Thinking Gardens is a support group of the Royal Horticultural Society with an intended role to encourage and develop a broader more enquiring attitude to gardens.
They hope is to stimulate both gardeners and non-gardeners by exploring 'contemporary aesthetics of gardens', a gardens relationship to other arts, what value a garden is to a non-gardener, the importance of gardens in society and 'the relationships between gardens and contemporary philosophy including scientific philosophy'.
I have read through their manifesto and I have to admit to concerns at their broad generalisations.
There is a campaign, which is reflected on their website, that seeks to return the garden to a place of prominence - perhaps as a centre piece and viewed as a creation of art rather than part of everyday life.
Part of the manifesto conclusions says: 'Gardens have lost their greater ambitions. They are no longer a stimulus for artistic debate nor are they an accepted medium for creative expression; television has reduced gardening to entertainment.
We now judge gardens principally on the quality of their plants, planting and housekeeping'
Many gardens of today are built for a specific purpose and despite the ambition of the person paying the bill, the financial constraints may not allow for extravagant expression.
There is definitely a place for art and philosophy in a garden but it is not possible for every garden and space to be a self indulgent expression.
Let's never forget that art and beauty is in the eye of the beholder and it is something that cannot be forced. My view is that the secret lies within the creator who who fits the widest demographic.
What are your thoughts on the garden and how it should be viewed?
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