As a boy I played in the garden all the time. There were no computer games or mobile phones
I had a cap gun and ran around pretending I was in Starsky and Hutch. I climbed apple trees and made bows and arrows out of twigs and string.
When I wasn’t doing playing in the garden, I was working in it with my brother and sister. Both my parents were keen gardeners and we earned our pocket money by helping out.
We were lucky enough to have a medium-sized garden with a big lawn. Each of us kids had our own border to grow stuff in. I used to buy plants from the church fete for mine.
One of my favourites was Berginia Elephant-ear. The foliage is rubbery and, as the name suggests, the leaves look just like green elephant’s ears! They flower in spring and they’re as hard as nails.
Another was Stachys, which has soft, fluffy foliage that earned it the nickname Lamb’s Ears. It’s a ground-covering perennial with leaves that last into autumn or winter, though the plant is not properly evergreen.
I loved tactile plants like that. I’d walk around the garden appreciating the textures, marvelling at the colours and enjoying the fragrances. That’s how I started growing things. From school I went to horticultural college.
But I was lucky. I believe every child across Britain should have access to a garden and that’s why I’m a passionate supporter of the Royal Horticultural Society’s Campaign for School Gardens.
It aims to encourage all schools to get children growing, demonstrating the value of gardening in teaching life skills and contributing to good physical and mental health and helping kids to grow into adults who care about the environment. It also shows how gardens can contribute to a sustainable environment.
[/fusion_builder_column][fusion_builder_column type=”1_1″ background_position=”left top” background_color=”” border_size=”” border_color=”” border_style=”solid” spacing=”yes” background_image=”” background_repeat=”no-repeat” padding=”” margin_top=”0px” margin_bottom=”0px” class=”” id=”” animation_type=”” animation_speed=”0.3″ animation_direction=”left” hide_on_mobile=”no” center_content=”no” min_height=”none”]Getting our hands dirty at an RHS school garden in Cardiff
So far, over 18,500 schools have signed up to the campaign. But there are still around 12,000 to go, so if you’re a teacher get online here for advice, resources and a free starter pack full of information.
Want to enter your school garden into our competition to win £2000 of National Garden Gift Vouchers? Order your free starter pack now!
And finally, if you’re interested in working in horticulture, check out growcareers.co.uk. It’s a great initiative set up by the horticultural industry to help attract new talent. You’ll find tons of information and advice about finding your feet – and a job. Best of luck!
Join our campaigns and let’s get children gardening!
The famous World War II ‘Dig for Victory’ campaign encouraged British people to get around food shortages by growing their own. It was so successful, parks and bomb sites were ripped up and turned into vegetable patches. In the late 1940s there were an estimated 1.4 million allotment sites in the UK.
Yet being forced to grow their own food turned many of the post-war generation off allotments. From the late 1960s onwards, frozen food and ready meals became the norm, and Britons fell out of love with allotments.
That meant many councils sold off allotments during the 1980s and 1990s as people simply didn’t want them. The total number across Britain is now estimated at around 300,000.
Recession times
Happily, recent years have a seen a massive increase in their popularity. Increased interest in sustainability and fears of climate change have been key factors in this increase. Add in the financial collaspe of 2008 and the demand to be self-sustaining grows. Sales of grow your own vegetable plants has been steadily rising since the start of the recession in 2008. Something that also happened during the previous two recessions.
They are especially important for people without much garden space or the two million Britons living in flats and apartments without a garden.
Now there are often long waiting lists for an allotment. Getting ahold of one can be like finding the goose that laid the golden egg. However, according to the National Allotment Society, almost 2000 new plots were built in 2013. So get down to your local council and get your name on the list!
Still not convinced?
The average family spends over £56 a week on food and drink. And we’re buying less fruit and veg than before the recession, as we all try and tighten our belts.
An allotment is the perfect solution for a healthier diet for all the family, bringing you fresh, cheap produce all year round. Plus, you’ll save on that gym membership by getting free outdoor exercise!
Renting a plot
Allotments are rented in rods. A rod is about 25 square metres, and you’ll be charged by the rod. Prices will vary from council to council, but you’re probably looking at around £100 a year to rent five rods. Most councils have discounts for OAPs.
That’s a fair amount of space – 125 square metres. It’s roughly half the size of a standard doubles tennis court – and will give you a lot of planting options all year round.
And it’s cheap!
