Quiet Crisis

The question of how to encourage people to get gardening has been around for decades. There was a time when maintaining a garden (even if it was just a lawn with an island bed, or a lawn surrounded by thin borders) was just another part of life. Nowadays gardening is just another thing that competes for people's time, with competition from shopping (including the modern phenomenon of 'recreational shopping'), watching sport on TV, socialising and many other things that people do with their time. Pottering about in the garden has become something only dedicated hobbyist gardeners do in their spare time, not a national pastime. Furthermore, with people trying to cram more and more into their own time, gardening has become for many a chore that needs doing before they can go and do something they want to do.

As it became clear that homeowners were increasingly seeing gardening as a chore, the horticultural industry invented a new concept; the garden makeover. The most iconic gardening makeover programme was Ground Force. Each week Alan Titchmarsh, Charlie Dimmock and Tommy Walsh would be invited into someone's garden while a family member was away, would 'do' the garden and then hide behind a door or gate and watch while the owner of the new garden was surprised. Each garden would comprise of a wooden decked area, a water feature, usually a black bamboo... it now looks terribly quaint, but back then it was cutting edge. There were tears, cheers and usually glasses of something raised, and a tidy new garden.

The success of Ground Force was clear; the idea that gardens could be made quickly and, so the TV told us, easily sent people flocking to garden centres and nurseries. Black bamboos (usually Phyllostachys nigra) went from being niche plants to mainstream hits overnight, and often demand far exceeded supply. The Ground Force show ran from 1997 to 2005 and for much of that time it created a boom in gardening sales. The problem was that Ground Force taught 'instant gratification gardening', where mature plants were put in and everything was completed quickly. Consumers started to realise how much this actually cost, and that it was out of the reach of many of the Ground Force viewers. Also people realised that while the garden could be built in a few days (or half an hour on TV!), there was an ongoing maintenance issue; gardens just don't stand still. Weed suppressing fabric was great, but weeds started to grow in whatever was on top, water features needed maintenance, ponds went green, plants that were bought big then got bigger, and the instant gratification of a made-over garden became a burden. The hoards of gardeners at garden centres and nurseries started to disappear, and many of those businesses that had invested off the back of the gardening revolution suddenly found themselves on hard times.

Definitely NOT a makeover garden! (Killerton NT)

Gardening has continued to be popular, but has really returned to the pre-makeover days. People are still buying plants and creating wonderful gardens, but the horticultural industry has shrunk back to a lower (but hopefully more sustainable) level.

The 'Grow Your Own' revolution has taken the UK by storm. Although I don't doubt that part of the revolution was born from scaremongering about food, there is now a healthy community of people who are growing much of their food themselves. The 'GYO' revolution has brought organic techniques and sustainability to the top of people's agendas, even having an effect on the mass production of food for supermarkets. Never before has growing your own food been more accessible, with allotments enjoying a resurgence of interest and community gardening becoming increasingly popular.

There is however a quiet crisis coming. You'd be hard pushed to notice given how popular growing your own food has become, but gardening isn't actually solely about putting food on your plate. While fresh produce is the hot new thing, ornamental plants are suffering as they are ignored. In nurseries and garden centres you will find a wealth of beautiful flowers and foliage, but apart from the new 'buzz plants' that are released most plants just don't seem to get people's attention any more- there just isn't a thirst to grow ornamental plants. There will be many reasons for this, but I would point my finger at the success of 'GYO', increased media coverage about the threats to pollinators and native plants (even though a garden with a diverse range of flowers will attract pollinators anyway), and the lack of inspiration from the media.

GYO will always be popular

I don't begrudge the GYO movement its success, far from it. I am, however, mindful that it won't appeal to everyone, and that the people who aren't excited by the idea of lifting a crop of fresh potatoes from the ground might actually be interested in planting an ornamental garden that reflects their personality. The media (TV, radio and printed) will follow whatever will get them the most viewers, listeners or readers. The media game is not a fair one; balance plays second fiddle to numbers, so popular content about growing food or growing wildflowers will usually take priority over ornamental plants. Wherever consumers go, the media will follow.

