Over the fence
Have gardens become theme parks?
We’re in danger of stripping away their identities Cafés and gift shops fund the garden’s very existence
hildren’s play trail? Check. Café serving gluten-free organic lemon drizzle cake and macchiato? Check. Exit via the gift shop? Check. Gardens are transforming at a startling rate in an attempt to keep pace with our increasing demand for attractions that indulge our every need. It seems that visitor centres, activity areas and endless opportunities to eat and drink are becoming fundamental to our experience of visiting gardens. As such, we’re in danger of stripping away their identities and losing what it is that made them so popular in the first place. Some of Britain’s most beloved gardens – pioneered by horticultural heroes such as Christopher Lloyd, Vita Sackville-West and Gertrude Jekyll – evolved with a strong identity, full of romanticism, simple charm and bags of eccentricity. They inspired us to visit other similar gardens and to explore and engage with the world of plants in our own lives and in our own homes. This sense of identity should be cherished and nurtured, rather than diluted to ensure gardens retain their five-star TripAdvisor rating. Rather than constructing indoor play centres, we should aim to engage young gardeners intelligently, through stimulation rather than exhaustion. In a few years’ time, we don’t want to be reminiscing about these ‘unusual’ gardens that have lost their magic. Much better, surely, to celebrate individuality and quirkiness, and to champion vision and creativity? Let’s admit that it’s okay not to have a light festival or tulip extravaganza, but allow us to simply enjoy becoming immersed in a garden’s past and present, and, above all, in its great planting – isn’t that what gardens are truly about? ardens today do need to modernise to attract enough people to keep them going – without paying visitors, many would have to close. Cafés, gift shops and festivals not only give visitors what they expect from a day out, but also fund the garden’s very existence. It is particularly important for botanic gardens such as Kew to engage with visitors in an educational way, especially with children. And this can be theme based, without turning a garden into a theme park. Children are our future and we need to get them interested in our parks, gardens and plants now, in the hope that they’ll look after them in the decades to come, but we have a lot to compete with in this digital age. Some of the events Kew holds can seem a bit theme-parky, for example movie and music evenings, but they attract a new audience at a time when the gardens are usually closed. Our popular Christmas lights trail brings in thousands of families, many for the first time, to see some of Kew’s landscape and large trees lit up in a magical way. These events help to fund the heritage landscapes for the day-time visitors. At Kew, we are currently building a new children’s garden based around plants and play. It won’t detract from the surrounding landscape, but will in fact enhance it, with plants used in new and exciting ways. Many of today’s garden designers will, I’m sure, be the garden heroes of the future, like Gertrude Jekyll was in the 19th and 20th centuries, when she changed the landscapes of her predecessors. But there will hopefully always be room for quieter areas within gardens to provide the relaxation that many visitors enjoy.