Alan Titchmarsh innit
It was only a matter of time before the culture wars were made explicit in gardening
This from Rebecca McMackin’s newsletter
Shots fired! Famed, old-guard British gardening celebrities have their knickers in a twist over any attempt to make ornamental gardens more ecological. Sir Monty Don and Alan Titchmarsh are going on record against rewilding, incorporating weeds, and naturalistic aesthetics. I for one find it stodgy. Certainly, we’ve all felt like old men yelling at weeds from our porches once in a while, but it’s quite another thing to do so in the national press. Their issue seems to be perspective: they’re upset that an entirely self-serving, aesthetic practice is now passé. Titchmarsh, who seems like quite the character, claimed ecological gardeners are “brainwashed by current trends.” Anyway, I don’t need to refute this, do I? We can all recognize people trying to stop progress while we smile, nod, and march past them, can’t we? I honestly did not know that reactionary horticulture was a thing, but here we are.