A garden is in the eye of the beholder

I have just read 'Why I'm sick of 'lovely' gardens' on the Guardian gardening blog by garden writer Anne Wareham, and, apart from being a little confused by what motivated Anne to write it, I think Anne is making a similar mistake to 'garden media' she refers, by casting a wide net and capturing everyone - surely the term gardener or garden is not a one phrase fits all?.

If I am reading correctly I think Anne is trying to tell us that gardening isn't for the lesser folk and should be reserves for the intellectual great and good.

I am getting the message that if your garden is reserved for a mass planting of marigolds or lettuce then you are not allowed to call yourself a gardener and if it's easy, it's not real gardening.

I have always worried that there has been an unnecessary smokescreen put in front of plain and simple design which has led the garden visitor to be convinced that they are missing the intended message when, all along, the garden creator's sole intention has been to create something that is pleasing to himself and not the masses.

Am I reading Anne's piece wrong?

Comments

[k walter]

'We may feel relieved if someone actually says that it's not good enough. I have undone work which took me a winter of hard physical labour because someone accurately pointed out to me that it didn't look good. That was painful. But I knew they were right and that my reward would be the pleasure of seeing something better.'

I for one would be on the floor if a client said this but even worse, that I would agree. Surely one strives to get it right the first time?

[Tara Dillard]

LOL, learned long ago if I'm working in my garden and it's easy, I'm doing it wrong.

Perhaps the point was to be a landscape critic along the line of movie & music critics.

Gardening, in the states, receives a pass. The results are Flower Shows closing across our country and the condition/looks of the average American landscape, oh my, tidy.

Tidy landscapes mean good landscapes in the states. Tidy is important but landscape design companies shouldn't get a free pass with tidy and nothing else.

It's not much more bother to create a fabulous landscape than a tidy one.

Garden & Be Well, XO Tara

[John Walker]

I must admit that (as a gardening writer myself) I've read Anne Wareham's piece in The Guardian twice now, and I have not a clue what she is going on about. Frankly, I can't see the point of it.

She must be writing for a very small and select inner audience is the only conclusion I can reach. That her blog has attracted only two comments seems to bear this out - and one of those is saying they don't 'get it'.

Ms Wareham is one of the architects of www.thinkingardens.co.uk, and a glance through it suggests that this is where that inner audience lies. Some of the other inhabitants of ThinkinGardens, with any respects due, do seem to be rather up themselves.

[Marc Rosenberg]

I am in shock. For the first time in the history of the universe, I agree with John Walker's comment 100 per cent.

Probably won't happen again though...