Kate Bradbury’s article struck a very loud chord ( Where the wild things are: the untapped potential of our gardens, parks and balconies, 28 May ). I have been gardening for many moons, having caught the bug as a child, and have gone from the days of double digging and spraying anything that moves to the current advice to avoid digging and to plant for the climate. In all that time it barely occurred to me that what I was doing might be bad for the planet, but lately I have wondered if gardening itself might be a problem.
It’s not just the paving and plastic grass, but the constant desire to have the latest plants, the most up-to-date garden designs, and the need to buy ever more compost, chemicals, and equipment. All of this uses energy and natural resources, and comes with the need to dispose of the unfashionable, whether it be vegetation or planters or decking. It’s a huge industry, and shows like Chelsea add fuel to the fire with the annual catwalk of new ideas.
We banish our weeds (wild flowers) on the grounds that they are vulgar and feral, but they can look very beautiful and can rival anything refined and overbred. Native plants are important as they, and the creatures that depend on them, have evolved for the local conditions and we need to give them some space to continue to flourish. Let us allow the wilderness to creep into a corner of our parks and gardens so that other living things who share our territory can benefit.
Learn to love your dandelions (in mod.
