GardenBanter.co.uk - View Single Post

kay · 20-06-2012, 03:11 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jake

On Tue, 19 Jun 2012 10:19:04 -0700 (PDT), Rod
wrote:

I take it as read that most folk here have a generally favourable reaction to most plants. We all have our favourites and pets of course but I'm not thinking about that.
Rather I'm asking how visitors to your gardens react to what they see/smell/touch?
Sadly I and Mrs Rod are beginning to conclude that most folks are almost blind to plants or almost scared of them turning into triffids and overwhelming the world.
Also profoundly ignorant - where were they when biology was being taught at school?
In the last week or 2 we've seen a perfectly innocent Cedrus deodora 'pendula' destroyed because it was shedding it's old needles, a lovely honeysuckle destroyed in full bud - the guy didn't even know what it was and too stupid to ask.
A mature and beautiful bush of the rose 'Ena Harkness' 'pruned'(mutilated) in full flower - It was cut down to less than half flowers/buds notwithstanding.
In our garden a common reaction is 'nice fence' or 'can I look in your workshop?'
The profusion of flowers, foliage and scents commonly gets 'null points'

Rod

Have you been reading too much Anne Wareham? (The Bad Tempered
Gardener, cheapest current source being Amazon). She has attracted a
lot of bad press lately because she dared to criticise the NGS and the
attitude of the average open garden visitor. Her garden (The Veddw in
Monmouthshire) is worth a visit! There you will see ground elder in
profusion, alchemilla mollis running riot, weeds poking up everywhere
and used as features.

I suspect that these days, most people's gardening habits are dictated
by the sheds and garden centres (which are also sheds). Plants are
bought in flower and probably consigned to the bin when they finish
flowering the week after purchase. The impatiens walleriana rules
(damn and blast it to hell as we need to get it out of gardens
completely for a few years to kill off the mildew). Anything that
grows more than a foot above ground doesn't live long enough to
achieve anything because it's not bedding and so gets dug up (as if it
were bedding) as soon as it stops flowering - a week after purchase.

The consumer society is "today" with no thought for "tomorrow" .

One beautifully overcrowded garden near me was put through the shredder by the new owner. They started by sawing through a Rambling Rector rose at the base when it was in full flower - how could anyone do that? At least wait till the flowers are over, if you really want to get rid of it. Then they got rid of virtually everything else, and converted the garden to 80% lawn. Worse, *their* neighbours approve, and think it looks nice and tidy now - they complained that previously it was "literally a jungle".

Meanwhile, my son reports that one of his work colleagues said she didn't like our garden - gardens should be sitting in, with lots of pretty flowers. I think she means lawn and bedding plants and lots of nice bare soil in between, not ponds, shrubs, climbers in floriferous profusion.

It is so different when you show a gardener round - the way they jump in delight upon plants, even those not in flower.