Growing accustomed to disappointment
How many of you have love/hate affairs with your local garden shows? We are lucky enough to have a garden-only show (as opposed to our other home & garden one, which is really deadly), but our show could be so much better!
I go every year, because there are always things to see and possibly buy, no matter what, but this year more than other years, I was shocked by the disconnect between what the landscapers there consider to be a garden and what I think of as a garden. To be fair, they have difficulty getting full-grown perennials at this time of year for display gardens that are only going to be viable for a few days. But I accept that. I’m happy to look at the forced bulbs, evergreens, and rhodies. No, it’s not the plants.
It’s the waterfall with a flatscreen TV mounted above it (see top image). It’s the ten or so firepits I saw—and I am fairly certain it would be illegal to use them in much of our area. It’s the endless paths of Unilock winding their way throughout the space, and the monstrous grills bristling with bewildering attachments. It’s the assumption that backyards are made to be paved over and made to look as much like a living room as possible (albeit a rather tacky living room). It’s the complete obliviousness to any notion of sustainable gardening and the utter lack of any reference whatsoever to growing vegetables—the biggest trend in gardening today. And at least lettuces can be forced pretty easily to make a very pretty display garden. One would think.
This little tableau wasn't bad.
To be fair, the show had a theme: “Garden Party.” And who could possibly have a garden party without a firepit? But the shows always have themes; that doesn’t mean that they can’t be twisted to interest those of us who actually enjoy growing things in our gardens.
Oh well. I did buy the Ultimate Hose Nozzle and am very exciting about using it. And I always like looking at interesting water features.
Comments
I guess the person who would have a TV in the garden probably pays for someone else to do the gardening.
I'd say maybe 20% of the gardening show has anything to do with gardening.
I was very disappointed with our garden show this year. the display gardens all had little signs that read something like "This garden was designed by a landscaper." And that's the problem, I thought. landscapers are selling instant gardens that have little to do with the love of plants. the kind of gardens that pop up overnight with their unilock paths, predictable plants, barbecue pits and don't forget the mulch (I swear I've seen some landscape jobs that feature mulch almost exclusively.) There's a market for that kind of look but I'm not it.
I don't want to watch tv in the garden, I want to take pictures of the bees. And while a garden party may be fun, chances are that i'll be weeding way more often than I'll be serving drinks. Still, I'll keep going to the garden shows. You never know when you'll find a flash of inspiration.
Thanks
Aren't they're in the market for ideas? I would just like to see some different ideas, that's all--other garden shows this year had display veggie gardens and other concepts that are not hardscape-focused. Plantasia should too.
I have sat in many a garden show strategy meeting; just trying to express what I think the motives are behind the displays.
Personally, I prefer plants and real gardens to outdoor kitchens as well. And if they're going to charge admission, they do have to listen to what ticket buyers, and not just those who are potential landscaping customers, want. It's a balance that the older shows (like Philadelphia, I hear) are closer to achieving.
This year's Chicago show was my first experience at a garden show, so I don't have anything to compare it to. They did have the high-end stuff there, a/k/a hardscapes, fountains, waterfalls, etc., but they also had a lot of more affordable, accessible ideas, and I was impressed with how much attention was given to veggies, community gardening, and sustainability issues such as organics, green roofs, composting, rain barrels, rain gardens, etc.
but then i remember it's yet another corporate venture, a way for large concerns to sell expensive, redundant outdoor toys to rich people, and not a conference about important new environmental technologies or sustainance farming. over the years i've come to perceive the huge disconnect b/w 'land-scapers' and plant people. they kill and torture them, we grow and nurture them. that's as simply as i can put it.
people who want a BBQ-TV-spa-cellphone-disco patio overlooking their gated 100 acres of manicured non-natives cultivated by underpaid servants =/= people who love plants and want to see ecosystems restored and maintained. "garden" shows have catered to the former for years now, but the money is drying up. it will be interesting to see if they turn to the latter, the real plant community, as they redesign themselves to meet the reality and challenges of today's market.
either way, i was glad to see two native plant booths and one community garden activist table, even as there were several "poison your property to beauty" type outfits with big, if mostly empty, display areas.
the people who did the best business that day were the insulation people. from the "home" part of the "home and garden" show. there's a gender issue at play too, but it's complicated.