I'm a little bit annoyed. For those readers from outside the UK who enjoy quirky British words, I'm miffed.
Why? Because one of my little wildflower corners has been mown down in my absence. Two weeks ago this area, out of sight at the bottom of a large garden, was brimming with butterflies and other insects. It was a bit of a triumph if I'm honest, an area of the garden that needed virtually no care through summer, saving me time and saving my client money, and it made a positive impact on wildlife.
Why was this area cut? Firstly the client saw a deer in the garden and took the advice of a neighbour who said that deer were particularly attracted to patches of wildflowers, and secondly the client has never really been sold on the idea of nature.
You're no more or less likely to encounter deer in long grass than anywhere else. I've been into gardens and found deer lounging on the front lawn without a care in the world, and during my nursery days I remember finding evidence of deer in one of the polytunnels. It was clear that several had sheltered in the tunnel overnight, surrounded by thousands of pounds worth of plants. Thankfully they didn't wake up for a midnight snack!
The uncomfortable truth is that while so much emphasis has been put on the importance of nature in gardens, not everyone is a convert. Looking at popular gardening media these days you'd be forgiven for thinking the gardening was primarily an extension of entomology; it's all about the bees you see, although things usually get a bit awkward if you ask which bees?
While I think most of us are fairly happy gardening with wildlife in mind, but only certain types of wildlife. Gardeners like bees, butterflies and hedgehogs, but we're generally less keen on deer, horseflies and wasps. However there are still people out there, and quite a lot of them, who just aren't sold on the idea of gardening with wildflowers and other 'dirty' things. These are people for whom the garden must be a sanitised abstract of nature; they can't be happy with anything else.
A big part of the problem is communication. So much communication around ecology and nature, and gardening for that matter, is mind-numbingly simplistic or delivered with cutesy overtones. There seems to be an assumption across society that the base level of humanity is 'moron'. Communicators miss one blindingly obvious fact: some people have enormous expertise in other things. Not knowing about something doesn't make someone an idiot, and it would be wise for there to be greater emphasis in grown-up communication. Making a subject accessible and approachable does not have to mean compromising on detail.
On a few occasions I've been made aware of this in my work with clients. For example, I was talking about water with a client and told her I was going to use an anionic surfactant, and proceeded to explain what an anionic surfactant does. “Oh I know about anionic surfactants” she told me, confidently.
She was a rep for a big makeup firm, and apparently makeup products use surfactants to aid smooth application. She knew the chemistry better than I did!
I work for lawyers, doctors, people who do mind-boggling things in finance, people who have expertise in all sorts of things that baffle me. If I spoke to them as though they were little children I'd be out before I knew what had happened. People don't want to be patronised; they want good communication.
I can't help thinking that this is a problem with ecology. People who could be real advocates for nature, and gardens, are being marginalised in the name of modern pseudo-inclusivity. There's a sense that the way to make a subject accessible to someone is to take out all the complicated stuff and feed the remaining mush in bite-size pieces. Pandering to a lowest denominator alienates people who have a desire to know more about the world around them.
I think there's a good case for a rebranding of gardening. Yes it's fun and light-hearted, but it's also an interest, and for some a career, that can offer real and deep meaning. Nobody could ever know everything there is to know; it's said that the difference between an expert gardener and a novice is their understanding of just how much they will never truly know. It's also said that you could devote your every waking moment to understanding a particular facet of horticulture and die not knowing everything.
This is not for everyone. Some gardeners find great joy and comfort in the comparative certainty that comes with doing the same things the same way every time. Let those who need this sort of gardening have it. Providing a greater level of knowledge for those who seek it does not need to be at the expense of supporting and inspiring those who do not. If gardeners aren't made aware that there is more to explore if they wish to do so, how will they know where to look?
British gardening is obsessed with wheeling out the same few garden designers and media personalities all the time, as if these people hold the keys to all knowledge. They don't. By and large these people come from a very narrow wedge of society, people who dominate thanks to social status. I'm not saying that these people aren't talented, but I don't think it's unfair to ask for proof of that talent before we devote ourselves to their words and ideas. If it's truly their talent that sets them apart, let's see these big names build a suburban front garden that needs to include off-street parking alongside a bin and bike store, and for a budget that's a little more within the reach of the rest of us. Let's see them thrive in a more conventional gardening situation.
