Plantswoman FIONA EDMOND, who owns the award-winning Green Island Gardens in Ardleigh, shares her gardening tips. Today the topic is Monty Don’s recent criticism of ‘perfect gardens’.

Some of Monty Dons comments quoted in the Daily Telegraph this week have created quite a stir amongst the horticultural world. 

He wrote in Gardeners World magazine, “perfect open gardens are bad for you” and “visiting open gardens is as harmful to your horticultural confidence as comparing your life to that of a celebrity”.

Halstead Gazette:

I have always been fairly restrained and respect that everyone is entitled to an opinion, however Monty Dons’ comments this week have fuelled a fire in my belly.

I could not disagree with him more. 

Don’s comments about perfection in gardens that are open to the public are more in line with my observations of show gardens at Chelsea and Hampton court Flower shows for example.

Their quest for absolute perfection and Gold medals, aided by budgets that mere mortals could only dare dream about, along with planting combinations which could never exist in reality due to the forcing or holding back of blooms, falsely flowering at the same time creates an unattainable ideal which we can never achieve.

It is the experience of visiting these show gardens that can leave amateur gardeners feeling inadequate and disillusioned with their own gardens.

There are different types of people who visit gardens that are open to the public.

Those in the trade like to keep up to date with the latest in trends and plants available to buy, some are students seeking to broaden their knowledge, in fact a lot of my plant knowledge was acquired during my early twenties when I combined my amateur golf career with developing my horticultural and garden design knowledge, visiting gardens all over the country that were open to the public in order to gain experience of what worked and what didn’t, inspiration in design terms and plant knowledge as well as providing a few hours away from the competitive scene of tournament golf. 

For all the books you may read and research done on the internet, nothing can beat seeing a plant growing happily in conditions that it enjoys and in combinations that exist in reality and not the fantasy world of Chelsea show gardens.

There are many people who visit the gardens at Green Island who have been avid gardeners all their lives and now have downsized or reduced the size of their gardens as the physical burden of maintaining a large garden becomes too much.

The enjoyment they get from seeing the plants they love, and soaking up the atmosphere of the garden is second to none coupled with the knowledge that it is no longer their task to maintain furthers their enjoyment.

Owners of open gardens are often on hand, happy to share their experiences or pass on words of wisdom to amateur gardeners.
The therapeutic effects of visiting gardens is much written about in the press at the moment. Certainly for me on a personal note the creation of Green Island has been well documented as being the key to overcoming my M.E..

So many people visit Green Island who are elderly, disabled, recuperating from surgery or long term illness, those suffering from anxiety, stress, and depression, children with learning disabilities, autism, or even during palliative care near end of life…all can find inner peace, relaxation, inspiration, strength and happiness in proximity to nature. 
For Monty to suggest that visiting such gardens is “Bad for you” is ludicrous.

Monty himself suffered a well-documented prolonged period of serious depression and now he seems to cope with life in the public eye along with presenting BBC Gardeners World.

Doesn’t that tell you something?

George Plumptree, chief executive of the National Gardens Scheme said he found Monty Dons comments “puzzling”. I think he was being extremely restrained.

The National Gardens scheme relies almost exclusively upon keen amateur gardeners opening up their gardens purely for charity. Yes, a high standard is required, however it is not by any means an unattainable standard.

Visitors leave feeling inspired to replicate little bits of what they have seen, and in the process have helped raise millions of pounds for cancer charities.
In the position Monty Don holds as the most well-known gardening guru and presenter of BBCs Gardeners World his comments can be seen to be incredibly damaging to a large number of small businesses such as ours at Green Island where a private garden is lovingly maintained and opened up to the public purely to share with fellow gardeners, and to bring in enough revenue to be able to continue maintaining the gardens for all to enjoy. 

The water garden at Green Island is the perfect place to sit and relax and wipe away everyday stresses of life. www.greenislandgardens.co.uk