Gardening is dying. Reports of this sad phenomenon are all over the media. Not long ago, “The Avant Gardener,” a monthly horticultural newsletter, reported that lawn and garden material and equipment sales have been on the decline for several years. Publishers’ Weekly, the publishing industry bible, recently dedicated many pages to a feature on the bottomed-out market for garden books. The New York Times has cut its garden coverage so dramatically that often during the growing season, the Thursday “House and Home” section contains only the relatively short “Garden Q&A” feature. Anne Raver’s fine articles are now far too infrequent.
On the retail front, Heronswood Nursery, a boutique establishment that was one of the finest plant merchandisers in America, was unceremoniously shuttered last month by W. Attlee Burpee, which had purchased Heronswood from its founders only three years ago.
Closer to home, I have seen two of my favorite local nurseries, one large and one small, close during the past year. Both featured interesting plant selections and knowledgeable staff. I know that I am not the only gardener who finds solace trolling the outdoor aisles of a good nursery. That solace has become harder to find.
Why is this happening? Part of the apparent decline probably has to do with the cyclical popularity of various leisure activities. Gardening’s wave crested about eight years ago, when millions of newcomers were attracted to the hobby. Garden centers boomed, horticultural publications expanded and new specialty nurseries opened their doors at a great rate. People sought out new and different plants, learned the difference between a lopper and a secateur and installed beds and borders. They bought millions of dollars worth of tools and equipment. Mega-merchandisers like Wal-Mart and Home Depot got into the act in their usual oversized way, providing cheap plants in increasingly greater variety to eager customers from coast to coast. Great English gardener/writers like Christopher Lloyd, Graham Stuart Thomas and Penelope Hobhouse gained international followings. Closer to home we began to appreciate wonderful American writers like Allen Lacy and Henry Mitchell.
But sometime a few years ago, the bloom departed from the gardening rose. All those new beds and borders required time and attention, and many of the enthusiastic garden novices decided that they wanted to spend less time weeding and mulching and more time entertaining in their outdoor spaces. Demand for plants and equipment declined, which meant fewer advertising and content pages in gardening and shelter publications. Baby boomers with aging backs and knees craved simpler landscapes with easy care plants. Younger gardeners wanted the same undemanding specimens for their small layouts or container gardens. The popular press relegated plants to the role of accent pieces in fashionable “garden rooms” dominated by giant gas grills and teak furniture.
So are we dirt gardeners going the way of the dinosaur? I think not, and I have solid evidence to back that conviction.
First of all, by the time the national press reports the demise of anything, the nominally expired fashion or idea is usually already on the rebound. Expecting the major media to be on the cutting edge of a trend is like expecting a bear to dance on a bagel. It is theoretically possible, but highly unlikely.
Second, and more important, I see increasing numbers of plants and flowers everywhere. People are replacing corners of lawns with garden beds, surrounding mature trees with multi-colored hostas and defying suburban convention by putting flowering ornamentals in the front yard. Sales of ultra easy specimens like the Endless Summerâ„¢ hydrangea and the Knock Outâ„¢ series of roses are booming. People will always love flowers, no matter what the pundits say.
Many people toy with hobbies, and so, some of those enthusiastic garden novices of the nineties have moved on to scrap booking or knitting or building birdhouses. The real gardeners are as enthusiastic as ever, planning new beds, seeking out new plants and glorying in the process. We are the unchanging nucleus of a group whose numbers rise and fall in cyclical fashion. The Internet helps keep us connected–with each other and with the nurseries that carry the rare daylilies, dwarf conifers and unusual grasses that we crave. The desire to nurture growing things is as persistent as crabgrass.
So take heart, gardeners, our time is coming again. Soaring energy prices and fears about global warming are making people think “green” for the first time in at least a decade, and such “green” thinking inevitably turns many of us towards cultivating our own patches of earth. And, as “The Avant Gardener” pointed out, the person who buys a Knock Outâ„¢ rose today, may like it so much that he craves an old rose tomorrow. As with all things related to horticulture, the possibilities are endless. If Mark Twain were with us today, he would undoubtedly paraphrase himself and say that reports of gardening’s death are greatly exaggerated.