Anyone can throw money at a patch of land and make a garden. Spend enough and it would almost be impossible to get it wrong, especially if you're allowed to spend your way out of trouble if things don't work out. I'm bored with it all. There are far more interesting things going on in private gardens owned and tended by ordinary gardeners. Necessity being the mother of invention, gardeners come up with all sorts of ways to create their vision of Eden with the resources they have. Occasionally the result is an eye-gouging monstrosity of a garden, but more often than not it's a really nice space that suits the gardener well. It might not win an award, but who cares.
We need more adventure in gardening, if only to break the mindless tedium of endless Piet Oudolf knock-offs. Not everything will go to plan, but if we are to drag the craft of gardening back from its terminal decline we must encourage gardeners to push boundaries. This will require a shift away from the cult of celebrity, instead encouraging the gardening community to openly share ideas and encouragement laterally rather than relying on being fed by hand-me-downs from the existing hierarchy. Those of us who are regarded as having expertise must be willing to engage more with curious gardeners, and share our knowledge and insight without prejudice. The more novice gardeners must in turn venture from the comparative safety of gardening media's drip-feeding, and be willing to ask questions. Take the plunge. Push yourself to experience gardening outside your sphere. I dare say this mantra would work for those who have been placed at the top of horticulture's existing hierarchy.
The never-ending consumption of banal gardening content isn't doing us any favours. There's a real danger that the gap between novice and expert gardeners will expand to become an impassable rift. While I'm sure this would suit certain fragile egos in gardening it's not going to help the craft of horticulture overall. Those of us who love gardens, our own or gardens as a whole, need to ask whether we really want to continually massage the egos of the few. If the answer is no then we must push ourselves to escape the shackles of the current gardening scene, and stop relying on other people to tell us what to grow and how to garden.
I'm sorry if this has been a rather strange rant. I see so much wasted potential in domestic gardens, where good and decent gardeners are made to feel like their ideas don't matter because they're not part of the right set. There's been a backlash in recent years against beauty magazines trying to push unrealistic standards on people, but in truth gardening magazines are just as bad. It's unhelpful, unhealthy even, to be exposed to unrealistic ideals of perfection. Looking at acres of beautifully tended gardens where weeds are banished and every flower and leaf is just right is fine as an occasional treat. However it can be extraordinarily frustrating and depressing to see these gardens and look at your own garden.
We don't begrudge Henry and Persephone-Louise their converted 13th century mill with its extensive gardens designed by the latest trendy designer, and lovingly tended by someone who comes in two days a week to stop all hell breaking loose in the borders (and yet who never gets a mention in the article). It's fine to daydream that that could be our garden, and that we would be sauntering among the irises, drink in hand, as the sun descends on another day in paradise. The problem is that this is just not the reality for most of us.
And this is a message never shared. The constant sense that our lawns must be perfect and our borders must be perfect and our trees must be perfect... it's unhelpful to say the least. Maybe it's reality for those with huge amounts to spend on their garden, but maybe it's all just a false nonsense pursued to sell media.
My wildflowers are lost for this year. I hope the creatures that enjoyed them have found other accommodation. I'm not giving up. It's on me to use my influence to encourage a different perspective among clients who, for whatever reason, feel that everything must be kept to a certain standard. I have a few ideas about how to do this; I can either work on creating enthusiasm around wildflowers and habitat, or I can focus on the financial benefit. Either way it's up to me to choose my words, and make my arguments, carefully and appropriately. Most importantly of all I must not assume that because I see value in something that someone else should too.
Oh no Ben! Did they mow your Devil’s Bit Scabious to the ground too? I’d be more than miffed.
It occurred to me - some people go on and on about bees and pollinators but when they spot a caterpillar in their garden they ask ‘how do I kill it?’ These people really don’t deserve gardens.
I really liked this rant. As an amateur gardener of a few years I've really been craving more depth, more science, more expertise. But it can be hard to find, I've recently looked for book recommendations for horticulture/garden design students (a lot of Piet Oudolf in the list I found, which I'm not against but definitely has no place in my 9m2). I have been getting to know insects better, the idea that most insects are 'bad' is deeply ingrained in many. And it's surprising how many people I know do not know there are other bees than honey- and bumblebees and I think I didn't use to either. As you say, it's often THE bees we like to see.