugged around it were grey heron nests and badgers and squirrels live and breed. It is like having nature itself in my back yard.

But when looking closer at it,  what do I see?

Our garden is designed on my own drawing board, and most of the plants are bought from the local garden center were they were breeded in a greenhouse. Most of them are grafted and probably genetically modified. 

The river runs in a concret culvert under the road and opens up just above our garden. The riverbed has been altered around new buildings and man-made stone walls are supporting the river on both sides.

The pond, Hoffsdammen, belongs to Hoff hovedg?rd and is man-made,  and was,  according to Naturvernforbundet, the farms water reservoar for animals and for fire extingtion.

The waterfall has been used to supply a grain mill with power and has therefore been altered some, but runs in it?s original path.

The forrest I guess has develeoped  through times and is not planted by man, but who knows?

My surrounding neighborhood is still lush and green (in the summer) but can I still consider it natural, or is it unnatual when most of it is man-made or manipulated by man at some point? I wonder¡­