Back to Basics

I’ve been having a bit of a blog-break but normal service has now been resumed. I might not have been blogging – but I’ve certainly been talking plants and gardens. A few weeks ago I was at Wisley as part of their Tree and Shrub day to rekindle interest in woody plants. I’m all for that and not sure why we’ve let gardeners, especially new ones, forget about the importance of trees and shrubs which are, after all, the backbone of any garden.

It all stems from the way plants are sold today. They have to look good in a pot at the time of sale – hence the popularity of squat, compact varieties that are easy to move around, and don’t take up too much space on a lorry. Those of us in retail seem to believe that everyone buys on impulse, and few have any idea of what they are going to buy when they arrive at a garden centre or nursery. We sometimes forget about the incredible accessibility of information through newspapers, magazines, television and most of all through the internet.

The other influencing factor is the constant demand for new plants. New Plants are news – the media love them – they are stories! Those good old faithful garden basics tend to be ignored. So new gardens are stocked with pots of colour, and anything new; not necessarily always good.

I’ve been flying the flag for those good old hard working shrubs that have held gardens together for the last couple of generations. I want new gardeners to embrace these good doers and achieve success – this will encourage them to stay in love with gardening rather than having a go, failing and taking up decoupage or knitting instead.

I was delighted how well my lecture was received at Wisley and have been encouraged by the response from other groups. I reinforced the message at our autumn open day – my change to encourage our wholesale customers to stock and recommend good basic shrubs. What I have learned is that most of these old familiar favourites are new and exciting to many gardeners and we should never take them for granted.

Take Cornus alba ‘Sibirica Variegata’ for example. This is truly a plant for all seasons: It has deep red stems in winter, pretty cream and green, pink tinged variegated foliage in spring and summer. The leaves turn strawberry-rose in autumn and white berries appear in clusters. It grows on any soil, it never gets bigger than 1 metre tall, and is disease free. How many of the plants in your garden work that hard to earn their keep and are sociable enough to mix in with your treasured roses.

Is this a one off? No of course not there are lots of the: Berberis ‘Rose Glow’, Euonymus ‘Emerald Gaiety’, Viburnum davidii, Choisya ternata – I could go on and on! Whether we are growing them or selling them what we must make sure is that these good, solid subjects are available for gardeners when they want to buy them!