Summer's passing

As we enter August it is hard to believe that we have gardened through the wet monsoons of autumn and the fierce ice and cold of the harsh winter, through to the dry, dry  sunny days of the spring and are now nearly through summer! UK gardeners have had just about the most diverse gardening year possible. What the autumn will bring is well, hard to predict, go figure!

Quite a few interesting bits of information landed on the Reckless Gardener news desk this last few days. One being the search for gardeners who garden 'against the odds'.

This is being run by the The Sunday Telegraph and the Conservation Foundation with Green & Black's Organic in memory of the late Elspeth Thompson (pictured), who was a popular gardening columnist with The Sunday Telegraph. The awards are for ordinary gardeners who cultivate green corners in unpromising and unexpected places. They are named after Elspeth's online diary, launched shortly before she died in March.

It's a lovely tribute to Elspeth and you can find out more by logging onto: www.telegraph.co.uk/gardening
Closing date is Friday 17th September 2010 and judging follows the next week. So bring some recognition to the unsung heroes of your community for their part in transforming our local environment for everyone to enjoy, in memory of a wonderful person.

In September, that pin-up of the gardening world - the Landscape Man, aka Matthew Wilson, will be addressing the Soft Landscape Workshop hosted by Palmstead Nurseries. His theme will be raising the standards of our public spaces and basically saying 'No' to small budgets for public landscaping projects. Matthew is all too aware that the current situation facing the landscape industry is not sustainable and that one of the sad realities of the recesion will be that there will be far fewer working in the industry at the end than at the start.

Coming out of recession and collectively attempting to raise standards and the level of budgets by actually saying 'no to doing things on a ridiculously small budget is essential.

He points out that countries like Germany, America and Scandinavia are innovatively applying budget and thought to green spaces and urges that the UK do the same. Well said Matthew, let's hope enough 'influential' people hear what you say and act on it.


The RHS have announced the appointment of Sue Biggs as Director General. She will take up her post this month,  succeeding Gordon Seabright, who has been acting Director General since September 2009. Sue joins the RHS with 30 years award-winning experience in the international leisure industry and is a longstanding member of the RHS and a passionate gardener who has designed six gardens for friends.

Do you know you could be putting your well being at risk by failing to spend enough time in the 'right kind' of outdoor space or garden? Well, according to research by leading woodcare manufacturer, Ronseal and prominent psychologist, Professor Geoff Beattie, a 'lack of green' can manifest itself as negative emotions such as stress or anxiety. Many more people are affected in spring and summer when they feel they should be spending more time in their garden or outdoors.

There are simple ways of combating 'lack of green' for example trying to avoid over-exposure to concrete or overly built up environments (so if you live in a city make sure you visit some of our excellent city centre parks for that bit of green space). Too much time spent in noisy and busy environments means over-stimulation while spending too much time in poor natural can also affect your mood. Generally a lack of fresh air should not be overlooked - in other words, take at least an hour a day outside in a green, well maintained and attractive outdoor space. Exposure to the natural environment has a major restorative effect and helps you unwind after a busy day.

And remember that Reckless Gardeners really do enjoy their outdoor space especially with a glass of wine (in moderation of course!).