Is gardening becoming too elitist?

Diarmuid is worth his weight in gold to the sponsors and his medal was well deserved. I love to look at my garden from my bedroom window because the aspect is so different and his crane was just another way of getting a bird's eye view of something special.

Some plants and trees can be prohibitively expensive for the average gardener usually because of the number of years taken for them to grow. Buying time is costly and who want's an instant garden when most of the delight is nurturing a seed or small cutting to fruition?

If I had to replace my third acre plot, planted from scratch over the past 27 years, it would cost me tens of thousands of pounds. Instant gratification true - but I would not have had the pleasure of seeing the changes over the years not to mention the learning experience gained along the way.

 

I would love to redesign my garden starting from scratch (don't worry, I'm not going to) starting with a blank plot. I'd be unconstrained by worries about upsetting my peonies by moving them, or making use of what was already there, or have the line of the path dictated by a venerable ceanothus standing in the way or have my thinking unconsciously limited by the existing layout. I'd be free to create something completely new, pure and unified in conception. It would not be haphazard or piecemeal or accidental, delightful though those qualities often are.

I would not have the pleasure of the slow evolution of the garden by small increments from what it was 20 years ago into what it is now. Instead, I'd have the satisfaction of putting the best thinking that I was capable of onto paper, making a design that included as many of my garden needs and desires as possible, the cream of hand-picked luscious plant combinations, building it from scratch, watching the utter transformation and as it matured, seeing my creation made flesh. What's not to like?

Sorry, got a bit carried away there. Of course, I do understand that I'm not actually a deity. But gardening should make everyone feel like one!