Letter to Monty and GW

In the September edition of the Gardener's World magazine Monty Don used his column to reiterate his views on wildlife friendly gardening. He repeated his laudable belief that as gardeners we can all play our part in helping wildlife and, this should therefore preclude the use of chemicals which might target other living organisms. If I understand Monty correctly he will tolerate "pests" and their damage because they, like ourselves, are part of the natural ecosystem.

However, by this logic should the people of sub Saharan Africa be prepared to just tolerate the anopheles mosquito and malaria, the tsetse fly and sleeping sickness or the parasitic worm onchocerca volvulus and river blindness? After all they are part of their own ecosystems. I am confident that Monty would make exceptions in these and other cases. I feel certain he has, in the past, advocated the "picking off" of the red lily beetle and the "rubbing off" of aphid infestations.

In short, I must take issue with Monty and his laisez faire live and let live policy. Whilst those of us fortunate enough to have a good sized garden can probably tolerate a degree of plant loss without spoiling the enjoyment of our garden (see the previous entries on deer and badger damage which we suffer regularly but with a philosophical quiescence), there are many of the modern generation of gardeners who would find the devastation of their prime architectural specimen a difficult blow to take. It is also a fundamental mistake to believe that our gardens are potentially a naturally, balanced and harmonious ecosystem. The plants we happily grow have been foraged from across the globe by intrepid plant hunters, including some of Monty's own ancestors. Others have been cross bred to such a degree which means they barely resemble their original forms. So it would be very difficult (impossible?) to find any parts of Britain that are still covered in its natural climax vegetation. Equally, it is utopian to think we can create a perfectly natural and harmonious environment in out our little backyards!

Consequently, I find myself in almost total agreement with Monty, the use of chemicals ideally should be kept to an absolute minimum (remember some can be beneficial to plant health) and we can aim to create balances in our gardens, including of prey and predators. But there are exceptions when it comes to the physical removal of "pests". I, for one, will be continuing with my evening "slug patrols" and would recommend others who have suffered demoralizing damage to your cherished specimens to think about doing the same!