Gardening goes back to its roots as sales of decking and heaters plunge

13 April 2012

In the past few years they have been paved over, covered in decking, filled in with gravel, used for al fresco dining and even been rebranded ' outdoor rooms.'

They have been everything and anything, it seems, except gardens.

But now gardeners are going back to their roots. Sales of 'trendy' accessories such as patio heaters and decking have fallen by more than half.

And more traditional seeds, herbs and fruit trees are selling like hot cakes.

Not Hot: Sales of patio heaters are down, in favour of traditional seeds and herbs

Not Hot: Sales of patio heaters are down, in favour of traditional seeds and herbs

Experts say the change in gardening habits has been driven by two main factors  -  fashion and finance. Several years back, a glut of TV makeover programmes encouraged homeowners to radically change their gardens.

They scrapped the traditional lawn, flower beds and vegetable patch and introduced decking, paving and garden furniture.

As house prices rose, more and more people spent money on their gardens.

But two of the most popular makeover shows, Ground Force and Homefront in the Garden, ran their course on terrestrial TV. And then came the credit crunch, leaving families with less money to lavish on expensive outdoor items.

According to figures from the Horticultural Trades Association, annual patio heater sales are down by 57 per cent, wooden garden furniture fell by 32 per cent, ornamental grasses by 23 per cent and decking by 7 per cent.

In contrast, sales of fruit trees and bushes jumped by 43 per cent, seeds of edible plants were up by 13 per cent and herbs by 6 per cent last year in comparison to 2006. Organic expert Bob Flowerdew, a panellist on BBC Radio 4's Gardeners' Question Time, celebrated the return of proper gardening.

He said: 'Hoorah, hoorah, sanity returns! Real gardening is about tending, nurturing and enjoying plants as part of nature  -  not by installing a stack of hardware made by man.

'It took over from proper gardening. I think in the late Nineties and early Noughties people became convinced that they too had to "make over" their gardens. When these programmes inspired people to take up gardening it was all well and good, but they encouraged them to go crazy with concrete and minimalist urbanism.

'High house prices meant people couldn't move so they converted their gardens to outside rooms.

'Now people are tightening their belts and don't have enough money to spend on fancy gimmicks, and it's becoming more and more fashionable to grow your own food.

When you've got a limited space it makes sense to grow a few herbs and vegetables, and some nice flowers.

'It's wanting to be green, wanting to save a bit of money and growing your own stuff.'

Friends of the Earth energy campaigner Nick Rau said: 'Patio heaters are a great waste of energy at a time when we're all trying to cut emissions.


'People are now getting back to basics. There is greater awareness of climate change and food miles.'

Heather Bedworth at the council-owned flower bed she was tending until the authority told her she needed a cultivation licence

Heather Bedworth at the council-owned flower bed she was tending until the authority told her she needed a cultivation licence

Blighted by jobsworths

Fed up with having to look at a tatty and untended flower bed near her home, Heather Bedworth decided to give it a splash of colour.

The 62-year-old rallied round neighbours and used their donated compost, seeds and shrubs to transform the public eyesore.

After clearing it of rubbish and putting in plants she got up at 6am every day to weed, litter pick and water the flourishing bed in Weymouth, Dorset.

But she has now downed her gardening tools after she received a letter from Weymouth and Portland borough council telling her she would need to apply for a 'cultivation licence' from the highways department if she wanted to continue.

Mrs Bedworth said: 'I used to walk past whenever I went to the bus stop and I was fed up with the sight of it. It was just sitting there collecting litter. It was hurting me to see it just going to waste.

'So I took it in my own hands to start weeding it and clearing it up. On the first day I collected seven sacks of weeds and then my neighbours saw what I was doing and offered their help.'

Mrs Bedworth told the council about what she was doing out of courtesy. She said she found the subsequent level of bureaucracy 'disgraceful'.

She added: 'What gets me mad is this jobsworth attitude. The council wants the borough to be clean and tidy, so what harm am I doing? I am refusing to apply for a licence - so it is now up to the council to take on the responsibility of the flower bed.'

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