Carol Klein reflects on a tumultuous 2020 and looks ahead to a hopeful new year
A tumultuous 2020, but a new year brings us fresh hope for the future
What a year 2020 was. None of us could have dreamed what was in store. We need no reminding of all the consequences of Covid-19 nor of its terrible effects. Personally I’ve been extremely lucky compared to most people. True, it has meant less filming work, including fewer flower shows. I was lucky enough to make two new gardening programmes for Channel 5 entitled How to Garden and eight more Great British Gardens. Hopefully, you’ll be able to see them this spring.
It seems we’ve all been doing more gardening and realising more than ever what a positive activity it is for our bodies, minds and souls. The importance of growing our own veg has been emphasised and that of propagating your own plants and our awareness of climate change and loss of habitat has been heightened, as well as the tiny steps all us gardeners can take to redress the balance.
Our family will always remember 2020 for one particularly sad event, as it was the year our darling dog, Fleur, pictured right, died. How lucky we’ve been to know her. What a character and what an independent spirit she’s been and what a beloved companion, not to mention her maternal qualities when it came to caring for her one surviving puppy Fifi.
We’re often asked what breed she was. It’s pretty certain she was a Lakeland terrier, but she didn’t come with any pedigree certificates. Our youngest daughter Alice had a boyfriend in Surrey and while she was staying there one weekend, his mum brought home a little dog she’d found wandering around on a road verge outside their village. The dog was emaciated, dirty and terrified.
Alice took a picture and sent it to us. Fleur couldn’t stay with them – they had an Alsatian and a Doberman already – but a kind girl in the village who looked after dogs and horses, took her in temporarily. After police and dog officer checks were carried out and we were inspected as being able to provide a suitable home, she came to us. Since she arrived at Glebe Cottage she’s had a very happy life, not without adventure – we could write a book about her exploits! Fifi misses her immensely, as do we all.
This new year, in common with every new year, is an unknown quantity. My resolutions are simple: realising the stage the garden has reached, to take account of it, getting rid of things that don’t work and building on those that do, especially enriching the plantings. The good plants we already have are being propagated to replace or add to what’s already there.
The worst part of 2020 was not being able to meet people, especially our families. It has emphasised the importance of staying in touch and making each other aware of how much they are loved. I’m hoping, in 2021 and from then on as long as I last, to be able to share the garden with my family.
Special thanks to Jonathan Buckley for his inspiring photographs and to all the team at Garden News who make writing these articles so enjoyable and make me sound and look as though I know what I’m talking about! And to you, dear readers. Happy New Year to you all and happy gardening.
‘Happy New Year to you all and happy gardening’