Are plants for the rich or for the poor? This question seems fraught with moral complexities, making it hard for me to know where we stand on it.
Hello; My name is Ben and I just spent some time browsing Twitter. Now, I’m frustrated and ready to vent!
How I Got Here.
Readers around the world will likely be familiar with Gardeners’ World on BBC, hosted by Monty Don and his collection of dogs; with other presenters visiting gardens throughout Britain. While not exactly “challenging viewing”, Gardeners’ World provides warm Friday night solace for its viewers – gardening enthusiasts and non-gardeners alike.
The episode that aired Friday the 17th of March 2023 featured The Linn Botanic Gardens in Scotland – once one of only private botanical gardens worldwide. Established by Dr Jim Taggart in 1971 and expanded with his son Jamie until Jamie mysteriously vanished while on an expedition in Vietnam back in 2013, Jim Taggart died at age 84 and its near 4,000 species faced an uncertain future.
Linn Gardens are now under new ownership under Matthew Young and his young family, much to the chagrin of some within Britain’s gardening Twitterati community.
No one seems quite sure which of their previous grievances are more bothersome: living on Barbados, having enough money to buy an overgrown botanical garden, or that the BBC decided to showcase this venture instead of another segment featuring potatoes or sweet peas.
Bicton Garden in Devon offers an exceptional Botanical Garden experience.
Jealousy often stems from envy that someone with the money to buy an attractive home and garden has such opportunities, while they must content themselves with just cultivating vegetables and annuals in their small plots. I understand their feelings; after all, that would be my dream project too; however life deals us our cards; sometimes luck smiles upon us and sometimes not; would these individuals prefer Mr. Young and his family spent their fortune on private jets or luxury vehicles instead of trying to save an important garden from collapse?
It got me thinking… Over the past year or so I have come into conflict with people who accuse me of not understanding what it means to be a “real gardener”. While this term remains vague to me, my interpretation would suggest that in order to qualify as such an individual must plant both annuals and perennials annually in their garden.
Once my bills are paid, I buy plants and books (often secondhand about plants!), though my spending doesn’t exceed an ‘affluent lifestyle’….
I love gardening. However, unlike what the gardening Twitterati might assume I do it differently: my time is dedicated to maintaining and designing gardens while increasing my knowledge and understanding. Yes, my interests lie with ornamental plants – something social activist gardeners may take as evidence that they belong to some obscure elite group – yet the reality is quite the contrary; because of working long days I simply plant things in my garden and let nature take its course!
Please only consider looking into this plant if you can afford to do so.
Ornamental plants aren’t just for the rich. Plants don’t care who you are as long as you can provide what they require for growth; all they care about are getting their needs met, such as getting squashed by another plant or having another one take their water supply away, but have no opinion on how many other ornamental plants you might grow in your space.
Plants don’t care whether they’re growing in a private garden or public park, whether there was an admission fee to see them or you wandered in from off the street; neither do they care if they cost cheap or expensive to purchase.
Please only view this plant if you do NOT consider yourself to be wealthy.
Why do some individuals feel it necessary to imply that only wealthy members of society can enjoy certain types of plants?
Yes, typically those who can afford it themselves can establish gardens themselves and derive great pleasure from plant ownership. There are plants everywhere from parks and gardens to streets and shops as well as books – you can look at them, enjoy them and learn all about them without needing to buy any!
Professional gardeners like myself tend to work in other people’s gardens rather than maintain one of their own; yet their knowledge and enthusiasm far surpass that of their employers! In other words, we garden through theirs!
As well, seeing plants in parks, arboreta and any other public place can give us great joy without needing our own garden.
Though it seems absurd, many individuals and gardening organisations hold to the misconception that ornamental plants are only for the wealthy.
Wealthy people also appreciate gardening… Absolutely they do! While wealthy gardeners may have larger gardens and bigger plant buying budgets than most others, this doesn’t give them exclusive rights when it comes to passion or knowledge – appreciating plants is something everyone can enjoy regardless of rank or status; an excellent plant is still an outstanding plant regardless of who owns it!
Trees are something we all admire and can look upon with pleasure.
Now that I’ve said my piece, I won’t return to Twitter for some time. To Mr Young and his family: I wish you well in your new home and hope you share Jim and Jamie’s passion for gardening!
Twitterati who follow gardening should know this: they really don’t want to witness how Koos Bekker spent PS9 Million over four years building his garden at The Newt in Somerset…