If you spend around £50 on seeds and plants to get started, you could be seeing the financial benefits in a year. By years two and three you’ll be enjoying real savings.
Plus, there are always deals. One year you’ll find onion plants going cheap, another year it might be carrots.
You just need to be clever with your planting. A single crop of spuds should be planted in several stages so you’ve got a continuous supply, rather than one big glut. You could practically make back your seed money in a single season.
Add in some fruit trees or bushes, which will give fruit for years, and you’re laughing to the kitchen.
Total savings
Research has suggested allotment owners could save an average of £950 a year by home growing. More than half of those quizzed rented a plot to save money, while a third did so to be in control of the pesticides used on their food.
Teaching children about food was another important factor. Almost a third of allotment owners found growing their own was a great way of getting the kids interested in where fruit and vegetables come from.
Extras and add-ons
Sheds and toilets are both useful additions to your allotment. A compost toilet that breaks waste down into fertiliser is a great idea. But it shouldn’t be used on vegetables, only around fruit trees and bushes.
Here’s the really amazing thing. Under the 1950 Allotment Act, it’s an allotment holder’s right to keep hens and rabbits on their plot, as long they are for private use and not for business or profit.
Eating rabbit isn’t really in fashion. But keeping hens for their eggs is hugely popular and allotment coops are a brilliant solution for people who’d love to give it a go but just don’t have space at home.
Check your local tenancy agreement to make sure it’s okay, then have a go!
Escapism
Remember, it’s not only about growing your own. It’s about setting up a shed and having an escape from home life. They can be a real bolt-hole away from the hustle and bustle of daily life.
Somewhere you can go and enjoy quality time and good conversation with your fellow allotmenteer. You’ll meet friendly people who are prepared to come and splash some water on your spuds when you’re away!
Speak to your local council in the first instance about allotment availability, and visit the National Allotment Society at www.nsalg.org.uk for more information.
Sir Harold Hillier was born in 1905 to a horticultural family. His father was Edwin Lawrence Hillier, a world authority on conifers, and his grandfather Edwin Hillier founded Hillier nurseries in 1864.
The business was eventually passed onto Harold, who realised that gardening was becoming more hands on for those living in the new, post-war housing developments. He began a mail-order system and delivered plants across the UK. This year the nursery celebrates its 150th anniversary.
But Sir Harold wanted to diversify the family business. In 1953, he moved with his wife from Winchester to Jermyn’s House in Braishfield in Hampshire. The land around the property was mostly fields and paddocks, and he set about turning it into a garden and arboretum.
Much of Sir Harold’s time was devoted to collecting new plant species, and he travelled widely. He brought back many plants from visits to Japan, Korea, USA, Mexico, Australia and New Zealand, which still grow today in his gardens.
Sir Harold was closely involved in the garden design process, often seen out on site with his head gardener and a stack of plant labels. He once said he aimed to “create as attractively as possible as great a collection of plants as I was able to add to those already collected by my father and grandfather.”
Over the course of 25 years, he grew and nurtured an incredible collection of plants and trees which is still studied today by scholars. He was even knighted for it in 1983.
By the time Sir Harold died in 1985, he had made the gardens a charitable trust and handed them over to Hampshire council so people could carry on enjoying them long after he was gone.
Today the gardens are home to over 42,000 plants and trees in a 180 acre site and are visited all year round by people from all over the world. You can also visit Jermyn’s house to try the tea room and walk along Magnolia Avenue – one of the garden’s most spectacular spring sights.
The gardens are enormous and made of distinct sections. There’s a pond area and bog garden full of water-loving plants, as well as woodlands and wood valleys and a Pinetum. The Himalayan Valley that leads to the pond is lined with azaleas, pieris and rhododendrons that become pink floral carpet in May.
You can also walk along Centenary Border, the UK’s longest double border. Hillier called it their most ambitious project, with over 30,000 plants creating a visually stunning array of texture and colour.
The gardens are also home to the world’s largest winter garden, showcasing plants that look their best in cold months to dispel the myth that gardens don’t look good in winter.
You can wander the Acer valley, with Japanese and other maple trees shaded by grand, mature oaks. Or try the spring walk, hydrangea walk or heather garden, all featuring beautiful varieties and bold planting schemes.
Throughout the year, Hillier Gardens also run events, workshops and concerts to allow visitors to make the most of the gardens’ resources and atmosphere. Find out more.
