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Here is a tale for those new and inexperienced in the garden world. Someone making a garden and hoping for recognition, maybe someone wanting to write about gardens and to move beyond their blog. In other words, someone who is hoping to make a name for themselves in the garden world in spite of having an acute intelligence and strong opinions. I think I am just about old enough and successful enough now to tell this tale.

Anne Wareham, editor.

Anne Wareham, portrait 2017

It’s hard to know, at this distance, just how I got a reputation for being ‘difficult’. It began over 30 years ago, before social media and indeed before the internet. We started making a garden out of two fields and it was a hard and lonely task. So at some point we decided to open the garden and to make contact with the garden world and so we invited the NGS.

And that was a delight and a shot in the arm, thanks in particular for the support and sympathy we received from Daphne Foulsham (then President, I think, and now a Vice President of the National Gardens Scheme ) I can’t thank her enough for her encouragement. We opened for our own garden funds too and one of our first shocks was that people will come for charity, but not to support the gardens’ funds. (Hundreds one day, a couple the next). So it was a long climb to getting attention and visitors.

Front garden Veddw Euphorbia Fireglow and lyschimachia Firecracker Copyright Charles Hawes (Small)

We were chuffed to appear in various guides eventually – these were the mark of arrival at that time: The Good Gardens Guide, The RHS Garden Finder and the BBC Garden Lover’s Guide to Britain. Until one year we failed to receive an invitation to update our details for The RHS Garden Finder. No explanation, but what I found on the RHS website under our name, for all the world to see (these were early days of websites and not everyone knew how to use them properly) was the following, written by the editor in block capitals:  – “NB.THIS GARDEN IS NOT TO BE RECONSIDERED FOR INCLUSION UNTIL CHARLES HAWES APOLOGIES (sic) FOR THE UNTRUE AND DEFAMATORY STATEMENTS HE MADE ABOUT ME TO THE RHS.”

We never did find out what on earth Charles was supposed to have said (or how). It was probably someone else. But as a garden struggling to attract visitors it was a big blow. For those who didn’t see the website (and the comment was swiftly removed when we drew attention to it) our non appearance in the guide must surely have looked like we were not worth visiting.

But visitors did continue to come.

Front Garden, Veddw, copyright Anne Wareham

 

We came to discover that unlike in some more robust worlds, the garden world cannot tolerate any criticism at all and in spite of looking like such a wonderful happy world full of smiley people and lovely gardens, those smiley people will astonish with their venom.

A prominent and, in places, well-loved garden designer bawled me out for half an hour in public at Chelsea Flower Show for publishing a critique of one of his gardens – memorably telling me that the writer, in this case an eminent economist, had ‘no right to criticise gardens’. I published another review of a garden on thinkingardens and was told I was ‘killing’ the garden owner. It was clear I was supposed to take this literally, in spite of the review being very even handed and written by an award winning writer who writes book reviews professionally. Extremely nasty emails from garden professionals have dropped in my inbox from time to time.

 

New Garden, Veddw, copyright Charles Hawes

 

The then editor of The Garden bravely agreed to publish a review of a garden (as opposed to the ‘garden stories’ which are what magazines habitually publish.) So a famous writer and I wrote such a review – with the garden owner’s permission. It’s hard to imagine just how complacent they must have been about it when they agreed, because once they saw what we had to say all the hell they were capable of was let loose. Complaints and threats to us, the magazine and the RHS Council, no less. Our review, rather toned down, was published but that exercise has never been repeated in The Garden.

A certain magazine took umbrage when I suggested that looking at photographs of gardens was no way for people who had not visited the relevant gardens to judge the ‘Garden of the Year’. End of being published there. And when they did a tour of the South Wales Border (which is not overwhelmingly full of truly great gardens..) that tour sailed past a rejected Veddw. A garden writer who took umbrage at being refused when he asked to bring some friends to see Veddw has done a South Wales Border tour doing the same.

 

Veddw copyright Anne Wareham

 

We opened under the National Gardens Scheme long enough to get our silver trowel. Then we got thrown out. That story is here. https://veddw.com/general/opening-for-the-ngs/.

And so it goes on. There has been more, there no doubt will be more, but the lessons are here by now. Which are?

Maybe don’t include opening your garden – it makes it too easy for people in the garden establishment to punish you.

However, you may just not know about it if you aren’t such a sitting target. I’ve heard, because I know people, that some television companies won’t touch me or Veddw – but I only know because I know people. You never inevitably know why you’re not asked to write, to present or appear on a show, or get any other sort of work in the garden world. But if you’ve offended someone, my examples might make you guess.

Yew Walk, Veddw, copyright Anne Wareham

 

You don’t need to be thick skinned. It’s a fantasy to suggest that you have to be able to ‘take it’ if you ‘dish it out.’ You won’t be given a choice and I have no doubt pain is part of opening your garden and writing about gardens even if you’re sweet as pie. There will be rejections, jealousies and nasties.

The really important thing, I’d say, if you’re going to be successful and critical of aspects of the garden world, then you need to be good.

Veddw currently has a substantial number of garden visitors and garden tours; I have bestselling books, articles in magazines and newspapers (sometimes) and an internationally popular website. All of which vouches for the reassuring fact that powerful and influential people may hate and spite you, but they can’t stop you succeeding. There are lots of people out there publishing, filming, lecturing and the like and not all of them are going to be influenced by others in the garden world.

Work hard at being the very best you are capable of being – ask for and use criticism if you can get it. (And don’t be chuffed about praise of your garden until you know what other gardens this person admires. You will be shocked and disappointed.) And for heaven’s sake risk speaking out. The garden world needs it maybe even more than the political world.

Anne Wareham.

PS What’s really shocking me now is that no-one appears to be shocked. We’ve been terribly naive it seems. This piece is not about the merits, or lack of them, of garden criticism but being astonished at how professional smiley people behave behind the scenes…….

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