Have your say: reader letters

The view from your side of the fence

Mixed messages on biosecurity

Having seen HRH The Prince of Wales talk about biosecurity on GW TV, and just read his views in the article ( My fears for trees)

in the August issue, I was surprised when I turned the page to read Over the fence.

Whilst I enjoyed the piece I was perturbed when Katherine Crouch suggested going on holiday and bringing back seeds. Don’t you think this sends a mixed message? Gary, by email

I was with Katherine Crouch all the way when she suggested that we should not get steamed up about taking a holiday from the garden. That was until she suggested readers should bring back seeds from their foreign holidays! Does she not realise the dangers to our native plants? Apart from the risk of disease, some plants, while beautiful in their native surroundings can become invasive thugs when grown in another environment. By all means enjoy your holiday, admire the lovely gardens all over the world, but don’t bring back unauthorised seeds. You may be releasing a monster! Kathy Turner, Dumfries & Galloway

I was surprised to see Katherine Crouch’s sentiments around holidaying. Her closing

Inter-galactic gardening I read with interest July’s Over the fence feature discussing the cultivation of plants in space. Something which wasn’t really explored was molecular biology – there have been substantial advances in our knowledge of how plants germinate, for instance, as a result of microgravity experiments. Given the pivotal and increasing role that cellular and molecular biology, in particular our understanding of genes, plays in feeding Earth’s suggestion to “bring back seeds” is in stark contrast to the advice given by the government’s ‘Don’t risk it’ campaign. Having watched the latest episode of Gardeners’ World on TV, and read your article with HRH The Prince or Wales and Adam Frost around this exact issue, is this sound advice? Scott Essam, Hampshire

I read HRH The Prince of Wales’ interview with Adam Frost concerning his fears for our trees and his belief in the need to develop quarantine laws and a stringent biosecurity policy in the UK when importing plants from abroad. On the following page I read Katherine Crouch’s viewpoint and her advice to take a holiday in foreign climes and “bring back seeds”. This surely sends conflicting advice to readers. Angela Barry, West Midlands

We say We acknowledge we may have sent a mixed message on this issue. In line with the ‘Don’t risk it’ campaign, we advise readers not to bring plant material into the UK from overseas, including the EU. Seed is not covered by the campaign – you can bring a maximum of five retail-packed packets of seed into the UK from anywhere in the world, but restrictions apply. Check gov.uk/ bringing-food-animals-plants-into-uk/

population, this knowledge may be critical in years to come. Conventional horticulture has yet to reap the massive benefits seen in other fields, spin-off technologies from space exploration have a profound, often life-saving impact on our lives on Earth, and the need to cultivate plants on long-term missions to Mars and the Moon will undoubtedly drive plantrelated sciences forward both in astronautics and more generally. Iain Kennedy, by email