This causes a bit of a problem for those producing ornamental plants. The plants are there and ready to go, but the customers are becoming harder and harder to find. Some companies do well by creating their own niche, thinking for example of Thomson and Morgan for their range of seeds, plugs and new plants. Many nurseries and garden centres are finding it more and more difficult to cope as time goes on, and are at a loss to find ways to bring people in.

Fuchsia 'Beacon'

New facilities, such as cafes, are seen as a must-have accessory by business advisors. We all love a nice cup of tea and something to eat when we go out, but the costs of building a cafe are often more than smaller businesses can afford. Without the cafe they supposedly can't attract new customers, and without the new customers they can't afford the cafe! Whatever ideas businesses come up with to encourage customers to visit and buy more, these are often temporary solutions. Sooner or later the novelty of 'club offers', late night opening, advisory sessions etc. just wears off. Yet while retailers have sleepless nights wondering how to boost business there is a sector of the market that is largely untapped!

As I said earlier in this article, there has been an excellent push to get kids gardening in schools. Whilst I am dubious over whether or not pond dipping and growing runner beans will have any meaningful long-term effect on the image of gardening as a hobby and profession, at least something is being done; exposing children to the fact that gardens exist and that gardening isn't just about hard work cannot be a bad thing. At the other end of the scale are the older generation gardeners* who are already growing plants but on the whole aren't making new gardens, so tend to buy one or two plants to fill gaps (or just because they feel like it!).

In between you have two groups, the 18-30 group and the 30-45 group. The 18-30 group are a difficult lot to cater for; although they might already have an interest in gardening (hopefully at least partly thanks to gardening at school), university and the process of finding work means that they will likely end up in rented accommodation. There is no reason to believe that this group wouldn't appreciate a nice garden, but they are unlikely to own a house of their own and won't want to spend large amounts of money on a garden that they will one day leave behind. The 30-45 group will statistically be more likely to have their own house and will be more interested in putting their identity on the house and garden.

This corner at The Veddw could inspire anyone, regardless of age

Appealing to the 30-45 group is crucial if nurseries and garden centres are to survive. Don't get me wrong, focus on the 30-45 group at the expense of your existing customers and a business will collapse anyway, but enthusing the 30-45 year olds to take up gardening will open up a new niche. So what can we do? I think my potted history of Ground Force shows that I don't think a return to makeover gardening will have anything more than a fleeting benefit. Similarly a focus on one particular element of gardening might put off people who aren't interested in that subject from gardening as a whole. Diversity is key; people between the ages of 30 and 45 will be as diverse in their tastes, aspirations and ideas as any other group. They will likely be fairly well informed about the world around them, and be perfectly able to see when they're being patronised. These are the people who have been raised with access to information freely online, so to try to simplify gardening down to easy chunks could cause a negative effect if the new consumers discover, as they do their own research, that they're being patronised. No, I think that the horticultural industry will win these consumers over with respect. If I was involved in any campaign to encourage this age group to get gardening I would push hard for the following:

• inspiration- show your market what they can achieve.
• knowledge- present information that is easy to follow but isn't over simplified and patronising.
• presentation- tastes will differ in this group, and tastes in presentation techniques as much as plants and gardens! It's absurd to assume any taste will be universal in this group as much as any other group- people in their 20s don't automatically like thumping dance music, people in their 60s don't all like classical music!
• diversity- this group, like all other age groups, is made up of people who have different tastes, viewpoints and ideas. To assume that this age group will be attracted to one particular gardening style is just ridiculous.

Gardeners already know why they garden, what they get out of it. We all have our interests and niches, and the key to success with a new market is to help them find theirs rather than force our ideas onto them.

New ideas could will boost interest in bedding plants

I fear that the challenge of encouraging new gardeners falls on those of us already involved, professionally or not, in horticulture. The media has no interest in changing the status quo of the gardening world, as can be seen with gardening shows like Gardener's World. Gardener's World won't ever get back to its glory days; it's a show that exists for its own purpose rather than that of any greater good. People will still watch it, but will continue to do so for its “lovely” presenters and its gentle pace, rather than because it challenges its audience, inspires or brings in new ideas.

The momentum for change will come from us.

*I know, being over 45 doesn't make you old in any way!