Quarter-century of words

This month sees the 25th anniversary of my first ‘Gardens’ column for The Spectator.

This month sees the 25th anniversary of my first ‘Gardens’ column for The Spectator. This is an event more interesting to me than to you, dear reader; indeed, if asked, you might well have said 40, 20, or five years. It is, of course, only a number (as Clint Eastwood said about approaching 80) but this anniversary has encouraged me to reflect on what has happened in gardening in the past quarter-century. It has been eventful, to say the least.

In 1984, gardening was still dominated by the post-war ‘low-maintenance’ movement, which encouraged the planting of utilitarian ground cover, as well as heathers and conifers, often in island beds, à la the ‘gardenesque’ style invented in the 1840s. Shrubs generally were still popular, but roses, with the exception of David Austin’s English Roses, were losing ground; people still made rockeries of alpines but hardy perennials were gaining in popularity.