The Hampton Court Flower Show circus is now in full swing and garden lovers will flock there in their droves to be inspired by the show gardens and plants.
Some say Hampton Court is fast becoming the garden show of the year, replacing Chelsea which has become more of an expressionists' playground.
Visitors have certainly got the right weather to enjoy the colour and pageantry.
For the last two years there's been a small section called Low Cost High Impact gardens. The small plots of ground which are supposed to resemble an average garden (or I suppose part of one?) are landscaped to show home-owners what can be achieved in small spaces.
However I'm concerned about the title and the choice of words used to described the concept. Isn't there a danger we will see all of our good work undone?
Think back the Ground Force days where every client became convinced that they could have a new garden installed for £500 over just a two day period?
Low Cost implies cheap, whilst High Impact implies that clients will be getting much more than they are actually paying for.
There is a very real danger that potential customers will come away with the notion that they can engage a designer and/or landscaper cheaply to design and construct a garden that gives them more than market value.
We have come so far in educating clients about the cost of landscaping but this concept will surely set us back.
A better name would have been Right Cost Right Impact gardens.
Let us create the right atmosphere which helps our practitioners profit rightfully for their creations, not return them to fighting to make the client understand that quality costs money.
I saw these gardens yesterday and, like last year, the cost of the gardens is made clear. You could quibble about what people call low cost (two of them are in the £15,000 category)and personally I'd like to see another one in the £7,000 category, but I don't think they carry a danger of a "Groundforce effect" because the cost is announced. Perhaps a breakdown of how they reached the cost would be helpful, though, so people could see which bits cost the most.
Posted by: Helen Gazeley | Jul 09, 2013 at 02:56 PM
Thanks for your comment Helen.
I saw the Low Cost gardens last year and I did like them.
I don't think many potential clients see £15k as a low cost...many would still bulk at £7k - although I'm not arguing whether the value is right or wrong.
In marketing terms, words are very important. I'd have preferred to have seen words like value in the description.
Posted by: Phil Voice | Jul 10, 2013 at 07:54 AM